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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9104-8.txt b/9104-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..48a473d --- /dev/null +++ b/9104-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16948 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Naval War of 1812, by Theodore Roosevelt +#4 in our series by Theodore Roosevelt + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Naval War of 1812 + Or The History of the United States Navy during the Last War with Great + Britain to Which Is Appended an Account of the Battle of New Orleans + +Author: Theodore Roosevelt + +Release Date: October, 2005 [EBook #9104] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on September 6, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NAVAL WAR OF 1812 *** + + + + +Produced by Mark Hamann, Ed Thoele and Online Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + The Naval War of 1812 + + or the + History of the United States Navy during + the Last War with Great Britain + to Which Is Appended an Account of + the Battle of New Orleans + + By Theodore Roosevelt + + With an Introduction by + Edward K. Eckert + + + +CONTENTS + +List of Illustrations + +Acknowledgments + +Introduction + +_The Naval War of 1812_ + +Index + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +Captain Isaac Hull + +_Constitution_ vs. _Guerrière_: "The Engagement" + +_Constitution_ vs. _Guerrière_: "In Action" + +_Constitution_ vs. _Guerrière_: "Dropping Astern" + +_Constitution_ vs. _Guerrière_: "She Fell in the Sea" + +_Wasp_ vs. _Frolic_ + +Captain Stephen Decatur + +Captain William Bainbridge + +_Constitution_ vs. _Java_ + +Captain James Lawrence + +_Chesapeake_ vs. _Shannon_ + +_Argus_ vs. _Pelican_ + +The Battle of Lake Erie + +The _Essex_ + +Captain David Porter + +Master Commandant Lewis Warrington + +Captain Samuel C. Reid + +The Battle of Lake Borgne + +Commodore Thomas Macdonough + +Capture of the _President_ + +Captain Charles Stewart + +_Constitution_ vs. _Cyane_ and _Levant_ + +Master Commandant James Biddle + +_Hornet_ vs. _Penguin_ + + + +ACKNOWLEDGMENTS + +For their amiable and expert assistance in the selection of the +illustrations in this volume, thanks are due to Mr. James W. Cheevers, +curator of the U.S. Naval Academy Museum; Ms. Sigrid Trumpy, curator of +the museum's Beverley R. Robinson Collection of naval prints; and Mrs. +Patty Maddocks, director of the Naval Institute Library and Photographic +Service. + +JS + + + +PREFACE + +The history of the naval events of the War of 1812 has been repeatedly +presented both to the American and the English reader. Historical +writers have treated it either in connection with a general account of +the contest on land and sea, or as forming a part of the complete record +of the navies of the two nations. A few monographs, which confine +themselves strictly to the naval occurrences, have also appeared. But +none of these works can be regarded as giving a satisfactorily full or +impartial account of the war--some of them being of he "popular" and +loosely-constructed order, while others treat it from a purely partisan +standpoint. No single book can be quoted which would be accepted by the +modern reader as doing justice to both sides, or, indeed, as telling +the whole story. Any one specially interested in the subject must read +all; and then it will seem almost a hopeless task to reconcile the +many and widely contradictory statements he will meet with. + +There appear to be three works which, taken in combination, give the +best satisfaction on the subject. First, in James' "Naval History of +Great Britain" (which supplies both the material and the opinions of +almost every subsequent English or Canadian historian) can be found +the British view of the case. It is an invaluable work, written with +fulness and care; on the other hand it is also a piece of special +pleading by a bitter and not over-scrupulous partisan. This, in the +second place, can be partially supplemented by Fenimore Cooper's +"Naval History of the United States." The latter gives the American +view of the cruises and battles; but it is much less of an authority +than James', both because it is written without great regard for +exactness, and because all figures for the American side need to be +supplied from Lieutenant (now Admiral) George E. Emmons' statistical +"History of the United States Navy," which is the third of the works +in question. + +But even after comparing these three authors, many contradictions +remain unexplained, and the truth can only be reached in such cases +by a careful examination of the navy "Records," the London "Naval +Chronicle," "Niles' Register," and other similar documentary +publications. Almost the only good criticisms on the actions are +those incidentally given in standard works on other subjects, such as +Lord Howard Douglass' "Naval Gunnery," and Admiral Jurien de la +Gravière's "Guerres Maritimes." Much of the material in our Navy +Department has never been touched at all. In short, no full, accurate, +and unprejudiced history of the war has ever been written. + +The subject merits a closer scrutiny than it has received. At present +people are beginning to realize that it is folly for the great +English-speaking Republic to rely for defence upon a navy composed +partly of antiquated hulks, and partly of new vessels rather more +worthless than the old. It is worth while to study with some care +that period of our history during which our navy stood at the highest +pitch of its fame; and to learn any thing from the past it is necessary +to know, as near as may be, the exact truth. Accordingly the work +should be written impartially, if only from the narrowest motives. +Without abating a jot from one's devotion to his country and flag, +I think a history can be made just enough to warrant its being +received as an authority equally among Americans and Englishmen. I +have endeavored to supply such a work. It is impossible that errors, +both of fact and opinion, should not have crept into it; and +although I have sought to make it in character as non-partisan as +possible, these errors will probably be in favor of the American +side. + +As my only object is to give an accurate narrative of events, I shall +esteem it a particular favor if any one will furnish me with the +means of rectifying such mistakes; and if I have done injustice to +any commander, or officer of any grade, whether American or British, +I shall consider myself under great obligations to those who will set +me right. + +I have been unable to get access to the original reports of the +British commanders, the logs of the British ships, or their +muster-rolls, and so have been obliged to take them at second hand +from the "Gazette," or "Naval Chronicle," or some standard history. +The American official letters, log-books, original contracts, +muster-rolls, etc., however, being preserved in the Archives at +Washington, I have been able, thanks to the courtesy of the Hon. +Wm. H. Hunt, Secretary of the Navy, to look them over. The set of +letters from the officers is very complete, in three series,--"Captains' +Letters," "Masters' Commandant Letters," and "Officers' Letters," +there being several volumes for each year. The books of contracts +contain valuable information as to the size and build of some of +the vessels. The log-books are rather exasperating, often being very +incomplete. Thus when I turned from Decatur's extremely vague +official letter describing the capture of the Macedonian to the +log-book of the Frigate _United States_, not a fact about the fight +could be gleaned. The last entry in the log on the day of the fight +is "strange sail discovered to be a frigate under English colors," +and the next entry (on the following day) relates to the removal +of the prisoners. The log of the _Enterprise_ is very full indeed, +for most of the time, but is a perfect blank for the period during +which she was commanded by Lieutenant Burrows, and in which she +fought the Boxer. I have not been able to find the Peacock's log +at all, though there is a very full set of letters from her commander. +Probably the fire of 1837 destroyed a great deal of valuable material. +When ever it was possible I have referred to printed matter in +preference to manuscript, and my authorities can thus, in most cases, +be easily consulted. In conclusion I desire to express my sincerest +thanks to Captain James D. Bulloch, formerly of the United States +Navy, and Commander Adolf Mensing, formerly of the German Navy, +without whose advice and sympathy this work would probably never +have been written or even begun. + +NEW YORK CITY, 1882. + + + +PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION + +I originally intended to write a companion volume to this, which +should deal with the operations on land. But a short examination +showed that these operations were hardly worth serious study. +They teach nothing new; it is the old, old lesson, that a miserly +economy in preparation may in the end involve a lavish outlay of +men and money, which, after all, comes too late to more than partially +offset the evils produced by the original short-sighted parsimony. +This might be a lesson worth dwelling on did it have any practical +bearing on the issues of the present day; but it has none, as far +as the army is concerned. It was criminal folly for Jefferson, and +his follower Madison, to neglect to give us a force either of regulars +or of well-trained volunteers during the twelve years they had in +which to prepare for the struggle that any one might see was +inevitable; but there is now far less need of an army than there was +then. Circumstances have altered widely since 1812. Instead of the +decaying might of Spain on our southern frontier, we have the still +weaker power of Mexico. Instead of the great Indian nations of the +interior, able to keep civilization at bay, to hold in check strong +armies, to ravage large stretches of territory, and needing +formidable military expeditions to overcome them, there are now only +left broken and scattered bands, which are sources of annoyance +merely. To the north we are still hemmed in by the Canadian +possessions of Great Britain; but since 1812 our strength has +increased so prodigiously, both absolutely and relatively, while +England's military power has remained almost stationary, that we +need now be under no apprehensions from her land-forces; for, even +if checked in the beginning, we could not help conquering in the +end by sheer weight of numbers, if by nothing else. So that there +is now no cause for our keeping up a large army; while, on the +contrary, the necessity for an efficient navy is so evident that +only our almost incredible short-sightedness prevents our at once +preparing one. + +Not only do the events of the war on land teach very little to the +statesman who studies history in order to avoid in the present the +mistakes of the past, but besides this, the battles and campaigns +are of little interest to the student of military matters. The British +regulars, trained in many wars, thrashed the raw troops opposed to +them whenever they had any thing like a fair chance; but this is not +to be wondered at, for the same thing has always happened the world +over under similar conditions. Our defeats were exactly such as +any man might have foreseen, and there is nothing to be learned +from the follies committed by incompetent commanders and untrained +troops when in the presence of skilled officers having under them +disciplined soldiers. The humiliating surrenders, abortive attacks, +and panic routs of our armies can all be paralleled in the campaigns +waged by Napoleon's marshals against the Spaniards and Portuguese +in the years immediately preceding the outbreak of our own war. The +Peninsular troops were as little able to withstand the French veterans +as were our militia to hold their own against the British regulars. +But it must always be remembered, to our credit, that while seven +years of fighting failed to make the Spaniards able to face the +French,[Footnote: At the closing battle of Toulouse, fought between +the allies and the French, the flight of the Spaniards was so rapid +and universal as to draw from the Duke of Wellington the bitter +observation, that "though he had seen a good many remarkable things +in the course of his life, yet this was the first time he had ever +seen ten thousand men running a race."] two years of warfare gave us +soldiers who could stand against the best men of Britain. On the +northern frontier we never developed a great general,--Brown's claim +to the title rests only on his not having committed the phenomenal +follies of his predecessors,--but by 1814 our soldiers had become +seasoned, and we had acquired some good brigade commanders, notably +Scott, so that in that year we played on even terms with the British. +But the battles, though marked by as bloody and obstinate fighting +as ever took place, were waged between small bodies of men, and were +not distinguished by any feats of generalship, so that they are not +of any special interest to the historian. In fact, the only really +noteworthy feat of arms of the war took place at New Orleans, and +the only military genius that the struggle developed was Andrew +Jackson. His deeds are worthy of all praise, and the battle he won +was in many ways so peculiar as to make it well worth a much closer +study than it has yet received. It was by far the most prominent +event of the war; it was a victory which reflected high honor on +the general and soldiers who won it, and it was in its way as +remarkable as any of the great battles that took place about the +same time in Europe. Such being the case, I have devoted a chapter +to its consideration at the conclusion of the chapters devoted to +the naval operations. + +As before said, the other campaigns on land do not deserve very +minute attention; but, for the sake of rendering the account of the +battle of New Orleans more intelligible, I will give a hasty sketch +of the principal engagements that took place elsewhere. + +The war opened in mid-summer of 1812, by the campaign of General +Hull on the Michigan frontier. With two or three thousand raw +troops he invaded Canada. About the same time Fort Mackinaw was +surrendered by its garrison of 60 Americans to a British and Indian +force of 600. Hull's campaign was unfortunate from the beginning. +Near Brownstown the American Colonel Van Horne, with some 200 men, +was ambushed and routed by Tecumseh and his Indians. In revenge +Col. Miller, with 600 Americans, at Maguaga attacked 150 British +and Canadians under Capt. Muir, and 250 Indians under Tecumseh, +and whipped them,--Tecumseh's Indians standing their ground longest. +The Americans lost 75, their foes 180 men. At Chicago the small +force of 66 Americans was surprised and massacred by the Indians. +Meanwhile, General Brock, the British commander, advanced against +Hull with a rapidity and decision that seemed to paralyze his +senile and irresolute opponent. The latter retreated to Detroit, +where, without striking a blow, he surrendered 1,400 men to Brock's +nearly equal force, which consisted nearly one half of Indians under +Tecumseh. On the Niagara frontier, an estimable and honest old +gentleman and worthy citizen, who knew nothing of military matters, +Gen. Van Rensselaer, tried to cross over and attack the British at +Queenstown; 1,100 Americans got across and were almost all killed or +captured by a nearly equal number of British, Canadians, and Indians, +while on the opposite side a large number of their countrymen looked +on, and with abject cowardice refused to cross to their assistance. +The command of the army was then handed over to a ridiculous +personage named Smythe, who issued proclamations so bombastic that +they really must have come from an unsound mind, and then made a +ludicrously abortive effort at invasion, which failed almost of +its own accord. A British and Canadian force of less than 400 men +was foiled in an assault on Ogdensburg, after a slight skirmish, +by about 1,000 Americans under Brown; and with this trifling +success the military operations of the year came to an end. + +Early in 1813, Ogdensburg was again attacked, this time by between +500 and 600 British, who took it after a brisk resistance from some +300 militia; the British lost 60 and the Americans 20, in killed +and wounded. General Harrison, meanwhile, had begun the campaign +in the Northwest. At Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, Winchester's +command of about 900 Western troops was surprised by a force of +1,100 men, half of them Indians, under the British Colonel Proctor. +The right division, taken by surprise, gave up at once; the left +division, mainly Kentucky riflemen, and strongly posted in houses +and stockaded enclosures, made a stout resistance, and only +surrendered after a bloody fight, in which 180 British and about +half as many Indians were killed or wounded. Over 300 Americans +were slain, some in battle, but most in the bloody massacre that +followed. After this, General Harrison went into camp at Fort Meigs, +where, with about 1,100 men, he was besieged by 1,000 British and +Canadians under Proctor and 1,200 Indians under Tecumseh. A force +of 1,200 Kentucky militia advanced to his relief and tried to cut +its way into the fort while the garrison made a sortie. The sortie +was fairly successful, but the Kentuckians were scattered like +chaff by the British regulars in the open, and when broken were +cut to pieces by the Indians in the woods. Nearly two thirds of +the relieving troops were killed or captured; about 400 got into +the fort. Soon afterward Proctor abandoned the siege. Fort Stephenson, +garrisoned by Major Croghan and 160 men, was attacked by a force +of 391 British regulars, who tried to carry it by assault, and +were repulsed with the loss of a fourth of their number. Some four +thousand Indians joined Proctor, but most of them left him after +Perry's victory on Lake Erie. Then Harrison, having received large +reinforcements, invaded Canada. At the River Thames his army of 3,500 +men encountered and routed between 600 and 700 British under Proctor, +and about 1,000 Indians under Tecumseh. The battle was decided at +once by a charge of the Kentucky mounted riflemen, who broke through +the regulars, took them in rear, and captured them, and then +dismounting attacked the flank of the Indians, who were also +assailed by the infantry. Proctor escaped by the skin of his teeth +and Tecumseh died fighting, like the hero that he was. This battle +ended the campaign in the Northwest. In this quarter it must be +remembered that the war was, on the part of the Americans, mainly +one against Indians; the latter always forming over half of the +British forces. Many of the remainder were French Canadians, and +the others were regulars. The American armies, on the contrary, +were composed of the armed settlers of Kentucky and Ohio, native +Americans, of English speech and blood, who were battling for lands +that were to form the heritage of their children. In the West the +war was only the closing act of the struggle that for many years +had been waged by the hardy and restless pioneers of our race, as +with rifle and axe they carved out the mighty empire that we their +children inherit; it was but the final effort with which they wrested +from the Indian lords of the soil the wide and fair domain that now +forms the heart of our great Republic. It was the breaking down of +the last barrier that stayed the flood of our civilization; it +settled, once and for ever, that henceforth the law, the tongue, +and the blood of the land should be neither Indian, nor yet French, +but English. The few French of the West were fighting against a +race that was to leave as little trace of them as of the doomed +Indian peoples with whom they made common cause. The presence of +the British mercenaries did not alter the character of the contest; +it merely served to show the bitter and narrow hatred with which +the Mother-Island regarded her greater daughter, predestined as +the latter was to be queen of the lands that lay beyond the Atlantic. + +Meanwhile, on Lake Ontario, the Americans made successful descents +on York and Fort George, scattering or capturing their comparatively +small garrisons; while a counter descent by the British on Sackett's +Harbor failed, the attacking force being too small. After the capture +of Fort George, the Americans invaded Canada; but their advance guard, +1,400 strong, under Generals Chandler and Winder, was surprised in +the night by 800 British, who, advancing with the bayonet, broke up +the camp, capturing both the generals and half the artillery. Though +the assailants, who lost 220 of their small number, suffered much +more than the Americans, yet the latter were completely demoralized, +and at once retreated to Fort George. Soon afterward, Col. Boerstler +with about 600 men surrendered with shamefully brief resistance to +a somewhat smaller force of British and Indians. Then about 300 +British crossed the Niagara to attack Black Rock, which they took, +but were afterward driven off by a large body of militia with the +loss of 40 men. Later in the season the American General McClure +wantonly burned the village of Newark, and then retreated in panic +flight across the Niagara. In retaliation the British in turn crossed +the river; 600 regulars surprised and captured in the night Fort +Niagara, with its garrison of 400 men; two thousand troops attacked +Black Rock, and after losing over a hundred men in a smart engagement +with somewhat over 1,500 militia whom they easily dispersed, captured +and burned both it and Buffalo. Before these last events took place +another invasion of Canada had been attempted, this time under General +Wilkinson, "an unprincipled imbecile," as Scott very properly +styled him. It was mismanaged in every possible way, and was a +total failure; it was attended with but one battle, that of Chrystler's +Farm, in which 1,000 British, with the loss of less than 200 men, +beat back double their number of Americans, who lost nearly 500 men +and also one piece of artillery. The American army near Lake +Champlain had done nothing, its commander, General Wade Hampton, +being, if possible, even more incompetent than Wilkinson. He remained +stationary while a small force of British plundered Plattsburg and +Burlington; then, with 5,000 men he crossed into Canada, but returned +almost immediately, after a small skirmish at Chauteaugay between +his advance guard and some 500 Canadians, in which the former lost +41 and the latter 22 men. This affair, in which hardly a tenth of +the American force was engaged, has been, absurdly enough, designated +a "battle" by most British and Canadian historians. In reality it +was the incompetency of their general and not the valor of their +foes that caused the retreat of the Americans. The same comment, +by the way, applies to the so-called "Battle" of Plattsburg, in the +following year, which may have been lost by Sir George Prevost, but +was certainly not won by the Americans. And, again, a similar +criticism should be passed on General Wilkinson's attack on La +Colle Mill, near the head of the same lake. Neither one of the +three affairs was a stand-up fight; in each a greatly superior +force, led by an utterly incapable general, retreated after a slight +skirmish with an enemy whose rout would have been a matter of +certainty had the engagement been permitted to grow serious. + +In the early spring of 1814 a small force of 160 American regulars, +under Captain Holmes, fighting from behind felled logs, routed 200 +British with a loss of 65 men, they themselves losing but 8. On +Lake Ontario the British made a descent on Oswego and took it by +fair assault; and afterward lost 180 men who tried to cut out some +American transports, and were killed or captured to a man. All +through the spring and early summer the army on the Niagara frontier +was carefully drilled by Brown, and more especially by Scott, and +the results of this drilling were seen in the immensely improved +effectiveness of the soldiers in the campaign that opened in July. +Fort Erie was captured with little resistance, and on the 4th of +July, at the river Chippeway, Brown, with two brigades of regulars, +each about 1,200 strong, under Scott and Ripley, and a brigade of +800 militia and Indians under Porter, making a total of about 3,200 +men, won a stand-up fight against the British General Riall, who +had nearly 2,500 men, 1,800 of them regulars. Porter's brigade +opened by driving in the Canadian militia and the Indians; but was +itself checked by the British light-troops. Ripley's brigade took +very little part in the battle, three of the regiments not being +engaged at all, and the fourth so slightly as to lose but five men. +The entire brunt of the action was borne by Scott's brigade, which +was fiercely attacked by the bulk of the British regulars under +Riall. The latter advanced with great bravery, but were terribly +cut up by the fire of Scott's regulars; and when they had come +nearly up to him, Scott charged with the bayonet and drove them +clean off the field. The American loss was 322, including 23 Indians; +the British loss was 515, excluding that of the Indians. The number +of Americans actually engaged did not exceed that of the British; +and Scott's brigade, in fair fight, closed by a bayonet charge, +defeated an equal force of British regulars. + +On July 25th occurred the Battle of Niagara, or Lundy's Lane, fought +between General Brown with 3,100 [Footnote: As near as can be found +out; most American authorities make it much less; Lossing, for +example, says only 2,400.] Americans and General Drummond with +3,500 [Footnote: General Drummond in his official letter makes it +but 2,800; James, who gives the details, makes it 3,000 rank and +file; adding 13 per cent, for the officers, sergeants, and drummers, +brings it up to 3,400; and we still have to count in the artillery +drivers, etc.] British. It was brought on by accident in the evening, +and was waged with obstinate courage and savage slaughter till +midnight. On both sides the forces straggled into action by +detachments. The Americans formed the attacking party. As before, +Scott's brigade bore the brunt of the fight, and over half of his +men were killed or wounded; he himself was disabled and borne from +the field. The struggle was of the most desperate character, the +combatants showing a stubborn courage that could not be surpassed. +[Footnote: General Drummond writes: "In so determined a manner were +their attacks directed against our guns that our artillerymen were +bayoneted while in the act of loading, and the muzzle of the enemy's +guns were advanced within a few yards of ours." Even James says: +"Upon the whole, however, the American troops fought bravely; and the +conduct of many of the officers, of the artillery corps especially, +would have done honor to any service."] Charge after charge was made +with the bayonet, and the artillery was taken and retaken once and +again. The loss was nearly equal; on the side of the Americans, +854 men (including Generals Brown and Scott, wounded) and two guns; +on that of the British, 878 men (including General Riall captured) +and one gun. Each side claimed it as a victory over superior numbers. +The truth is beyond question that the British had the advantage in +numbers, and a still greater advantage in position; while it is +equally beyond question that it was a defeat and not a victory for +the Americans. They left the field and retired in perfect order to +Fort Erie, while the British held the field and the next day pursued +their foes. + +Having received some reinforcements General Drummond, now with +about 3,600 men, pushed forward to besiege Fort Erie, in which was +the American army, some 2,400 strong, under General Gaines. Col. +Tucker with 500 British regulars was sent across the Niagara to +destroy the batteries at Black Rock, but was defeated by 300 +American regulars under Major Morgan, fighting from behind a strong +breastwork of felled trees, with a creek in front. On the night of +the 15th of August, the British in three columns advanced to storm +the American works, but after making a most determined assault +were beaten off. The assailants lost 900 men, the assailed about +80. After this nothing was done till Sept. 17th, when General +Brown, who had resumed command of the American forces, determined +upon and executed a sortie. Each side had received reinforcements; +the Americans numbered over 3,000, the British nearly 4,000. The +fighting was severe, the Americans losing 500 men; but their +opponents lost 600 men, and most of their batteries were destroyed. +Each side, as usual, claimed the victory; but, exactly as Lundy's +Lane must be accounted an American defeat, as our forces retreated +from the ground, so this must be considered an American victory, +for after it the British broke up camp and drew off to Chippeway. +Nothing more was done, and on November 5th the American army +recrossed the Niagara. Though marked by some brilliant feats of +arms this four months' invasion of Canada, like those that had +preceded it, thus came to nothing. But at the same time a British +invasion of the United States was repulsed far more disgracefully. +Sir George Prevost, with an army of 13,000 veteran troops, marched +south along the shores of Lake Champlain to Plattsburg, which was +held by General Macomb with 2,000 regulars, and perhaps double +that number of nearly worthless militia;--a force that the British +could have scattered to the winds, though, as they were strongly +posted, not without severe loss. But the British fleet was captured +by Commodore MacDonough in the fight on the lake; and then Sir George, +after some heavy skirmishing between the outposts of the armies, in +which the Americans had the advantage, fled precipitately back to +Canada. + +All through the war the sea-coasts of the United States had been +harried by small predatory excursions; a part of what is now the +State of Maine was conquered with little resistance, and kept until +the close of hostilities; and some of the towns on the shores of +Chesapeake Bay had been plundered or burnt. In August, 1814, a more +serious invasion was planned, and some 5,000 troops--regulars, +sailors, and marines--were landed, under the command of General +Ross. So utterly helpless was the Democratic Administration at +Washington, that during the two years of warfare hardly any steps +had been taken to protect the Capitol, or the country round about; +what little was done, was done entirely too late, and bungled badly +in addition. History has not yet done justice to the ludicrous and +painful folly and stupidity of which the government founded by +Jefferson, and carried on by Madison, was guilty, both in its +preparations for, and in its way of carrying on, this war; nor is +it yet realized that the men just mentioned, and their associates, +are primarily responsible for the loss we suffered in it, and the +bitter humiliation some of its incidents caused us. The small British +army marched at will through Virginia and Maryland, burned Washington, +and finally retreated from before Baltimore and reembarked to take +part in the expedition against New Orleans. Twice, at Bladensburg +and North Point, it came in contact with superior numbers of militia +in fairly good position. In each case the result was the same. +After some preliminary skirmishing, manoeuvring, and volley firing, +the British charged with the bayonet. The rawest regiments among +the American militia then broke at once; the others kept pretty +steady, pouring in quite a destructive fire, until the regulars had +come up close to them, when they also fled. The British regulars +were too heavily loaded to pursue, and, owing to their mode of +attack, and the rapidity with which their opponents ran away, the +loss of the latter was in each case very slight. At North Point, +however, the militia, being more experienced, behaved better than +at Bladensburg. In neither case were the British put to any trouble +to win their victory. + +The above is a brief sketch of the campaigns of the war. It is not +cheerful reading for an American, nor yet of interest to a military +student; and its lessons have been taught so often by similar +occurrences in other lands under like circumstances, and, moreover, +teach such self-evident truths, that they scarcely need to be +brought to the notice of an historian. But the crowning event of +the war was the Battle of New Orleans; remarkable in its military +aspect, and a source of pride to every American. It is well worth +a more careful study, and to it I have devoted the last chapter of +this work. + +New York City, 1883. + +[Illustration: Fig. 1.--Long gun.] + +[Illustration: Fig. 2.--Carronade.] + +[Illustration: Fig. 3.--Section of flush-decked corvette or sloop, +carrying long guns. Such was the armament of the _Pike_ and _Adams_, +but most flush-decked ships mounted carronades.] + +[Illustration: Fig. 4.--Section of frigate-built ship, with long +gun on main-deck and carronade on spar-deck. Taken from the +_American Artillerist's Companion_, by Louis de Toussard +(Philadelphia, 1811).] + + + +PRINCIPAL AUTHORITIES REFERRED TO + +(_See also in alphabetical place in index_.) + +American State Papers. + +Brenton, E. P. Naval History of Great Britain, 1783 to 1836. 2 vols., +octavo. London, 1837. + +Broke, Adm., Memoir of, by Rev. J. G. Brighton. Octavo, London, 1866. + +"Captains' Letters" in Archives at Washington. + +Codrington, Adm. Sir E. Memoirs, edited by his daughter. 2 vols., +octavo. London, 1873. + +Coggeshall, George. History of American Privateers. New York, 1876. + +Cooper, J. F. Naval History of the United States. New York, 1856. + +Dundonald, Earl. Autobiography of a Seaman. London, 1860. + +Douglass, Lord Howard. Naval Gunnery. Octavo. London, 1860. + +Emmons, Lieut. G. E. Statistical History of United States Navy, 1853. + +Farragut, Adm. D. G., Life of, by his son, Loyall Farragut. Octavo. +New York, 1878. + +Gravière, Adm., J. de la. Guerres Maritimes. 2 vols., octavo. Paris, 1881. + +James, William. Naval History of Great Britain. 6 vols., octavo. +London, 1837. + +James, William. Naval Occurrences with the Americans. Octavo, +London, 1817. + +Lossing, Benson J. Field-book of the War of 1812. Octavo. New York, 1869. + +Low, C. R. History of the Indian Navy, 1613 to 1863. 2 vols., octavo. +London, 1877. + +_London Naval Chronicle_. + +Marshall. Royal Naval Biography. 12 vols., octavo. London, 1825. + +"Masters-Commandant Letters" in the Archives at Washington. + +Morris, Com. Charles. Autobiography. Annapolis, 1880. + +Naval Archives at Washington. + +Niles. _Weekly Register_. + +Pielat. B. La Vie et les Actions Mémorables du St. Michel de Ruyter. +Amsterdam, 1677. + +Rivière, Lieut. H. La Marine Française sous le Régime de Louis XV. +Paris, 1859. + +Tatnall, Commod., Life, by C. C. Jones, Jr. Savannah, 1878. + +Toussard, L. de. American Artillerists' Companion. Phila., 1811. + +Troude, O. Batailles Navales de la France. Paris, 1868. + +Ward, Com. J. H. Manual of Naval Tactics. 1859. + +Yonge, Charles Duke. History of the British Navy. 3 vols., octavo. +London, 1866. + + + +AUTHORITIES REFERRED TO IN CHAPTER X + +Alison, Sir A. History of Europe. Ninth edition. 20 vols. London, 1852. + +Butler, Adjutant-General Robert. Official Report for the Morning +of Jan. 8, 1815. + +Codrington, Admiral Sir Edward. Memoir of, by Lady Bourchier. +London, 1873. + +Cole, John William. Memoirs of British Generals Distinguished +during the Peninsular War. London, 1856. + +Court of Inquiry on Conduct of General Morgan. Official Report. + +Gleig, Ensign H. R. Narrative of the Campaigns of the British +Army at Washington, Baltimore, and New Orleans. Philadelphia, 1821. + +Jackson, Andrew. As a Public Man. A sketch by W G. Sumner. Boston, 1882. + +Jackson, General Andrew. Official Letters. + +James, William. Military Occurrences of the Late War. 2 vols. +London, 1818. + +Keane, Major-General John. Letter, December 26, 1814. + +Lambert, General. Letters, January 10 and 28, 1815. + +Latour, Major A. Lacarriex. Historical Memoir of the War in West +Florida and Louisiana. Translated from the French by H. P. Nugent. +Philadelphia, 1816. + +Lossing, Benson J. Field-Book of the War of 1812. New York, 1859. + +Patterson, Com. Daniel G. Letters, Dec. 20, 1814, and Jan. 13, 1815. + +Monroe, James. Sketch of his Life, by Daniel C. Gilman. 16mo. Boston, 1883. + +Napier, Maj.-Gen. Sir W. F. P. History of the War in the Peninsula. +5 vols. New York, 1882. + +Scott, Lieut.-Gen. W. Memoirs, by himself, 2 vols. New York, 1864. + +Thornton, Col. W. Letter, Jan. 8, 1815. + + + +CONTENTS + + +PREFACE + +Chapter I + +INTRODUCTORY + +Causes of the war of 1812--Conflicting views of America and Britain +as regards neutral rights--Those of the former power right--Impossibility +of avoiding hostilities--Declaration of war June 18, 1812--Slight +preparations made--General features of the contest--Race identity +of combatants--The treaty of peace nominally leaves the situation +unchanged--But practically settles the dispute in our favor in respect +to maritime rights--The British navy and its reputation prior to +1812--Comparison with other European navies--British and American +authorities consulted in the present work + +Chapter II + +Overwhelming naval supremacy of England when America declared war +against her--Race identity of the combatants--American navy at the +beginning of the war--Officers well trained--Causes tending to make +our seamen especially efficient--Close similarity between British +and American sailors--Our ships manned chiefly by native Americans, +many of whom had formerly been impressed into the British navy--Quotas +of seamen contributed by the different States--Navy yards--Lists +of officers and men--List of vessels--Tonnage--Different ways of +estimating it in Britain and America--Ratings--American ships +properly rated--Armaments of the frigates and corvettes--Three +styles of guns used--Difference between long guns and carronades--Short +weight of American shot--Comparison of British frigates rating 38 +and American frigates rating 44 guns--Compared with a 74 + +Chapter III + +1812 ON THE OCEAN + +Commodore Rodgers' cruise and unsuccessful chase of the +_Belvidera_--Engagement between _Belvidera_ and _President_--_Hornet_ +captures a privateer--Cruise of the _Essex_--Captain Hull's cruise +and escape from the squadron of Commodore Broke--_Constitution_ +captures _Guerrière_--Marked superiority shown by the Americans--_Wasp_ +captures _Frolic_--Disproportionate loss on British side--Both +afterward captured by _Poictiers_--Second unsuccessful cruise of +Commodore Rodgers--_United States_ captures _Macedonian_--_Constitution_ +captures _Java_--Cruise of _Essex_--Summary + +Chapter IV + +1812 ON THE LAKES + +PRELIMINARY.--The combatants starting nearly on an equality--Difficulties +of creating a naval force--Difficulty of comparing the force of the +rival squadrons--Meagreness of the published accounts--Unreliability +of authorities, especially James.--ONTARIO--Extraordinary nature of +the American squadron--Canadian squadron a kind of water +militia--Sackett's Harbor feebly attacked by Commodore Earle--Commodore +Chauncy attacks the Royal George--And bombards York.--ERIE--Lieutenant +Elliot captures the _Detroit_ and _Caledonia_--Lieutenant Angus' +unsuccessful attack on Red House barracks + +Chapter V + +1813 ON THE OCEAN + +Blockade of the American coast--Commodore Porter's campaign with +the _Essex_ in the South Pacific--_Hornet_ blockades Bonne +Citoyenne--_Hornet_ captures _Resolution_--_Hornet_ captures +_Peacock_--Generous treatment shown to the conquered--_Viper_ +captured by _Narcissus_--American privateers cut out by British +boats--Third cruise of Commodore Rodgers--_United States_, +_Macedonian_, and _Wasp_ blockaded in New London--Broke's challenge +to Lawrence--The _Chesapeake_ captured by the _Shannon_--Comments +and criticisms by various authorities--_Surveyor_ captured by +boats of _Narcissus_--Futile gun-boat actions--British attack on +Craney Island repulsed--Cutting out expeditions--The _Argus_ captured +by the _Pelican_--The _Enterprise_ captures the _Boxer_--Ocean warfare +of 1813 in favor of British--Summary + +Chapter VI + +1813 ON THE LAKES + +ONTARIO--Comparison of the rival squadrons--Chauncy's superior in +strength--Chauncy takes York and Fort George--Yeo is repulsed at +Sackett's Harbor, but keeps command of the lake--_The Lady of the +Lake_ captures _Lady Murray_--_Hamilton_ and _Scourge_ founder in a +squall--Yeo's partial victory off Niagara--Indecisive action off +the Genesee--Chauncy's partial victory off Burlington, which gives +him the command of the lake--Yeo and Chauncy compared--Reasons +for American success.--ERIE--Perry's success in creating a +fleet--His victory--"Glory" of it overestimated--Cause of his +success--CHAMPLAIN--The _Growler_ and _Eagle_ captured by +gun-boats--Summary of year's campaign + +Chapter VII + +1814 ON THE OCEAN + +Strictness of the blockade--Cruise of Rodgers--Cruise of the +_Constitution_--Chased into Marblehead--Attempt to cut-out the +_Alligator_--The _Essex_ captured after engagement with _Phoebe_ and +_Cherub_--The _Frolic_ captured--The _Peacock_ captures the +_Epervier_--Commodore Barney's flotilla afloat--The British in +the Chesapeake--Capture of Washington, and burning of the public +buildings--The _Wasp_ captures the _Reindeer_--The _Wasp_ sinks the +_Avon_--Cruise and loss of the _Adams_--The privateer _General +Armstrong_--The privateer _Prince de Neufchatel_--Loss of the gun-boats +on Lake Borgne--Fighting near New Orleans--Summary + +Chapter VIII + +1814 ON THE LAKES + +ONTARIO--The contest one of ship-building merely--Statistics of +the two squadrons--Serious sickness among the Americans--Extreme +caution of the commanders, verging on timidity--Yeo takes Oswego +and blockades Sackett's Harbor--British gun-boats captured--Chauncy +blockades Kingston.--ERIE--Captain Sinclair burns St. Joseph--Makes +unsuccessful expedition against Mackinaw--Daring and successful +cutting-out expeditions of the British--Capture of the _Ohio_ and +_Somers_.--CHAMPLAIN--Macdonough's and Downie's squadrons--James' +erroneous statements concerning them--Gallant engagement and +splendid victory of Macdonough--Macdonough one of the greatest +of American sea-captains + +Chapter IX + +1815 CONCLUDING OPERATIONS + +The _President_ captured by Captain Hayes' squadron--Successful +cutting-out expedition of the Americans--American privateer +_Chasseur_ captures _St. Lawrence_--The _Constitution_ engages the +_Cyane_ and the _Levant_ and captures both--Escapes from a British +squadron--The _Hornet_ captures the _Penguin_ and escapes from pursuit +of the _Cornwallis_--The _Peacock's_ wanton attack on the +_Nautilus_--Wanton attack on American gun-boat after treaty of +peace--Summary of events in 1815--Remarks on the war--Tables of +comparative loss, etc.--Compared with results of Anglo-French struggle + +Chapter X + +1815 THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS + +The war on land generally disastrous--British send great expedition +against New Orleans--Jackson prepares for the defence of the city--Night +attack on the British advance guard--Artillery duels--Great Battle +of Jan. 8th, 1815--Slaughtering repulse of the main attack--Rout of +the Americans on the right bank of the river--Final retreat of the +British--Observations on the character of the troops and commanders +engaged + +APPENDIX + + + +Chapter I + + +INTRODUCTORY + +_Causes of the War of 1812--Conflicting views of America and Britain +as regards neutral rights--Those of the former power right--Impossibility +of avoiding hostilities--Declaration of war--General features +of the contest--Racial identity of the contestants--The treaty of +peace nominally leaves the situation unchanged--But practically +settles the dispute in our favor in respect to maritime rights--The +British navy and its reputation prior to 1812--Comparison with other +European navies--British and American authorities consulted in the +present work._ + +The view professed by Great Britain in 1812 respecting the rights +of belligerents and neutrals was diametrically opposite to that held +by the United States. "Between England and the United States of +America," writes a British author, "a spirit of animosity, caused +chiefly by the impressment of British seamen, or of seamen asserted +to be such, from on board of American merchant vessels, had unhappily +subsisted for a long time" prior to the war. "It is, we believe," +he continues, "an acknowledged maxim of public law, as well that +no nation but the one he belongs to can release a subject from his +natural allegiance, as that, provided the jurisdiction of another +independent state be not infringed, every nation has a right to +enforce the services of her subjects wherever they may be found. +Nor has any neutral nation such a jurisdiction over her merchant +vessels upon the high seas as to exclude a belligerent nation from +the right of searching them for contraband of war or for the property +or persons of her enemies. And if, in the exercise of that right, +the belligerent should discover on board of the neutral vessel a +subject who has withdrawn himself from his lawful allegiance, the +neutral can have no fair ground for refusing to deliver him up; +more especially if that subject is proved to be a deserter from +the sea or land service of the former." [Footnote: "The Naval History +of Great Britain," by William James, vol. iv, p. 324. (New edition +by Captain Chamier, R. N., London, 1837.)] + +Great Britain's doctrine was "once a subject always a subject." On +the other hand, the United States maintained that any foreigner, +after five years' residence within her territory, and after having +complied with certain forms, became one of her citizens as completely +as if he was native born. Great Britain contended that her war +ships possessed the right of searching all neutral vessels for the +property and persons of her foes. The United States, resisting this +claim, asserted that "free bottoms made free goods," and that +consequently her ships when on the high seas should not be molested +on any pretext whatever. Finally, Great Britain's system of +impressment, [Footnote: The best idea of which can be gained by +reading Marryatt's novels.] by which men could be forcibly seized +and made to serve in her navy, no matter at what cost to themselves, +was repugnant to every American idea. + +Such wide differences in the views of the two nations produced +endless difficulties. To escape the press-gang, or for other +reasons, many British seamen took service under the American flag; +and if they were demanded back, it is not likely that they or their +American shipmates had much hesitation in swearing either that they +were not British at all, or else that they had been naturalized as +Americans. Equally probable is it that the American blockade-runners +were guilty of a great deal of fraud and more or less thinly veiled +perjury. But the wrongs done by the Americans were insignificant +compared with those they received. Any innocent merchant vessel +was liable to seizure at any moment; and when overhauled by a +British cruiser short of men was sure to be stripped of most of +her crew. The British officers were themselves the judges as to +whether a seaman should be pronounced a native of America or of +Britain, and there was no appeal from their judgment. If a captain +lacked his full complement there was little doubt as to the view +he would take of any man's nationality. The wrongs inflicted on our +seafaring countrymen by their impressment into foreign ships formed +the main cause of the war. + +There were still other grievances which are thus presented by the +British Admiral Cochrane. [Footnote: "Autobiography of a Seaman," +by Thomas, tenth Earl of Dundonald, Admiral of the Red; Rear-Admiral +of the Fleet, London, 1860, vol. i, p. 24.] "Our treatment of its +(America's) citizens was scarcely in accordance with the national +privileges to which the young Republic had become entitled. There +were no doubt many individuals among the American people who, caring +little for the Federal Government, considered it more profitable +to break than to keep the laws of nations by aiding and supporting +our enemy (France), and it was against such that the efforts of the +squadron had chiefly been directed; but the way the object was +carried out was scarcely less an infraction of those national laws +which we were professedly enforcing. The practice of taking English +(and American) seamen out of American ships without regard to the +safety of navigating them when thus deprived of their hands has +been already mentioned. To this may be added the detention of +vessels against which nothing contrary to international neutrality +could be established, whereby their cargoes became damaged; the +compelling them, on suspicion only, to proceed to ports other than +those to which they were destined; and generally treating them as +though they were engaged in contraband trade. * * * American ships +were not permitted to quit English ports without giving security +for the discharge of their cargoes in some other British or neutral +port." On the same subject James [Footnote: _L. c._, iv, 325.] +writes: "When, by the maritime supremacy of England, France could +no longer trade for herself, America proffered her services, as a +neutral, to trade for her; and American merchants and their agents, +in the gains that flowed in, soon found a compensation for all the +perjury and fraud necessary to cheat the former out of her +belligerent rights. The high commercial importance of the United +States thus obtained, coupled with a similarity of language and, +to a superficial observer, a resemblance in person between the +natives of America and Great Britain, has caused the former to be +the chief, if not the only sufferers by the exercise of the right +of search. Chiefly indebted for their growth and prosperity to +emigration from Europe, the United States hold out every allurement +to foreigners, particularly to British seamen, whom, by a process +peculiarly their own, they can naturalize as quickly as a dollar +can exchange masters and a blank form, ready signed and sworn to, +can be filled up. [Footnote: This is an exaggeration.] It is the +knowledge of this fact that makes British naval officers when +searching for deserters from their service, so harsh in their +scrutiny, and so sceptical of American oaths and asseverations." + +The last sentence of the foregoing from James is an euphemistic +way of saying that whenever a British commander short of men came +across an American vessel he impressed all of her crew that he +wanted, whether they were citizens of the United States or not. It +must be remembered, however, that the only reason why Great Britain +did us more injury than any other power was because she was better +able to do so. None of her acts were more offensive than Napoleon's +Milan decree, by which it was declared that any neutral vessel which +permitted itself to be searched by a British cruiser should be +considered as British, and as the lawful prize of any French vessel. +French frigates and privateers were very apt to snap up any American +vessel they came across and were only withheld at all by the memory +of the sharp dressing they had received in the West Indies during +the quasi-war of 1799-1800. What we undoubtedly ought to have done +was to have adopted the measure actually proposed in Congress, and +declared war on both France and England. As it was, we chose as a +foe the one that had done, and could still do, us the greatest injury. + +The principles for which the United States contended in 1812 are +now universally accepted, and those so tenaciously maintained by +Great Britain find no advocates in the civilized world. That England +herself was afterward completely reconciled to our views was amply +shown by her intense indignation when Commodore Wilkes, in the +exercise of the right of search for the persons of the foes of his +country, stopped the neutral British ship _Trent_; while the applause +with which the act was greeted in America proves pretty clearly +another fact, that we had warred for the right, not because it +_was_ the right, but because it agreed with our self-interest to do +so. We were contending for "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights": meaning +by the former expression, freedom to trade wherever we chose without +hindrance save from the power with whom we were trading; and by the +latter, that a man who happened to be on the sea should have the +same protection accorded to a man who remained on land. Nominally, +neither of these questions was settled by, or even alluded to, in +the treaty of peace; but the immense increase of reputation that +the navy acquired during the war practically decided both points +in our favor. Our sailors had gained too great a name for any one +to molest them with impunity again. + +Holding views on these maritime subjects so radically different +from each other, the two nations could not but be continually dealing +with causes of quarrel. Not only did British cruisers molest our +merchant-men, but at length one of them, the 50-gun ship _Leopard_, +attacked an American frigate, the _Chesapeake_, when the latter was +so lumbered up that she could not return a shot, killed or disabled +some twenty of her men and took away four others, one Briton and +three Americans, who were claimed as deserters. For this act an +apology was offered, but it failed to restore harmony between +the two nations. Soon afterward another action was fought. The +American frigate _President_, Commodore Rodgers, attacked the +British sloop _Little Belt_, Captain Bingham, and exchanged one +or two broadsides with her,--the frigate escaping scot-free +while the sloop was nearly knocked to pieces. Mutual recriminations +followed, each side insisting that the other was the assailant. + +When Great Britain issued her Orders in Council forbidding our +trading with France, we retaliated by passing an embargo act, which +prevented us from trading at all. There could be but one result to +such a succession of incidents, and that was war. Accordingly, in +June, 1812, war was declared; and as a contest for the rights of +seamen, it was largely waged on the ocean. We also had not a little +fighting to do on land, in which, as a rule, we came out second-best. +Few or no preparations for the war had been made, and the result +was such as might have been anticipated. After dragging on through +three dreary and uneventful years it came to an end in 1815, by a +peace which left matters in almost precisely the state in which +the war had found them. On land and water the contest took the form +of a succession of petty actions, in which the glory acquired by +the victor seldom eclipsed the disgrace incurred by the vanquished. +Neither side succeeded in doing what it intended. Americans declared +that Canada must and should be conquered, but the conquering came +quite as near being the other way. British writers insisted that +the American navy should be swept from the sea; and, during the +sweeping process it increased fourfold. + +When the United States declared war, Great Britain was straining +every nerve and muscle in a death struggle with the most formidable +military despotism of modern times, and was obliged to entrust the +defence of her Canadian colonies to a mere handful of regulars, aided +by the local fencibles. But Congress had provided even fewer trained +soldiers, and relied on militia. The latter chiefly exercised their +fighting abilities upon one another in duelling, and, as a rule, +were afflicted with conscientious scruples whenever it was +necessary to cross the frontier and attack the enemy. Accordingly, +the campaign opened with the bloodless surrender of an American +general to a much inferior British force, and the war continued +much as it had begun; we suffered disgrace after disgrace, while +the losses we inflicted, in turn, on Great Britain were so slight +as hardly to attract her attention. At last, having crushed her +greater foe, she turned to crush the lesser, and, in her turn, +suffered ignominious defeat. By this time events had gradually +developed a small number of soldiers on our northern frontier, +who, commanded by Scott and Brown, were able to contend on equal +terms with the veteran troops to whom they were opposed, though +these formed part of what was then undoubtedly the most formidable +fighting infantry any European nation possessed. The battles at +this period of the struggle were remarkable for the skill and +stubborn courage with which they were waged, as well as for the +heavy loss involved; but the number of combatants was so small +that in Europe they would have been regarded as mere outpost +skirmishes, and they wholly failed to attract any attention +abroad in that period of colossal armies. + +When Great Britain seriously turned her attention to her +transatlantic foe, and assembled in Canada an army of 14,000 men +at the head of Lake Champlain, Congressional forethought enabled +it to be opposed by soldiers who, it is true, were as well +disciplined, as hardy, and as well commanded as any in the world, +but who were only a few hundred strong, backed by more or less +incompetent militia. Only Macdonough's skill and Sir George +Prevost's incapacity saved us from a serious disaster; the sea-fight +reflected high honor on our seamen, but the retreat of the British +land-forces was due to their commander and not their antagonists. +Meanwhile a large British fleet in the Chesapeake had not achieved +much glory by the destruction of local oyster-boats and the burning +of a few farmers' houses, so an army was landed to strike a decisive +blow. At Bladensburg [Footnote: See the "Capture of Washington," +by Edward D. Ingraham (Philadelphia. 1849).] the five thousand +British regulars, utterly worn out by heat and fatigue, by their +mere appearance, frightened into a panic double their number of +American militia well posted. But the only success attained was +burning the public buildings of Washington, and that result was +of dubious value. Baltimore was attacked next, and the attack +repulsed, after the forts and ships had shelled one another with +the slight results that usually attend that spectacular and harmless +species of warfare. + +The close of the contest was marked by the extraordinary battle of +New Orleans. It was a perfectly useless shedding of blood, since +peace had already been declared. There is hardly another contest of +modern times where the defeated side suffered such frightful carnage, +while the victors came off almost scatheless. It is quite in +accordance with the rest of the war that the militia, hitherto worse +than useless, should on this occasion win against great odds in point +of numbers; and, moreover, that their splendid victory should have +been of little consequence in its effects upon the result. On the +whole, the contest by land, where we certainly ought to have been +successful, reflected greater credit on our antagonists than upon +us, in spite of the services of Scott, Brown, and Jackson. Our small +force of regulars and volunteers did excellently; as for the militia, +New Orleans proved that they _could_ fight superbly, and the other +battles that they generally _would not_ fight at all. + +At sea, as will appear, the circumstances were widely different. +Here we possessed a small but highly effective force, the ships +well built, manned by thoroughly trained men, and commanded by +able and experienced officers. The deeds of our navy form a part +of history over which any American can be pardoned for lingering. + + * * * * * + +Such was the origin, issue, and general character of the war. It +may now be well to proceed to a comparison of the authorities on +the subject. Allusion has already been made to them in the preface, +but a fuller reference seems to be necessary in this connection. + +At the close of the contest, the large majority of historians who +wrote of it were so bitterly rancorous that their statements must +be received with caution. For the main facts, I have relied, +wherever it was practicable, upon the official letters of the +commanding officers, taking each as authority for his own force +and loss.[Footnote: As where Broke states his own force at 330, +his antagonists at 440, and the American court of inquiry makes +the numbers 396 and 379, I have taken them as being 330 and 379 +respectively. This is the only just method; I take it for granted +that each commander meant to tell the truth, and of course knew +his own force, while he might very naturally and in perfect good +faith exaggerate his antagonist's.] For all the British victories +we have British official letters, which tally almost exactly, as +regards matters of _fact_ and not of _opinion_, with the corresponding +American accounts. For the first year the British also published +official accounts of their defeats, which in the cases of the +_Guerrière_, _Macedonian_ and _Frolic_, I have followed as closely +as the accounts of the American victors. The last British official +letter published announcing a defeat was that in the case of the +_Java_, and it is the only letter that I have not strictly accepted: +The fact that no more were published thereafter is of itself +unfortunate; and from the various contradictions it contains it +would appear to have been tampered with. The surgeon's report +accompanying it is certainly false. Subsequent to 1812 no letter +of a defeated British commander was published, [Footnote: Except +about the battles on the Lakes, where I have accordingly given the +same credit to the accounts both of the British and of the Americans.] +and I have to depend upon the various British historians, especially +James, of whom more anon. + +The American and British historians from whom we are thus at +times forced to draw our material regard the war from very different +stand-points, and their accounts generally differ. Each writer +naturally so colored the affair as to have it appear favorable to +his own side. Sometimes this was done intentionally and sometimes +not. Not unfrequently errors are made against the historian's own +side; as when the British author, Brenton, says that the British +brig _Peacock_ mounted 32's instead of 24's, while Lossing in his +"Field-Book of the War of 1812" makes the same mistake about the +armament of the American brig _Argus_. Errors of this description +are, of course, as carefully to be guarded against as any others. +Mere hearsay reports, such as "it has been said," "a prisoner on +board the opposing fleet has observed," "an American (or British) +newspaper of such and such a date has remarked," are of course to +be rejected. There is a curious parallelism in the errors on both +sides. For example, the American, Mr. Low, writing in 1813, tells +how the _Constitution_, 44, captured the _Guerrière_ of 49 guns, +while the British Lieutenant Low, writing in 1880, tells how the +_Pelican_, 18, captured the _Argus_ of 20 guns. Each records the +truth but not the whole truth, for although rating 44 and 18 the +victors carried respectively 54 and 21 guns, of heavier metal than +those of their antagonists. Such errors are generally intentional. +Similarly, most American writers mention the actions in which the +privateers were victorious, but do not mention those in which they +were defeated; while the British, in turn, record every successful +"cutting-out" expedition, but ignore entirely those which terminated +unfavorably. Other errors arise from honest ignorance. Thus, James +in speaking of the repulse of the _Endymion's_ boats by the +_Neufchatel_ gives the latter a crew of 120 men; she had more than +this number originally, but only 40 were in her at the time of the +attack. So also when the captain of the _Pelican_ writes that the +officers of the _Argus_ report her loss at 40, when they really +reported it at 24 or when Captain Dacres thought the _Constitution_ +had lost about 20 men instead of 14. The American gun-boat captains +in recounting their engagements with the British frigates invariably +greatly overestimated the loss of the latter. So that on both sides +there were some intentional misstatements or garblings, and a much +more numerous class of simple blunders, arising largely from an +incapacity for seeing more than one side of the question. + +Among the early British writers upon this war, the ablest was +James. He devoted one work, his "Naval Occurrences," entirely to +it; and it occupies the largest part of the sixth volume of his more +extensive "History of the British Navy." [Footnote: A new edition, +London, 1826.] Two other British writers, Lieutenant Marshall +[Footnote: "Royal Naval Biography," by John Marshall (London, +1823-1835).] and Captain Brenton, [Footnote: "Naval History of +Great Britain," by Edward Pelham Brenton (new edition, London, +1837).] wrote histories of the same events, about the same time; +but neither of these naval officers produced half as valuable a +work as did the civilian James. Marshall wrote a dozen volumes, +each filled with several scores of dreary panegyrics, or memoirs +of as many different officers. There is no attempt at order, hardly +any thing about the ships, guns, or composition of the crews; and +not even the pretence of giving both sides, the object being to +make every Englishman appear in his best light. The work is +analogous to the numerous lives of Decatur, Bainbridge, Porter, +etc., that appeared in the United States about the same time, and +is quite as untrustworthy. Brenton made a far better and very +interesting book, written on a good and well-connected plan, and +apparently with a sincere desire to tell the truth. He accepts the +British official accounts as needing nothing whatever to supplement +them, precisely as Cooper accepts the American officials'. A more +serious fault is his inability to be accurate. That this inaccuracy +is not intentional is proved by the fact that it tells as often +against his own side as against his opponents. He says, for example, +that the guns of Perry's and Barclay's squadrons "were about equal +in number and weight," that the _Peacock_ (British) was armed with +32's instead of 24's, and underestimates the force of the second +_Wasp_. But the blunders are quite as bad when distributed as when +confined to one side; in addition, Brenton's disregard of all +details makes him of but little use. + +James, as already said, is by far the most valuable authority on +the war, as regards _purely British_ affairs. He enters minutely +into details, and has evidently laboriously hunted up his authorities. +He has examined the ships' logs, the Admiralty reports, various +treatises, all the _Gazette_ reports, gives very well-chosen +extracts, has arranged his work in chronological order, discriminates +between the officers that deserve praise and those that deserve +blame, and in fact writes a work which ought to be consulted by +every student of naval affairs. But he is unfortunately afflicted +with a hatred toward the Americans that amounts to a monomania. He +wishes to make out as strong a case as possible against them. The +_animus_ of his work may be gathered from the not over complimentary +account of the education of the youthful seafaring American, which +can be found in vol. vi, p. 113, of his "History." On page 153 he +asserts that he is an "impartial historian"; and about three lines +before mentions that "it may suit the Americans to invent any +falsehood, no matter how barefaced, to foist a valiant character +on themselves." On page 419 he says that Captain Porter is to be +believed, "so far as is borne out by proof (the only safe way where +an American is concerned),"--which somewhat sweeping denunciation +of the veracity of all of Captain Porter's compatriots would seem +to indicate that James was not, perhaps, in that dispassionate +frame of mind best suited for writing history. That he should be +biassed against individual captains can be understood, but when he +makes rabid onslaughts upon the American people as a whole, he +renders it difficult for an American, at any rate, to put implicit +credence in him. His statements are all the harder to confute +when they are erroneous, because they are intentionally so. It is +not, as with Brenton and Marshall, because he really thinks a +British captain _cannot_ be beaten, except by some kind of distorted +special providence, for no man says worse things than he does about +certain officers and crews. A writer of James' undoubted ability +must have known perfectly well that his statements were untrue in +many instances, as where he garbles Hilyar's account of Porter's +loss, or misstates the comparative force of the fleets on Lake +Champlain. + +When he says (p. 194) that Captain Bainbridge wished to run +away from the _Java_, and would have done so if he had not been +withheld by the advice of his first lieutenant, who was a renegade +Englishman, [Footnote: Who, by the way, was Mr. Parker, born in +Virginia, and never in England in his life.] it is not of much +consequence whether his making the statement was due to excessive +credulity or petty meanness, for, in either case, whether the +defect was in his mind or his morals, it is enough to greatly +impair the value of his other "facts." Again, when James (p. 165) +states that Decatur ran away from the _Macedonian_ until, by some +marvellous optical delusion, he mistook her for a 32, he merely +detracts a good deal from the worth of his own account. When the +Americans adopt boarding helmets, he considers it as proving +conclusively that they are suffering from an acute attack of +cowardice. On p. 122 he says that "had the _President_, when she +fell in with the _Belvidera_, been cruising alone * * * Commodore +Rodgers would have magnified the British frigate into a line-of-battle +ship, and have done his utmost to avoid her," which gives an excellent +idea of the weight to be attached to the various other anecdotes he +relates of the much-abused Commodore Rodgers. + +But it must always be remembered that untrustworthy as James is in +any thing referring purely to the Americans, he is no worse than +his compeers of both nationalities. The misstatements of Niles in +his "Weekly Register" about the British are quite as flagrant, and +his information about his own side even more valuable. [Footnote: +In Niles, by the way, can be found excellent examples of the +traditional American "spread-eagle" style. In one place I remember +his describing "The Immortal Rodgers," baulked of his natural prey, +the British, as "soaring about like the bold bald eagle of his +native land," seeking whom he might devour. The accounts he gives of +British line-of-battle ships fleeing from American 44's quite match +James' anecdotes of the latter's avoidance of British 38's and 36's +for fear they might mount twenty-four-pounders. The two works taken +together give a very good idea of the war; separately, either is +utterly unreliable, especially in matters of opinion.] Every little +American author crowed over Perry's "Nelsonic victory over a greatly +superior force." The _Constitution_ was declared to have been at a +disadvantage when she fought the _Guerrière_, and so on _ad +infinitum_. But these writers have all faded into oblivion, and +their writings are not even referred to, much less believed. James, +on the contrary, has passed through edition after edition, is +considered as unquestionable authority in his own country, and +largely throughout Europe, and has furnished the basis for every +subsequent account by British authors. From Alison to Lieutenant +Low, almost every English work, whether of a popular character or +not, is, in so far as it touches on the war, simply a "rehash" of +the works written by James. The consequence is that the British +and American accounts have astonishingly little resemblance. One +ascribes the capture of the British frigates simply to the fact +that their opponents were "cut down line-of-battle ships"; the +other gives all the glory to the "undaunted heroism," etc., of +the Yankee sailors. + +One not very creditable trait of the early American naval historians +gave their rivals a great advantage. The object of the former was +to make out that the _Constitution_, for example, won her victories +against an equal foe, and an exact statement of the forces showed +the contrary; so they always avoided figures, and thus left the +ground clear for James' careful misstatements. Even when they +criticised him they never went into details, confining themselves +to some remark about "hurling" his figures in his face with +"loathing." Even Cooper, interesting though his work is, has gone +far less into figures than he should, and seems to have paid little +if any attention to the British official statements, which of +course should be received as of equal weight with the American. +His comments on the actions are generally very fair, the book never +being disfigured by bitterness toward the British; but he is +certainly wrong, for example, in ascribing the loss of the +_Chesapeake_ solely to accident, that of the _Argus_ solely to her +inferiority in force, and so on. His disposition to praise _all_ +the American commanders may be generous, but is nevertheless unjust. +If Decatur's surrender of the _President_ is at least impliedly +praised, then Porter's defence of the _Essex_ can hardly receive +its just award. There is no weight in the commendation bestowed +upon Hull, if commendation, the same in kind though less in degree, +is bestowed upon Rodgers. It is a great pity that Cooper did not +write a criticism on James, for no one could have done it more +thoroughly. But he never mentions him, except once in speaking of +Barclay's fleet. In all probability this silence arose from sheer +contempt, and the certainty that most of James' remarks were false; +but the effect was that very many foreigners believe him to have +shirked the subject. He rarely gives any data by which the statements +of James can be disproved, and it is for this reason that I have +been obliged to criticise the latter's work very fully. Many of +James' remarks, however, defy criticism from their random nature, +as when he states that American midshipmen were chiefly masters and +mates of merchantmen, and does not give a single proof to support +the assertion. It would be nearly as true to assert that the +British midshipmen were for the most part ex-members of the +prize-ring, and as much labor would be needed to disprove it. In +other instances it is quite enough to let his words speak for +themselves, as where he says (p. 155) that of the American sailors +one third in number and one half in point of effectiveness were in +reality British. That is, of the 450 men the _Constitution_ had when +she fought the _Java_ 150 were British, and the remaining 300 could +have been as effectively replaced by 150 more British. So a very +little logic works out a result that James certainly did not intend +to arrive at; namely, that 300 British led by American officers +could beat, with ease and comparative impunity, 400 British led by +their own officers. He also forgets that the whole consists of the +sum of the parts. He accounts for the victories of the Americans +by stating (p. 280) that they were lucky enough to meet with frigates +and brigs who had unskilful gunners or worthless crews; he also +carefully shows that the _Macedonian_ was incompetently handled, +the _Peacock_ commanded by a mere martinet, the _Avon's_ crew +unpractised weak and unskilful, the _Java's_ exceedingly poor, and +more to the same effect. Now the Americans took in single fight +three frigates and seven sloops, and when as many as ten vessels +are met it is exceedingly probable that they represent the fair +average; so that James' strictures, so far as true, simply show +that the average British ship was very apt to possess, comparatively +speaking, an incompetent captain or unskilful crew. These +disadvantages were not felt when opposed to navies in which they +existed to an even greater extent, but became very apparent when +brought into contact with a power whose few officers knew how to +play their own parts very nearly to perfection, and, something +equally important, knew how to make first-rate crews out of what +was already good raw material. Finally, a large proportion of +James' abuse of the Americans sufficiently refutes itself, and +perhaps Cooper's method of contemptuously disregarding him was the +best; but no harm can follow from devoting a little space to +commenting upon him. + +Much the best American work is Lieutenant George E. Emmons' +statistical "History of the United States Navy." Unfortunately it +is merely a mass of excellently arranged and classified statistics, +and while of invaluable importance to the student, is not interesting +to the average reader. Almost all the statements I have made of +the force, tonnage, and armament of the American vessels, though +I have whenever practicable taken them from the Navy Records, etc., +yet could be just as well quoted from Emmons. Copies of most of +the American official letters which I have quoted can be found in +"Niles' Register," volumes 1 to 10, and all of the British ones in +the "London Naval Chronicle" for the same years. It is to these two +authorities that I am most indebted, and nearly as much so to the +"American State Papers," vol. xiv. Next in order come Emmons, +Cooper, and the invaluable, albeit somewhat scurrilous, James; and +a great many others whose names I have quoted in their proper +places. In commenting upon the actions, I have, whenever possible, +drawn from some standard work, such as Jurien de la Gravière's +"Guerres Maritimes," Lord Howard Douglass' "Naval Gunnery," +or, better still, from the lives and memoirs of Admirals Farragut, +Codrington, Broke, or Durham. The titles of the various works will +be found given in full as they are referred to. [Footnote: To get +an idea of the American seamen of that time Cooper's novels, +"Miles Wallingford," "Home as Found," and the "Pilot," are far +better than any history; in the "Two Admirals" the description of +the fleet manoeuvring is unrivalled. His view of Jack's life is +rather rose-colored however. "Tom Cringle's log" ought to be read +for the information it gives. Marryatt's novels will show some of +the darker aspects of sailor life.] In a few cases, where extreme +accuracy was necessary, or where, as in the case of the _President's_ +capture, it was desirable that there should be no room for dispute +as to the facts, I have given the authority for each sentence; but +in general this would be too cumbersome, and so I have confined +myself to referring, at or near the beginning of the account of +each action, to the authorities from whom I have taken it. For the +less important facts on which every one is agreed I have often given +no references. + + + +Chapter II + + +_Overwhelming naval supremacy of England when America declared war +against her--Race identity of the combatants--The American navy at +the beginning of the war--Officers well trained--Causes tending to +make our seamen especially efficient--Close similarity between the +British and American sailors--Our ships manned chiefly by native +Americans, many of whom had formerly been impressed into the British +navy--Quotas of seamen contributed by the different +States--Navy-yards--Lists of officers and men--List of +vessels--Tonnage--Different ways of estimating it in Britain and +America--Ratings--American ships properly rated--Armaments of the +frigates and corvettes--Three styles of guns used--Difference +between long guns and carronades--Short weight of American +shot--Comparison of British frigates rating 38, and American +frigates rating 44 guns--Compared with a 74._ + +During the early years of this century England's naval power stood +at a height never reached before or since by that of any other +nation. On every sea her navies rode, not only triumphant, but +with none to dispute their sway. The island folk had long claimed +the mastery of the ocean, and they had certainly succeeded in +making their claim completely good during the time of bloody +warfare that followed the breaking out of the French Revolution. +Since the year 1792 each European nation, in turn, had learned to +feel bitter dread of the weight of England's hand. In the Baltic, +Sir Samuel Hood had taught the Russians that they must needs keep +in port when the English cruisers were in the offing. The descendants +of the Vikings had seen their whole navy destroyed at Copenhagen. +No Dutch fleet ever put out after the day when, off Camperdown, Lord +Duncan took possession of De Winter's shattered ships. But a few +years before 1812, the greatest sea-fighter of all time had died +in Trafalgar Bay, and in dying had crumbled to pieces the navies +of France and of Spain. + +From that day England's task was but to keep in port such of her +foes' vessels as she had not destroyed. France alone still possessed +fleets that could be rendered formidable, and so, from the Scheldt +to Toulon, her harbors were watched and her coasts harried by the +blockading squadrons of the English. Elsewhere the latter had no +fear of their power being seriously assailed; but their vast commerce +and numerous colonies needed ceaseless protection. Accordingly in +every sea their cruisers could be found, of all sizes, from the +stately ship-of-the-line, with her tiers of heavy cannon and her +many hundreds of men, down to the little cutter carrying but a +score of souls and a couple of light guns. All these cruisers, but +especially those of the lesser rates, were continually brought into +contact with such of the hostile vessels as had run through the +blockade, or were too small to be affected by it. French and Italian +frigates were often fought and captured when they were skirting +their own coasts, or had started off on a plundering cruise through +the Atlantic, or to the Indian Ocean; and though the Danes had lost +their larger ships they kept up a spirited warfare with brigs and +gun-boats. So the English marine was in constant exercise, attended +with almost invariable success. + +Such was Great Britain's naval power when the Congress of the United +States declared war upon her. While she could number her thousand +sail, the American navy included but half a dozen frigates, and six +or eight sloops and brigs; and it is small matter for surprise that +the British officers should have regarded their new foe with +contemptuous indifference. Hitherto the American seamen had never +been heard of except in connection with two or three engagements +with French frigates, and some obscure skirmishes against the Moors +of Tripoli; none of which could possibly attract attention in the +years that saw Aboukir, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar. And yet these +same petty wars were the school which raised our marine to the +highest standard of excellence. A continuous course of victory, won +mainly by seamanship, had made the English sailor overweeningly +self-confident, and caused him to pay but little regard to manoeuvring +or even to gunnery. Meanwhile the American learned, by receiving +hard knocks, how to give them, and belonged to a service too young +to feel an over-confidence in itself. One side had let its training +relax, while the other had carried it to the highest possible point. +Hence our ships proved, on the whole, victorious in the apparently +unequal struggle, and the men who had conquered the best seamen of +Europe were now in turn obliged to succumb. Compared with the great +naval battles of the preceding few years, out bloodiest conflicts +were mere skirmishes, but they were skirmishes between the hitherto +acknowledged kings of the ocean, and new men who yet proved to be +more than their equals. For over a hundred years, or since the time +when they had contended on equal terms with the great Dutch admirals, +the British had shown a decided superiority to their various foes, +and during the latter quarter of the time this superiority, as +already said, was very marked, indeed; in consequence, the victories +of the new enemy attracted an amount of attention altogether +disproportionate to their material effects. And it is a curious fact +that our little navy, in which the art of handling and fighting the +old broadside, sailing frigate in single conflict was brought to +the highest point of perfection ever reached, that this same navy +should have contained the first representative of the modern war +steamer, and also the torpedo--the two terrible engines which were +to drive from the ocean the very whitewinged craft that had first +won honor for the starry flag. The tactical skill of Hull or Decatur +is now of merely archaic interest, and has but little more bearing +on the manoeuvring of a modern fleet than have the tactics of the +Athenian gallies. But the war still conveys some most practical +lessons as to the value of efficient ships and, above all, of +efficient men in them. Had we only possessed the miserable gun-boats, +our men could have done nothing; had we not possessed good men, the +heavy frigates would have availed as little. Poor ships and impotent +artillery had lost the Dutch almost their entire navy; fine ships +and heavy cannon had not saved the French and Spanish from the like +fate. We owed our success to putting sailors even better than the +Dutch on ships even finer than those built by the two Latin seaboard +powers. + +The first point to be remembered in order to write a fair account +of this war is that the difference in fighting skill, which certainly +existed between the two parties, was due mainly to training, and +not to the nature of the men. It seems certain that the American +had in the beginning somewhat the advantage, because his surroundings, +partly physical and partly social and political, had forced him into +habits of greater self-reliance. Therefore, on the average, he +offered rather the best material to start with; but the difference +was very slight, and totally disappeared under good training. The +combatants were men of the same race, differing but little from one +another. On the New England coast the English blood was as pure as +in any part of Britain; in New York and New Jersey it was mixed with +that of the Dutch settlers--and the Dutch are by race nearer to the +true old English of Alfred and Harold than are, for example, the +thoroughly anglicized Welsh of Cornwall. Otherwise, the infusion +of new blood into the English race on this side of the Atlantic has +been chiefly from three sources--German, Irish, and Norse; and these +three sources represent the elemental parts of the composite English +stock in about the same proportions in which they were originally +combined,--mainly Teutonic, largely Celtic, and with a Scandinavian +admixture. The descendant of the German becomes as much an +Anglo-American as the descendant of the Strathclyde Celt has already +become an Anglo-Briton. Looking through names of the combatants it +would be difficult to find any of one navy that could not be matched +in the other--Hull or Lawrence, Allen, Perry, or Stewart. And among +all the English names on both sides will be found many Scotch, Irish, +or Welsh--Macdonough, O'Brien, or Jones. Still stranger ones appear: +the Huguenot Tattnall is one among the American defenders of the +_Constellation_, and another Huguenot Tattnall is among the British +assailants at Lake Borgne. It must always be kept in mind that the +Americans and the British are two substantially similar branches of +the great English race, which both before and after their separation +have assimilated, and made Englishmen of many other peoples. [Footnote: +The inhabitants of Great Britain are best designated as +"British"--English being either too narrow or too broad a term, in +one case meaning the inhabitants of but a part of Britain, and in +the other the whole Anglo-Saxon people.] The lessons taught by the +war can hardly be learned unless this identity is kept in mind. +[Footnote: It was practically a civil war, and was waged with much +harshness and bitterness on both sides. I have already spoken of +the numerous grievances of the Americans; the British, in turn, +looked upon our blockade-runners which entered the French ports +exactly as we regarded, at a later date, the British steamers that +ran into Wilmington and Charleston. It is curious to see how illogical +writers are. The careers of the _Argus_ and _Alabama_ for example, +were strikingly similar in many ways, yet the same writer who speaks +of one as an "heroic little brig," will call the other a "black +pirate." Of course there can be no possible comparison as to the +causes for which the two vessels were fighting; but the cruises +themselves were very much alike, both in character and history.] + +To understand aright the efficiency of our navy, it is necessary to +take a brief look at the character and antecedents of the officers +and men who served in it. + +When war broke out the United States Navy was but a few years old, +yet it already had a far from dishonorable history. The captains +and lieutenants of 1812 had been taught their duties in a very +practical school, and the flag under which they fought was endeared +to them already by not a few glorious traditions--though these, +perhaps, like others of their kind, had lost none of their glory +in the telling. A few of the older men had served in the war of the +Revolution, and all still kept fresh in mind the doughty deeds of +the old-time privateering war craft. Men still talked of Biddle's +daring cruises and Barney's stubborn fights, or told of Scotch Paul +and the grim work they had who followed his fortunes. Besides +these memories of an older generation, most of the officers had +themselves taken part, when younger in years and rank, in deeds +not a whit less glorious. Almost every man had had a share in some +gallant feat, to which he, in part at least, owed his present +position. The captain had perhaps been a midshipman under Truxtun +when he took the _Vengeance_, and had been sent aboard the captured +French frigate with the prize-master; the lieutenant had borne a +part in the various attacks on Tripoli, and had led his men in the +desperate hand-to-hand fights in which the Yankee cutlass proved +an overmatch for the Turkish and Moorish scimitars. Nearly every +senior officer had extricated himself by his own prowess or skill +from the dangers of battle or storm; he owed his rank to the fact +that he had proved worthy of it. Thrown upon his own resources, he +had learned self-reliance; he was a first-rate practical seaman, +and prided himself on the way his vessel was handled. Having reached +his rank by hard work, and knowing what real fighting meant, he was +careful to see that his men were trained in the _essentials_ of +discipline, and that they knew how to handle the guns in battle as +well as polish them in peace. Beyond almost any of his countrymen, +he worshipped the "Gridiron Flag," and, having been brought up in +the Navy, regarded its honor as his own. It was, perhaps, the Navy +alone that thought itself a match, ship against ship, for Great +Britain. The remainder of the nation pinned its faith to the army, +or rather to that weakest of weak reeds, the militia. The officers +of the navy, with their strong _esprit de corps,_ their jealousy +of their own name and record, and the knowledge, by actual experience, +that the British ships sailed no faster and were no better handled +than their own, had no desire to shirk a conflict with any foe, and +having tried their bravery in actual service, they made it doubly +formidable by cool, wary skill. Even the younger men, who had never +been in action, had been so well trained by the tried veterans over +them that the lack of experience was not sensibly felt. + +The sailors comprising the crews of our ships were well worthy of +their leaders. There was no better seaman in the world than American +Jack; he had been bred to his work from infancy, and had been off +in a fishing dory almost as soon as he could walk. When he grew +older, he shipped on a merchant-man or whaler, and in those warlike +times, when our large merchant-marine was compelled to rely pretty +much on itself for protection, each craft _had_ to be well handled; +all who were not were soon weeded out by a process of natural +selection, of which the agents were French picaroons, Spanish +buccaneers, and Malay pirates. It was a rough school, but it +taught Jack to be both skilful and self-reliant; and he was all the +better fitted to become a man-of-war's man, because he knew more +about fire-arms than most of his kind in foreign lands. At home he +had used his ponderous ducking gun with good effect on the flocks +of canvasbacks in the reedy flats of the Chesapeake, or among the +sea-coots in the rough water off the New England cliffs; and when +he went on a sailing voyage the chances were even that there would +be some use for the long guns before he returned, for the American +merchant sailor could trust to no armed escort. + +The wonderful effectiveness of our seamen at the date of which I +am writing as well as long subsequently to it was largely due to +the curious condition of things in Europe. For thirty years all +the European nations had been in a state of continuous and very +complicated warfare, during the course of which each nation in turn +fought almost every other, England being usually at loggerheads +with all. One effect of this was to force an enormous proportion +of the carrying trade of the world into American bottoms. The old +Massachusetts town of Salem was then one of the main depots of +the East India trade; the Baltimore clippers carried goods into the +French and German ports with small regard to the blockade; New +Bedford and Sag Harbor fitted out whalers for the Arctic seas as +well as for the South Pacific; the rich merchants of Philadelphia +and New York sent their ships to all parts of the world; and every +small port had some craft in the coasting trade. On the New England +seaboard but few of the boys would reach manhood without having +made at least one voyage to the Newfoundland Banks after codfish; +and in the whaling towns of Long Island it used to be an old saying +that no man could marry till he struck his whale. The wealthy merchants +of the large cities would often send their sons on a voyage or two +before they let them enter their counting-houses. Thus it came about +that a large portion of our population was engaged in seafaring +pursuits of a nature strongly tending to develop a resolute and +hardy character in the men that followed them. The British +merchant-men sailed in huge convoys, guarded by men-of-war, while, +as said before, our vessels went alone, and relied for protection +on themselves. If a fishing smack went to the Banks it knew that it +ran a chance of falling in with some not over-scrupulous Nova +Scotian privateer. The barques that sailed from Salem to the Spice +Islands kept their men well trained both at great guns and musketry, +so as to be able to beat off either Malay proas, or Chinese junks. +The New York ships, loaded for the West Indies, were prepared to +do battle with the picaroons that swarmed in the Spanish main; +while the fast craft from Baltimore could fight as well as they +could run. Wherever an American seaman went, he not only had to +contend with all the legitimate perils of the sea, but he had also +to regard almost every stranger as a foe. Whether this foe called +himself pirate or privateer mattered but little. French, Spaniards, +Algerines, Malays, from all alike our commerce suffered, and against +all, our merchants were forced to defend themselves. The effect of +such a state of things, which made commerce so remunerative that +the bolder spirits could hardly keep out of it, and so hazardous +that only the most skilful and daring could succeed in it, was to +raise up as fine a set of seamen as ever manned a navy. The stern +school in which the American was brought up, forced him into habits +of independent thought and action which it was impossible that the +more protected Briton could possess. He worked more intelligently +and less from routine, and while perfectly obedient and amenable +to discipline, was yet able to judge for himself in an emergency. +He was more easily managed than most of his kind--being shrewd, +quiet, and, in fact, comparatively speaking, rather moral than +otherwise; if he was a New Englander, when he retired from a sea +life he was not unapt to end his days as a deacon. Altogether there +could not have been better material for a fighting crew than cool, +gritty American Jack. Moreover, there was a good nucleus of veterans +to begin with, who were well fitted to fill the more responsible +positions, such as captains of guns, etc. These were men who had +cruised in the little _Enterprise_ after French privateers, who had +been in the _Constellation_ in her two victorious fights, or who, +perhaps, had followed Decatur when with only eighty men he cut out +the _Philadelphia_, manned by fivefold his force and surrounded by +hostile batteries and war vessels,--one of the boldest expeditions +of the kind on record. + +It is to be noted, furthermore, in this connection, that by a +singular turn of fortune, Great Britain, whose system of impressing +American sailors had been one of the chief causes of the war, herself +became, in consequence of that very system, in some sort, a nursery +for the seamen of the young Republican navy. The American sailor +feared nothing more than being impressed on a British ship--dreading +beyond measure the hard life and cruel discipline aboard of her; +but once there, he usually did well enough, and in course of time +often rose to be of some little consequence. For years before 1812, +the number of these impressed sailors was in reality greater than +the entire number serving in the American navy, from which it will +readily be seen that they formed a good stock to draw upon. Very +much to their credit, they never lost their devotion to the home +of their birth, more than two thousand of them being imprisoned at +the beginning of the war because they refused to serve against their +country. When Commodore Decatur captured the _Macedonian_, that +officer, as we learn from Marshall's "Naval Biography" (ii. 1019), +stated that most of the seamen of his own frigate, the _United +States_, had served in British war vessels, and that some had been +with Lord Nelson in the _Victory_, and had even been bargemen to +the great Admiral,--a pretty sure proof that the American sailors +did not show a disadvantage when compared with others. [Footnote: +With perfect gravity, James and his followers assume Decatur's +statement to be equivalent to saying that he had chiefly British +seamen on board; whereas, even as quoted by Marshall, Decatur +merely said that "his seamen had served on board a British +man-of-war," and that some "had served under Lord Nelson." Like +the _Constitution_, the _United States_ had rid herself of most of +the British subjects on board, before sailing. Decatur's remark +simply referred to the number of his American seamen who had been +impressed on board British ships. Whenever James says that an +American ship had a large proportion of British sailors aboard, +the explanation is that a large number of the crew were Americans +who had been impressed on British ships. It would be no more absurd +to claim Trafalgar as an American victory because there was a +certain number of Americans in Nelson's fleet, than it is to assert +that the Americans were victorious in 1812, because there were a +few renegade British on board their ships.] + +Good seaman as the impressed American proved to be, yet he seldom +missed an opportunity to escape from the British service, by +desertion or otherwise. In the first place, the life was very hard, +and, in the second, the American seaman was very patriotic. He had +an honest and deep affection for his own flag; while, on the contrary, +he felt a curiously strong hatred for England, as distinguished from +Englishmen. This hatred was partly an abstract feeling, cherished +through a vague traditional respect for Bunker Hill, and partly +something very real and vivid, owing to the injuries he, and others +like him, had received. Whether he lived in Maryland or Massachusetts, +he certainly knew men whose ships had been seized by British cruisers, +their goods confiscated, and the vessels condemned. Some of his +friends had fallen victims to the odious right of search, and had +never been heard of afterward. He had suffered many an injury to +friend, fortune, or person, and some day he hoped to repay them +all; and when the war did come, he fought all the better because +he knew it was in his own quarrel. But, as I have said, this hatred +was against England, not against Englishmen. Then, as now, sailors +were scattered about over the world without any great regard for +nationality; and the resulting intermingling of natives and +foreigners in every mercantile marine was especially great in those +of Britain and America, whose people spoke the same tongue and wore +the same aspect. When chance drifted the American into Liverpool +or London, he was ready enough to ship in an Indiaman or whaler, +caring little for the fact that he served under the British flag; +and the Briton, in turn, who found himself in New York or +Philadelphia, willingly sailed in one of the clipper-built barques, +whether it floated the stars and stripes or not. When Captain Porter +wrought such havoc among the British whalers in the South Seas, +he found that no inconsiderable portion of their crews consisted +of Americans, some of whom enlisted on board his own vessel; and +among the crews of the American whalers were many British. In fact, +though the skipper of each ship might brag loudly of his nationality, +yet in practical life he knew well enough that there was very little +to choose between a Yankee and a Briton. [Footnote: What choice +there was, was in favor of the American. In point of courage there +was no difference whatever. The _Essex_ and the _Lawrence_, as +well as the _Frolic_ and the _Reindeer_, were defended with the +same stubborn, desperate, cool bravery that marks the English race +on both sides of the Atlantic. But the American was a free citizen, +any one's equal, a voter with a personal interest in his country's +welfare, and, above all, without having perpetually before his eyes +the degrading fear of the press-gang. In consequence, he was more +tractable than the Englishman, more self-reliant, and possessed +greater judgment. In the fight between the _Wasp_ and the _Frolic_, +the latter's crew had apparently been well trained at the guns, for +they aimed well; but they fired at the wrong time, and never +corrected the error; while their antagonists, delivering their +broadsides far more slowly, by intelligently waiting until the +proper moment, worked frightful havoc. But though there was a +certain slight difference between the seamen of the two nations, +it must never be forgotten that it was very much less than that +between the various individuals of the same nation; and when the +British had been trained for a few years by such commanders as +Broke and Manners, it was impossible to surpass them, and it needed +our best men to equal them.] Both were bold and hardy, cool and +intelligent, quick with their hands, and showing at their best in +an emergency. They looked alike and spoke alike; when they took +the trouble to think, they thought alike; and when they got drunk, +which was not an infrequent occurrence, they quarrelled alike. + +Mingled with them were a few seamen of other nationalities. The +Irishman, if he came from the old Dano-Irish towns of Waterford, +Dublin, and Wexford, or from the Ulster coast, was very much like +the two chief combatants; the Celto-Turanian kern of the west did +not often appear on shipboard. The French, Danes, and Dutch were +hemmed in at home; they had enough to do on their own seaboard, +and could not send men into foreign fleets. A few Norse, however, +did come in, and excellent sailors and fighters they made. With +the Portuguese and Italians, of whom some were to be found serving +under the union-jack, and others under the stars and stripes, it +was different; although there were many excellent exceptions they +did not, as a rule, make the best of seamen. They were treacherous, +fond of the knife, less ready with their hands, and likely to lose +either their wits or their courage when in a tight place. + +In the American navy, unlike the British, there was no impressment; +the sailor was a volunteer, and he shipped in whatever craft his +fancy selected. Throughout the war there were no "picked crews" on +the American side, [Footnote: James' statements to the contrary +being in every case utterly without foundation. He is also wrong +in his assertion that the American ships had no boys; they had nearly +as many in proportion as the British. The _Constitution_ had 31, +the _Adams_ 15, etc. So, when he states that our midshipmen were +generally masters and mates of merchantmen; they were generally +from eleven to seventeen years old at the beginning of the war, +and besides, had rarely or never been in the merchant marine.] +excepting on the last two cruises of the _Constitution_. In fact +(as seen by the letter of Captains Stewart and Bainbridge to +Secretary Hamilton), there was often much difficulty in getting +enough men. [Footnote: Reading through the volumes of official +letters about this war, which are preserved in the office of the +Secretary of the Navy, one of the most noticeable things is the +continual complaints about the difficulty of getting men. The +_Adams_ at one time had a crew of but nineteen men--"fourteen of +whom are marines," adds the aggrieved commander. A log-book of +one of the gun-boats records the fact that after much difficulty +_two_ men were enlisted--from the jail, with a parenthetical +memorandum to the effect that they were both very drunk. British +ships were much more easily manned, as they could always have +recourse to impressment. + +The _Constitution_ on starting out her last cruises had an +extraordinary number of able seamen aboard, viz., 218, with but 92 +ordinary seamen, 12 boys, and 44 marines, making, with the officers, +a total of 440 men. (See letter of Captain Bainbridge, Oct. 16, +1814; it is letter No. 51, in the fortieth volume of "Captains' +Letters," in the clerk's office of the Secretary of the Navy.)] +Many sailors preferred to serve in the innumerable privateers, and, +the two above-mentioned officers, in urging the necessity of +building line-of-battle ships, state that it was hard work to +recruit men for vessels of an inferior grade, so long as the enemy +had ships of the line. + +One of the standard statements made by the British historians about +this war is that our ships were mainly or largely manned by British +sailors. This, if true, would not interfere with the lessons which +it teaches; and, besides that, it is _not_ true. + +In this, as in every thing else, all the modern writers have merely +followed James or Brenton, and I shall accordingly confine myself +to examining their assertions. The former begins (vol. iv, p. 470) +by diffidently stating that there is a "similarity" of language between +the inhabitants of the two countries--an interesting philological +discovery that but few will attempt to controvert. In vol. vi, p. +154, he mentions that a number of blanks occur in the American Navy +List in the column "Where Born"; and in proof of the fact that these +blanks are there because the men were not Americans, he says that +their names "are all English and Irish." [Footnote: For example, +James writes: "Out of the 32 captains one only, Thomas Tingey, had +England marked as his birthplace.... Three blanks occur, and we +consider it rather creditable to Captains John Shaw, Daniel S. +Patterson, and John Ord Creighton, that they were ashamed to tell +where they were born." I have not been able to find out the latter's +birth-place, but Captain Shaw was born in New York, and I have seen +Captain Patterson incidentally alluded to as "born and bred in +America." Generally, whenever I have been able to fill up the +vacancies in the column "Where Born," I have found that it was in +America. From these facts it would appear that James was somewhat +hasty in concluding that the omission of the birth-place proved the +owner of the name to be a native of Great Britain.] They certainly +are; and so are all the other names in the list. It could not well +be otherwise, as the United States Navy was not officered by Indians. +In looking over this same Navy List (of 1816) it will be seen that +but a little over 5 per cent, of the officers were born abroad--a +smaller proportion by far than would exist in the population of the +country at large--and most of these had come to America when under +ten years of age. On p. 155 James adds that the British sailors +composed "one third in number and one half in point of effectiveness" +of the American crews. Brenton in his "Naval History" writes: "It +was said, and I have no reason to doubt the fact, that there were +200 British seamen aboard the _Constitution_." [Footnote: New +edition, London, 1837, vol. ii, p. 456.] These statements are mere +assertions unsupported by proof, and of such a loose character as +to be difficult to refute. As our navy was small, it may be best +to take each ship in turn. The only ones of which the British could +write authoritatively were, of course, those which they captured. +The first one taken was the _Wasp_. James says many British were +discovered among her crew, instancing especially one sailor named +Jack Lang; now Jack Lang was born in the town of Brunswick, New +Jersey, _but had been impressed and forced to serve in the British +Navy_. The same was doubtless true of the rest of the "many British" +seamen of her crew; at any rate, as the only instance James mentions +(Jack Lang) was an American, he can hardly be trusted for those +whom he does not name. + +Of the 95 men composing the crew of the _Nautilus_ when she was +captured, "6 were detained and sent to England to await examination +as being suspected of being British subjects." [Footnote: Quoted +from letter of Commodore Rodgers of September 12, 1812 (in Naval +Archives, "Captains' Letters," vol xxv, No. 43), enclosing a "List +of American prisoners of war discharged out of custody of Lieutenant +William Miller, agent at the port of Halifax," in exchange for +some of the British captured by Porter. This list, by the way, +shows the crew of the _Nautilus_ (counting the six men detained +as British) to have been 95 in number, instead of 106, as stated +by James. Commodore Rodgers adds that he has detained 12 men of +the _Guerrière's_ crew as an offset to the 6 men belonging to the +_Nautilus_.] Of the other small brigs, the _Viper_, _Vixen_, +_Rattlesnake_, and _Syren_, James does not mention the composition +of the crew, and I do not know that any were claimed as British. +Of the crew of the _Argus_ "about 10 or 12 were believed to be +British subjects; the American officers swore the crew contained +none" (James, "Naval Occurrences," p. 278). From 0 to 10 per cent +can be allowed. When the _Frolic_ was captured "her crew consisted +of native Americans" (_do_, p. 340). James speaks ("History," p. +418) of "a portion of the British subjects on board the _Essex_," +but without giving a word of proof or stating his grounds of belief. +One man was claimed as a deserter by the British, but he turned out +to be a New Yorker. There were certainly a certain number of British +aboard, but the number probably did not exceed thirty. Of the +_President's_ crew he says ("Naval Occurrences," p. 448): "In the +opinion of several British officers there were among them many +British seamen" but Commodore Decatur, Lieutenant Gallagher, and +the other officers swore that there were none. Of the crew of the +_Chesapeake_, he says, "about 32" were British subjects, or about +10 per cent. One or two of these were afterward shot, and some 25, +together with a Portuguese boatswain's mate, entered into the +British service. So that of the vessels captured by the British, +the _Chesapeake_ had the largest number of British (about 10 per +cent. of her crew) on board, the others ranging from that number +down to none at all, as in the case of the _Wasp_. As these eleven +ships would probably represent a fair average, this proportion, of +0 to 10 per cent., should be taken as the proper one. James, however, +is of the opinion that those ships manned by Americans were more +apt to be captured than those manned by the braver British; which +calls for an examination of the crews of the remaining vessels. +Of the American sloop _Peacock_, James says ("Naval Occurrences," +p. 348) that "several of her men were recognized as British seamen"; +even if this were true, "several" could not probably mean more +than sixteen, or 10 per cent. Of the second _Wasp_ he says, +"Captain Blakely was a native of Dublin, and, along with some +English and Scotch, did not, it may be certain, neglect to have +in his crew a great many Irish." Now Captain Blakely left Ireland +when he was but 16 months old, and the rest of James' statement is +avowedly mere conjecture. It was asserted positively in the American +newspapers that the _Wasp_, which sailed from Portsmouth, was +manned exclusively by New Englanders, except a small draft of men +from a Baltimore privateer, and that there was not a foreigner in +her crew. Of the _Hornet_ James states that "some of her men were +natives of the United Kingdom"; but he gives no authority, and the +men he refers to were in all probability those spoken of in the +journal of one of the _Hornet's_ officers, which says that "Many +of our men (Americans) had been impressed in the British service." +As regards the gun-boats, James asserts that they were commanded +by "Commodore Joshua Barney, a native of Ireland." This officer, +however, was born at Baltimore on July 6, 1759. As to the +_Constitution_, Brenton, as already mentioned, supposes the number +of British sailors in her crew to have been 200; James makes it +less, or about 150. Respecting this, the only definite statements +I can find in British works are the following: In the "Naval +Chronicle," vol. xxix, p. 452, an officer of the _Java_ states +that most of the _Constitution's_ men were British, many being +from the _Guerrière_; which should be read in connection with +James' statement (vol. vi, p. 156) that but eight of the _Guerrière's_ +crew deserted, and but two shipped on board the _Constitution_. +Moreover, as a matter of fact, these eight men were all impressed +Americans. In the "Naval Chronicle" it is also said that the +_Chesapeake's_ surgeon was an Irishman, formerly of the British +navy; he was born in Baltimore, and was never in the British navy +in his life. The third lieutenant "was supposed to be an Irishman" +(Brenton, ii, 456). The first lieutenant "was a native of Great +Britain, we have been informed" (James, vi, 194); he was Mr. George +Parker, born and bred in Virginia. The remaining three citations, +if true, prove nothing. "One man had served under Mr. Kent" of the +_Guerrière_ (James, vi, p. 153). "One had been in the _Achille_" +and "one in the _Eurydice_" (Brenton, ii, 456). These three men +were most probably American seamen who had been impressed on British +ships. From Cooper (in "Putnam's Magazine," vol. I, p. 593) as well +as from several places in the _Constitution's_ log, [Footnote: See +her log-book (vol. ii, Feb. 1, 1812 to Dec. 13, 1813); especially +on July 12th, when twelve men were discharged. In some of Hull's +letters he alludes to the desire of the British part of the crew +to serve on the gun boats or in the ports; and then writes that +"in accordance with the instructions sent him by the Secretary of +the Navy," he had allowed the British-born portion to leave the +ship. The log-books are in the Bureau of Navigation.] we learn +that several of the crew who were British deserters were discharged +from the _Constitution_ before she left port, as they were afraid +to serve in a war against Great Britain. That this fear was +justifiable may be seen by reading James, vol. iv, p. 483. Of the +four men taken by the _Leopard_ from the _Chesapeake_, as deserters, +one was hung and three scourged. In reality the crew of the +_Constitution_ probably did not contain a dozen British sailors; +in her last cruises she was manned almost exclusively by New +Englanders. The only remainder vessel is the _United States_, +respecting whose crew some remarkable statements have been made. +Marshall (vol. ii, p. 1019) writes that Commodore Decatur "declared +there was not a seaman in his ship who had not served from 5 to 12 +years in a British man-of-war," from which he concludes that they +were British themselves. It may be questioned whether Decatur ever +made such an assertion; or if he did, it is safe to assume again +that his men were long-impressed Americans. [Footnote: At the +beginning of the war there were on record in the American State +Department 6,257 cases of impressed American seamen. These could +represent but a small part of the whole, which must have amounted +to 20,000 men, or more than sufficient to man our entire navy five +times over. According to the British Admiralty Report to the House +of Commons, February 1, 1815, 2,548 impressed American seamen, who +refused to serve against their country, were imprisoned in 1812. +According to Lord Castlereagh's speech in the House, February 18, +1813, 3,300 men claiming to be American subjects were serving in +the British navy in January, 1811, and he certainly did not give +any thing like the whole number. In the American service the term +of enlistment extended for two years, and the frigate, _United +States_, referred to, had not had her crew for any very great +length of time as yet. If such a crew were selected at random +from American sailors, among them there would be, owing to the +small number serving in our own navy and the enormous number +impressed into the British navy, probably but one of the former +to two of the latter. As already mentioned the American always +left a British man-of-war as soon as he could, by desertion or +discharge; but he had no unwillingness to serve in the home navy, +where the pay was larger, and the discipline far more humane, not +to speak of motives of patriotism. Even if the ex-British +man-of-war's man kept out of service for some time, he would be +very apt to enlist when a war broke out, which his country +undertook largely to avenge his own wrongs.] + +Of the _Carolina's_ crew of 70 men, five were British. This fact +was not found out till three deserted, when an investigation was +made and the two other British discharged. Captain Henly, in +reporting these facts, made no concealment of his surprise that +there should be any British at all in his crew. [Footnote: See +his letter in "Letters of Masters' Commandant," 1814, I. No. 116.] + +From these facts and citations we may accordingly conclude that +the proportion of British seamen serving on American ships _after +the war broke out_, varied between none, as on the _Wasp_ and +_Constitution_, to ten per cent., as on the _Chesapeake_ and +_Essex_. On the average, nine tenths of each of our crews were +American seamen, and about one twentieth British, the remainder +being a mixture of various nationalities. + +On the other hand, it is to be said that the British frigate +_Guerrière_ had ten Americans among her crew, who were permitted +to go below during action, and the _Macedonian_ eight, who were +not allowed that privilege, three of them being killed. Three of +the British sloop _Peacock's_ men were Americans, who were forced +to fight against the _Hornet_: one of them was killed. Two of the +_Epervier's_ men were Americans, who were also forced to fight. +When the crew of the _Nautilus_ was exchanged, a number of other +American prisoners were sent with them; among these were a number +of American seamen who had been serving in the _Shannon_, _Acasta_, +_Africa_, and various other vessels. So there was also a certain +proportion of Americans among the British crews, although forming +a smaller percentage of them than the British did on board the +American ships. In neither case was the number sufficient to at all +affect the result. + +The crews of our ships being thus mainly native Americans, it may +be interesting to try to find out the proportions that were +furnished by the different sections of the country. There is not +much difficulty about the officers. The captains, masters commandant, +lieutenants, marine officers, whose birthplaces are given in the +Navy List of 1816,--240 in all,--came from the various States as +follows: + + .- N.H.. 5-. + | Mass.. 20 | +New England -| R.I. 11 |- 42 + '- Conn.. 6-' + + .- N.Y.. 17-. + | N.J.. 22 | +Middle States-| Penn.. 35 |- 78 + '- Del.. 4-' + +District of Columbia -[D.C.. 4]- 4 + + + .- Md.. 46-. + | Va.. 42 | + | N.C.. 4 | +Southern States-| S.C.. 16 |-116 + | Ga.. 2 | + | La.. 4 | + '- Ky.. 2-' + --------- +Total of given birthplaces 240 + + +Thus, Maryland furnished, both absolutely and proportionately, the +greatest number of officers, Virginia, then the most populous of +all the States, coming next; four fifths of the remainder came +from the Northern States. + +It is more difficult to get at the birthplaces of the sailors. +Something can be inferred from the number of privateers and letters +of marque fitted out. Here Baltimore again headed the list; following +closely came New York, Philadelphia, and the New England coast +towns, with, alone among the Southern ports, Charleston, S.C. A +more accurate idea of the quotas of sailors furnished by the +different sections can be arrived at by comparing the total amount +of tonnage the country possessed at the outbreak of the war. +Speaking roughly, 44 per cent, of it belonged to New England, 32 +per cent, to the Middle States, and 11 per cent, to Maryland. This +makes it _probable_ (but of course not certain) that three fourths +of the common sailors hailed from the Northern States, half the +remainder from Maryland, and the rest chiefly from Virginia and +South Carolina. + +Having thus discussed somewhat at length the character of our +officers and crews, it will now be necessary to present some +statistical tables to give a more accurate idea of the composition +of the navy; the tonnage, complements, and armaments of the ships, etc. + +At the beginning of the war the Government possessed six navy-yards +(all but the last established in 1801) as follows: [Footnote: Report +of Naval Secretary Jones, Nov. 30. 1814.] + + Place Original Cost. Minimum number of + men employed. + +1. Portsmouth. N. H., $ 5,500 10 + +2. Charleston, Mass., 39,214 20 + +3. New York, 40,000 102 + +4. Philadelphia, 37,000 13 + +5. Washington, 4,000 36 + +6. Gosport, 12,000 16 + +In 1812 the following was the number of officers in the navy: +[Footnote: "List of Vessels" etc., by Gen. H Preble U.S.N (1874)] + + 12 captains + 10 masters commandant + 73 lieutenants + 53 masters +310 midshipmen + 42 marine officers +----- +500 + +At the opening of the year, the number of seamen, ordinary seamen, +and boys in service was 4,010, and enough more were recruited to +increase it to 5,230, of whom only 2,346 were destined for the +cruising war vessels, the remainder being detailed for forts, +gun-boats, navy yards, the lakes, etc. [Footnote: Report of Secretary +Paul Hamilton, Feb. 21, 1812.] The marine corps was already ample, +consisting of 1,523 men. [Footnote: _Ibid_.] + +No regular navy lists were published till 1816, and I have been +able to get very little information respecting the increase in +officers and men during 1813 and 1814; but we have full returns +for 1815, which may be summarized as follows: [Footnote: Seybert's +"Statistical Annals," p. 676 (Philadelphia, 1818)] + + 30 captains, + 25 masters commandant, + 141 lieutenants, + 24 commanders, + 510 midshipmen, + 230 sailing-masters, + 50 surgeons, + 12 chaplains, + 50 pursers, + 10 coast pilots, + 45 captain's clerks, + 80 surgeon's mates, + 530 boatswains, gunners, carpenters, and sailmakers, + 268 boatswain's mates, gunner's mates, etc., + 1,106 quarter gunners, etc., + 5,000 able seamen, + 6,849 ordinary seamen and boys. + Making a total of 14,960, with 2,715 marines. +[Footnote: Report of Secretary B. W. Crowninshield, April 18, 1816.] + +Comparing this list with the figures given before, it can be seen +that during the course of the war our navy grew enormously, +increasing to between three and four times its original size. + +At the beginning of the year 1812, the navy of the United States +on the ocean consisted of the following vessels, which either +were, or could have been, made available during the war. [Footnote: +Letter of Secretary Benjamin Stoddart to Fifth Congress, Dec. 24, +1798; Letter of Secretary Paul Hamilton, Feb. 21, 1812; "American +State Papers," vol. xix, p. 149. See also The "History of the Navy +of the United States," by Lieut. G. E. Emmons, U. S. N. (published +in Washington, MDCCCLIII, under the authority of the Navy Department.)] + + Rate When +(Guns). Name. Where Built. Built. Tonnage. Cost. + 44 _United States_, Philadelphia, 1797 1576 $299,336 + 44 _Constitution_, Boston, 1797 1576 302,718 + 44 _President_, New York, 1800 1576 220,910 + 38 _Constellation_, Baltimore, 1797 1265 314,212 + 38 _Congress_, Portsmouth, 1799 1268 197,246 + 38 _Chesapeake_, Norfolk, 1799 1244 220,677 + 32 _Essex_, Salem, 1799 860 139,362 + 28 _Adams_, New York, 1799 560 76,622 + 18 _Hornet_, Baltimore, 1805 480 52,603 + 18 _Wasp_, Washington, 1806 450 40,000 + 16 _Argus_, Boston, 1803 298 37,428 + 16 _Syren_, Philadelphia, 1803 250 32,521 + 14 _Nautilus_, Baltimore, 1803 185 18,763 + 14 _Vixen_, Baltimore, 1803 185 20,872 + 12 _Enterprise_, Baltimore, 1799 165 16,240 + 12 _Viper_, Purchased, 1810 148 + +There also appeared on the lists the _New York_, 36, _Boston_, 28, +and _John Adams_, 28. The two former were condemned hulks; the latter +was entirely rebuilt after the war. The _Hornet_ was originally a +brig of 440 tons, and 18 guns; having been transformed into a ship, +she was pierced for 20 guns, and in size was of an intermediate +grade between the _Wasp_ and the heavy sloops, built somewhat later, +of 509 tons. Her armament consisted of 32-pound carronades, with +the exception of the two bow-guns, which were long 12's. The whole +broadside was in nominal weight just 300 pounds; in actual weight +about 277 pounds. Her complement of men was 140, but during the war +she generally left port with 150. [Footnote: In the _Hornet's_ log +of Oct. 25, 1812, while in port, it is mentioned that she had 158 +men; four men who were sick were left behind before she started. +(See, in the Navy Archives, the Log-book, _Hornet_, _Wasp_, and +_Argus_, July 20, 1809, to Oct. 6, 1813.)] The _Wasp_ had been a +ship from the beginning, mounted the number of guns she rated (of +the same calibres as the _Hornet's_) and carried some ten men less. +She was about the same length as the British 18-gun brig-sloop, but, +being narrower, measured nearly 30 tons less. The _Argus_ and _Syren_ +were similar and very fine brigs, the former being the longer. Each +carried two more guns than she rated; and the _Argus_, in addition, +had a couple thrust through the bridle-ports. The guns were 24-pound +carronades, with two long 12's for bow-chasers. The proper complement +of men was 100, but each sailed usually with about 125. The four +smaller craft were originally schooners, armed with the same number +of light long guns as they rated, and carrying some 70 men apiece; +but they had been very effectually ruined by being changed into +brigs, with crews increased to a hundred men. Each was armed with +18-pound carronades, carrying two more than she rated. The +_Enterprise_, in fact, mounted 16 guns, having two long nines thrust +through the bridle-ports. These little brigs were slow, not very +seaworthy, and overcrowded with men and guns; they all fell into +the enemy's hands without doing any good whatever, with the single +exception of the _Enterprise_, which escaped capture by sheer good +luck, and in her only battle happened to be pitted against one of +the corresponding and equally bad class of British gun-brigs. The +_Adams_ after several changes of form finally became a flush-decked +corvette. The _Essex_ had originally mounted twenty-six long 12's +on her main-deck, and sixteen 24-pound carronades on her spar-deck; +but official wisdom changed this, giving her 46 guns, twenty-four +32-pound carronades, and two long 12's on the main-deck, and +sixteen 32-pound carronades with four long 12's on the spar-deck. +When Captain Porter had command of her he was deeply sensible of +the disadvantages of an armament which put him at the mercy of any +ordinary antagonist who could choose his distance; accordingly he +petitioned several times, but always without success, to have his +long 12's returned to him. + +The American 38's were about the size of the British frigates of +the same rate, and armed almost exactly in the same way, each +having 28 long 18's on the main-deck and 20 32-pound carronades on +the spar-deck. The proper complement was 300 men, but each carried +from 30 to 80 more. [Footnote: The _Chesapeake_, by some curious +mistake, was frequently rated as a 44, and this drew in its train +a number of attendant errors. When she was captured, James says +that in one of her lockers was found a letter, dated in February, +1811, from Robert Smith, the Secretary of War, to Captain Evans, +at Boston, directing him to open houses of rendezvous for manning +the _Chesapeake_, and enumerating her crew at a total of 443. +Naturally this gave British historians the idea that such was the +ordinary complement of our 38-gun frigates. But the ordering so +large a crew was merely a mistake, as may be seen by a letter from +Captain Bainbridge to the Secretary of the Navy, which is given in +full in the "Captains' Letters," vol. xxv. No. 19 (Navy Archives). +In it he mentions the extraordinary number of men ordered for the +_Chesapeake_, saying, "There is a mistake in the crew ordered for +the _Chesapeake_, as it equals in number the crews of our 44-gun +frigates, whereas the _Chesapeake_ is of the class of the _Congress_ +and _Constellation_."] + +Our three 44-gun ships were the finest frigates then afloat (although +the British possessed some as heavy, such as the _Egyptienne_, 44). +They were beautifully modelled, with very thick scantling, extremely +stout masts, and heavy cannon. Each carried on her main-deck thirty +long 24's, and on her spar-deck two long bow-chasers, and twenty +or twenty-two carronades--42-pounders on the _President_ and _United +States_, 32-pounders on the _Constitution_. Each sailed with a crew +of about 450 men--50 in excess of the regular complement. [Footnote: +The _President_ when in action with the _Endymion_ had 450 men +aboard, as sworn by Decatur; the muster-roll of the _Constitution_, +a few days before her action with the _Guerrière_ contains 464 +names (including 51 marines); 8 men were absent in a prize, so she +had aboard in the action 456. Her muster-roll just before the +action with the _Cyane_ and _Levant_ shows 461 names.] + +It may be as well to mention here the only other class of vessels +that we employed during the war. This was composed of the ship-sloops +built in 1813, which got to sea in 1814. They were very fine vessels, +measuring 509 tons apiece, [Footnote: The dimensions were 117 feet +11 inches upon the gun-deck, 97 feet 6 inches keel for tonnage, +measuring from one foot before the forward perpendicular and along +the base line to the front of the rabbet of the port, deducting +3/5 of the moulded breadth of the beam, which is 31 feet 6 inches; +making 509 21/95 tons. (See in Navy Archives, "Contracts," vol. ii. +p. 137.)] with very thick scantling and stout masts and spars. Each +carried twenty 32-pound carronades and two long 12's with a crew +nominally of 160 men, but with usually a few supernumeraries. +[Footnote: The _Peacock_ had 166 men, as we learn from her commander +Warrington's letter of June 1st (Letter No. 140 in "Masters' +Commandant Letters," 1814, vol. i). The _Frolic_ took aboard "10 +or 12 men beyond her regular complement" (see letter of Joseph +Bainbridge, No. 51, in same vol.). Accordingly when she was +captured by the _Orpheus_, the commander of the latter, Captain +Hugh Pigot, reported the number of men aboard to be 171. The +_Wasp_ left port with 173 men, with which she fought her first +action; she had a much smaller number aboard in her second.] + +The British vessels encountered were similar, but generally +inferior, to our own. The only 24-pounder frigate we encountered +was the _Endymion_ of about a fifth less force than the _President_. +Their 38-gun frigates were almost exactly like ours, but with +fewer men in crew as a rule. They were three times matched against +our 44-gun frigates, to which they were inferior about as three is +to four. Their 36-gun frigates were larger than the _Essex_, with +a more numerous crew, but the same number of guns; carrying on +the lower deck, however, long 18's instead of 32-pound carronades,--a +much more effective armament. The 32-gun frigates were smaller, +with long 12's on the main-deck. The largest sloops were also +frigate-built, carrying twenty-two 32-pound carronades on the +main-deck, and twelve lighter guns on the quarter-deck and +forecastle, with a crew of 180. The large flush-decked ship-sloops +carried 21 or 23 guns, with a crew of 140 men. But our vessels +most often came in contact with the British 18-gun brig-sloop; +this was a tubby craft, heavier than any of our brigs, being about +the size of the _Hornet_. The crew consisted of from 110 to 135 men; +ordinarily each was armed with sixteen 32-pound carronades, two +long 6's, and a shifting 12-pound carronade; often with a light +long gun as a stern-chaser, making 20 in all. The _Reindeer_ and +_Peacock_ had only 24-pound carronades; the _Epervier_ had but +eighteen guns, all carronades. [Footnote: The _Epervier_ was taken +into our service under the same name and rate. Both Preble and +Emmons describe her as of 477 tons. Warrington, her captor, however, +says: "The surveyor of the port has just measured the _Epervier_ +and reports her 467 tons." (In the Navy Archives, "Masters' +Commandant Letters," 1814, i. No. 125.) For a full discussion of +tonnage, see Appendix, A.] + +Among the stock accusations against our navy of 1812, were, and +are, statements that our vessels were rated at less than their +real force, and in particular that our large frigates were "disguised +line-of-battle ships." As regards the ratings, most vessels of +that time carried more guns than they rated; the disparity was +less in the French than in either the British or American navies. +Our 38-gun frigates carried 48 guns, the exact number the British +38's possessed. The worst case of underrating in our navy was the +_Essex_, which rated 32, and carried 46 guns, so that her real was +44 per cent, in excess of her nominal force; but this was not as +bad as the British sloop _Cyane_, which was rated a 20 or 22, and +carried 34 guns, so that she had either 55 or 70 per cent, greater +real than nominal force. At the beginning of the war we owned two +18-gun ship-sloops, one mounting 18 and the other 20 guns; the +18-gun brig-sloops they captured mounted each 19 guns, so the +average was the same. Later we built sloops that rated 18 and +mounted 22 guns, but when one was captured it was also put down in +the British navy list as an 18-gun ship-sloop. During all the +combats of the war there were but four vessels that carried as +few guns as they rated. Two were British, the _Epervier_ and +_Levant_, and two American, the _Wasp_ and _Adams_. One navy was +certainly as deceptive as another, as far as underrating went. + +The force of the statement that our large frigates were disguised +line-of-battle ships, of course depends entirely upon what the +words "frigate" and "line-of-battle ship" mean. When on the 10th +of August, 1653, De Ruyter saved a great convoy by beating off Sir +George Ayscough's fleet of 38 sail, the largest of the Dutch admiral's +"33 sail of the line" carried but 30 guns and 150 men, and his own +flag-ship but 28 guns and 134 men. [Footnote: La Vie et les Actions +Memorables du Sr. Michel de Ruyter, à Amsterdam, Chez Henry et +Theodore Boom. MDCLXXVII. The work is by Barthelemy Pielat, a +surgeon in de Ruyter's fleet, and personally present during many +of his battles. It is written in French, but is in tone more +strongly anti-French than anti-English.] The Dutch book from which +this statement is taken speaks indifferently of frigates of 18, 40, +and 58 guns. Toward the end of the eighteenth century the terms had +crystallized. Frigate then meant a so-called single-decked ship; +it in reality possessed two decks, the main- or gun-deck, and the +upper one, which had no name at all, until our sailors christened +it spar-deck. The gun-deck possessed a complete battery, and the +spar-deck an interrupted one, mounting guns on the forecastle and +quarter-deck. At that time all "two-decked" or "three-decked" (in +reality three- and four-decked) ships were liners. But in 1812 +this had changed somewhat; as the various nations built more and +more powerful vessels, the lower rates of the different divisions +were dropped. Thus the British ship _Cyane_, captured by the +_Constitution_, was in reality a small frigate, with a main-deck +battery of 22 guns, and 12 guns on the spar-deck; a few years +before she would have been called a 24-gun frigate, but she then +ranked merely as a 22-gun sloop. Similarly the 50- and 64-gun ships +that had fought in the line at the Doggerbank, Camperdown, and +even at Aboukir, were now no longer deemed fit for the purpose, +and the 74 was the lowest line-of-battle ship. + +The _Constitution_, _President_, and _States_ must then be compared +with the existing European vessels that were classed as frigates. +The French in 1812 had no 24-pounder frigates, for the very good +reason that they had all fallen victims to the English 18-pounder's; +but in July of that year a Danish frigate, the _Nayaden_, which +carried long 24's, was destroyed by the English ship _Dictator_, 64. + +The British frigates were of several rates. The lowest rated 32, +carrying in all 40 guns, 26 long 12's on the main-deck and 14 +24-pound carronades on the spar-deck--a broadside of 324 pounds. +[Footnote: In all these vessels there were generally two long 6's +or 9's substituted for the bow-chase carronades.] The 36-gun +frigates, like the _Phoebe_, carried 46 guns, 26 long 18's on the +gun-deck and 32-pound carronades above. The 38-gun frigates, like +the _Macedonian_, carried 48 or 49 guns, long 18's below and +32-pound carronades above. The 32-gun frigates, then, presented in +broadside 13 long 12's below and 7 24-pound carronades above; the +38-gun frigates, 14 long 18's below and 10 32-pound carronades +above; so that a 44-gun frigate would naturally present 15 long +24's and 12 42-pound carronades above, as the _United States_ did +at first. The rate was perfectly proper, for French, British, and +Danes already possessed 24-pounder frigates; and there was really +less disparity between the force and rate of a 44 that carried 54 +guns than there was in a 38 that carried 49, or, like the +_Shannon_, 52. Nor was this all. Two of our three victories were +won by the _Constitution_, which only carried 32-pound carronades, +and once 54 and once 52 guns; and as two thirds of the work was +thus done by this vessel, I shall now compare her with the largest +British frigates. Her broadside force consisted of 15 long 24's on +the main-deck, and on the spar-deck one long 24, and in one case +10, in the other 11 32-pound carronades--a broadside of 704 or 736 +pounds. [Footnote: Nominally; in reality about 7 per cent, less on +account of the short weight in the metal.] There was then in the +British navy the _Acasta_, 40, carrying in broadside 15 long 18's +and 11 32-pound carronades; when the spar-deck batteries are equal, +the addition of 90 pounds to the main-deck broadside (which is all +the superiority of the _Constitution_ over the _Acasta_) is +certainly not enough to make the distinction between a frigate and +a disguised 74. But not considering the _Acasta_, there were in the +British navy three 24-pounder frigates, the _Cornwallis_, +_Indefatigable_, and _Endymion_. We only came in contact with the +latter in 1815, when the _Constitution_ had but 52 guns. The +_Endymion_ then had an armament of 28 long 24's, 2 long 18's, and +20 32-pound carronades, making a broadside of 674 pounds, [Footnote: +According to James 664 pounds; he omits the chase guns for no +reason.] or including a shifting 24-pound carronade, of 698 +pounds--just _six pounds_, or 1 per cent, less than the force of +that "disguised line-of-battle ship" the _Constitution_! As the +_Endymion_ only rated as a 40, and the _Constitution_ as a 44, it +was in reality the former and not the latter which was underrated. +I have taken the _Constitution_, because the British had more to +do with her than they did with our other two 44's taken together. +The latter were both of heavier metal than the _Constitution_, +carrying 42-pound carronades. In 1812 the _United States_ carried +her full 54 guns, throwing a broadside of 846 pounds; when captured, +the _President_ carried 53, having substituted a 24-pound carronade +for two of her 42's, and her broadside amounted to 828 pounds, or +16 per cent _nominal_, and, on account of the short weight of her +shot, 9 per cent, _real_ excess over the _Endymion_. If this +difference made her a line-of-battle ship, then the _Endymion_ was +doubly a line-of-battle ship compared to the _Congress_ or +_Constellation_. Moreover, the American commanders found their +42-pound carronades too heavy; as I have said the _Constitution_ +only mounted 32's, and the _United States_ landed 6 of her guns. +When, in 1813, she attempted to break the blockade, she carried +but 48 guns, throwing a broadside of 720 pounds--just 3 per cent +more than the _Endymion_. [Footnote: It was on account of this +difference of 3 per cent that Captain Hardy refused to allow the +_Endymion_ to meet the _States_ (James, vi. p. 470). This was +during the course of some challenges and counter-challenges which +ended in nothing, Decatur in his turn being unwilling to have the +_Macedonian_ meet the _Statira_, unless the latter should agree +not to take on a picked crew. He was perfectly right in this; but +he ought never to have sent the challenge at all, as two ships but +an hour or two out of port would be at a frightful disadvantage +in a fight.] If our frigates were line-of-battle ships the disguise +was certainly marvellously complete, and they had a number of +companions equally disguised in the British ranks. + +The 44's were thus _true frigates_, with one complete battery of +long guns and one interrupted one of carronades. That they were +better than any other frigates was highly creditable to our +ingenuity and national skill. We cannot, perhaps, lay claim to +the invention and first use of the heavy frigate, for 24-pounder +frigates were already in the service of at least three nations, +and the French 36-pound carronnade, in use on their spar-decks, +threw a heavier ball than our 42-pounder. But we had enlarged and +perfected the heavy frigate, and were the first nation that ever +used it effectively. The French _Forte_ and the Danish _Nayaden_ +shared the fate of ships carrying guns of lighter calibre; and +the British 24-pounders, like the _Endymion_, had never accomplished +any thing. Hitherto there had been a strong feeling, especially +in England, that an 18-pound gun was as effective as a 24- in +arming a frigate; we made a complete revolution in this respect. +England had been building only 18-pounder vessels when she ought +to have been building 24-pounders. It was greatly to our credit +that our average frigate was superior to the average British frigate; +exactly as it was to our discredit that the _Essex_ was so +ineffectively armed. Captain Porter owed his defeat chiefly to his +ineffective guns, but also to having lost his topmast, to the +weather being unfavorable, and, still more, to the admirable +skill with which Hilyar used his superior armament. The _Java_, +_Macedonian_, and _Guerrière_ owed their defeat partly to their +lighter guns, but much more to the fact that their captains and +seamen did not display either as good seamanship or as good gunnery +as their foes. Inferiority in armament was a factor to be taken +into account in all the four cases, but it was more marked in that +of the _Essex_ than in the other three; it would have been fairer +for Porter to say that he had been captured by a line-of-battle +ship, than for the captain of the _Java_ to make that assertion. +In this last case the forces of the two ships compared almost +exactly as their rates. A 44 was matched against a 38; it was not +surprising that she should win, but it _was_ surprising that she +should win with ease and impunity. The long 24's on the +_Constitution's_ gun-deck no more made her a line-of-battle ship +than the 32-pound carronades mounted on an English frigate's +quarter-deck and forecastle made _her_ a line-of-battle ship when +opposed to a Frenchman with only 8's and 6's on his spar-deck. +When, a few years before, the English _Phoebe_ had captured the +French _Nereide_, their broadsides were respectively 407 and 258 +pounds, a greater disparity than in any of our successful fights; +yet no author thought of claiming that the _Phoebe_ was any thing +but a frigate. So with the _Clyde_, throwing 425 lbs., which took +the _Vestale_, throwing but 246. The facts were that 18-pounder +frigates had captured 12-pounders, exactly as our 24-pounders in +turn captured the 18-pounders. + +Shortly before Great Britain declared war on us, one of her +18-pounder frigates, the _San Florenzo_, throwing 476 lbs. in a +broadside, captured the 12-pounder French frigate _Psyché_, whose +broadside was only 246 lbs. The force of the former was thus +almost double that of the latter, yet the battle was long and +desperate, the English losing 48 and the French 124 men. This +conflict, then, reflected as much credit on the skill and seamanship +of the defeated as of the victorious side; the difference in loss +could fairly be ascribed to the difference in weight of metal. +But where, as in the famous ship-duels of 1812, the difference in +force is only a fifth, instead of a half and yet the slaughter, +instead of being as five is to two, is as six to one, then the +victory is certainly to be ascribed as much to superiority in skill +as to superiority in force. But, on the other hand, it should always +be remembered that there was a very decided superiority in force. +It is a very discreditable feature of many of our naval histories +that they utterly ignore this superiority, seeming ashamed to +confess that it existed. In reality it was something to be proud +of. It was highly to the credit of the United States that her +frigates were of better make and armament than any others; it +always speaks well for a nation's energy and capacity that any of +her implements of warfare are of superior kind. This is a perfectly +legitimate reason for pride. + +It spoke well for the Prussians in 1866 that they opposed +breech-loaders to the muzzle-loaders of the Austrians; but it would +be folly to give all the credit of the victory to the breech-loaders +and none to Moltke and his lieutenants. Thus, it must remembered +that two things contributed to our victories. One was the excellent +make and armament of our ships; the other was the skilful seamanship, +excellent discipline, and superb gunnery of the men who were in +them. British writers are apt only to speak of the first, and Americans +only of the last, whereas both should be taken into consideration. + +To sum up: the American 44-gun frigate was a true frigate, in build +and armament, properly rated, stronger than a 38-gun frigate just +about in the proportion of 44 to 38, and not exceeding in strength +an 18-pounder frigate as much as the latter exceeded one carrying +12-pounders. They were in no way whatever line-of-battle ships; +but they were superior to any other frigates afloat, and, what is +still more important, they were better manned and commanded than +the _average_ frigate of any other navy. Lord Codrington says +("Memoirs," i, p. 310): "But I well know the system of favoritism +and borough corruption prevails so very much that many people are +promoted and kept in command that should be dismissed the service, +and while such is the case the few Americans chosen for their merit +may be expected to follow up their successes except where they meet +with our best officers on even terms." [Footnote: To show that I am +not quoting an authority biassed in our favor I will give Sir +Edward Codrington's opinion of our rural better class (i, 318). +"It is curious to observe the animosity which prevails here among +what is called the better order of people, which I think is more +a misnomer here than in any other country I have ever been. Their +_whig_ and _tory_ are democrat and federalist, and it would seem +for the sake of giving vent to that bitterness of hatred which +marks the Yankee character, every gentleman (God save the term) +who takes possession of a property adopts the opposite political +creed to that of his nearest neighbor."] The small size of our +navy was probably to a certain extent effective in keeping it up +to a high standard; but this is not the only explanation, as can +be seen by Portugal's small and poor navy. On the other hand, the +champions or pick of a large navy _ought_ to be better than the +champions of a small one. [Footnote: In speaking of tonnage I wish +I could have got better authority than James for the British side +of the question. He is so bitter that it involuntarily gives one +a distrust of his judgment. Thus, in speaking of the _Penguin's_ +capture, he, in endeavoring to show that the _Hornet's_ loss was +greater than she acknowledged, says, "several of the dangerously +wounded were thrown overboard because the surgeon was afraid to +amputate, owing to his want of experience" ("Naval Occurrences," +492). Now what could persuade a writer to make such a foolish +accusation? No matter how utterly depraved and brutal Captain +Biddle might be, he would certainly not throw his wounded over +alive because he feared they might die. Again, in vol. vi, p. 546, +he says: "Captain Stewart had caused the _Cyane_ to be painted to +resemble a 36-gun frigate. The object of this was to aggrandize his +exploit in the eyes of the gaping citizens of Boston." No matter +how skilful an artist Captain Stewart was, and no matter how great +the gaping capacities of the Bostonians, the _Cyane_ (which by the +way went to New York and not Boston) could no more be painted to +look like a 36-gun frigate than a schooner could be painted to look +like a brig. Instances of rancor like these two occur constantly +in his work, and make it very difficult to separate what is matter +of fact from what is matter of opinion. I always rely on the British +official accounts when they can be reached, except in the case of +the _Java_, which seem garbled. That such was sometimes the case +with British officials is testified to by both James (vol. iv, +p. 17) and Brenton (vol. ii, p. 454, note). From the "Memoir of +Admiral Broke" we learn that his public letter was wrong in a number +of particulars. See also any one of the numerous biographies of +Lord Dundonald, the hero of the little _Speedy's_ fight. It is +very unfortunate that the British stopped publishing official +accounts of their defeats; it could not well help giving rise to +unpleasant suspicions. + +It may be as well to mention here, again, that James' accusations do not +really detract from the interest attaching to the war, and its value for +purposes of study. If, as he says, the American commanders were cowards, +and their crews renegades, it is well worth while to learn the lesson that +good training will make such men able to beat brave officers with loyal +crews. And why did the British have such bad average crews as he makes +out? He says, for instance, that the Java's was unusually bad; yet +Brenton says (vol. ii, p. 461) it was like "the generality of our crews." +It is worth while explaining the reason that such a crew was generally +better than a French and worse than an American one.] + +Again, the armaments of the American as well as of the British +ships were composed of three very different styles of guns. The +first, or long gun, was enormously long and thick-barrelled in +comparison to its bore, and in consequence very heavy; it possessed +a very long range, and varied in calibre from two to forty-two +pounds. The ordinary calibres in our navy were 6, 9, 12, 18, and +24. The second style was the carronade, a short, light gun of +large bore; compared to a long gun of the same weight it carried +a much heavier ball for a much shorter distance. The chief calibres +were 9, 12, 18, 24, 32, 42, and 68-pounders, the first and the +last being hardly in use in our navy. The third style was the +columbiad, of an intermediate grade between the first two. Thus +it is seen that a gun of one style by no means corresponds to a +gun of another style of the same calibre. As a rough example, a +long 12, a columbiad 18, and a 32-pound carronade would be about +equivalent to one another. These guns were mounted on two different +types of vessel. The first was flush-decked; that is, it had a +single straight open deck on which all the guns were mounted. +This class included one heavy corvette, (the _Adams_), the +ship-sloops, and the brig-sloops. Through the bow-chase port, on +each side, each of these mounted a long gun; the rest of their guns +were carronades, except in the case of the _Adams_, which had all +long guns. Above these came the frigates, whose gun-deck was +covered above by another deck; on the fore and aft parts (forecastle +and quarter-deck) of this upper, open deck were also mounted guns. +The main-deck guns were all long, except on the _Essex_, which +had carronades; on the quarter-deck were mounted carronades, and +on the forecastle also carronades, with two long bow-chasers. + +Where two ships of similar armament fought one another, it is easy +to get the comparative force by simply comparing the weight in +broadsides, each side presenting very nearly the same proportion +of long guns to carronades. For such a broadside we take half the +guns mounted in the ordinary way; and all guns mounted on pivots +or shifting. Thus Perry's force in guns was 54 to Barclay's 63; +yet each presented 34 in broadside. Again, each of the British +brig-sloops mounted 19 guns, presenting 10 in broadside. Besides +these, some ships mounted bow-chasers run through the bridle-ports, +or stern-chasers, neither of which could be used in broadsides. +Nevertheless, I include them, both because it works in about an +equal number of cases against each navy, and because they were +sometimes terribly effective. James excludes the _Guerrière's_ +bow-chaser; in reality he ought to have included both it and its +fellow, as they worked more damage than all the broadside guns +put together. Again, he excludes the _Endymion's_ bow-chasers, +though in her action they proved invaluable. Yet he includes those +of the _Enterprise_ and _Argus_, though the former's were probably +not fired. So I shall take the half of the fixed, plus all the +movable guns aboard, in comparing broadside force. + +But the chief difficulty appears when guns of one style are +matched against those of another. If a ship armed with long 12's, +meets one armed with 32-pound carronades, which is superior in +force? At long range the first, and at short range the second; and +of course each captain is pretty sure to insist that "circumstances" +forced him to fight at a disadvantage. The result would depend +largely on the skill or luck of each commander in choosing position. + +One thing is certain; long guns are more formidable than carronades +of the same calibre. There are exemplifications of this rule on +both sides; of course, American writers, as a rule, only pay +attention to one set of cases, and British to the others. The _Cyane_ +and _Levant_ threw a heavier broadside than the _Constitution_ but +were certainly less formidably armed; and the _Essex_ threw a heavier +broadside than the _Phoebe_, yet was also less formidable. On Lake +Ontario the American ship _General Pike_ threw less metal at a +broadside than either of her two chief antagonists, but neither +could be called her equal; while on Lake Champlain a parallel case +is afforded by the British ship _Confiance_. Supposing that two +ships throw the same broadside weight of metal, one from long guns, +the other from carronades, at short range they are equal; at long, +one has it all her own way. Her captain thus certainly has a great +superiority of force, and if he does not take advantage of it it +is owing to his adversary's skill or his own mismanagement. As a +mere approximation, it may be assumed, in comparing the broadsides +of two vessels or squadrons, that long guns count for at least +twice as much as carronades of the same calibre. Thus on Lake +Champlain Captain Downie possessed an immense advantage in his +long guns, which Commodore Macdonough's exceedingly good arrangements +nullified. Sometimes part of the advantage may be willingly foregone, +so as to acquire some other. Had the _Constitution_ kept at long +bowls with the _Cyane_ and _Levant_ she could have probably captured +one without any loss to herself, while the other would have escaped; +she preferred to run down close so as to insure the capture of both, +knowing that even at close quarters long guns are somewhat better +than short ones (not to mention her other advantages in thick +scantling, speed, etc.). The British carronades often upset in +action; this was either owing to their having been insufficiently +secured, and to this remaining undiscovered because the men were +not exercised at the guns, or else it was because the unpractised +sailors would greatly overcharge them. Our better-trained sailors +on the ocean rarely committed these blunders, but the less-skilled +crews on the lakes did so as often as their antagonists. + +But while the Americans thus, as a rule, had heavier and better-fitted +guns, they labored under one or two disadvantages. Our foundries +were generally not as good as those of the British, and our guns, +in consequence, more likely to burst; it was an accident of this +nature which saved the British _Belvidera_; and the _General Pike_, +under Commodore Chauncy, and the new American frigate _Guerrière_ +suffered in the same way; while often the muzzles of the guns would +crack. A more universal disadvantage was in the short weight of +our shot. When Captain Blakely sunk the _Avon_ he officially +reported that her four shot which came aboard weighed just 32 +pounds apiece, a pound and three quarters more than his _heaviest_; +this would make his average shot about 2 1/2 pounds less, or +rather over 7 per cent. Exactly similar statements were made by +the officers of the _Constitution_ in her three engagements. +Thus when she fought the _Java_, she threw at a broadside, as +already stated, 704 pounds; the _Java_ mounted 28 long 18's, 18 +32-pound carronades, 2 long 12's, and one shifting 24-pound +carronade, a broadside of 576 pounds. Yet by the actual weighing +of all the different shot on both sides it was found that the +difference in broadside force was only about 77 pounds, or the +_Constitution's_ shot were about 7 per cent, short weight. The +long 24's of the _United States_ each threw a shot but 4 1/4 pounds +heavier than the long 18's of the _Macedonian_; here again the +difference was about 7 per cent. The same difference existed in +favor of the _Penguin_ and _Epervier_ compared with the _Wasp_ +and _Hornet_. Mr. Fenimore Cooper [Footnote: See "Naval History," +i, p. 380.] weighed a great number of shot some time after the war. +The later castings, even weighed nearly 5 per cent, less than the +British shot, and some of the older ones, about 9 per cent. The +average is safe to take at 7 per cent. less, and I shall throughout +make this allowance for ocean cruisers. The deficit was sometimes +owing to windage, but more often the shot was of full size but +defective in density. The effect of this can be gathered from the +following quotation from the work of a British artillerist: "The +greater the density of shot of like calibres, projected with equal +velocity and elevation, the greater the range, accuracy, and +penetration." [Footnote: "Heavy Ordnance," Captain T. F. Simmons, +R. A., London, 1837. James supposes that the "Yankee captains" +have in each case hunted round till they could get particularly +small American shot to weigh; and also denies that short weight +is a disadvantage. The last proposition carried out logically +would lead to some rather astonishing results.] This defectiveness +in density might be a serious injury in a contest at a long +distance, but would make but little difference at close quarters +(although it may have been partly owing to their short weight +that so many of the Chesapeake's shot failed to penetrate the +_Shannon's_ hull). Thus in the actions with the _Macedonian_ and +_Java_ the American frigates showed excellent practice when the +contest was carried on within fair distance, while their first +broadsides at long range went very wild; but in the case of the +_Guerrière_, the _Constitution_ reserved her fire for close +quarters, and was probably not at all affected by the short +weight of her shot. + +As to the officers and crew of a 44-gun frigate, the following was +the regular complement established by law: [Footnote: See State +Papers, vol. xiv, 159 (Washington, 1834).] + + 1 captain, + 4 lieutenants, + 2 lieutenants of marines, + 2 sailing-masters, + 2 master's mates, + 7 midshipmen, + 1 purser, + 1 surgeon, + 2 surgeon's mates, + 1 clerk, + 1 carpenter, + 2 carpenter's mates, + 1 boatswain, + 2 boatswain's mates, + 1 yeoman of gun-room, + 1 gunner, + 11 quarter gunners, + 1 coxswain, + 1 sailmaker, + 1 cooper, + 1 steward, + 1 armorer, + 1 master of arms, + 1 cook, + 1 chaplain. + __ + 50 + +120 able seamen, +150 ordinary seamen, + 30 boys, + 50 marines. +___ +400 in all. + +An 18-gun ship had 32 officers and petty officers, 30 able seamen, +46 ordinary seamen, 12 boys, and 20 marines--140 in all. Sometimes +ships put to sea without their full complements (as in the case of +the first _Wasp_), but more often with supernumeraries aboard. +The weapons for close quarters were pikes, cutlasses, and a few +axes; while the marines and some of the topmen had muskets, and +occasionally rifles. + +In comparing the forces of the contestants I have always given +the number of men in crew; but this in most cases was unnecessary. +When there were plenty of men to handle the guns, trim the sails, +make repairs, act as marines, etc., any additional number simply +served to increase the slaughter on board. The _Guerrière_ +undoubtedly suffered from being short-handed, but neither the +_Macedonian_ nor _Java_ would have been benefited by the presence +of a hundred additional men. Barclay possessed about as many men +as Perry, but this did not give him an equality of force. The +_Penguin_ and _Frolic_ would have been taken just as surely had +the _Hornet_ and _Wasp_ had a dozen men less apiece than they did. +The principal case where numbers would help would be in a +hand-to-hand fight. Thus the _Chesapeake_ having fifty more men +than the _Shannon_ ought to have been successful; but she was not, +because the superiority of her crew in numbers was more than +counterbalanced by the superiority of the _Shannon's_ crew in +other respects. The result of the battle of Lake Champlain, which +was fought at anchor, with the fleets too far apart for musketry +to reach, was not in the slightest degree affected by the number +of men on either side, as both combatants had amply enough to +manage the guns and perform every other service. + +In all these conflicts the courage of both parties is taken for +granted: it was not so much a factor in gaining the victory, as +one which if lacking was fatal to all chances of success. In the +engagements between regular cruisers, not a single one was gained +by superiority in courage. The crews of both the _Argus_ and +_Epervier_ certainly flinched; but had they fought never so +bravely they were too unskilful to win. The _Chesapeake's_ crew +could hardly be said to lack courage; it was more that they were +inferior to their opponents in discipline as well as in skill. + +There was but one conflict during the war where the victory could +be said to be owing to superiority in pluck. This was when the +_Neufchatel_ privateer beat off the boats of the _Endymion_. The +privateersmen suffered a heavier proportional loss than their +assailants, and they gained the victory by sheer ability to stand +punishment. + +For convenience in comparing them I give in tabulated form the +force of the three British 38's taken by American 44's (allowing +for short weight of metal of latter). + +CONSTITUTION. GUERRIÈRE. +30 long 24's, 30 long 18's, + 2 long 24's, 2 long 12's, +22 short 32's. 16 short 32's, +___________________________ 1 short 18. +Broadside, nominal, 736 lbs. __________________ + real. 684 lbs. Broadside, 556 lbs. + +UNITED STATES MACEDONIAN +30 long 24's, 28 long 18's, + 2 long 24's, 2 long 12's, +22 short 42's. 2 long 9's, +___________________________ 16 short 32's, +Broadside, nominal, 846 lbs. 1 short 18. + real, 786 lbs. ___________________ + Broadside, 547 lbs. + +CONSTITUTION JAVA +30 long 24's, 28 long 18's, + 2 long 24's, 2 long 12's, +20 short 32's. 18 short 32's, +____________________________ 1 short 24. +Broadside, nominal, 704 lbs. ___________________ + real. 654 lbs. Broadside. 576 lbs. + +The smallest line-of-battle ship, the 74, with only long 18's on +the second deck, was armed as follows: + +28 long 32's, +28 " 18's, + 6 " 12's. +14 short 32's + 7 " 18's + +or a broadside of 1,032 lbs., 736 from long guns, 296 from +carronades; while the _Constitution_ threw (in reality) 684 lbs., +356 from long guns, and 328 from her carronades, and the _United +States_ 102 lbs. more from her carronades. Remembering the difference +between long guns and carronades, and considering sixteen of the +74's long 18's as being replaced by 42-pound carronades [Footnote: +That this change would leave the force about as it was, can be +gathered from the fact that the _Adams_ and _John Adams_ both of +which had been armed with 42 pound carronades (which were sent to +Sackett's Harbor), had them replaced by long and medium 18 pounders, +these being considered to be formidable: so that the substitution +of 42-pound carronades would, if any thing, reduce the force of +the 74] (so as to get the metal on the ships distributed in similar +proportions between the two styles of cannon), we get as the 74's +broadside 592 lbs from long guns, and 632 from carronades. The +_United States_ threw nominally 360 and 486, and the _Constitution_ +nominally 360 and 352; so the 74 was superior even to the former +nominally about as three is to two; while the _Constitution_, if +"a line-of-battle ship," was disguised to such a degree that she +was in reality of but little more than _one half_ the force of one +of the smallest _true_ liners England possessed! + + + +Chapter III + + +1812 + +ON THE OCEAN + +_Commodore Rodgers' cruise and unsuccessful chase of the_ +Belvidera--_Cruise of the _Essex--_Captain Hull's cruise, and +escape from the squadron of Commodore Broke_--Constitution _captures_ +Guerrière--Wasp _captures_ Frolic--_Second unsuccessful cruise of +Commodore Rodgers_--United States _captures_ Macedonian--Constitution +_captures_ Java--Essex _starts on a cruise--Summary_ + +At the time of the declaration of war, June 18, 1812, the American +navy was but partially prepared for effective service. The _Wasp_, +18, was still at sea, on her return voyage from France; the +_Constellation_, 38, was lying in the Chesapeake river, unable to +receive a crew for several months to come; the _Chesapeake_, 38, +was lying in a similar condition in Boston harbor; the _Adams_, +28, was at Washington, being cut down and lengthened from a frigate +into a corvette. These three cruisers were none of them fit to go +to sea till after the end of the year. The _Essex_, 32, was in +New York harbor, but, having some repairs to make, was not yet +ready to put out. The _Constitution_, 44, was at Annapolis, without +all of her stores, and engaged in shipping a new crew, the time of +the old one being up. The _Nautilus_, 14, was cruising off New +Jersey, and the other small brigs were also off the coast. The +only vessels immediately available were those under the command +of Commodore Rodgers, at New York, consisting of his own ship, the +_President_, 44, and of the _United States_, 44, Commodore Decatur, +_Congress_, 38, Captain Smith, _Hornet_, 18, Captain Lawrence, +and _Argus_, 16, Lieut. Sinclair. It seems marvellous that any +nation should have permitted its ships to be so scattered, and +many of them in such an unfit condition, at the beginning of +hostilities. The British vessels cruising off the coast were not +at that time very numerous or formidable, consisting of the +_Africa_, 64, _Acasta_, 40, _Shannon_, 38, _Guerrière_, 38, +_Belvidera_, 36, _Aeolus_, 32, _Southampton_, 32, and _Minerva_, +32, with a number of corvettes and sloops; their force was, +however, strong enough to render it impossible for Commodore +Rodgers to make any attempt on the coast towns of Canada or the +West Indies. But the homeward bound plate fleet had sailed from +Jamaica on May 20th, and was only protected by the _Thalia_, 36, +Capt. Vashon, and _Reindeer_, 18, Capt. Manners. Its capture or +destruction would have been a serious blow, and one which there +seemed a good chance of striking, as the fleet would have to pass +along the American coast, running with the Gulf Stream. Commodore +Rodgers had made every preparation, in expectation of war being +declared, and an hour after official intelligence of it, together +with his instructions, had been received, his squadron put to sea, +on June 21st, and ran off toward the south-east [Footnote: Letter +of Commodore John Rodgers to the Secretary of the Navy, Sept. 1, +1812.] to get at the Jamaica ships. Having learned from an +American brig that she had passed the plate fleet four days before +in lat. 36° N., long. 67° W., the Commodore made all sail in that +direction. At 6 A.M. on June 23d a sail was made out in the N. E., +which proved to be the British frigate _Belvidera_, 36, Capt. +Richard Byron. [Footnote: Brenton, v. 46.] The latter had sighted +some of Commodore Rodgers' squadron some time before, and stood +toward them, till at 6.30 she made out the three largest ships to +be frigates. Having been informed of the likelihood of war by a New +York pilot boat, the _Belvidera_ now stood away, going N. E. by E., +the wind being fresh from the west. The Americans made all sail in +chase, the _President_, a very fast ship off the wind, leading, +and the _Congress_ coming next. At noon the _President_ bore S. W., +distant 2 3/4 miles from the _Belvidera_, Nantucket shoals bearing +100 miles N. and 48 miles E [Footnote: Log of _Belvidera_, June 23, +1812.]. The wind grew lighter, shifting more toward the south-west, +while the ships continued steadily in their course, going N.E. by E. +As the _President_ kept gaining, Captain Byron cleared his ship +for action, and shifted to the stern ports two long eighteen-pounders +on the main-deck and two thirty-two pound carronades on the +quarter-deck. + +At 4:30 [Footnote: Cooper, ii, 151. According to James, vi, 117, +the _President_ was then 600 yards distant from the _Belvidera_, +half a point on her weather or port quarter.] the _President's_ +starboard forecastle bowgun was fired by Commodore Rodgers himself; +the corresponding main-deck gun was next discharged, and then +Commodore Rodgers fired again. These three shots all struck the +stern of the _Belvidera_, killing and wounding nine men,--one of +them went through the rudder coat, into the after gun-room, the +other two into the captain's cabin. A few more such shots would +have rendered the _Belvidera's_ capture certain, but when the +_President's_ main-deck gun was discharged for the second time it +burst, blowing up the forecastle deck and killing and wounding 16 +men, among them the Commodore himself, whose leg was broken. This +saved the British frigate. Such an explosion always causes a half +panic, every gun being at once suspected. In the midst of the +confusion Captain Byron's stern-chasers opened with spirit and +effect, killing or wounding six men more. Had the _President_ still +pushed steadily on, only using her bow-chasers until she closed +abreast, which she could probably have done, the _Belvidera_ could +still have been taken; but, instead, the former now bore up and +fired her port broadside, cutting her antagonist's rigging slightly, +but doing no other damage, while the _Belvidera_ kept up a brisk +and galling fire, although the long bolts, breeching-hooks, and +breechings of the guns now broke continually, wounding several of +the men, including Captain Byron. The _President_ had lost ground +by yawing, but she soon regained it, and, coming up closer than +before, again opened from her bow-chasers a well-directed fire, +which severely wounded her opponent's main-top mast, cross-jack +yard, and one or two other spars; [Footnote: James, vi, 119. He +says the _President_ was within 400 yards.] but shortly afterward +she repeated her former tactics and again lost ground by yawing +to discharge another broadside, even more ineffectual than the +first. Once more she came up closer than ever, and once more yawed; +the single shots from her bow-chasers doing considerable damage, +but her raking broadsides none. [Footnote: Lord Howard Douglass, +"Naval Gunnery," p. 419 (third edition).] Meanwhile the active +crew of the _Belvidera_ repaired every thing as fast as it was +damaged, while under the superintendence of Lieutenants Sykes, +Bruce, and Campbell, no less than 300 shot were fired from her +stern guns. [Footnote: James, vi, 118.] Finding that if the +_President_ ceased yawing she could easily run alongside, Captain +Byron cut away one bower, one stream, and two sheet anchors, the +barge, yawl, gig, and jolly boat, and started 14 tons of water. +The effect of this was at once apparent, and she began to gain; +meanwhile the damage the sails of the combatants had received had +enabled the _Congress_ to close, and when abreast of his consort +Captain Smith opened with his bow-chasers, but the shot fell short. +The _Belvidera_ soon altered her course to east by south, set her +starboard studding-sails, and by midnight was out of danger; and +three days afterward reached Halifax harbor. + +Lord Howard Douglass' criticisms on this encounter seem very just. +He says that the President opened very well with her bow-chasers +(in fact the Americans seem to have aimed better and to have done +more execution with these guns than the British with their +stern-chasers); but that she lost so much ground by yawing and +delivering harmless broadsides as to enable her antagonist to +escape. Certainly if it had not been for the time thus lost to no +purpose, the Commodore would have run alongside his opponent, and +the fate of the little 36 would have been sealed. On the other hand +it must be remembered that it was only the bursting of the gun on +board the _President_, causing such direful confusion and loss, +and especially harmful in disabling her commander, that gave the +_Belvidera_ any chance of escape at all. At any rate, whether the +American frigate does, or does not, deserve blame, Captain Byron +and his crew do most emphatically deserve praise for the skill +with which their guns were served and repairs made, the coolness +with which measures to escape were adopted, and the courage with +which they resisted so superior a force. On this occasion Captain +Byron showed himself as good a seaman and as brave a man as he +subsequently proved a humane and generous enemy when engaged in +the blockade of the Chesapeake. [Footnote: Even Niles, unscrupulously +bitter as he is toward the British, does justice to the humanity +of Captains Byron and Hardy--which certainly shone in comparison +to some of the rather buccaneering exploits of Cockburn's followers +in Chesapeake Bay.] + +This was not a very auspicious opening of hostilities for America. +The loss of the _Belvidera_ was not the only thing to be regretted, +for the distance the chase took the pursuers out of their course +probably saved the plate fleet. When the _Belvidera_ was first +made out, Commodore Rodgers was in latitude 39° 26' N., and +longitude 71° 10' W.; at noon the same day the _Thalia_ and her +convoy were in latitude 39° N., longitude 62° W. Had they not +chased the _Belvidera_ the Americans would probably have run +across the plate fleet. + +The American squadron reached the western edge of the Newfoundland +Banks on June 29th, [Footnote: Letter of Commodore Rodgers, Sept. +1st.] and on July 1st, a little to the east of the Banks, fell in +with large quantities of cocoa-nut shells, orange peels, etc., +which filled every one with great hopes of overtaking the quarry. +On July 9th, the _Hornet_ captured a British privateer, in latitude +45° 30' N., and longitude 23° W., and her master reported that he +had seen the Jamaica-men the previous evening; but nothing further +was heard or seen of them, and on July 13th, being within twenty +hours' sail of the English Channel, Commodore Rodgers reluctantly +turned southward, reaching Madeira July 21st. Thence he cruised +toward the Azores and by the Grand Banks home, there being +considerable sickness on the ships. On August 31st he reached +Boston after a very unfortunate cruise, in which he had made but +seven prizes, all merchant-men, and had recaptured one American vessel. + +On July 3d the _Essex_, 32, Captain David Porter, put out of New +York. As has been already explained she was most inefficiently +armed, almost entirely with carronades. This placed her at the +mercy of any frigate with long guns which could keep at a distance +of a few hundred yards; but in spite of Captain Porter's petitions +and remonstrances he was not allowed to change his armament. On the +11th of July at 2 A. M., latitude 33° N., longitude 66° W., the +_Essex_ fell in with the _Minerva_, 32, Captain Richard Hawkins, +convoying seven transports, each containing about 200 troops, bound +from Barbadoes to Quebec. The convoy was sailing in open order, +and, there being a dull moon, the _Essex_ ran in and cut out +transport No. 299, with 197 soldiers aboard. Having taken out the +soldiers, Captain Porter stood back to the convoy, expecting +Captain Hawkins to come out and fight him; but this the latter +would not do, keeping the convoy in close order around him. The +transports were all armed and still contained in the aggregate +1,200 soldiers. As the _Essex_ could only fight at close quarters +these heavy odds rendered it hopeless for her to try to cut out +the _Minerva_. Her carronades would have to be used at short range +to be effective, and it would of course have been folly to run in +right among the convoy, and expose herself to the certainty of +being boarded by five times as many men as she possessed. The +_Minerva_ had three less guns a side, and on her spar-deck carried +24-pound carronades instead of 32's, and, moreover, had fifty men +less than the _Essex_, which had about 270 men this cruise; on the +other hand, her main-deck was armed with long 12's, so that it is +hard to say whether she did right or not in refusing to fight. She +was of the same force as the _Southampton_ whose captain, Sir James +Lucas Yeo, subsequently challenged Porter, but never appointed a +meeting-place. In the event of a meeting, the advantage, in ships +of such radically different armaments, would have been with that +captain who succeeded in outmanoeuvring the other and in making +the fight come off at the distance best suited to himself. At long +range either the _Minerva_ or _Southampton_ would possess an immense +superiority; but if Porter could have contrived to run up within +a couple of hundred yards, or still better, to board, his superiority +in weight of metal and number of men would have enabled him to carry +either of them. Porter's crew was better trained for boarding than +almost any other American commander's; and probably none of the +British frigates on the American station, except the _Shannon_ and +_Tenedos_, would have stood a chance with the _Essex_ in a +hand-to-hand struggle. Among her youngest midshipmen was one, by +name David Glasgow Farragut, then but thirteen years old, who +afterward became the first and greatest admiral of the United States. +His own words on this point will be read with interest. "Every +day," he says, [Footnote: "Life of Farragut" (embodying his journal +and letters), p. 31. By his son, Loyall Farragut, New York. 1879.] +"the crew were exercised at the great guns, small arms, and single +stick. And I may here mention the fact that I have never been on +a ship where the crew of the old _Essex_ was represented but that +I found them to be the best swordsmen on board. They had been so +thoroughly trained as boarders that every man was prepared for +such an emergency, with his cutlass as sharp as a razor, a dirk +made by the ship's armorer out of a file, and a pistol." [Footnote: +James says: "Had Captain Porter really endeavored to bring the +_Minerva_ to action we do not see what could have prevented the +_Essex_ with her superiority of sailing, from coming alongside of +her. But no such thought, we are sure, entered into Captain Porter's +head." What "prevented the _Essex_" was the _Minerva's_ not +venturing out of the convoy. Farragut, in his journal writes: "The +captured British officers were very anxious for us to have a fight +with the _Minerva_, as they considered her a good match for the +_Essex_, and Captain Porter replied that he should gratify them +with pleasure if his majesty's commander was of their taste. So +we stood toward the convoy and when within gunshot hove to, and +awaited the _Minerva_, but she tacked and stood in among the convoy, +to the utter amazement of our prisoners, who denounced the commander +as a base coward, and expressed their determination to report him +to the Admiralty." An incident of reported "flinching" like this +is not worth mentioning; I allude to it only to show the value of +James' sneers.] + +On August 13th a sail was made out to windward, which proved to be +the British ship-sloop _Alert_, 16, Captain T. L. O. Laugharne, +carrying 20 eighteen-pound carronades and 100 men. [Footnote: +James (History, vi, p. 128) says "86 men." In the Naval Archives +at Washington in the "Captains' Letters" for 1812 (vol. n. No. +182) can be found enclosed in Porter's letter the parole of the +officers and crew of the _Alert_ signed by Captain Laugharne; it +contains either 100 or 101 names of the crew of the _Alert_ besides +those of a number of other prisoners sent back in the same cartel.] +As soon as the _Essex_ discovered the _Alert_ she put out drags +astern, and led the enemy to believe she was trying to escape by +sending a few men aloft to shake out the reefs and make sail. +Concluding the frigate to be a merchant-man, the _Alert_ bore down +on her; while the Americans went to quarters and cleared for action, +although the tompions were left in the guns, and the ports kept +closed. [Footnote: "Life of Farragut," p. 16.] The _Alert_ fired +a gun and the _Essex_ hove to, when the former passed under her +stern, and when on her lee quarter poured in a broadside of grape +and canister; but the sloop was so far abaft the frigate's beam +that her shot did not enter the ports and caused no damage. +Thereupon Porter put up his helm and opened as soon as his guns +would bear, tompions and all. The _Alert_ now discovered her error +and made off, but too late, for in eight minutes the _Essex_ was +along side, and the _Alert_ fired a musket and struck, three men +being wounded and several feet of water in the hold. She was +disarmed and sent as a cartel into St. Johns. It has been the +fashion among American writers to speak of her as if she were +"unworthily" given up, but such an accusation is entirely +groundless. The _Essex_ was four times her force, and all that +could possibly be expected of her was to do as she did--exchange +broadsides and strike, having suffered some loss and damage. The +_Essex_ returned to New York on September 7th, having made 10 +prizes, containing 423 men. [Footnote: Before entering New York +the _Essex_ fell in with a British force which, in both Porter's +and Farragut's works, is said to have been composed of the +_Acasta_ and _Shannon_, each of fifty guns, and _Ringdove_, of +twenty. James says it was the _Shannon_, accompanied by a merchant +vessel. It is not a point of much importance, as nothing came of +the meeting, and the _Shannon_, alone, with her immensely superior +armament, ought to have been a match twice over for the _Essex_: +although, if James is right, as seems probable, it gives rather a +comical turn to Porter's account of his "extraordinary escape."] + +The _Belvidera_, as has been stated, carried the news of the war +to Halifax. On July 5th Vice-Admiral Sawyer despatched a squadron +to cruise against the United States, commanded by Philip Vere +Broke, of the _Shannon_, 38, having under him the _Belvidera_, 36, +Captain Richard Byron, _Africa_, 64, Captain John Bastard, and +_Aeolus_. 32, Captain Lord James Townsend. On the 9th, while off +Nantucket, they were joined by the _Guerrière_, 38, Captain James +Richard Dacres. On the 16th the squadron fell in with and captured +the United States brig _Nautilus_, 14, Lieutenant Crane, which, +like all the little brigs, was overloaded with guns and men. She +threw her lee guns overboard and made use of every expedient to +escape, but to no purpose. At 3 P.M. of the following day, when +the British ships were abreast of Barnegat, about four leagues +off shore, a strange sail was seen and immediately chased, in the +south by east, or windward quarter, standing to the northeast. +This was the United States frigate _Constitution_, 44, Captain +Isaac Hull. [Footnote: For the ensuing chase I have relied mainly +on Cooper; see also "Memoir of Admiral Broke," p. 240; James, vi, +133: and Marshall's "Naval Biography" (London, 1825), ii. 625.] +When the war broke out he was in the Chesapeake River getting a +new crew aboard. Having shipped over 450 men (counting officers), +he put out of harbor on the 12th of July. His crew was entirely +new, drafts of men coming on board up to the last moment. [Footnote: +In a letter to the Secretary of the Navy ("Captains' Letters." +1812. ii, No. 85), Hull, after speaking of the way his men were +arriving, says: "The crew are as yet unacquainted with a ship of +war, as many have but lately joined and have never been on an +armed ship before. * * * We are doing all that we can to make +them acquainted with their duty, and in a few days we shall have +nothing to fear from any single-decked ship."] On the 17th, at +2 P.M., Hull discovered four sail, in the northern board, heading +to the westward. At 3, the wind being very light, the _Constitution_ +made sail and tacked, in 18-1/2 fathoms. At 4, in the N. E., a +fifth sail appeared, which afterward proved to be the _Guerrière_, +The first four ships bore N. N. W., and were all on the starboard +tack; while by 6 o'clock the fifth bore E. N. E. At 6.15 the +wind shifted and blew lightly from the south, bringing the American +ship to wind-ward. She then wore round with her head to the +eastward, set her light studding-sails and stay-sails, and at +7.30 beat to action, intending to speak the nearest vessel, the +_Guerrière_. The two frigates neared one another gradually and at +10 the _Constitution_ began making signals, which she continued +for over an hour. At 3.30 A. M. on the 18th the _Guerrière_, going +gradually toward the _Constitution_ on the port tack, and but +one half mile distant, discovered on her lee beam the _Belvidera_ +and the other British vessels, and signalled to them. They did +not answer the signals, thinking she must know who they were--a +circumstance which afterward gave rise to sharp recriminations +among the captains--and Dacres, concluding them to be Commodore +Rodgers' squadron, tacked, and then wore round and stood away +from the _Constitution_ for some time before discovering his mistake. + +[Illustration: Captain Isaac Hull: a miniature by an unknown artist, +circa 1807-1812. (Courtesy The New-York Historical Society)] + +At 5 A. M. Hull had just enough steerage way on to keep his head +to the east, on the starboard tack; on his lee quarter, bearing +N. E. by N., were the _Belvidera_ and _Guerrière_ and astern the +_Shannon_, _Aeolus_, and _Africa_. At 5.30 it fell entirely calm, +and Hull put out his boats to tow the ship, always going southward. +At the same time he whipped up a 24 from the main-deck, and got +the forecastlechaser aft, cutting away the taffrail to give the +two guns more freedom to work in and also running out, through +the cabin windows, two of the long main-deck 24's. The British +boats were towing also. At 6 A. M. a light breeze sprang up, and +the _Constitution_ set studding-sails and stay-sails; the _Shannon_ +opened at her with her bow guns, but ceased when she found she +could not reach her. At 6.30, the wind having died away, the +_Shannon_ began to gain, almost all the boats of the squadron +towing her. Having sounded in 26 fathoms, Lieutenant Charles +Morris suggested to Hull to try kedging. All the spare rope was +bent on to the cables, payed out into the cutters, and a kedge +run out half a mile ahead and let go; then the crew clapped on +and walked away with the ship, overrunning and tripping the kedge +as she came up with the end of the line. Meanwhile, fresh lines +and another kedge were carried ahead, and the frigate glided away +from her pursuers. At 7.30 A. M. a little breeze sprang up, when +the _Constitution_ set her ensign and fired a shot at the _Shannon_. +It soon fell calm again and the _Shannon_ neared. At 9.10 a light +air from the southward struck the ship, bringing her to windward. +As the breeze was seen coming, her sails were trimmed, and as soon +as she obeyed her helm she was brought close up on the port tack. +The boats dropped in alongside; those that belonged to the davits +were run up, while the others were just lifted clear of water, by +purchases on the spare spars, stowed outboard, where they could be +used again at a minute's notice. Meanwhile, on her lee beam, the +_Guerrière_ opened fire; but her shot fell short, and the Americans +paid not the slightest heed to it. Soon it again fell calm, when +Hull had 2000 gallons of water started, and again put out his boats +to tow. The _Shannon_ with some of the other boats of the squadron +helping her, gained on the _Constitution_ but by severe exertion +was again left behind. Shortly afterward, a slight wind springing +up, the _Belvidera_ gained on the other British ships, and when it +fell calm she was nearer to the _Constitution_ than any of her +consorts, their boats being put on to her. [Footnote: Cooper speaks +as if this was the _Shannon_; but from Marshall's "Naval Biography" +we learn that it was the _Belvidera_. At other times he confuses +the _Belvidera_ with the _Guerrière_. Captain Hull, of course, +could not accurately distinguish the names of his pursuers. My +account is drawn from a careful comparison of Marshall, Cooper, +and James. ] At 10.30, observing the benefit that the _Constitution_ +had derived from warping, Captain Byron did the same, bending all +his hawsers to one another, and working two kedge anchors at the +same time by paying the warp out through one hawse-hole as it was +run in through the other opposite. Having men from the other frigates +aboard, and a lighter ship to work, Captain Byron at 2 P. M. was +near enough to exchange bow--and stern-chasers with the +_Constitution_, out of range however. Hull expected to be overtaken, +and made every arrangement to try in such case to disable the +first frigate before her consorts could close. But neither the +_Belvidera_ nor the _Shannon_ dared to tow very near for fear of +having their boats sunk by the American's stern-chasers. + +The _Constitution's_ crew showed the most excellent spirit. Officers +and men relieved each other regularly, the former snatching their +rest any where on deck, the latter sleeping at the guns. Gradually +the _Constitution_ drew ahead, but the situation continued most +critical. All through the afternoon the British frigates kept +towing and kedging, being barely out of gunshot. At 3 P. M. a light +breeze sprung up, and blew fitfully at intervals; every puff was +watched closely and taken advantage of to the utmost. At 7 in the +evening the wind almost died out, and for four more weary hours +the worn-out sailors towed and kedged. At 10.45 a little breeze +struck the frigate, when the boats dropped alongside and were +hoisted up, excepting the first cutter. Throughout the night the +wind continued very light, the _Belvidera_ forging ahead till she +was off the _Constitution's_ lee beam; and at 4 A. M., on the +morning of the 19th, she tacked to the eastward, the breeze being +light from the south by east. At 4.20 the _Constitution_ tacked +also; and at 5.15 the _Aeolus_, which had drawn ahead, passed on +the contrary tack. Soon afterward the wind freshened so that +Captain Hull took in his cutter. The _Africa_ was now so far to +leeward as to be almost out of the race; while the five frigates +were all running on the starboard tack with every stitch of canvas +set. At 9 A. M. an American merchant-man hove in sight and bore +down toward the squadron. The _Belvidera_, by way of decoy, +hoisted American colors, when the _Constitution_ hoisted the +British flag, and the merchant vessel hauled off. The breeze +continued light till noon, when Hull found he had dropped the +British frigates well behind; the nearest was the _Belvidera_, +exactly in his wake, bearing W. N. W. 2 1/2 miles distant. The +_Shannon_ was on his lee, bearing N. by W. 1/2 W. distant 3 1/2 +miles. The other two frigates were five miles off on the lee quarter. +Soon afterward the breeze freshened, and "old Ironsides" drew +slowly ahead from her foes, her sails being watched and tended with +the most consummate skill. At 4 P. M. the breeze again lightened, +but even the _Belvidera_ was now four miles astern and to leeward. +At 6.45 there were indications of a heavy rain squall, which once +more permitted Hull to show that in seamanship he excelled even +the able captains against whom he was pitted. The crew were +stationed and every thing kept fast till the last minute, when +all was clewed up just before the squall struck the ship. The +light canvas was furled, a second reef taken in the mizzen top-sail, +and the ship almost instantly brought under short sail. The British +vessels seeing this began to let go and haul down without waiting +for the wind, and were steering on different tacks when the first +gust struck them. But Hull as soon as he got the weight of the +wind sheeted home, hoisted his fore and main-top gallant sails, +and went off on an easy bowline at the rate of 11 knots. At 7.40 +sight was again obtained of the enemy, the squall having passed +to leeward; the _Belvidera_, the nearest vessel, had altered her +bearings two points to leeward, and was a long way astern. Next +came the _Shannon_; the _Guerrière_ and _Aeolus_ were hull down, +and the _Africa_ barely visible. The wind now kept light, shifting +occasionally in a very baffling manner, but the _Constitution_ +gained steadily, wetting her sails from the sky-sails to the +courses. At 6 A. M., on the morning of the 20th the pursuers were +almost out of sight; and at 8.15 A. M. they abandoned the chase. +Hull at once stopped to investigate the character of two strange +vessels, but found them to be only Americans; then, at midday, +he stood toward the east, and went into Boston on July 26th. + +In this chase Captain Isaac Hull was matched against five British +captains, two of whom, Broke and Byron, were fully equal to any +in their navy; and while the latter showed great perseverance, +good seamanship, and ready imitation, there can be no doubt that +the palm in every way belongs to the cool old Yankee. Every daring +expedient known to the most perfect seamanship was tried, and tried +with success; and no victorious fight could reflect more credit on +the conqueror than this three days' chase did on Hull. Later, on +two occasions, the _Constitution_ proved herself far superior in +gunnery to the average British frigate; this time her officers and +men showed that they could handle the sails as well as they could +the guns. Hull out-manoeuvred Broke and Byron as cleverly as a +month later he out-fought Dacres. His successful escape and victorious +fight were both performed in a way that place him above any single +ship captain of war. + +On Aug. 2d the _Constitution_ made sail from Boston [Footnote: +Letter of Capt. Isaac Hull, Aug. 28, 1812.] and stood to the +eastward, in hopes of falling in with some of the British cruisers. +She was unsuccessful, however, and met nothing. Then she ran down +to the Bay of Fundy, steered along the coast of Nova Scotia, +and thence toward Newfoundland, and finally took her station off +Cape Race in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where she took and burned +two brigs of little value. On the 15th she recaptured an American +brig from the British ship-sloop _Avenger_, though the latter +escaped; Capt. Hull manned his prize and sent her in. He then +sailed southward, and on the night of the 18th spoke a Salem +privateer which gave him news of a British frigate to the south; +thither he stood, and at 2 P. M. on the 19th, in lat. 41° 30' N. +and 55° W., made out a large sail bearing E. S. E. and to leeward, +[Footnote: Letter of Capt. Isaac Hull, Aug. 30, 1812.] which proved +to be his old acquaintance, the frigate _Guerrière_, Captain Dacres. +It was a cloudy day and the wind was blowing fresh from the +northwest. The _Guerrière_ was standing by the wind on the +starboard tack, under easy canvas; [Footnote: Letter of Capt. James +R. Dacres, Sept. 7, 1812.] she hauled up her courses, took in her +top-gallant sails, and at 4.30 backed her main-top sail. Hull then +very deliberately began to shorten sail, taking in top-gallant sails, +stay-sails, and flying jib, sending down the royal yards and putting +another reef in the top-sails. Soon the Englishman hoisted three +ensigns, when the American also set his colors, one at each +mast-head, and one at the mizzen peak. + +The _Constitution_ now ran down with the wind nearly aft. The +_Guerrière_ was on the starboard tack, and at five o'clock opened +with her weather-guns, [Footnote: Log of _Guerrière_.] the shot +falling short, then wore round and fired her port broadside, of +which two shot struck her opponent, the rest passing over and +through her rigging. [Footnote: See in the Naval Archives (Bureau +of Navigation) the _Constitution's_ Log-Book (vol. ii, from Feb. 1, +1812, to Dec. 13, 1813). The point is of some little importance +because Hull, in his letter, speaks as if both the first broadsides +fell short, whereas the log distinctly says that the second went +over the ship, except two shot, which came home. The hypothesis of +the _Guerrière_ having damaged powder was founded purely on this +supposed falling short of the first two broadsides.] As the British +frigate again wore to open with her starboard battery, the +_Constitution_ yawed a little and fired two or three of her port +bow-guns. Three or four times the _Guerrière_ repeated this +manoeuvre, wearing and firing alternate broadsides, but with little +or no effect, while the _Constitution_ yawed as often to avoid +being raked, and occasionally fired one of her bow guns. This +continued nearly an hour, as the vessels were very far apart when +the action began, hardly any loss or damage being inflicted by either +party. At 6.00 the _Guerrière_ bore up and ran off under her +top-sails and jib, with the wind almost astern, a little on her +port quarter; when the _Constitution_ set her main-top gallant sail +and foresail, and at 6.05 closed within half pistol-shot distance +on her adversary's port beam. [Footnote: "Autobiography of Commodore +Morris" (Annapolis, 1880), p. 164.] Immediately a furious cannonade +opened, each ship firing as the guns bore. By the time the ships +were fairly abreast, at 6.20, the _Constitution_ shot away the +_Guerrière's_ mizzen-mast, which fell over the starboard quarter, +knocking a large hole in the counter, and bringing the ship round +against her helm. Hitherto she had suffered very greatly and the +_Constitution_ hardly at all. The latter, finding that she was ranging +ahead, put her helm aport and then luffed short round her enemy's +bows, [Footnote: Log of _Constitution_.] delivering a heavy raking +fire with the starboard guns and shooting away the _Guerrière's_ +main-yard. Then she wore and again passed her adversary's bows, +raking with her port guns. The mizzen-mast of the _Guerrière_, +dragging in the water, had by this time pulled her bow round till +the wind came on her starboard quarter; and so near were the two +ships that the Englishman's bowsprit passed diagonally over the +_Constitution's_ quarter-deck, and as the latter ship fell off it +got foul of her mizzen-rigging, and the vessels then lay with the +_Guerrière's_ starboard bow against the _Constitution's_ port, or +lee quarter-gallery. [Footnote: Cooper, in "Putnam's Magazine." +i. 475.] The Englishman's bow guns played havoc with Captain Hull's +cabin, setting fire to it; but the flames were soon extinguished +by Lieutenant Hoffmann. On both sides the boarders were called +away; the British ran forward, but Captain Dacres relinquished +the idea of attacking [Footnote: Address of Captain Dacres to the +court-martial at Halifax.] when he saw the crowds of men on the +American's decks. Meanwhile, on the _Constitution_, the boarders +and marines gathered aft, but such a heavy sea was running that +they could not get on the _Guerrière_. Both sides suffered heavily +from the closeness of the musketry fire; indeed, almost the entire +loss on the _Constitution_ occurred at this juncture. As Lieutenant +Bush, of the marines, sprang upon the taffrail to leap on the +enemy's decks, a British marine shot him dead; Mr. Morris, the +first Lieutenant, and Mr. Alwyn, the master, had also both leaped +on the taffrail, and both were at the same moment wounded by the +musketry fire. On the _Guerrière_ the loss was far heavier, almost +all the men on the forecastle being picked off. Captain Dacres +himself was shot in the back and severely wounded by one of the +American mizzen topmen, while he was standing on the starboard +forecastle hammocks cheering on his crew [Footnote: James, vi, +144.]; two of the lieutenants and the master were also shot down. +The ships gradually worked round till the wind was again on the +port quarter, when they separated, and the _Guerrière's_ foremast +and main-mast at once went by the board, and fell over on the +starboard side, leaving her a defenseless hulk, rolling her +main-deck guns into the water. [Footnote: Brenton, v, 51.] At +6.30 the _Constitution_ hauled aboard her tacks, ran off a little +distance to the eastward, and lay to. Her braces and standing and +running rigging were much cut up and some of the spars wounded, +but a few minutes sufficed to repair damages, when Captain Hull +stood under his adversary's lee, and the latter at once struck, +at 7.00 P. M., [Footnote: Log of the _Constitution_.] just two +hours after she had fired the first shot. On the part of the +_Constitution_, however, the actual fighting, exclusive of six +or eight guns fired during the first hour, while closing, occupied +less than 30 minutes. + +[Illustration: _Constitution_ vs. _Guerrière_ (1): "The Engagement" +is the original title of this, the first in a series of four +paintings of the action done for Captain Hull by Michele F. Corné. +(Courtesy US. Naval Academy Museum)] + +[Illustration: _Constitution_ vs. _Guerrière_ (2): "In Action." +The _Guerrière's_ mizzenmast goes down. (Courtesy U.S. Naval +Academy Museum)] + +[Illustration: _Constitution_ vs. _Guerrière_ (3): "Dropping +Astern." The _Guerrière's_ mainmast and foremast follow. (Courtesy +U.S. Naval Academy Museum)] + +[Illustration: _Constitution_ vs. _Guerrière_ (4): "She Fell in +the Sea, A Perfect Wreck." The puff of smoke over the _Guerrière's_ +bow is from a gun being fired to leeward to signal her surrender, +the customary practice when a vessel no longer had a flag to strike. +(Courtesy New Haven Historical Society)] + +The tonnage and metal of the combatants have already been referred +to. The _Constitution_ had, as already said, about 456 men aboard, +while of the _Guerrière's_ crew, 267 prisoners were received aboard +the _Constitution_; deducting 10 who were Americans and would not +fight, and adding the 15 killed outright, we get 272; 28 men were +absent in prizes. + + COMPARATIVE FORCE + Comparative + Broad- Comparative loss + Tons Guns side Men Loss Force Inflicted + +_Constitution_ 1576 27 684 456 14 1.00 1.00 +_Guerrière_ 1338 25 556 272 79 .70 .18 + +The loss of the _Constitution_ included Lieutenant William S. Bush, +of the marines, and six seamen killed, and her first lieutenant, +Charles Morris, Master, John C. Alwyn, four seamen, and one marine, +wounded. Total, seven killed and seven wounded. Almost all this +loss occurred when the ships came foul, and was due to the +_Guerrière's_ musketry and the two guns in her bridle-ports. + +The _Guerrière_ lost 23 killed and mortally wounded, including her +second lieutenant, Henry Ready, and 56 wounded severely and slightly, +including Captain Dacres himself, the first lieutenant, Bartholomew +Kent, Master, Robert Scott, two master's mates, and one midshipman. + +The third lieutenant of the _Constitution_, Mr. George Campbell +Read, was sent on board the prize, and the _Constitution_ remained +by her during the night; but at daylight it was found that she was +in danger of sinking. Captain Hull at once began removing the +prisoners, and at three o'clock in the afternoon set the _Guerrière_ +on fire, and in a quarter of an hour she blew up. He then set sail +for Boston, where he arrived on August 30th. "Captain Hull and his +officers," writes Captain Dacres in his official letter, "have treated +us like brave and generous enemies; the greatest care has been taken +that we should not lose the smallest trifle." + +The British laid very great stress on the rotten and decayed +condition of the _Guerrière_; mentioning in particular that the +mainmast fell solely because of the weight of the falling foremast. +But it must be remembered that until the action occurred she was +considered a very fine ship. Thus, in Brighton's "Memoir of Admiral +Broke," it is declared that Dacres freely expressed the opinion +that she could take a ship in half the time the _Shannon_ could. +The fall of the main-mast occurred when the fight was practically +over; it had no influence whatever on the conflict. It was also +asserted that her powder was bad, but on no authority; her first +broadside fell short, but so, under similar circumstances, did the +first broadside of the _United States_. None of these causes account +for the fact that her shot did not hit. Her opponent was of such +superior force--nearly in the proportion of 3 to 2--that success +would have been very difficult in any event, and no one can doubt +the gallantry and pluck with which the British ship was fought; but +the execution was very greatly disproportioned to the force. The +gunnery of the _Guerrière_ was very poor, and that of the +_Constitution_ excellent; during the few minutes the ships were +yard-arm and yard-arm; the latter was not hulled once, while no +less than 30 shot took effect on the former's engaged side, +[Footnote: Captain Dacres' address to the court-martial.] five +sheets of copper beneath the bends. The _Guerrière_, moreover, +was out-manoeuvred; "in wearing several times and exchanging +broadsides in such rapid and continual changes of position, her +fire was much more harmless than it would have been if she had +kept more steady." [Footnote: Lord Howard Douglass, "Treatise on +Naval Gunnery" (London, 1851), p. 454.] The _Constitution_ was +handled faultlessly; Captain Hull displayed the coolness and skill +of a veteran in the way in which he managed, first to avoid being +raked, and then to improve the advantage which the precision and +rapidity of his fire had gained. "After making every allowance +claimed by the enemy, the character of this victory is not essentially +altered. Its peculiarities were a fine display of seamanship in the +approach, extraordinary efficiency in the attack, and great readiness +in repairing damages; all of which denote cool and capable officers, +with an expert and trained crew; in a word, a disciplined man-of-war." +[Footnote: Cooper, ii. 173.] The disparity of force, 10 to 7, is +not enough to account for the disparity of execution, 10 to 2. Of +course, something must be allowed for the decayed state of the +Englishman's masts, although I really do not think it had any +influence on the battle, for he was beaten when the main mast fell; +and it must be remembered, on the other hand, that the American +crew was absolutely new, while the _Guerrière_ was manned by old +hands. So that, while admitting and admiring the gallantry, and, +on the whole, the seamanship of Captain Dacres and his crew, and +acknowledging that he fought at a great disadvantage, especially +in being short-handed, yet all must acknowledge that the combat +showed a marked superiority, particularly in gunnery, on the part +of the Americans. Had the ships not come foul, Captain Hull would +probably not have lost more than three or four men; as it was, he +suffered but slightly. That the _Guerrière_ was not so weak as she +was represented to be can be gathered from the fact that she mounted +two more main-deck guns than the rest of her class; thus carrying +on her main-deck 30 long 18-pounders in battery, to oppose to the +30 long 24's, or rather (allowing for the short weight of shot) +long 22's, of the _Constitution_. Characteristically enough, James, +though he carefully reckons in the long bow-chasers in the +bridle-ports of the _Argus_ and _Enterprise_, yet refuses to count +the two long eighteens mounted through the bridle-ports on the +_Guerrière's_ main-deck. Now, as it turned out, these two bow guns +were used very effectively, when the ships got foul, and caused +more damage and loss than all of the other main-deck guns put together. + +[Illustration: This diagram is taken from Commodore Morris' +autobiography and the log of the _Guerrière_: the official accounts +apparently consider "larboard" and "starboard" as interchangeable +terms.] + +Captain Dacres, very much to his credit, allowed the ten Americans +on board to go below, so as not to fight against their flag; and +in his address to the court-martial mentions, among the reasons +for his defeat, "that he was very much weakened by permitting the +Americans on board to quit their quarters." Coupling this with the +assertion made by James and most other British writers that the +_Constitution_ was largely manned by Englishmen, we reach the +somewhat remarkable conclusion, that the British ship was defeated +because the Americans on board would _not_ fight against their +country, and that the American was victorious because the British +on board _would_. However, as I have shown, in reality there were +probably not a score of British on board the _Constitution_. + +In this, as well as the two succeeding frigate actions, every one +must admit that there was a great superiority in force on the side +of the victors, and British historians have insisted that this +superiority was so great as to preclude any hopes of a successful +resistance. That this was not true, and that the disparity between +the combatants was not as great as had been the case in a number of +encounters in which English frigates had taken French ones, can be +best shown by a few accounts taken from the French historian Troude, +who would certainly not exaggerate the difference. Thus on March 1, +1799, the English 38-gun 18-pounder frigate _Sybille_, captured the +French 44-gun 24-pounder frigate _Forte_, after an action of two +hours and ten minutes. [Footnote: "Batailles Navales de la France." +O. Troude (Paris, 1868), iv, 171.] In _actual_ weight the shot +thrown by one of the main-deck guns of the defeated _Forte_ was +over six pounds heavier than the shot thrown by one of the main-deck +guns of the victorious _Constitution_ or _United States_. [Footnote: +See Appendix B, for actual weight of French shot.] + +There are later examples than this. But a very few years before +the declaration of war by the United States, and in the same +struggle that was then still raging, there had been at least two +victories gained by English frigates over French foes as superior +to themselves as the American 44's were to the British ships they +captured. On Aug. 10, 1805, the _Phoenix_, 36, captured the _Didon_, +40, after 3 1/2 hours' fighting, the comparative broadside force +being: [Footnote: Ibid., lii, 425.] + + _PHOENIX_ _DIDON_ + 13×18 14×18 + 2× 9 2× 8 + 6×32 7×36 + ----------------- ----------------- + 21 guns, 444 lbs. 23 guns, 522 lbs. + (nominal; about + 600, real) + +On March 8, 1808, the _San Florenzo_, 36, captured the _Piedmontaise_, +40, the force being exactly what it was in the case of the _Phoenix_ +and Didon.[Footnote: Ibid., in, 499.] Comparing the real, not the +nominal weight of metal, we find that the _Didon_ and _Piedmontaise_ +were proportionately of greater force compared to the _Phoenix_ +and _San Florenzo_, than the _Constitution_ was compared to the +_Guerrière_ or _Java_. The French 18's threw each a shot weighing +but about two pounds less than that thrown by an American 24 of +1812, while their 36-pound carronades each threw a shot over 10 +pounds heavier than that thrown by one of the _Constitution's_ +spar-deck 32's. + +That a 24-pounder can not always whip an 18-pounder frigate is +shown by the action of the British frigate _Eurotas_ with the +French frigate _Chlorinde_, on Feb. 25, 1814. [Footnote: James, +vi, 391.] The first with a crew of 329 men threw 625 pounds of +shot at a broadside, the latter carrying 344 men and throwing 463 +pounds; yet the result was indecisive. The French lost 90 and the +British 60 men. The action showed that heavy metal was not of much +use unless used well. + +To appreciate rightly the exultation Hull's victory caused in the +United States, and the intense annoyance it created in England, it +must be remembered that during the past twenty years the Island +Power had been at war with almost every state in Europe, at one +time or another, and in the course of about two hundred single +conflicts between ships of approximately equal force (that is, where +the difference was less than one half), waged against French, Spanish, +Italian, Turkish, Algerine, Russian, Danish, and Dutch antagonists, +her ships had been beaten and captured in but five instances. Then +war broke out with America, and in eight months five single-ship +actions occurred, in every one of which the British vessel was +captured. Even had the victories been due solely to superior force +this would have been no mean triumph for the United States. + +On October 13, 1812, the American 18-gun ship-sloop _Wasp_, Captain +Jacob Jones, with 137 men aboard, sailed from the Delaware and ran +off southeast to get into the track of the West India vessels; on +the 16th a heavy gale began to blow, causing the loss of the +jib-boom and two men who were on it. The next day the weather +moderated somewhat, and at 11.30 P.M., in latitude 37° N., longitude +65° W., several sail were descried. [Footnote: Capt. Jones' official +letter, Nov. 24, 1812.] These were part of a convoy of 14 +merchant-men which had quitted the bay of Honduras on September +12th, bound for England, [Footnote: James' History, vi, 158.] under +the convoy of the British 18-gun brig-sloop _Frolic_, of 19 guns +and 110 men, Captain Thomas Whinyates. They had been dispersed by +the gale of the 16th, during which the _Frolic's_ main-yard was +carried away and both her top-sails torn to pieces [Footnote: Capt. +Whinyates' official letter, Oct. 18, 1812.]; next day she spent in +repairing damages, and by dark six of the missing ships had joined +her. The day broke almost cloudless on the 18th (Sunday), showing +the convoy, ahead and to leeward of the American ship, still some +distance off, as Captain Jones had not thought it prudent to close +during the night, while he was ignorant of the force of his antagonists. +The _Wasp_ now sent down to her top-gallant yards, close reefed her +top-sails, and bore down under short fighting canvas; while the +_Frolic_ removed her main-yard from the casks, lashed it on deck, +and then hauled to the wind under her boom main-sail and close-reefed +foretop-sail, hoisting Spanish colors to decoy the stranger under +her guns, and permit the convoy to escape. At 11.32 the action +began--the two ships running parallel on the starboard tack, not +60 yards apart, the _Wasp_, firing her port, and the _Frolic_ her +starboard, guns. The latter fired very rapidly, delivering three +broadsides to the _Wasp's_ two, [Footnote: Cooper, 182.] both crews +cheering loudly as the ships wallowed through the water. There was +a very heavy sea running, which caused the vessels to pitch and +roll heavily. The Americans fired as the engaged side of their ship +was going down, aiming at their opponent's hull [Footnote: Miles' +Register, in, p. 324.]; while the British delivered their broadsides +while on the crests of the seas, the shot going high. The water +dashed in clouds of spray over both crews, and the vessels rolled +so that the muzzles of the guns went under. [Footnote: _Do_.] But +in spite of the rough weather, the firing was not only spirited +but well directed. At 11.36 the _Wasp's_ maintop-mast was shot +away and fell, with its yard, across the port fore and foretop-sail +braces, rendering the head yards unmanageable; at 11.46 the gaff +and mizzentop-gallant mast came down, and by 11.52 every brace and +most of the rigging was shot away. [Footnote: Capt. Jones' letter.] +It would now have been very difficult to brace any of the yards. +But meanwhile the _Frolic_ suffered dreadfully in her hull and lower +masts, and had her gaff and head braces shot away.[Footnote: Capt. +Whinyates' letter.] The slaughter among her crew was very great, +but the survivors kept at their work with the dogged courage of +their race. At first the two vessels ran side by side, but the +American gradually forged ahead, throwing in her fire from a +position in which she herself received little injury; by degrees +the vessels got so close that the Americans struck the _Frolic's_ +side with their rammers in loading, [Footnote: Capt. Jones' letter.] +and the British brig was raked with dreadful effect. The Frolic +then fell aboard her antagonist, her jib-boom coming in between +the main- and mizzen-rigging of the _Wasp_ and passing over the +heads of Captain Jones and Lieutenant Biddle, who were standing +near the capstan. This forced the _Wasp_ up in the wind, and she +again raked her antagonist, Captain Jones trying to restrain his +men from boarding till he could put in another broadside. But they +could no longer be held back, and Jack Lang, a New Jersey seaman, +leaped on the _Frolic's_ bowsprit. Lieutenant Biddle then mounted +on the hammock cloth to board, but his feet got entangled in the +rigging, and one of the midshipmen seizing his coat-tails to help +himself up, the lieutenant tumbled back on the deck. At the next +swell he succeeded in getting on the bowsprit, on which there were +already two seamen whom he passed on the forecastle. But there was +no one to oppose him; not twenty Englishmen were left unhurt. +[Footnote: Capt. Whinyates' letter.] The man at the wheel was still +at his post, grim and undaunted, and two or three more were on deck, +including Captain Whinyates and Lieutenant Wintle, both so severely +wounded that they could not stand without support. [Footnote: James, +vi, 161.] There could be no more resistance, and Lieutenant Biddle +lowered the flag at 12.15--just 43 minutes after the beginning of +the fight. [Footnote: Capt. Jones' letter.] A minute or two afterward +both the _Frolic's_ masts went by the board--the foremast about +fifteen feet above the deck, the other short off. Of her crew, as +already said, not twenty men had escaped unhurt. Every officer was +wounded; two of them, the first lieutenant, Charles McKay, and +master, John Stephens, soon died. Her total loss was thus over +90 [Footnote: Capt. Whinyates' official letter thus states it, and +is, of course, to be taken as authority; the Bermuda account makes +it 69, and James only 62;] about 30 of whom were killed outright +or died later. The _Wasp_ suffered very severely in her rigging +and aloft generally, but only two or three shots struck her hull; +five of her men were killed--two in her mizzen-top and one in her +maintop-mast rigging--and five wounded, [Footnote: Capt. Jones' +letter.] chiefly while aloft. + +[Illustration: _Wasp_ vs. _Frolic_: a contemporary painting by +Thomas Birch, believed to have been done for the _Wasp's_ captain, +James Biddle. (Courtesy Peabody Museum of Salem)] + +The two vessels were practically of equal force. The loss of the +_Frolic's_ main-yard had merely converted her into a brigantine, +and, as the roughness of the sea made it necessary to fight under +very short canvas, her inferiority in men was fully compensated for +by her superiority in metal. She had been desperately defended; no +men could have fought more bravely than Captain Whinyates and his +crew. On the other hand, the Americans had done their work with a +coolness and skill that could not be surpassed; the contest had +been mainly one of gunnery, and had been decided by the greatly +superior judgment and accuracy with which they fired. Both officers +and crew had behaved well; Captain Jones particularly mentions +Lieutenant Claxton, who, though too ill to be of any service, +persisted in remaining on deck throughout the engagement. + +The _Wasp_ was armed with 2 long 12's and 16 32-pound carronades; +the _Frolic_ with 2 long 6's, 16 32-pound carronades, and 1 shifting +12-pound carronade. + + COMPARATIVE FORCE. + + Tons. No. Guns. Weight Metal. Crews. Loss. +_Wasp_ 450 9 250 135 10 +_Frolic_ 467 10 274 110 90 + +Vice-Admiral Jurien de la Gravière comments on this action as +follows [Footnote: "Guerres Maritimes," ii, 287 (Septième Édition, +Paris, 1881).]: + +DIAGRAM [Footnote: It is difficult to reconcile the accounts of +the manoeuvres in this action. James says "larboard" where Cooper +says "starboard"; one says the _Wasp_ wore, the other says that +she could not do so, etc.] + +[Illustration: Shows the paths of the _Wasp_ and the _Frolic_ during +their battle and the positions of the ships at various times during +the battle from 11.32 to 12.15] + +"The American fire showed itself to be as accurate as it was rapid. +On occasions when the roughness of the sea would seem to render +all aim excessively uncertain, the effects of their artillery were +not less murderous than under more advantageous conditions. The +corvette _Wasp_ fought the brig _Frolic_ in an enormous sea, under +very short canvas, and yet, forty minutes after the beginning of +the action, when the two vessels came together, the Americans who +leaped aboard the brig found on the deck, covered with dead and +dying, but one brave man, who had not left the wheel, and three +officers, all wounded, who threw down their swords at the feet of +the victors." Admiral de la Gravière's criticisms are especially +valuable, because they are those of an expert, who only refers to +the war of 1812 in order to apply to the French navy the lessons +which it teaches, and who is perfectly unprejudiced. He cares for +the lesson taught, not the teacher, and is quite as willing to +learn from the defeat of the _Chesapeake_ as from the victories +of the _Constitution_--while most American critics only pay heed +to the latter. + +The characteristics of the action are the practical equality of the +contestants in point of force and the enormous disparity in the +damage each suffered; numerically, the _Wasp_ was superior by 5 per +cent., and inflicted a ninefold greater loss. + +Captain Jones was not destined to bring his prize into port, for +a few hours afterward the _Poictiers_, a British 74, Captain John +Poer Beresford, hove in sight. Now appeared the value of the _Frolic's_ +desperate defence; if she could not prevent herself from being +captured, she had at least ensured her own recapture, and also the +capture of the foe. When the _Wasp_ shook out her sails they were +found to be cut into ribbons aloft, and she could not make off with +sufficient speed. As the _Poictiers_ passed the _Frolic_, rolling +like a log in the water, she threw a shot over her, and soon +overtook the _Wasp_. Both vessels were carried into Bermuda. Captain +Whinyates was again put in command of the _Frolic_. Captain Jones +and his men were soon exchanged; 25,000 dollars prize-money was +voted them by Congress, and Captain and Lieutenant Biddle were +both promoted, the former receiving the captured ship _Macedonian_. +Unluckily the blockade was too close for him to succeed in getting +out during the remainder of the war. + +On Oct. 8th Commodore Rodgers left Boston on his second cruise, with +the _President_, _United States_, _Congress_, and _Argus_, [Footnote: +Letter of Commodore Rodgers. Jan. 1. 1813.] leaving the _Hornet_ +in port. Four days out, the _United States_ and _Argus_ separated, +while the remaining two frigates continued their cruise together. +The _Argus_, [Footnote: Letter of Capt. Arthur Sinclair, Jan. 4, +1813.] Captain Sinclair, cruised to the eastward, making prizes +of 6 valuable merchant-men, and returned to port on January 3d. +During the cruise she was chased for three days and three nights +(the latter being moonlight) by a British squadron, and was obliged +to cut away her boats and anchors and start some of her water. But +she saved her guns, and was so cleverly handled that during the +chase she actually succeeded in taking and manning a prize, though +the enemy got near enough to open fire as the vessels separated. +Before relating what befell the _United States_, we shall bring +Commodore Rodgers' cruise to an end. + +On Oct. 10th the Commodore chased, but failed to overtake, the +British frigate _Nymphe_, 38, Captain Epworth. On the 18th, off +the great Bank of Newfoundland, he captured the Jamaica packet +_Swallow_, homeward bound, with 200,000 dollars in specie aboard. +On the 31st, at 9 A. M., lat. 33° N., long. 32° W., his two frigates +fell in with the British frigate _Galatea_, 36, Captain Woodley +Losack, convoying two South Sea ships, to windward. The _Galatea_ +ran down to reconnoitre, and at 10 A. M., recognizing her foes, +hauled up on the starboard tack to escape. The American frigates +made all sail in chase, and continued beating to windward, tacking +several times, for about three hours. Seeing that she was being +overhauled, the _Galatea_ now edged away to get on her best point +of sailing; at the same moment one of her convoy, the _Argo_, bore +up to cross the hawse of her foes, but was intercepted by the +_Congress_, who lay to to secure her. Meanwhile the _President_ +kept after the _Galatea_; she set her top-mast, top-gallant mast +and lower studding-sails, and when it was dusk had gained greatly +upon her. But the night was very dark, the _President_ lost sight +of the chase, and, toward midnight, hauled to the wind to rejoin +her consort. The two frigates cruised to the east as far as 22° W., +and then ran down to 17° N.; but during the month of November they +did not see a sail. They had but slightly better luck on their +return toward home. Passing 120 miles north of Bermuda, and cruising +a little while toward the Virginia capes, they reentered Boston +on Dec. 31st, having made 9 prizes, most of them of little value. + +When four days out, on Oct. 12th, Commodore Decatur had separated +from the rest of Rodgers' squadron and cruised east; on the 25th, +in lat. 29° N., and long. 29° 30' W. while going close-hauled on +the port tack, with the wind fresh from the S. S. E., a sail was +descried on the weather beam, about 12 miles distant. [Footnote: +Official letter of Commodore Decatur, Oct. 30. 1812.] This was the +British 38-gun frigate _Macedonian_, Captain John Surnam Carden. +She was not, like the _Guerrière_, an old ship captured from the +French, but newly built of oak and larger than any American +18-pounder frigate; she was reputed (very wrongfully) to be a +"crack ship." According to Lieut. David Hope, "the state of +discipline on board was excellent; in no British ship was more +attention paid to gunnery. Before this cruise, the ship had been +engaged almost every day with the enemy; and in time of peace the +crew were constantly exercised at the great guns." [Footnote: +Marshall's "Naval Biography," vol. iv, p. 1018.] How they could have +practised so much and learned so little is certainly marvellous. + +The Macedonian set her foretop-mast and top-gallant studdings sails +and bore away in chase, [Footnote: Capt. Carden to Mr. Croker, +Oct. 28, 1812.] edging down with the wind a little aft the starboard +beam. Her first lieutenant wished to continue on this course and +pass down ahead of the _United States_, [Footnote: James, vi. 165.] +but Capt. Carden's over-anxiety to keep the weather-gage lost him +this opportunity of closing. [Footnote: Sentence of Court-martial +held on the _San Domingo_, 74. at the Bermudas. May 27, 1812.] +Accordingly he hauled by the wind and passed way to windward of the +American. As Commodore Decatur got within range, he eased off and +fired a broadside, most of which fell short [Footnote: Marshall, +iv, 1080.]; he then kept his luff, and, the next time he fired, his +long 24's told heavily, while he received very little injury himself. +[Footnote: Cooper, 11, 178.] The fire from his main-deck (for he +did not use his carronades at all for the first half hour) [Footnote: +Letter of Commodore Decatur.] was so very rapid that it seemed as +if the ship was on fire; his broadsides were delivered with almost +twice the rapidity of those of the Englishman. [Footnote: James, vi, +169.] The latter soon found he could not play at long bowls with any +chance of success; and, having already erred either from timidity +or bad judgment, Captain Carden decided to add rashness to the +catalogue of his virtues. Accordingly he bore up, and came down +end on toward his adversary, with the wind on his port quarter. +The _States_ now (10.15) laid her main-topsail aback and made heavy +play with her long guns, and, as her adversary came nearer, with +her carronades also. + +[Illustration: Shows the paths of the _United States_ and the +_Macedonian_ during their battle and the positions of the ships +at various times during the battle from 09.45 to 11.15] + +The British ship would reply with her starboard guns, hauling up +to do so; as she came down, the American would ease off, run a +little way and again come to, keeping up a terrific fire. As the +_Macedonian_ bore down to close, the chocks of all her forecastle +guns (which were mounted on the outside) were cut away [Footnote: +Letter of Captain Carden.]; her fire caused some damage to the +American's rigging, but hardly touched her hull, while she herself +suffered so heavily both alow and aloft that she gradually dropped +to leeward, while the American fore-reached on her. Finding herself +ahead and to windward, the _States_ tacked and ranged up under her +adversary's lee, when the latter struck her colors at 11.15, just +an hour and a half after the beginning of the action. [Footnote: +Letter of Commodore Decatur.] + +[Illustration: Captain Stephen Decatur: a charcoal drawing done +in 1809 by Charles B.J.F. St.-Memin. (Courtesy Library of Congress)] + +The _United States_ had suffered surprisingly little; what damage +had been done was aloft. Her mizzen top-gallant mast was cut away, +some of the spars were wounded, and the rigging a good deal cut; +the hull was only struck two or three times. The ships were never +close enough to be within fair range of grape and musketry, [Footnote: +Letter of Commodore Decatur.] and the wounds were mostly inflicted +by round shot and were thus apt to be fatal. Hence the loss of the +Americans amounted to Lieutenant John Messer Funk (5th of the ship) +and six seamen killed or mortally wounded, and only five severely +and slightly wounded. + +The _Macedonian_, on the other hand, had received over a hundred +shot in her hull, several between wind and water; her mizzen-mast +had gone by the board; her fore--and maintop-masts had been shot +away by the caps, and her main-yard in the slings; almost all her +rigging was cut away (only the fore-sail being left); on the +engaged side all of her carronades but two, and two of her main-deck +guns, were dismounted. Of her crew 43 were killed and mortally +wounded, and 61 (including her first and third lieutenants) severely +and slightly wounded. [Footnote: Letter of Captain Carden.] Among +her crew were eight Americans (as shown by her muster-roll); these +asked permission to go below before the battle, but it was refused +by Captain Carden, and three were killed during the action. James +says that they _were_ allowed to go below, but this is untrue; for +if they had, the three would not have been slain. The others +testified that they had been forced to fight, and they afterward +entered the American service--the only ones of the _Macedonian's_ +crew who did, or who were asked to. + +The _Macedonian_ had her full complement of 301 men; the _States_ +had, by her muster-roll of October 20th, 428 officers, petty officers, +seamen, and boys, and 50 officers and privates of marines, a total +of 478 (instead of 509 as Marshall in his "Naval Biography" makes +it). + + COMPARATIVE FORCE. + + Broadside Weight + Size. Guns. Metal. Men. Loss. +_United States_ 1576 27 786 478 12 +_Macedonian_ 1325 25 547 301 104 + + Comparative Comparative Loss + Force. Inflicted. +_States_ 100 100 +_Macedonian_ 66 11 + +That is, the relative force being about as three is to two, +[Footnote: I have considered the _United States_ as mounting her +full allowance of 54 guns; but it is possible that she had no more +than 49. In Decatur's letter of challenge of Jan. 17, 1814 (which +challenge, by the way, was a most blustering affair, reflecting +credit neither on Decatur, nor his opponent, Captain Hope, nor on +any one else, excepting Captain Stackpole of H. M. S. _Statira_), +she is said to have had that number; her broadside would then be +15 long 24's below, 1 long 24, 1 12-pound, and 8 42-pound carronades +above. Her _real_ broadside weight of metal would thus be about +680 lbs., and she would be superior to the _Macedonian_ in the +proportion of 5 to 4. But it is possible that Decatur had landed +some of his guns in 1813, as James asserts; and though I am not at +all sure of this, I have thought it best to be on the safe side in +describing his force.] the damage done was as nine to one! + +Of course, it would have been almost impossible for the _Macedonian_ +to conquer with one third less force; but the disparity was by no +means sufficient to account for the ninefold greater loss suffered, +and the ease and impunity with which the victory was won. The +British sailors fought with their accustomed courage, but their +gunnery was exceedingly poor; and it must be remembered that though +the ship was bravely fought, still the defence was by no means so +desperate as that made by the _Essex_ or even the _Chesapeake_, +as witnessed by their respective losses. The _Macedonian_, moreover, +was surrendered when she had suffered less damage than either the +_Guerrière_ or _Java_. The chief cause of her loss lay in the fact +that Captain Carden was a poor commander. The gunnery of the _Java_, +_Guerrière_, and _Macedonian_ was equally bad; but while Captain +Lambert proved himself to be as able as he was gallant, and Captain +Dacres did nearly as well, Captain Carden, on the other hand, was +first too timid, and then too rash, and showed bad judgment at all +times. By continuing his original course he could have closed at +once; but he lost his chance by over-anxiety to keep the weather-gage, +and was censured by the court-martial accordingly. Then he tried +to remedy one error by another, and made a foolishly rash approach. +A very able and fair-minded English writer says of this action: +"As a display of courage the character of the service was nobly +upheld, but we would be deceiving ourselves were we to admit that +the comparative expertness of the crews in gunnery was equally +satisfactory. Now, taking the difference of effect as given by +Captain Carden, we must draw this conclusion--that the comparative +loss in killed and wounded (104 to 12), together with the dreadful +account he gives of the condition of his own ship, while he admits +that the enemy's vessel was in comparatively good order, must have +arisen from inferiority in gunnery as well as in force." [Footnote: +Lord Howard Douglass, "Naval Gunnery." p. 525] + +On the other hand, the American crew, even according to James, were +as fine a set of men as ever were seen on shipboard. Though not one +fourth were British by birth, yet many of them had served on board +British ships of war, in some cases voluntarily, but much more +often because they were impressed. They had been trained at the +guns with the greatest care by Lieutenant Allen. And finally +Commodore Decatur handled his ship with absolute faultlessness. +To sum up: a brave and skilful crew, ably commanded, was matched +against an equally brave but unskilful one, with an incompetent +leader; and this accounts for the disparity of loss being so much +greater than the disparity in force. + +At the outset of this battle the position of the parties was just +the reverse of that in the case of the _Constitution_ and _Guerrière_: +the Englishman had the advantage of the wind, but he used it in a +very different manner from that in which Captain Hull had done. The +latter at once ran down to close, but manoeuvred so cautiously that +no damage could be done him till he was within pistol shot. Captain +Carden did not try to close till after fatal indecision, and then +made the attempt so heedlessly that he was cut to pieces before he +got to close quarters. Commodore Decatur, also, manoeuvred more +skilfully than Captain Dacres, although the difference was less +marked between these two. The combat was a plain cannonade; the +_States_ derived no advantage from the superior number of her men, +for they were not needed. The marines in particular had nothing +whatever to do, while they had been of the greatest service against +the _Guerrière_. The advantage was simply in metal, as 10 is to 7. +Lord Howard Douglass' criticisms on these actions seem to me only +applicable in part. He says (p. 524): "The Americans would neither +approach nor permit us to join in close battle until they had gained +some extraordinary advantage from the superior faculties of their +long guns in distant cannonade, and from the intrepid, uncircumspect, +and often very exposed approach of assailants who had long been +accustomed to contemn all manoeuvring. Our vessels were crippled +in distant cannonade from encountering rashly the serious +disadvantage of making direct attacks; the uncircumspect +gallantry of our commanders led our ships unguardedly into the +snares which wary caution had spread." + +These criticisms are very just as regards the _Macedonian_, and I +fully agree with them (possibly reserving the right to doubt Captain +Carden's gallantry, though readily admitting his uncircumspection). +But the case of the _Guerrière_ differed widely. There the American +ship made the attack, while the British at first avoided close +combat; and, so far from trying to cripple her adversary by a +distant cannonade, the _Constitution_ hardly fired a dozen times +until within pistol shot. This last point is worth mentioning, +because in a work on "Heavy Ordnance," by Captain T. F. Simmons, +R. A. (London, 1837), it is stated that the _Guerrière_ received +her injuries _before_ the closing, mentioning especially the "thirty +shot below the water-line"; whereas, by the official accounts of +both commanders, the reverse was the case. Captain Hull, in his +letter, and Lieutenant Morris, (in his autobiography) say they only +fired a few guns before closing; and Captain Dacres, in his letter, +and Captain Brenton, in his "History," say that not much injury was +received by the _Guerrière_ until about the time the mizzen-mast +fell, which was three or four minutes after close action began. + +Lieutenant Allen was put aboard the _Macedonian_ as prize-master; +he secured the fore- and main-masts and rigged a jury mizzen-mast, +converting the vessel into a bark. Commodore Decatur discontinued +his cruise to convoy his prize back to America; they reached New +London Dec. 4th. Had it not been for the necessity of convoying +the _Macedonian_, the _States_ would have continued her cruise, +for the damage she suffered was of the most trifling character. + +Captain Garden stated (in Marshall's "Naval Biography") that the +_States_ measured 1,670 tons, was manned by 509 men, suffered so +from shot under water that she had to be pumped out every watch, +and that two eighteen-pound shot passed in a horizontal line through +her main-masts; all of which statements were highly creditable to +the vividness of his imagination. The _States_ measured but 1,576 +tons (and by English measurement very much less), had 478 men aboard, +had not been touched by a shot under water-line, and her lower masts +were unwounded. James states that most of her crew were British, +which assertion I have already discussed; and that she had but one +boy aboard, and that he was seventeen years old,--in which case 29 +others, some of whom (as we learn from the "Life of Decatur") were +only twelve, must have grown with truly startling rapidity during +the hour and a half that the combat lasted. + +During the twenty years preceding 1812 there had been almost +incessant warfare on the ocean, and although there had been +innumerable single conflicts between French and English frigates, +there had been but one case in which the French frigate, single-handed, +was victorious. This was in the year 1805 when the _Milan_ captured +the _Cleopatra_. According to Troude, the former threw at a broadside +574 pounds (actual), the latter but 334; and the former lost 35 men +out of her crew of 350, the latter 58 out of 200. Or, the forces +being as 100 to 58, the loss inflicted was as 100 to 60; while the +_States'_ force compared to the _Macedonian's_ being as 100 to 66, +the loss she inflicted was as 100 to 11. + +British ships, moreover, had often conquered against odds as great; +as, for instance, when the _Sea Horse_ captured the great Turkish +frigate _Badere-Zaffer_; when the _Astrea_ captured the French +frigate _Gloire_, which threw at a broadside 286 pounds of shot, +while she threw but 174; and when, most glorious of all, Lord +Dundonald, in the gallant little _Speedy_, actually captured the +Spanish xebec _Gamo_ of over five times her own force! Similarly, +the corvette _Comus_ captured the Danish frigate _Fredrickscoarn_, +the brig _Onyx_ captured the Dutch sloop _Manly_, the little cutter +_Thorn_ captured the French _Courier-National_, and the _Pasly_ +the Spanish _Virgin_; while there had been many instances of drawn +battles between English 12-pound frigates and French or Spanish +18-pounders. + +Captain Hull having resigned the command of the _Constitution_, +she was given to Captain Bainbridge, of the _Constellation_, who +was also entrusted with the command of the _Essex_ and _Hornet_. +The latter ship was in the port of Boston with the _Constitution_, +under the command of Captain Lawrence. The _Essex_ was in the +Delaware, and accordingly orders were sent to Captain Porter to +rendezvous at the Island of San Jago; if that failed several other +places were appointed, and if, after a certain time, he did not +fall in with his commodore he was to act at his own discretion. + +[Illustration: Captain William Bainbridge: a portrait by John +Wesley Jarvis, circa 1814. (Courtesy U.S. Naval Academy Museum)] + +On October 26th the _Constitution_ and _Hornet_ sailed, touched +at the different rendezvous, and on December 13th arrived off San +Salvador, where Captain Lawrence found the _Bonne Citoyenne_, 18, +Captain Pitt Barnaby Greene. The _Bonne Citoyenne_ was armed with +18 32-pound carronades and 2 long nines, and her crew of 150 men +was exactly equal in number to that of the _Hornet_; the latter's +short weight in metal made her antagonist superior to her in about +the same proportion that she herself was subsequently superior to +the _Penguin_, or, in other words, the ships were practically equal. +Captain Lawrence now challenged Captain Greene to single fight, +giving the usual pledges that the _Constitution_ should not +interfere. The challenge was not accepted for a variety of reasons; +among others the _Bonne Citoyenne_ was carrying home half a million +pounds in specie. [Footnote: Brenton and James both deny that +Captain Greene was blockaded by the _Hornet_, and claim that he +feared the _Constitution_. James says (p. 275) that the occurrence +was one which "the characteristic cunning of Americans turned greatly +to their advantage"; and adds that Lawrence only sent the challenge +because "it could not be accepted," and so he would "suffer no +personal risk." He states that the reason it was sent, as well as +the reason that it was refused, was because the _Constitution_ was +going to remain in the offing and capture the British ship if she +proved conqueror. It is somewhat surprising that even James should +have had the temerity to advance such arguments. According to his +own account (p. 277) the _Constitution_ left for Boston on Jan. 6th, +and the _Hornet_ remained blockading the _Bonne Citoyenne_ till the +24th, when the _Montagu_, 74, arrived. During these eighteen days +there could have been no possible chance of the _Constitution_ or +any other ship interfering, and it is ridiculous to suppose that +any such fear kept Captain Greene from sailing out to attack his +foe. No doubt Captain Greene's course was perfectly justifiable, +but it is curious that with all the assertions made by James as to +the cowardice of the Americans, this is the only instance throughout +the war in which a ship of either party declined a contest with an +antagonist of equal force (the cases of Commodore Rodgers and Sir +George Collier being evidently due simply to an overestimate of the +opposing ships.)] Leaving the _Hornet_ to blockade her, Commodore +Bainbridge ran off to the southward, keeping the land in view. + +At 9 A. M., Dec. 29, 1812, while the _Constitution_ was running +along the coast of Brazil, about thirty miles offshore in latitude +13° 6' S., and longitude 31° W., two strange sail were made, +[Footnote: Official letter of Commodore Bainbridge, Jan. 3, 1813.] +inshore and to windward. These were H. B. M. frigate _Java_, Captain +Lambert, forty-eight days out of Spithead, England, with the captured +ship _William_ in company. Directing the latter to make for San +Salvador, the _Java_ bore down in chase of the _Constitution_. +[Footnote: Official letter of Lieutenant Chads, Dec. 31, 1812.] The +wind was blowing light from the N.N.E., and there was very little +sea on. At 10 the _Java_ made the private signals, English, Spanish, +and Portuguese in succession, none being answered; meanwhile the +_Constitution_ was standing up toward the _Java_ on the starboard +tack; a little after 11 she hoisted her private signal, and then, +being satisfied that the strange sail was an enemy, she wore and +stood off toward the S.E., to draw her antagonist away from the +land, [Footnote: Log of the _Constitution_.] which was plainly +visible. The _Java_ hauled up, and made sail in a parallel course, +the _Constitution_ bearing about three points on her lee bow. +The _Java_ gained rapidly, being much the swifter. + +At 1.30 the _Constitution_ luffed up, shortened her canvas to +top-sails, top-gallant sails, jib, and spanker, and ran easily off +on the port tack, heading toward the southeast; she carried her +commodore's pendant at the main, national ensigns at the mizzenpeak +and main top-gallant mast-head, and a Jack at the fore. The _Java_ +also had taken in the main-sail and royals, and came down in a +lasking course on her adversary's weather-quarter, [Footnote: +Lieutenant Chads' Address to the Court-martial, April 23, 1813.] +hoisting her ensign at the mizzen-peak, a union Jack at the mizzen +top-gallant mast-head, and another lashed to the main-rigging. At +2 P. M., the _Constitution_ fired a shot ahead of her, following +it quickly by a broadside, [Footnote: Commodore Bainbridge's +letter.] and the two ships began at long bowls, the English firing +the lee or starboard battery while the Americans replied with their +port guns. The cannonade was very spirited on both sides, the ships +suffering about equally. The first broadside of the _Java_ was very +destructive, killing and wounding several of the _Constitution's_ +crew. The _Java_ kept edging down, and the action continued, with +grape and musketry in addition; the swifter British ship soon +forereached and kept away, intending to wear across her slower +antagonist's bow and rake her; but the latter wore in the smoke, +and the two combatants ran off to the westward, the Englishman +still a-weather and steering freer than the _Constitution_, which +had luffed to close. [Footnote: Log of the _Constitution_.] The +action went on at pistol-shot distance. In a few minutes, however, +the _Java_ again forged ahead, out of the weight of her adversary's +fire, and then kept off, as before, to cross her bows; and, as +before, the _Constitution_ avoided this by wearing, both ships +again coming round with their heads to the east, the American +still to leeward. The Java kept the weather-gage tenaciously, +forereaching a little, and whenever the _Constitution_ luffed +up to close, [Footnote: Log of _Constitution_.] the former tried +to rake her. But her gunnery was now poor, little damage being +done by it; most of the loss the Americans suffered was early in +the action. By setting her foresail and main-sail the _Constitution_ +got up close on the enemy's lee beam, her fire being very heavy +and carrying away the end of the _Java's_ bowsprit and her jib-boom. +[Footnote: Lieutenant Chads' letter.] The _Constitution_ forged +ahead and repeated her former manoeuvre, wearing in the smoke. The +_Java_ at once hove in stays, but owing to the loss of head-sail +fell off very slowly, and the American frigate poured a heavy raking +broadside into her stern, at about two cables' length distance. The +_Java_ replied with her port guns as she fell off. [Footnote: +Lieutenant Chads' letter.] Both vessels then bore up and ran off +free, with the wind on the port quarter; the _Java_ being abreast +and to windward of her antagonist, both with their heads a little +east of south. The ships were less than a cable's length apart, and +the _Constitution_ inflicted great damage while suffering very little +herself. The British lost many men by the musketry of the American +topmen, and suffered still more from the round and grape, especially +on the forecastle, [Footnote: Testimony of Christopher Speedy, in +minutes of the Court-martial on board H. M. S. _Gladiator_, at +Portsmouth, April 23, 1813] many marked instances of valor being +shown on both sides. The _Java's_ masts were wounded and her rigging +cut to pieces, and Captain Lambert then ordered her to be laid +aboard the enemy, who was on her lee beam. The helm was put a-weather, +and the _Java_ came down for the _Constitution's_ main-chains. The +boarders and marines gathered in the gangways and on the forecastle, +the boatswain having been ordered to cheer them up with his pipe +that they might make a clean spring. [Footnote: Testimony of James +Humble, in _do., do._] The Americans, however, raked the British +with terrible effect, cutting off their main top-mast above the cap, +and their foremast near the cat harpings. [Footnote: Log of +_Constitution_.] The stump of the _Java's_ bowsprit got caught in +the _Constitution's_ mizzen-rigging, and before it got clear the +British suffered still more. + +[Illustration: _Constitution_ vs. _Java_: a comptemporary American +engraving done under the supervision of a witness to the action. +(Courtesy Beverley R. Robinson Collection, U.S. Naval Academy Museum)] + +Finally the ships separated, the _Java's_ bowsprit passing over the +taffrail of the _Constitution_; the latter at once kept away to +avoid being raked. The ships again got nearly abreast, but the +_Constitution_, in her turn, forereached; whereupon Commodore +Bainbridge wore, passed his antagonist, luffed up under his quarter, +raked him with the starboard guns, then wore, and recommenced the +action with his port broadside at about 3.10. Again the vessels +were abreast, and the action went on as furiously as ever. The wreck +of the top hamper on the _Java_ lay over her starboard side, so that +every discharge of her guns set her on fire, [Footnote: Lieut. Chads' +Address.] and in a few minutes her able and gallant commander was +mortally wounded by a ball fired by one of the American main-top-men. +[Footnote: Surgeon J. C. Jones' Report.] The command then devolved +on the first lieutenant, Chads, himself painfully wounded. The +slaughter had been terrible, yet the British fought on with stubborn +resolution, cheering lustily. But success was now hopeless, for +nothing could stand against the cool precision of the Yankee fire. +The stump of the _Java's_ foremast was carried away by a double-headed +shot, the mizzen-mast fell, the gaff and spanker boom were shot away, +also the main-yard, and finally the ensign was cut down by a shot, +and all her guns absolutely silenced; when at 4.05 the _Constitution_, +thinking her adversary had struck, [Footnote: Log of the _Constitution_ +(as given in Bainbridge's letter).] ceased firing, hauled aboard +her racks, and passed across her adversary's bows to windward, with +her top-sails, jib, and spanker set. A few minutes afterward the +_Java's_ main-mast fell, leaving her a sheer hulk. The _Constitution_ +assumed a weatherly position, and spent an hour in repairing damages +and securing her masts; then she wore and stood toward her enemy, +whose flag was again flying, but only for bravado, for as soon as +the _Constitution_ stood across her forefoot she struck. At 5.25 +she was taken possession of by Lieutenant Parker, 1st of the +_Constitution_, in one of the latter's only two remaining boats. + +The American ship had suffered comparatively little. But a few round +shot had struck her hull, one of which carried away the wheel; one +18-pounder went through the mizzen-mast; the fore-mast, main-top-mast, +and a few other spars were slightly wounded, and the running rigging +and shrouds were a good deal cut; but in an hour she was again in +good fighting trim. Her loss amounted to 8 seamen and 1 marine +killed; the 5th lieutenant, John C. Alwyn, and 2 seamen, mortally, +Commodore Bainbridge and 12 seamen, severely, and 7 seamen and 2 +marines, slightly wounded; in all 12 killed and mortally wounded, +and 22 wounded severely and slightly. [Footnote: Report of Surgeon +Amos A. Evans.] + +"The _Java_ sustained unequalled injuries beyond the _Constitution_," +says the British account. [Footnote: "Naval Chronicle," xxix. 452.] +These have already been given in detail; she was a riddled and +entirely dismasted hulk. Her loss (for discussion of which see +farther on) was 48 killed (including Captain Henry Lambert, who +died soon after the close of the action, and five midshipmen), +and 102 wounded, among them Lieutenant Henry Ducie Chads, Lieutenant +of Marines David Davies, Commander John Marshall, Lieut. James +Saunders, the boatswain. James Humble, master, Batty Robinson, and +four midshipmen. + +In this action both ships displayed equal gallantry and seamanship. +"The _Java_," says Commodore Bainbridge, "was exceedingly well +handled and bravely fought. Poor Captain Lambert was a distinguished +and gallant officer, and a most worthy man, whose death I sincerely +regret." The manoeuvring on both sides was excellent; Captain +Lambert used the advantage which his ship possessed in her superior +speed most skilfully, always endeavoring to run across his adversary's +bows and rake him when he had forereached, and it was only owing +to the equal skill which his antagonist displayed that he was foiled, +the length of the combat being due to the number of evolutions. The +great superiority of the Americans was in their gunnery. The fire +of the _Java_ was both less rapid and less well directed than that +of her antagonist; the difference of force against her was not +heavy, being about as ten is to nine, and was by no means enough +to account for the almost fivefold greater loss she suffered. + +[Illustration: This differs somewhat from the English diagram: +the American officers distinctly assert that the Java kept the +weather-gage in every position.] + +The foregoing is a diagram of the battle. It differs from both of +the official accounts, as these conflict greatly both as to time +and as regards some of the evolutions. I generally take the mean +in cases of difference; for example, Commodore Bainbridge's report +makes the fight endure but 1 hour and 55 minutes, Lieutenant Chads' +2 hours and 25 minutes: I have made it 2 hours and 10 minutes, etc., +etc. + +The tonnage and weight of metal of the combatants have already +been stated; I will give the complements shortly. The following is +the + + COMPARATIVE FORCE AND LOSS. + Relative + Weight No. Relative Loss + Tons. Metal. Men. Loss. Force. Inflicted. +_Constitution_ 1576 654 475 34 100 100 +_Java_ 1340 576 426 150 89 23 + +In hardly another action the war do the accounts of the respective +forces differ so widely; the official British letter makes their +total of men at the beginning of the action 377, of whom Commodore +Bainbridge officially reports that he paroled 378! The British +state their loss in killed and mortally wounded at 24; Commodore +Bainbridge reports that the dead alone amounted to nearly 60! +Usually I have taken each commander's account of his own force +and loss, and I should do so now if it were not that the British +accounts differ among themselves, and whenever they relate to the +Americans, are flatly contradicted by the affidavits of the latter's +officers. The British first handicap themselves by the statement +that the surgeon of the _Constitution_ was an Irishman and lately +an assistant surgeon in the British navy ("Naval Chronicle," xxix, +452); which draws from Surgeon Amos A. Evans a solemn statement in +the Boston _Gazette_ that he was born in Maryland and was never in +the British navy in his life. Then Surgeon Jones of the _Java_, in +his official report, after giving his own killed and mortally wounded +at 24, says that the Americans lost in all about 60, and that 4 of +their amputations perished under his own eyes; whereupon Surgeon +Evans makes the statement (_Niles' Register_, vi, p. 35), backed +up by affidavits of his brother officers, that in all he had but +five amputations, of whom only one died, and that one, a month +after Surgeon Jones had left the ship. To meet the assertions of +Lieutenant Chads that he began action with but 377 men, the +_Constitution's_ officers produced the _Java's_ muster-roll, dated +Nov. 17th, or five days after she had sailed, which showed 446 +persons, of whom 20 had been put on board a prize. The presence of +this large number of supernumeraries on board is explained by the +fact that the _Java_ was carrying out Lieutenant-General Hislop, +the newly-appointed Governor of Bombay, and his suite, together +with part of the crews for the _Cornwallis_, 74, and gun-sloops +_Chameleon_ and _Icarus_; she also contained stores for those two ships. + +Besides conflicting with the American reports, the British statements +contradict one another. The official published report gives but two +midshipmen as killed; while one of the volumes of the "Naval Chronicle" +(vol. xxix, p. 452) contains a letter from one of the _Java's_ +lieutenants, in which he states that there were five. Finally, +Commodore Bainbridge found on board the _Constitution_, after the +prisoners had left, a letter from Lieutenant H. D. Cornick, dated +Jan. 1, 1813, and addressed to Lieutenant Peter V. Wood, 22d Regiment, +foot, in which he states that 65 of their men were killed. James +("Naval Occurrences") gets around this by stating that it was +probably a forgery; but, aside from the improbability of Commodore +Bainbridge being a forger, this could not be so, for nothing would +have been easier than for the British lieutenant to have denied +having written it, which he never did. On the other hand, it would +be very likely that in the heat of the action, Commodore Bainbridge +and the _Java's_ own officers should overestimate the latter's loss. +[Footnote: For an account of the shameless corruption then existing +in the Naval Administration of Great Britain, see Lord Dundonald's +"Autobiography of a seaman." The letters of the commanders were +often garbled, as is mentioned by Brenton. Among numerous cases +that he gives, may be mentioned the cutting out of the _Chevrette_, +where he distinctly says, "our loss was much greater than was ever +acknowledged." (Vol. i, p. 505, edition of 1837.)] + +Taking all these facts into consideration, we find 446 men on board +the _Java_ by her own muster-list; 378 of these were paroled by +Commodore Bainbridge at San Salvador; 24 men were acknowledged by +the enemy to be killed or mortally wounded; 20 were absent in a +prize, leaving 24 unaccounted for, who were undoubtedly slain. + +The British loss was thus 48 men killed and mortally wounded, and +102 wounded severely and slightly. The _Java_ was better handled +and more desperately defended than the _Macedonian_ or even the +_Guerrière_. and the odds against her were much smaller; so she +caused her opponent greater loss, though her gunnery was no better +than theirs. + +Lieutenant Parker, prize-master of the _Java_, removed all the +prisoners and baggage to the _Constitution_, and reported the prize +to be in a very disabled state; owing partly to this, but more to +the long distance from home and the great danger there was of +recapture, Commodore Bainbridge destroyed her on the 31st, and +then made sail for San Salvador. "Our gallant enemy," reports +Lieutenant Chads, "has treated us most generously"; and +Lieutenant-General Hislop presented the Commodore with a very +handsome sword as a token of gratitude for the kindness with which +he had treated the prisoners. + +Partly in consequence of his frigate's injuries, but especially +because of her decayed condition, Commodore Bainbridge sailed from +San Salvador on Jan. 6, 1813, reaching Boston Feb. 27th, after his +four months' cruise. At San Salvador he left the _Hornet_ still +blockading the _Bonne Citoyenne_. + +In order "to see ourselves as others see us," I shall again quote +from Admiral Jurien de la Gravière, [Footnote "Guerres Maritimes," +ii, 284 (Paris, 1881).] as his opinions are certainly well worthy +of attention both as to these first three battles, and as to the +lessons they teach. "When the American Congress declared war on +England in 1812," he says, "it seemed as if this unequal conflict +would crush her navy in the act of being born; instead, it but +fertilized the germ. It is only since that epoch that the United +States has taken rank among maritime powers. Some combats of frigates, +corvettes, and brigs, insignificant without doubt as regards +material results, sufficed to break the charm which protected the +standard of St. George, and taught Europe what she could have +already learned from some of our combats, if the louder noise of our +defeats had not drowned the glory, that the only invincibles on the +sea are good seamen and good artillerists. + +"The English covered the ocean with their cruisers when this +unknown navy, composed of six frigates and a few small craft +hitherto hardly numbered, dared to establish its cruisers at the +mouth of the Channel, in the very centre of the British power. But +already the _Constitution_ had captured the _Guerrière_ and _Java_, +the _United States_ had made a prize of the _Macedonian_, the _Wasp_ +of the _Frolic_, and the _Hornet_ of the _Peacock_. The honor of +the new flag was established. England, humiliated, tried to +attribute her multiplied reverses to the unusual size of the +vessels which Congress had had constructed in 1799, and which did +the fighting in 1812. She wished to refuse them the name of frigates, +and called them, not without some appearance of reason, disguised +line-of-battle ships. Since then all maritime powers have copied +these gigantic models, as the result of the war of 1812 obliged +England herself to change her naval material; but if they had +employed, instead of frigates, cut-down 74's (vaisseaux rasés), +it would still be difficult to explain the prodigious success of +the Americans. * * * + +"In an engagement which terminated in less than half an hour, the +English frigate _Guerrière_, completely dismasted, had fifteen men +killed, sixty-three wounded, and more than thirty shot below the +water-line. She sank twelve hours after the combat. The +_Constitution_, on the contrary, had but seven men killed and seven +wounded, and did not lose a mast. As soon as she had replaced a few +cut ropes and changed a few sails, she was in condition, even by +the testimony of the British historian, to take another _Guerrière_. +The _United States_ took an hour and a half to capture the +_Macedonian_, and the same difference made itself felt in the damage +suffered by the two ships. The _Macedonian_ had her masts shattered, +two of her main-deck and all her spar-deck guns disabled; more than +a hundred shot had penetrated the hull, and over a third of the +crew had suffered by the hostile fire. The American frigate, on the +contrary, had to regret but five men killed and seven wounded; her +guns had been fired each sixty-six times to the _Macedonian's_ +thirty-six. The combat of the _Constitution_ and the _Java_ lasted +two hours, and was the most bloody of these three engagements. The +_Java_ only struck when she had been razed like a sheer hulk; she +had twenty-two men killed and one hundred and two wounded. + + * * * * * + +"This war should be studied with unceasing diligence; the pride of +two peoples to whom naval affairs are so generally familiar has +cleared all the details and laid bare all the episodes, and through +the sneers which the victors should have spared, merely out of care +for their own glory, at every step can be seen that great truth, that +there is only success for those who know how to prepare it. + + * * * * * + +"It belongs to us to judge impartially these marine events, too +much exalted perhaps by a national vanity one is tempted to excuse. +The Americans showed, in the War of 1812, a great deal of skill +and resolution. But if, as they have asserted, the chances had +always been perfectly equal between them and their adversaries, if +they had only owed their triumphs to the intrepidity of Hull, +Decatur, and Bainbridge, there would be for us but little interest +in recalling the struggle. We need not seek lessons in courage +outside of our own history. On the contrary, what is to be well +considered is that the ships of the United States constantly fought +with chances in their favor, and it is on this that the American +government should found its true title to glory. * * * The Americans +in 1812 had secured to themselves the advantage of a better +organization [than the English]." + +The fight between the _Constitution_ and the _Java_ illustrates +best the proposition, "that there is only success for those who +know how to prepare it." Here the odds in men and metal were only +about as 10 to 9 in favor of the victors, and it is safe to say +that they might have been reversed without vitally affecting the +result. In the fight Lambert handled his ship as skilfully as +Bainbridge did his; and the _Java's_ men proved by their indomitable +courage that they were excellent material. The _Java's_ crew was +new shipped for the voyage, and had been at sea but six weeks; in +the _Constitution's_ first fight her crew had been aboard of her +but _five_ weeks. So the chances should have been nearly equal, +and the difference in fighting capacity that was shown by the +enormous disparity in the loss, and still more in the damage +inflicted, was due to the fact that the officers of one ship had, +and the officers of the other had not, trained their raw crews. +The _Constitution's_ men were not "picked," but simply average +American sailors, as the _Java's_ were average British sailors. +The essential difference was in the training. + +During the six weeks the _Java_ was at sea her men had fired but +six broadsides, of blank cartridges; during the first five weeks +the _Constitution_ cruised, her crew were incessantly practised +at firing with blank cartridges and also at a target. [Footnote: +In looking through the logs of the _Constitution_, _Hornet_, etc., +we continually find such entries as "beat to quarters, exercised +the men at the great guns," "exercised with musketry," "exercised +the boarders," "exercised the great guns, blank cartridges, and +afterward firing at mark."] The Java's crew had only been exercised +occasionally, even in pointing the guns, and when the captain of +a gun was killed the effectiveness of the piece was temporarily +ruined, and, moreover, the men did not work together. The +_Constitution's_ crew were exercised till they worked like machines, +and yet with enough individuality to render it impossible to +cripple a gun by killing one man. The unpractised British sailors +fired at random; the trained Americans took aim. The British +marines had not been taught any thing approximating to skirmishing +or sharp-shooting; the Americans had. The British sailors had not +even been trained enough in the ordinary duties of seamen; while +the Americans in five weeks had been rendered almost perfect. The +former were at a loss what to do in an emergency at all out of +their own line of work; they were helpless when the wreck fell over +their guns, when the Americans would have cut it away in a jiffy. +As we learn from Commodore Morris' "Autobiography," each Yankee +sailor could, at need, do a little carpentering or sail-mending, +and so was more self-reliant. The crew had been trained to act as +if guided by one mind, yet each man retained his own individuality. +The petty officers were better paid than in Great Britain, and so +were of a better class of men, thoroughly self-respecting; the +Americans soon got their subordinates in order, while the British +did not. To sum up: one ship's crew had been trained practically +and thoroughly, while the other crew was not much better off than +the day it sailed; and, as far as it goes, this is a good test of +the efficiency of the two navies. + +The U.S. brig _Vixen_, 12, Lieutenant George U. Read, had been +cruising off the southern coast; on Nov. 22d she fell in with the +_Southampton_, 32, Captain Sir James Lucas Yeo, and was captured +after a short but severe trial of speed. Both vessels were wrecked +soon afterward. + +The _Essex_, 32, Captain David Porter, left the Delaware on Oct. +28th, two days after Commodore Bainbridge had left Boston. She +expected to make a very long cruise and so carried with her an +unusual quantity of stores and sixty more men than ordinarily, so +that her muster-roll contained 319 names. Being deep in the water +she reached San Jago after Bainbridge had left. Nothing was met with +until after the Essex had crossed the equator in longitude 30° W. +on Dec. 11th. On the afternoon of the next day a sail was made out +to windward, and chased. At nine in the evening it was overtaken, +and struck after receiving a volley of musketry which killed one +man. The prize proved to be the British packet _Nocton_, of 10 +guns and 31 men, with $55,000 in specie aboard. The latter was +taken out, and the _Nocton_ sent home with Lieutenant Finch and +a prize crew of 17 men, but was recaptured by a British frigate. + +The next appointed rendezvous was the Island of Fernando de Noronha, +where Captain Porter found a letter from Commodore Bainbridge, +informing him that the other vessels were off Cape Frio. Thither +cruised Porter, but his compatriots had left. On the 29th he +captured an English merchant vessel; and he was still cruising +when the year closed. + +The year 1812, on the ocean, ended as gloriously as it had begun. +In four victorious fights the disparity in loss had been so great +as to sink the disparity of force into insignificance. Our successes +had been unaccompanied by any important reverse. Nor was it alone +by the victories, but by the cruises, that the year was noteworthy. +The Yankee men-of-war sailed almost in sight of the British coast +and right in the tract of the merchant fleets and their armed +protectors. Our vessels had shown themselves immensely superior +to their foes. + +The reason of these striking and unexpected successes was that our +navy in 1812 was the exact reverse of what our navy is now, in 1882. +I am not alluding to the personnel, which still remains excellent; +but, whereas we now have a large number of worthless vessels, +standing very low down in their respective classes, we then +possessed a few vessels, each unsurpassed by any foreign ship of +her class. To bring up our navy to the condition in which it stood +in 1812 it would not be _necessary_ (although in reality both very +wise and in the end very economical) to spend any more money than +at present; only instead of using it to patch up a hundred antiquated +hulks, it should be employed in building half a dozen ships on the +most effective model. If in 1812 our ships had borne the same relation +to the British ships that they do now, not all the courage and skill +of our sailors would have won us a single success. As it was, we +could only cope with the lower rates, and had no vessels to oppose +to the great "liners"; but to-day there is hardly any foreign ship, +no matter how low its rate, that is not superior to the corresponding +American ones. It is too much to hope that our political shortsightedness +will ever enable us to have a navy that is first-class in point of +size; but there certainly seems no reason why what ships we have +should not be of the very best quality. The effect of a victory is +two-fold, moral and material. Had we been as roughly handled on water +as we were on land during the first year of the war, such a succession +of disasters would have had a most demoralizing effect on the nation +at large. As it was, our victorious seafights, while they did not +inflict any material damage upon the colossal sea-might of England, +had the most important results in the feelings they produced at home +and even abroad. Of course they were magnified absurdly by most of +our writers at the time; but they do not need to be magnified, for +as they are any American can look back upon them with the keenest +national pride. For a hundred and thirty years England had had no +equal on the sea; and now she suddenly found one in the untried navy +of an almost unknown power. + +BRITISH VESSELS CAPTURED OR DESTROYED IN 1812. + + Name. Guns. Tonnage. Remarks. +_Guerrière_ 49 1,340 +_Macedonian_ 49 1,325 +_Java_ 49 1,340 +_Frolic_ 19 477 Recaptured. +_Alert_ 20 323 + _____ _______ + 186 4,807 + 19 477 Deducting Frolic. + _____ _______ + 167 4,330 + +AMERICAN VESSELS CAPTURED OR DESTROYED. + + Name. Guns. Tonnage. +_Wasp_ 18 450 +_Nautilus_ 14 185 +_Vixen_ 14 185 + _____ _______ + 46 820 + +VESSELS BUILT IN 1812. + + Name. Rig. Guns. Tonnage. Where Built. Cost. +_Nonsuch_ Schooner 14 148 Charleston $15,000 +_Carolina_ Schooner 14 230 " 8,743 +_Louisiana_ Ship 16 341 New Orleans 15,500 + +PRIZES MADE. [Footnote: These can only be approximately given; +the records are often incomplete or contradictory, especially +as regards the small craft. Most accounts do not give by any +means the full number.] + + Ship. No. of Prizes. + +_President_ 1 +_United States_ 2 +_Constitution_ 9 +_Congress_ 2 +_Chesapeake_ 1 +_Essex_ 11 +_Wasp_ 2 +_Hornet_ 1 +_Argus_ 6 +_Small Craft_ 5 + __ + 46 + + + + +Chapter IV + + +1812 + +ON THE LAKES + +_PRELIMINARY.--The combatants starting nearly on an +equality--Difficulties of creating a naval force--Difficulty of +comparing the force of the rival squadrons--Meagreness of the +published accounts--Unreliability of James--ONTARIO--Extraordinary +nature of the American squadron--Canadian squadron forming only a +kind of water militia--Sackett's Harbor feebly attacked by Commodore +Earle--Commodore Chauncy bombards York--ERIE--Lieutenant Elliott +captures the_ Detroit _and_ Caledonia--_Unsuccessful expedition of +Lieutenant Angus._ + +At the time we are treating of, the State of Maine was so sparsely +settled, and covered with such a dense growth of forest, that it +was practically impossible for either of the contending parties to +advance an army through its territory. A continuation of the same +wooded and mountainous district protected the northern parts of +Vermont and New Hampshire, while in New York the Adirondack region +was an impenetrable wilderness. It thus came about that the +northern boundary was formed, for military purposes, by Lake +Huron, Lake Erie, the Niagara, Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence, +and, after an interval, by Lake Champlain. The road into the States +by the latter ran close along shore, and without a naval force the +invader would be wholly unable to protect his flanks, and would +probably have his communications cut. This lake, however, was +almost wholly within the United States, and did not become of +importance till toward the end of the war. Upon it were two +American gun-boats, regularly officered and manned, and for such +smooth water sufficiently effective vessels. + +What was at that time the western part of the northern frontier +became the main theatre of military operations, and as it presented +largely a water front, a naval force was an indispensable adjunct, +the command of the lakes being of the utmost importance. As these +lakes were fitted for the manoeuvring of ships of the largest size, +the operations upon them were of the same nature as those on the +ocean, and properly belong to naval and not to military history. +But while on the ocean America started with too few ships to enable +her really to do any serious harm to her antagonist, on the inland +waters the two sides began very nearly on an equality. The chief +regular forces either belligerent possessed were on Lake Ontario. +Here the United States had a man-of-war brig, the _Oneida_, of 240 +tons, carrying 16 24-pound carronades, manned by experienced seamen, +and commanded by Lieutenant M. T. Woolsey. Great Britain possessed +the _Royal George_, 22, _Prince Regent_, 16, _Earl of Moira_, 14, +_Gloucester_, 10, _Seneca_, 8, and _Simco_, 8, all under the command +of a Commodore Earle; but though this force was so much the more +powerful it was very inefficient, not being considered as belonging +to the regular navy, the sailors being undisciplined, and the officers +totally without experience, never having been really trained in +the British service. From these causes it resulted that the struggle +on the lakes was to be a work as much of creating as of using a navy. +On the seaboard success came to those who made best use of the ships +that had already been built; on the lakes the real contest lay in +the building. And building an inland navy was no easy task. The +country around the lakes, especially on the south side, was still +very sparsely settled, and all the American naval supplies had to +be brought from the seaboard cities through the valley of the Mohawk. +There was no canal or other means of communication, except very +poor roads intermittently relieved by transportation on the Mohawk +and on Oneida Lake, when they were navigable. Supplies were thus +brought up at an enormous cost, with tedious delays and great +difficulty; and bad weather put a stop to all travel. Very little +indeed, beyond timber, could be procured at the stations on the +lakes. Still a few scattered villages and small towns had grown up +on the shores, whose inhabitants were largely engaged in the carrying +trade. The vessels used for the purpose were generally small sloops +or schooners, swift and fairly good sailors, but very shallow and +not fitted for rough weather. The frontiersmen themselves, whether +Canadian or American, were bold, hardy seamen, and when properly +trained and led made excellent man-of-war's men; but on the American +side they were too few in number, and too untrained to be made use +of, and the seamen had to come from the coast. But the Canadian +shores had been settled longer, the inhabitants were more numerous, +and by means of the St. Lawrence the country was easy of access to +Great Britain; so that the seat of war, as regards getting naval +supplies, and even men, was nearer to Great Britain than to us. Our +enemies also possessed in addition to the squadron on Lake Ontario +another on Lake Erie, consisting of the _Queen Charlotte_, 17, +_Lady Prevost_, 13, _Hunter_, 10, _Caledonia_, 2, _Little Belt_, 2, +and _Chippeway_, 2. These two squadrons furnished training schools +for some five hundred Canadian seamen, whom a short course of +discipline under experienced officers sufficed to render as good +men as their British friends or American foes. Very few British +seamen ever reached Lake Erie (according to James, not over fifty); +but on Lake Ontario, and afterward on Lake Champlain, they formed +the bulk of the crews, "picked seamen, sent out by government +expressly for service on the Canada lakes." [Footnote: James, vi, +353.] As the contrary has sometimes been asserted it may be as well +to mention that Admiral Codrington states that no want of seamen +contributed to the British disasters on the lakes, as their +sea-ships at Quebec had men drafted from them for that service +till their crews were utterly depleted. [Footnote: Memoirs, i, 322, +referring especially to battle of Lake Champlain.] I am bound to +state that while I think that on the ocean our sailors showed +themselves superior to their opponents, especially in gun practice, +on the lakes the men of the rival fleets were as evenly matched, +in skill and courage, as could well be. The difference, when there +was any, appeared in the officers, and, above all, in the builders; +which was the more creditable to us, as in the beginning we were +handicapped by the fact that the British already had a considerable +number of war vessels, while we had but one. + +The Falls of Niagara interrupt navigation between Erie and Ontario; +so there were three independent centres of naval operations on the +northern frontier. The first was on Lake Champlain, where only the +Americans possessed any force, and, singularly enough, this was the +only place where the British showed more enterprise in ship-building +than we did. Next came Lake Ontario, where both sides made their +greatest efforts, but where the result was indecisive, though the +balance of success was slightly inclined toward us. Our naval +station was at Sackett's Harbor; that of our foes at Kingston. The +third field of operations was Lake Erie and the waters above it. +Here both sides showed equal daring and skill in the fighting, and +our advantage must be ascribed to the energy and success with which +we built and equipped vessels. Originally we had no force at all +on these waters, while several vessels were opposed to us. It is +a matter of wonder that the British and Canadian governments should +have been so supine as to permit their existing force to go badly +armed, and so unenterprising as to build but one additional ship, +when they could easily have preserved their superiority. + +It is very difficult to give a full and fair account of the lake +campaigns. The inland navies were created especially for the war, +and, after it were allowed to decay, so that the records of the +tonnage, armament, and crews are hard to get at. Of course, where +everything had to be created, the services could not have the regular +character of those on the ocean. The vessels employed were of widely +different kinds, and this often renders it almost impossible to +correctly estimate the relative force of two opposing squadrons. +While the Americans were building their lake navy, they, as +makeshifts, made use of some ordinary merchant schooners, which +were purchased and fitted up with one or two long, heavy guns each. +These gun-vessels had no quarters, and suffered under all the other +disadvantages which make a merchant vessel inferior to a regularly +constructed man-of-war. The chief trouble was that in a heavy sea +they had a strong tendency to capsize, and were so unsteady that +the guns could not be aimed when any wind was blowing. Now, if a +few of these schooners, mounting long 32's, encountered a couple +of man-of-war brigs, armed with carronades, which side was strongest? +In smooth water the schooners had the advantage, and in rough +weather they were completely at the mercy of the brigs; so that it +would be very hard to get at the true worth of such a contest, as +each side would be tolerably sure to insist that the weather was +such as to give a great advantage to the other. In all the battles +and skirmishes on Champlain. Erie, and Huron, at least there was +no room left for doubt as to who were the victors. But on Lake +Ontario there was never any decisive struggle, and whenever an +encounter occurred, each commodore always claimed that his adversary +had "declined the combat" though "much superior in strength." It +is, of course, almost impossible to rind out which really did decline +the combat, for the official letters flatly contradict each other; +and it is often almost as difficult to discover where the superiority +in force lay, when the fleets differed so widely in character as +was the case in 1813. Then Commodore Chauncy's squadron consisted +largely of schooners; their long, heavy guns made his total foot +up in a very imposing manner, and similar gun-vessels did very +good work on Lake Erie; so Commodore Yeo, and more especially +Commodore Yeo's admirers, exalted these schooners to the skies, +and conveyed the impression that they were most formidable craft, +by means of which Chauncy ought to have won great victories. Yet +when Yeo captured two of them he refused to let them even cruise +with his fleet, and they were sent back to act as coast gun-boats +and transports, which certainly would not have been done had they +been fitted to render any effectual assistance. Again, one night +a squall came on and the two largest schooners went to the bottom, +which did not tend to increase the confidence felt in the others. +So there can be no doubt that in all but very smooth water the +schooners could almost be counted out of the fight. Then the question +arises in any given case, was the water smooth? And the testimony +is as conflicting as ever. + +It is not too easy to reconcile the official letters of the commanders, +and it is still harder to get at the truth from either the American +or British histories. Cooper is very inexact, and, moreover, paints +every thing _couleur de rose_, paying no attention to the British +side of the question, and distributing so much praise to everybody +that one is at a loss to know where it really belongs. Still, he +is very useful, for he lived at the time of the events he narrates, +and could get much information about them at first hand, from the +actors themselves. James is almost the only British authority on +the subject; but he is not nearly as reliable as when dealing with +the ocean contests, most of this part of his work being taken up +with a succession of acrid soliloquies on the moral defects of the +American character. The British records for this extraordinary +service on the lakes were not at all carefully kept, and so James +is not hampered by the necessity of adhering more or less closely +to official documents, but lets his imagination run loose. On the +ocean and seaboard his account of the British force can generally +be relied upon; but on the lakes his authority is questionable in +every thing relating either to friends or foes. This is the more +exasperating because it is done wilfully, when, if he had chosen, +he could have written an invaluable history; he must often have +known the truth when, as a matter of preference, he chose either +to suppress or alter it. Thus he ignores all the small "cutting +out" expeditions in which the Americans were successful, and where +one would like to hear the British side. For example, Captain Yeo +captured two schooners, the _Julia_ and _Growler_, but Chauncy +recaptured both. We have the American account of this recapture +in full, but James does not even hint at it, and blandly puts down +both vessels in the total "American loss" at the end of his smaller +work. Worse still, when the _Growler_ again changed hands, he counts +it in again, in the total, as if it were an entirely different boat, +although he invariably rules out of the American list all recaptured +vessels. A more serious perversion of facts are his statements +about comparative tonnage. This was at that time measured arbitrarily, +the depth of hold being estimated at half the breadth of beam; and +the tonnage of our lake vessels was put down exactly as if they +were regular ocean cruisers of the same dimensions in length and +breadth. But on these inland seas the vessels really did not draw +more than half as much water as on the ocean, and the depth would +of course be much less. James, in comparing the tonnage, gives that +of the Americans as if they were regular ocean ships, but in the +case of the British vessels, carefully allows for their shallowness, +although professing to treat the two classes in the same way; and +thus he makes out a most striking and purely imaginary difference. +The best example is furnished by his accounts of the fleets on Lake +Erie. The captured vessels were appraised by two captains and the +ship-builder, Mr. Henry Eckford; their tonnage being computed +precisely as the tonnage of the American vessels. The appraisement +was recorded in the Navy Department, and was first made public by +Cooper, so that it could not have been done for effect. Thus +measured it was found that the tonnage was in round numbers as +follows: _Detroit_, 490 tons; _Queen Charlotte_, 400; _Lady Prevost_, +230; _Hunter_, 180; _Little Belt_, 90; _Chippeway_, 70. James makes +them measure respectively 305, 280, 120, 74, 54, and 32 tons, but +carefully gives the American ships the regular sea tonnage. So +also he habitually deducts about 25 percent, from the real number +of men on board the British ships; as regards Lake Erie he contradicts +himself so much that he does not need to be exposed from outside +sources. But the most glaring and least excusable misstatements +are made as to the battle of Lake Champlain, where he gives the +American as greatly exceeding the British force. He reaches this +conclusion by the most marvellous series of garblings and +misstatements. First, he says that the _Confiance_ and the _Saratoga_ +were of nearly equal tonnage. The _Confiance_ being captured was +placed on our naval lists, where for years she ranked as a 36-gun +frigate, while the _Saratoga_ ranked among the 24-gun corvettes; +and by actual measurement the former was half as large again as the +latter. He gives the _Confiance_ but 270 men; one of her officers, +in a letter published in the _London Naval Chronicle_, [Footnote: Vol. +xxxii, p. 272. The letter also says that hardly five of her men +remained unhurt.] gives her over 300; more than that number of dead +and prisoners were taken out of her. He misstates the calibre of +her guns, and counts out two of them because they were used through +the bow-ports; whereas, from the method in which she made her attack, +these would have been peculiarly effective. The guns are given +accurately by Cooper, on the authority of an officer [Footnote: +Lieutenant E. A. F. Lavallette.] who was on board the _Confiance_ +within 15 minutes after the _Linnet_ struck, and who was in charge +of her for two months. + +Then James states that there were but 10 British gallies, while +Sir George Prevost's official account, as well as all the American +authorities, state the number to be 12. He says that the _Finch_ +grounded opposite an American battery before the engagement began, +while in reality it was an hour afterward, and because she had been +disabled by the shot of the American fleet. The gallies were largely +manned by Canadians, and James, anxious to put the blame on these +rather than the British, says that they acted in the most cowardly +way, whereas in reality they caused the Americans more trouble +than Downie's smaller sailing vessels did. His account of the +armament of these vessels differs widely from the official reports. +He gives the _Linnet_ and _Chubb_ a smaller number of men than the +number of prisoners that were actually taken out of them, not +including the dead. Even misstating Downie's force in guns, +underestimating the number of his men, and leaving out two of his +gun-boats, did not content James; and to make the figures show a +proper disproportion, he says (vol. vi, p. 504) that he shall exclude +the _Finch_ from the estimate, because she grounded, and half of +the gun-boats, because he does not think they acted bravely. Even +were these assertions true, it would be quite as logical for an +American writer to put the _Chesapeake's_ crew down as only 200, +and say he should exclude the other men from the estimate because +they flinched; and to exclude all the guns that were disabled by +shot, would be no worse than to exclude the _Finch_. James' +manipulation of the figures is a really curious piece of audacity. +Naturally, subsequent British historians have followed him without +inquiry. James' account of this battle, alone, amply justifies +our rejecting his narrative entirely, as far as affairs on the lakes +go, whenever it conflicts with any other statement, British or +American. Even when it does not conflict, it must be followed with +extreme caution, for whenever he goes into figures the only thing +certain about them is that they are wrong. He gives no details at +all of most of the general actions. Of these, however, we already +possess excellent accounts, the best being those in the "Manual of +Naval Tactics," by Commander J. H. Ward, U. S. N. (1859), and in +Lossing's "Field-Book of the War of 1812," and Cooper's "Naval +History." The chief difficulty occurs in connection with matters +on Lake Ontario, [Footnote: The accounts of the two commanders on +Lake Ontario are as difficult to reconcile as are those of the +contending admirals in the battles which the Dutch waged against +the English and French during the years 1672-1675. In every one of +De Ruyter's last six battles each side regularly claimed the victory, +although there can be but little doubt that on the whole the +strategical, and probably the tactical, advantage remained with +De Ruyter. Every historian ought to feel a sense of the most lively +gratitude toward Nelson; in his various encounters he never left +any possible room for dispute as to which side had come out first +best.] where I have been obliged to have recourse to a perfect +patchwork of authors and even newspapers, for the details, using +_Niles' Register_ and James as mutual correctives. The armaments +and equipments being so irregular I have not, as in other cases, +made any allowance for the short weight of the Americans shot, as +here the British may have suffered under a similar disadvantage; +and it may be as well to keep in mind that on these inland waters +the seamen of the two navies seem to have been as evenly matched +in courage and skill as was possible. They were of exactly the +same stock, with the sole exception that among and under, but +entirely distinct from, the Canadian-English, fought the descendants +of the conquered Canadian-French; and even these had been trained +by Englishmen, were led by English captains, fought on ships built +by English gold, and with English weapons and discipline. + +On Lake Ontario. + +There being, as already explained, three independent centres of +inland naval operations, the events at each will be considered +separately. + +At the opening of the war Lieutenant Woolsey, with the _Oneida_, +was stationed at Sackett's Harbor, which was protected at the +entrance by a small fort with a battery composed of one long 32. +The Canadian squadron of six ships, mounting nearly 80 guns, was +of course too strong to be meddled with. Indeed, had the _Royal +George_, 22, the largest vessel, been commanded by a regular +British sea-officer, she would have been perfectly competent to +take both the _Oneida_ and Sackett's Harbor; but before the +Canadian commodore, Earle, made up his mind to attack, Lieut. +Woolsey had time to make one or two short cruises, doing some +damage among the merchant vessels of the enemy. + +On the 19th of July Earle's ships appeared off the Harbor; the +_Oneida_ was such a dull sailor that it was useless for her to try +to escape, so she was hauled up under a bank where she raked the +entrance, and her off guns landed and mounted on the shore, while +Lieut. Woolsey took charge of the "battery," or long 32, in the +fort. The latter was the only gun that was of much use, for after +a desultory cannonade of about an hour, Earle withdrew, having +suffered very little damage, inflicted none at all, and proved +himself and his subordinates to be grossly incompetent. + +Acting under orders, Lieut. Woolsey now set about procuring merchant +schooners to be fitted and used as gun-vessels until more regular +cruisers could be built. A captured British schooner was christened +the _Julia_, armed with a long 32 and two 6's, manned with 30 men, +under Lieut. Henry Wells, and sent down to Ogdensburg. "On her way +thither she encountered and actually beat off, without losing a man, +the _Moira_, of 14, and _Gloucester_, of 10 guns." [Footnote: James, +vi, 350.] Five other schooners were also purchased; the _Hamilton_, +of 10 guns, being the largest, while the other four, the _Governor +Tompkins_, _Growler_, _Conquest_, and _Pert_ had but 11 pieces +between them. Nothing is more difficult than to exactly describe +the armaments of the smaller lake vessels. The American schooners +were mere makeshifts, and their guns were frequently changed, +[Footnote: They were always having accidents happen to them that +necessitated some alteration. If a boat was armed with a long 32, +she rolled too much, and they substituted a 24; if she also had an +18-pound carronade, it upset down the hatchway in the middle of a +fight, and made way for a long 12, which burst as soon as it was +used, and was replaced by two medium 6's. So a regular gamut of +changes would be rung.] as soon as they could be dispensed with +they were laid up, or sold, and forgotten. + +It was even worse with the British, who manifested the most +indefatigable industry in intermittently changing the armament, +rig, and name of almost every vessel, and, the records being very +loosely kept, it is hard to find what was the force at any one time. +A vessel which in one conflict was armed with long 18's, in the +next would have replaced some of them with 68-pound carronades; +or, beginning life as a ship, she would do most of her work as a +schooner, and be captured as a brig, changing her name even oftener +than any thing else. + +On the first of September Commodore Isaac Chauncy was appointed +commander of the forces on the lakes (except of those on Lake +Champlain), and he at once bent his energies to preparing an +effective flotilla. A large party of ship-carpenters were immediately +despatched to the Harbor; and they were soon followed by about a +hundred officers and seamen, with guns, stores, etc. The keel of a +ship to mount 24 32-pound carronades, and to be called the _Madison_, +was laid down, and she was launched on the 26th of November, just +when navigation had closed on account of the ice. Late in the +autumn, four more schooners were purchased, and named the _Ontario_, +_Scourge_, _Fair American_, and _Asp_, but these were hardly used +until the following spring. The cruising force of the Americans +was composed solely of the _Oneida_ and the six schooners first +mentioned. The British squadron was of nearly double this strength, +and had it been officered and trained as it was during the ensuing +summer, the Americans could not have stirred out of port. But as +it was, it merely served as a kind of water militia, the very +sailors, who subsequently did well, being then almost useless, and +unable to oppose their well-disciplined foes, though the latter +were so inferior in number and force. For the reason that it was +thus practically a contest of regulars against militia, I shall not +give numerical comparisons of the skirmishes in the autumn of 1812, +and shall touch on them but slightly. They teach the old lesson +that, whether by sea or land, a small, well-officered, and +well-trained force, can not, except very rarely, be resisted by a +greater number of mere militia; and that in the end it is true +economy to have the regular force prepared beforehand, without +waiting until we have been forced to prepare it by the disasters +happening to the irregulars. The Canadian seamen behaved badly, +but no worse than the American land-forces did at the same time; +later, under regular training, both nations retrieved their reputations. + +Commodore Chauncy arrived at Sackett's Harbor in October, and +appeared on the lake on Nov. 8th, in the _Oneida_. Lieutenant +Woolsey, with the six schooners _Conquest_, Lieutenant Elliott; +_Hamilton_, Lieutenant McPherson; _Tompkins_, Lieutenant Brown; +_Pert_, Sailing-master Arundel; _Julia_, Sailing-master Trant; +_Growler_, Sailing-master Mix. The Canadian vessels were engaged +in conveying supplies from the westward. Commodore Chauncy +discovered the _Royal George_ off the False Duck Islands, and +chased her under the batteries of Kingston, on the 9th. Kingston +was too well defended to be taken by such a force as Chauncy's; +but the latter decided to make a reconnaissance, to discover the +enemy's means of defence and see if it was possible to lay the +_Royal George_ aboard. At 3 P.M. the attack was made. The +_Hamilton_ and _Tompkins_ were absent chasing, and did not arrive +until the fighting had begun. The other four gun-boats, _Conquest_, +_Julia_, _Pert_, and _Growler_, led, in the order named, to open +the attack with their heavy guns, and prepare the way for the +_Oneida_, which followed. At the third discharge the _Pert's_ gun +burst, putting her nearly _hors de combat_, badly wounding her +gallant commander, Mr. Arundel (who shortly afterward fell overboard +and was drowned), and slightly wounding four of her crew. The other +gun-boats engaged the five batteries of the enemy, while the _Oneida_ +pushed on without firing a shot till at 3.40 she opened on the +_Royal George_, and after 20 minutes' combat actually succeeded in +compelling her opponent, though of double her force, to cut her +cables, run in, and tie herself to a wharf, where some of her +people deserted her; here she was under the protection of a large +body of troops, and the Americans could not board her in face of +the land-forces. It soon began to grow dusk, and Chauncy's squadron +beat out through the channel, against a fresh head-wind. In this +spirited attack the American loss had been confined to half a dozen +men, and had fallen almost exclusively on the _Oneida_. The next +day foul weather came on, and the squadron sailed for Sackett's +Harbor. Some merchant vessels were taken, and the _Simco_, 8, was +chased, but unsuccessfully. + +The weather now became cold and tempestuous, but cruising continued +till the middle of November. The Canadian commanders, however, +utterly refused to fight; the _Royal George_ even fleeing from the +_Oneida_, when the latter was entirely alone, and leaving the +American commodore in undisputed command of the lake. Four of the +schooners continued blockading Kingston till the middle of November; +shortly afterward navigation closed. [Footnote: These preliminary +events were not very important, and the historians on both sides +agree almost exactly, so that I have not considered it necessary +to quote authorities.] + +Lake Erie. + +On Lake Erie there was no American naval force; but the army had +fitted out a small brig, armed with six 6-pounders. This fell into +the hands of the British at the capture of Detroit, and was named +after that city, so that by the time a force of American officers +and seamen arrived at the lake there was not a vessel on it for +them to serve in, while their foes had eight. But we only have to +deal with two of the latter at present. The _Detroit_, still +mounting six 6-pounders, and with a crew of 56 men, under the +command of Lieutenant of Marines Rolette, of the Royal Navy, +assisted by a boatswain and gunner, and containing also 30 American +prisoners, and the _Caledonia_, a small brig mounting two 4-pounders +on pivots, with a crew of 12 men, Canadian-English, under Mr. Irvine, +and having aboard also 10 American prisoners, and a very valuable +cargo of furs worth about 200,000 dollars, moved down the lake, +and on Oct. 7th anchored under Fort Erie. [Footnote: Letter of Captain +Jesse D. Elliott to Secretary of Navy. Black Rock. Oct. 5, 1812.] +Commander Jesse D. Elliott had been sent up to Erie some time before +with instructions from Commodore Chauncy to construct a naval force, +partly by building two brigs of 300 tons each, [Footnote: That is, +of 300 tons actual capacity; measured as if they had been ordinary +sea vessels they each tonned 480. Their opponent, the ship _Detroit_, +similarly tonned 305, actual measurement, or 490, computing it in +the ordinary manner.] and partly by purchasing schooners to act as +gun-boats. No sailors had yet arrived; but on the very day on which +the two brigs moved down and anchored under Fort Erie, Captain +Elliott received news that the first detachment of the promised +seamen, 51 in number, including officers, [Footnote: The number of +men in this expedition is taken from Lossing's "Field-Book of the +War of 1812," by Benson L. Lossing, New York, 1869, p. 385, note, +where a complete list of the names is given.] was but a few miles +distant. He at once sent word to have these men hurried up, but +when they arrived they were found to have no arms, for which +application was made to the military authorities. The latter not +only gave a sufficiency of sabres, pistols, and muskets to the +sailors, but also detailed enough soldiers, under Captain N. +Towson and Lieutenant Isaac Roach, to make the total number of men +that took part in the expedition 124. This force left Black Rock +at one o'clock on the morning of the 8th in two large boats, one +under the command of Commander Elliott, assisted by Lieutenant Roach, +the other under Sailing-master George Watts and Captain Towson. +After two hours' rowing they reached the foe, and the attack was +made at three o'clock. Elliott laid his boat alongside the _Detroit_ +before he was discovered, and captured her after a very brief +struggle, in which he lost but one man killed, and Midshipman +J. C. Cummings wounded with a bayonet in the leg. The noise of the +scuffle roused the hardy provincials aboard the _Caledonia_, and +they were thus enabled to make a far more effectual resistance to +Sailing-master Watts than the larger vessel had to Captain Elliott. +As Watts pulled alongside he was greeted with a volley of musketry, +but at once boarded and carried the brig, the twelve Canadians +being cut down or made prisoners; one American was killed and four +badly wounded. The wind was too light and the current too strong +to enable the prizes to beat out and reach the lake, so the cables +were cut and they ran down stream. The _Caledonia_ was safely +beached under the protection of an American battery near Black +Rock. The _Detroit_, however, was obliged to anchor but four hundred +yards from a British battery, which, together with some flying +artillery, opened on her. Getting all his guns on the port side, +Elliott kept up a brisk cannonade till his ammunition gave out, +when he cut his cable and soon grounded on Squaw Island. Here the +_Detroit_ was commanded by the guns of both sides, and which ever +party took possession of her was at once driven out by the other. +The struggle ended in her destruction, most of her guns being +taken over to the American side. This was a very daring and +handsome exploit, reflecting great credit on Commander Elliott, +and giving the Americans, in the _Caledonia_, the nucleus of their +navy on Lake Erie; soon afterward Elliott returned to Lake Ontario, +a new detachment of seamen under Commander S. Angus having arrived. + +On the 28th of November, the American general, Smith, despatched +two parties to make an attack on some of the British batteries. +One of these consisted of 10 boats, under the command of Captain +King of the 15th infantry, with 150 soldiers, and with him went +Mr. Angus with 82 sailors, including officers. The expedition left +at one o'clock in the morning, but was discovered and greeted with +a warm fire from a field battery placed in front of some British +barracks known as the Red House. Six of the boats put back; but +the other four, containing about a hundred men, dashed on. While +the soldiers were forming line and firing, the seamen rushed in +with their pikes and axes, drove off the British, capturing their +commander, Lieut. King, of the Royal Army, spiked and threw into +the river the guns, and then took the barracks and burned them, +after a desperate fight. Great confusion now ensued, which ended +in Mr. Angus and some of the seamen going off in the boats. Several +had been killed; eight, among whom were Midshipmen Wragg, Dudley, +and Holdup, all under 20 years old, remained with the troops under +Captain King, and having utterly routed the enemy found themselves +deserted by their friends. After staying on the shore a couple of +hours some of them found two boats and got over; but Captain King +and a few soldiers were taken prisoners. Thirty of the seamen, +including nine of the twelve officers, were killed or wounded--among +the former being Sailing-masters Sisson and Watts, and among the +latter Mr. Angus, Sailing-master Carter, and Midshipmen Wragg, +Holdup, Graham, Brailesford, and Irvine. Some twenty prisoners +were secured and taken over to the American shore; the enemy's +loss was more severe than ours, his resistance being very stubborn, +and a good many cannon were destroyed, but the expedition certainly +ended most disastrously. The accounts of it are hard to reconcile, +but it is difficult to believe that Mr. Angus acted correctly. + +Later in the winter Captain Oliver Hazard Perry arrived to take +command of the forces on Lake Erie. + + + +Chapter V + + +1813 + +ON THE OCEAN + +_Blockade of the American coast--The_ Essex _in the South +Pacific--The_ Hornet _captures the_ Peacock--_American privateers +cut out by British boats--Unsuccessful cruise of Commodore +Rodgers--The_ Chesapeake _is captured by the_ Shannon--_Futile +gun boat actions--Defence of Craney Island--Cutting out +expeditions--The_ Argus _is captured by the_ Pelican--_The_ +Enterprise _captures the_ Boxer--_Summary._ + +By the beginning of the year 1813 the British had been thoroughly +aroused by the American successes, and active measures were at once +taken to counteract them. The force on the American station was +largely increased, and a strict blockade begun, to keep the American +frigates in port. The British frigates now cruised for the most part +in couples, and orders were issued by the Board of Admiralty that +an 18-pounder frigate was not to engage an American 24-pounder. +Exaggerated accounts of the American 44's being circulated, a new +class of spar-deck frigates was constructed to meet them, rating +50 and mounting 60 guns; and some 74's were cut down for the same +purpose. [Footnote: 1. James. vi, p. 206] These new ships were all +much heavier than their intended opponents. + +As New England's loyalty to the Union was, not unreasonably, doubted +abroad, her coasts were at first troubled but little. A British +squadron was generally kept cruising off the end of Long Island +Sound, and another off Sandy Hook. Of course America had no means +of raising a blockade, as each squadron contained generally a 74 +or a razee, vessels too heavy for any in our navy to cope with. +Frigates and sloops kept skirting the coasts of New Jersey, the +Carolinas, and Georgia. Delaware Bay no longer possessed the +importance it had during the Revolutionary War, and as the only war +vessels in it were some miserable gun-boats, the British generally +kept but a small force on that station. Chesapeake Bay became the +principal scene of their operations; it was there that their main +body collected, and their greatest efforts were made. In it a number +of line-of-battle ships, frigates, sloops, and cutters had been +collected, and early in the season Admiral Sir John Warren and Rear +Admiral Cockburn arrived to take command. The latter made numerous +descents on the coast, and frequently came into contact with the +local militia, who generally fled after a couple of volleys. These +expeditions did not accomplish much, beyond burning the houses and +driving off the live-stock of the farmers along shore, and destroying +a few small towns--one of them, Hampton, being sacked with revolting +brutality. [Footnote: James (vi, 340) says: The conduct of the +British troops on this occasion was "revolting to human nature" +and "disgraceful to the flag."] The government of the United States +was, in fact, supported by the people in its war policy very largely +on account of these excesses, which were much exaggerated by American +writers. It was really a species of civil war, and in such a contest, +at the beginning of this century, it was impossible that some +outrages should not take place. + +The American frigate _Constellation_ had by this time got ready for +sea, and, under the command of Captain Stewart, she prepared to put +out early in January. As the number of blockaders rendered a fight +almost certain within a few days of her departure, her crew were +previously brought to the highest state of discipline, the men being +exercised with especial care in handling the great guns and in firing +at a target. [Footnote: Life of Commodore Tatnall, by C. C. Jones +(Savannah, 1878), p. 15.] However, she never got out; for when she +reached Hampton Roads she fell in with a British squadron of +line-of-battle ships and frigates. She kedged up toward Norfolk, +and when the tide rose ran in and anchored between the forts; and +a few days later dropped down to cover the forts which were being +built at Craney Island. Here she was exposed to attacks from the +great British force still lying in Hampton Roads, and, fearing they +would attempt to carry her by surprise, Captain Stewart made every +preparation for defence. She was anchored in the middle of the +narrow channel, flanked by gun-boats, her lower ports closed, not +a rope left hanging over the sides; the boarding nettings, boiled in +half-made pitch till they were as hard as wire, were triced outboard +toward the yard arms, and loaded with kentledge to fall on the +attacking boats when the tricing lines were cut, while the carronades +were loaded to the muzzle with musket balls, and depressed so as +to sweep the water near the ship. [Footnote: For an admirable account +of these preparations, as well as of the subsequent events, see Cooper, +ii, 242.] Twice, a force of British, estimated by their foes to number +2,000 men, started off at night to carry the _Constellation_ by +surprise; but on each occasion they were discovered and closely +watched by her guard-boats, and they never ventured to make the +attack. However, she was unable to get to sea, and remained +blockaded to the close of the war. + +At the beginning of the year several frigates and smaller craft were +at sea. The _Chesapeake_, Captain Evans, had sailed from Boston on +Dec. 13, 1812. [Footnote: Statistical "History of the U. S. Navy," +by Lieutenant G. E. Emmons.] She ran down past Madeira, the Canaries, +and Cape de Verde, crossed the equator, and for six weeks cruised +to the south of the line between longitudes 16° and 25°. Thence she +steered to the west, passing near Surinam, over the same spot on +which the _Hornet_ had sunk the _Peacock_ but a day previous. +Cruising northward through the West Indies, she passed near the +Bermudas, where she was chased by a 74 and a frigate; escaping +from them she got into Boston on April 9th, having captured five +merchantmen, and chased unsuccessfully for two days a brigsloop. +The term of two years for which her crew were enlisted now being up, +they, for the most part, left, in consequence of some trouble about +the prize-money. Captain Evans being in ill health, Captain James +Lawrence was appointed to command her. He reached Boston about the +middle of May [Footnote: He was still on the _Hornet_ at New York +on May 10th, as we know from a letter of Biddle's, written on that +date (in letters of "Masters' Commandant," 1813, No. 58), and so +could hardly have been with the _Chesapeake_ two weeks before he +put out; and had to get his crew together and train them during +that time.] and at once set about enlisting a new crew, and tried, +with but partial success, to arrange matters with the old sailors, +who were now almost in open mutiny. + +When the year 1812 had come to an end, the _Essex_, 32, was in the +South Atlantic, and Captain Porter shortly afterward ran into St. +Catherines to water. Being at a loss where to find his consorts, +he now decided to adopt the exceedingly bold measure of doubling +Cape Horn and striking at the British whalers in the Pacific. This +was practically going into the enemy's waters, the Portuguese and +Spanish countries being entirely under the influence of Britain, +while there were no stations where Porter could revictual or repair +in safety. However, the _Essex_ started, doubled the Horn, and on +March 13th anchored in the harbor of Valparaiso. Her adventurous +cruise in the Pacific was the most striking feature of the war; but +as it has been most minutely described by Commodore Porter himself, +by his son, Admiral Porter, by Admiral Farragut, and by Cooper, I +shall barely touch upon it. + +On March 20th the _Essex_ captured the Peruvian corsair _Nereyda_, +16, hove her guns and small arms overboard, and sent her into port. +She made the island of San Gallan, looked into Callao, and thence +went to the Gallipagos, getting every thing she wanted from her +prizes. Then she went to Tumbez, and returned to the Gallipagos; +thence to the Marquesas, and finally back to Valparaiso again. By +this year's campaign in the Pacific, Captain Porter had saved all +our ships in those waters, had not cost the government a dollar, +living purely on the enemy, and had taken from him nearly 4,000 +tons of shipping and 400 men, completely breaking up his whaling +trade in the South Pacific. + +The cruise was something _sui generis_ in modern warfare, recalling +to mind the cruises of the early English and Dutch navigators. An +American ship was at a serious disadvantage in having no harbor of +refuge away from home; while on almost every sea there were British, +French, and Spanish ports into which vessels of those nations could +run for safety. It was an unprecedented thing for a small frigate +to cruise a year and a half in enemy's waters, and to supply herself +during that time, purely from captured vessels, with every +thing--cordage, sails, guns, anchors, provisions, and medicines, +and even money to pay the officers and men! Porter's cruise was the +very model of what such an expedition should be, harassing the enemy +most effectually at no cost whatever. Had the _Essex_ been decently +armed with long guns, instead of carronades, the end might have +been as successful as it was glorious. The whalers were many of them +armed letters-of-marque, and, though of course unable to oppose the +frigate, several times smart skirmishes occurred in attacking them +with boats, or in captured ships; as when Lieutenant Downs and 20 +men in the prize _Georgiana_ after a short brush captured the _Hector_, +with 25 men, two of whom were killed and six wounded; and when, under +similar circumstances, the prize _Greenwich_, of 25 men, captured +the _Seringapatam_ of 40. The cruise of the _Essex_, the first +American man-of-war ever in the Pacific, a year and a half out and +many thousand miles away from home, was a good proof of Porter's +audacity in planning the trip and his skill and resource in +carrying it out. + +[Illustration: Captain James Lawrence: a portrait by Gilbert Stuart +painted in Boston in 1812, shortly before Lawrence's promotion to +captain, showing him wearing the single epaulet of a master +commandant. (Courtesy U.S. Naval Academy Museum) ] + +To return now to the _Hornet_. This vessel had continued blockading +the _Bonne Citoyenne_ until January 24th, when the _Montagu_, 74, +arrived toward evening and chased her into port. As the darkness +came on the _Hornet_ wore, stood out to sea, passing into the open +without molestation from the 74, and then steered toward the +northeast, cruising near the coast, and making a few prizes, among +which was a brig, the _Resolution_, with $23,000 in specie aboard, +captured on February 14th. On the 24th of February, while nearing +the mouth of the Demerara River, Captain Lawrence discovered a +brig to leeward, and chased her till he ran into quarter less five, +when, having no pilot, he hauled off-shore. Just within the bar a +man-of-war brig was lying at anchor; and while beating round Caroband +Bank, in order to get at her, Captain Lawrence discovered another +sail edging down on his weather-quarter. [Footnote: Letter of +Captain Lawrence, March 29, 1813.] The brig at anchor was the +_Espiègle_, of 18 guns, 32-pound carronades, Captain John Taylor +[Footnote: James, vi, 278.]; and the second brig seen was the _Peacock_, +Captain William Peake, [Footnote: _Do_.] which, for some unknown +reason, had exchanged her 32-pound carronades for 24's. She had +sailed from the _Espiègle's_ anchorage the same morning at 10 o'clock. +At 4.20 P.M. the _Peacock_ hoisted her colors; then the _Hornet_ +beat to quarters and cleared for action. Captain Lawrence kept close +by the wind, in order to get the weather-gage; when he was certain +he could weather the enemy, he tacked, at 5.10, and the _Hornet_ +hoisted her colors. The ship and the brig now stood for each other, +both on the wind, the _Hornet_ being on the starboard and the +_Peacock_ on the port tack, and at 5.25 they exchanged broadsides, +at half pistol-shot distance, while going in opposite directions, +the Americans using their lee and the British their weather battery. +The guns were fired as they bore, and the _Peacock_ suffered severely, +while her antagonist's hull was uninjured, though she suffered +slightly aloft and had her pennant cut off by the first shot fired. +[Footnote: Cooper, p. 200.] One of the men in the mizzen-top was +killed by a round shot, and two more were wounded in the main-top. +[Footnote: See entry in her log for this day (In "Log-Book of _Hornet_, +_Wasp_, and _Argus_, from July 20, 1809, to October 6, 1813,") in +the Bureau of Navigation, at Washington.] As soon as they were clear, +Captain Peake put his helm hard up and wore, firing his starboard +guns; but the _Hornet_ had watched him closely, bore up as quickly, +and coming down at 5.35, ran him close aboard on the starboard quarter. +Captain Peake fell at this moment, together with many of his crew, +and, unable to withstand the _Hornet's_ heavy fire, the _Peacock_ +surrendered at 5.39, just 14 minutes after the first shot; and +directly afterward hoisted her ensign union down in the forerigging +as a signal of distress. Almost immediately her main-mast went by +the board. Both vessels then anchored, and Lieutenant J. T Shubrick, +being sent on board the prize, reported her sinking. Lieutenant D. +Connor was then sent in another boat to try to save the vessel; but +though they threw the guns overboard, plugged the shot holes, tried +the pumps, and even attempted bailing, the water gained so rapidly +that the _Hornet's_ officers devoted themselves to removing the +wounded and other prisoners; and while thus occupied the short +tropical twilight left them. Immediately afterward the prize settled, +suddenly and easily, in 5 1/2 fathoms water, carrying with her three +of the _Hornet's_ people and nine of her own, who were rummaging +below; meanwhile four others of her crew had lowered her damaged +stern boat, and in the confusion got off unobserved and made their +way to the land. The foretop still remained above water, and four +of the prisoners saved themselves by running up the rigging into it. +Lieutenant Connor and Midshipman Cooper (who had also come on board) +saved themselves, together with most of their people and the +remainder of the _Peacock's_ crew, by jumping into the launch, which +was lying on the booms, and paddling her toward the ship with pieces +of boards in default of oars. + +The _Hornet's_ complement at this time was 150, of whom she had 8 +men absent in a prize and 7 on the sick list, [Footnote: Letter of +Captain Lawrence.] leaving 135 fit for duty in the action; [Footnote: +Letter of Lieutenant D. Connor, April 26, 1813] of these one man +was killed, and two wounded, all aloft. Her rigging and sails were +a good deal cut, a shot had gone through the foremast, and the +bowsprit was slightly damaged; the only shot that touched her hull +merely glanced athwart her bows, indenting a plank beneath the +cat-head. The _Peacock's_ crew had amounted to 134, but 4 were absent +in a prize, and but 122 [Footnote: Letter of Lieutenant F. W. Wright +(of the _Peacock_), April 17, 1813.] fit for action; of these she +lost her captain, and seven men killed and mortally wounded, and +her master, one midshipman, and 28 men severely and slightly +wounded,--in all 8 killed and 30 wounded, or about 13 times her +antagonist's loss. She suffered under the disadvantage of light +metal, having 24's opposed to 32's; but judging from her gunnery +this was not much of a loss, as 6-pounders would have inflicted +nearly as great damage. She was well handled and bravely fought; +but her men showed a marvellous ignorance of gunnery. It appears +that she had long been known as "the yacht," on account of the +tasteful arrangement of her deck; the breechings of the carronades +were lined with white canvas, and nothing could exceed in brilliancy +the polish upon the traversing bars and elevating screws. [Footnote: +James, vi, 280.] In other words, Captain Peake had confounded the +mere _incidents_ of good discipline with the essentials. [Footnote: +Codrington ("Memoirs," i. 310) comments very forcibly on the +uselessness of a mere martinet.] + +The _Hornet's_ victory cannot be regarded in any other light than +as due, _not_ to the heavier metal, but to the far more accurate +firing of the Americans; "had the guns of the _Peacock_ been of the +largest size they could not have changed the result, as the weight +of shot that do not hit is of no great moment." Any merchant-ship +might have been as well handled and bravely defended as she was; and +an ordinary letter-of-marque would have made as creditable a defence. + +During the entire combat the _Espiégle_ was not more than 4 miles +distant and was plainly visible from the _Hornet_; but for some +reason she did not come out, and her commander reported that he knew +nothing of the action till the next day. Captain Lawrence of course +was not aware of this, and made such exertions to bend on new sails, +stow his boats, and clear his decks that by nine o'clock he was again +prepared for action, [Footnote: Letter of Captain Lawrence.] and at +2 P.M. got underway for the N.W. Being now overcrowded with people +and short of water he stood for home, anchoring at Holmes' Hole in +Martha's Vineyard on the 19th of March. + +On their arrival at New York the officers of the _Peacock_ published +a card expressing in the warmest terms their appreciation of the way +they and their men had been treated. Say they: "We ceased to consider +ourselves prisoners; and every thing that friendship could dictate +was adopted by you and the officers of the _Hornet_ to remedy the +inconvenience we would otherwise have experienced from the unavoidable +loss of the whole of our property and clothes owing to the sudden +sinking of the _Peacock_." [Footnote: Quoted in full in "Niles' +Register" and Lossing's "Field Book."] This was signed by the first +and second lieutenants, the master, surgeon and purser. + +[Illustration of _Peacock_ and _Hornet_ action from 5.10 to 5.35.] + + Weight + Tonnage. Guns. Metal. Men. Loss. +_Hornet_ 480 10 279 135 3 +_Peacock_ 477 10 210 122 38 + + Relative Relative Loss + Force. Inflicted. +_Hornet_ 1.00 1.00 +_Peacock_ .83 .08 + +That is, the forces standing nearly as 13 is to 11, the relative +execution was about as 13 is to 1. + +The day after the capture Captain Lawrence reported 277 souls aboard, +including the crew of the English brig _Resolution_ which he had +taken, and of the American brig _Hunter_, prize to the _Peacock_. +As James, very ingeniously, tortures these figures into meaning what +they did not, it may be well to show exactly what the 277 included. +Of the _Hornet's_ original crew of 150, 8 were absent in a prize, 1 +killed, and 3 drowned, leaving (including 7 sick) 138; of the _Peacock's_ +original 134, 4 were absent in a prize, 5 killed, 9 drowned, and 4 +escaped, leaving (including 8 sick and 3 mortally wounded) 112; there +were also aboard 16 other British prisoners, and the _Hunter's_ crew +of 11 men--making just 277. [Footnote: The 277 men were thus divided +into: _Hornet's_ crew, 138; _Peacock's_ crew, 112; _Resolution's_ +crew, 16; _Hunter's_ crew, 11. James quotes "270" men, which he divides +as follows: _Hornet_ 160, _Peacock_ 101, _Hunter_ 9,--leaving out +the _Resolution's_ crew, 11 of the _Peacock's_, and 2 of the _Hunter's_.] +According to Lieutenant Connor's letter, written in response to one +from Lieutenant Wright, there were in reality 139 in the _Peacock's_ +crew when she began action; but it is, of course, best to take each +commander's account of the number of men on board his ship that were +fit for duty. + +On Jan. 17th the _Viper_, 12, Lieutenant J. D. Henly was captured +by the British frigate _Narcissus_, 32, Captain Lumly. + +On Feb. 8th, while a British squadron, consisting of the four frigates +_Belvidera_ (Captain Richard Byron), _Maidstone_, _Junon_, and +_Statira_, were at anchor in Lynhaven Bay, a schooner was observed +in the northeast standing down Chesapeake Bay. [Footnote: James, +vi, 325.] This was the _Lottery_, letter-of-marque, of six 12-pounder +carronades and 25 men, Captain John Southcomb, bound from Baltimore +to Bombay. Nine boats, with 200 men, under the command of Lieutenant +Kelly Nazer were sent against her, and, a calm coming on, overtook +her. The schooner opened a well-directed fire of round and grape, +but the boats rushed forward and boarded her, not carrying her till +after a most obstinate struggle, in which Captain Southcomb and 19 +of his men, together with 13 of the assailants, were killed or wounded. +The best war ship of a regular navy might be proud of the discipline +and courage displayed by the captain and crew of the little _Lottery_. +Captain Byron on this, as well as on many another occasion, showed +himself to be as humane as he was brave and skilful. Captain Southcomb, +mortally wounded, was taken on board Byron's frigate, where he was +treated with the greatest attention and most delicate courtesy, and +when he died his body was sent ashore with every mark of the respect +due to so brave an officer. Captain Stewart (of the _Constellation_) +wrote Captain Byron a letter of acknowledgment for his great courtesy +and kindness. [Footnote: The correspondence between the two captains +is given in full in "Niles' Register," which also contains fragmentary +notes on the action, principally as to the loss incurred.] + +On March 16th a British division of five boats and 105 men, commanded +by Lieutenant James Polkinghorne, set out to attack the privateer +schooner _Dolphin_ of 12 guns and 70 men, and the letters-of-marque, +_Racer_, _Arab_, and _Lynx_, each of six guns and 30 men. Lieutenant +Polkinghorne, after pulling 15 miles, found the four schooners all +prepared to receive him, but in spite of his great inferiority in +force he dashed gallantly at them. The _Arab_ and _Lynx_ surrendered +at once; the _Racer_ was carried after a sharp struggle in which +Lieutenant Polkinghorne was wounded, and her guns turned on the +_Dolphin_. Most of the latter's crew jumped overboard; a few rallied +round their captain, but they were at once scattered as the British +seamen came aboard. The assailants had 13, and the privateersmen 16 +men killed and wounded in the fight. It was certainly one of the most +brilliant and daring cutting-out expeditions that took place during +the war, and the victors well deserved their success. The privateersmen +(according to the statement of the _Dolphin's_ master, in "Niles' +Register") were panic-struck, and acted in any thing but a brave +manner. All irregular fighting-men do their work by fits and starts. +No regular cruisers could behave better than did the privateers +_Lottery_, _Chasseur_, and _General Armstrong_; none would behave +as badly as the _Dolphin_, _Lynx_, and _Arab_. The same thing appears +on shore. Jackson's irregulars at New Orleans did as well, or almost +as well, as Scott's troops at Lundy's Lane; but Scott's troops would +never have suffered from such a panic as overcame the militia at +Bladensburg. + +On April 9th the schooner _Norwich_, of 14 guns and 61 men, +Sailing-master James Monk, captured the British privateer _Caledonia_, +of 10 guns and 41 men, after a short action in which the privateer +lost 7 men. + +On April 30th Commodore Rodgers, in the _President_. 44, accompanied +by Captain Smith in the Congress, 38, sailed on his third cruise. +[Footnote: Letter of Commodore Rodgers, Sept. 30, 1813.] On May 2d +he fell in with and chased the British sloop _Curlew_, 18, Captain +Michael Head, but the latter escaped by knocking away the wedges of +her masts and using other means to increase her rate of sailing. On +the 8th, in latitude 39° 30' N., long. 60° W., the _Congress_ parted +company, and sailed off toward the southeast, making four prizes, +of no great value, in the North Atlantic; [Footnote: Letter of Captain +Smith, Dec. 15, 1813.] when about in long. 35° W. she steered south, +passing to the south of the line. But she never saw a man-of-war, +and during the latter part of her cruise not a sail of any kind; +and after cruising nearly eight months returned to Portsmouth Harbor +on Dec. 14th, having captured but four merchant-men. Being unfit to +cruise longer, owing to her decayed condition, she was disarmed and +laid up; nor was she sent to sea again during the war. [Footnote: +James states that she was "blockaded" in port by the _Tenedos_, +during part of 1814; but was too much awed by the fate of the +_Chesapeake_ to come out during the "long blockade" of Captain +Parker. Considering the fact that she was too decayed to put to sea, +had no guns aboard, no crew, and was, in fact, laid up, the feat of +the _Tenedos_ was not very wonderful; a row-boat could have "blockaded" +her quite as well. It is worth noticing, as an instance of the way +James alters a fact by suppressing half of it.] + +Meanwhile Rodgers cruised along the eastern edge of the Grand Bank +until he reached latitude 48°, without meeting any thing, then stood +to the southeast, and cruised off the Azores till June 6th. Then +he crowded sail to the northeast after a Jamaica fleet of which he +had received news, but which he failed to overtake, and on June 13th, +in lat. 46°, long. 28°, he gave up the chase and shaped his course +toward the North Sea, still without any good luck befalling him. +On June 27th he put into North Bergen in the Shetlands for water, +and thence passed the Orkneys and stretched toward the North Cape, +hoping to intercept the Archangel fleet. On July 19th, when off the +North Cape, in lat. 71° 52' N., long. 20° 18' E., he fell in with +two sail of the enemy, who made chase; after four days' pursuit the +commodore ran his opponents out of sight. According to his letter +the two sail were a line-of-battle ship and a frigate; according +to James they were the 12-pounder frigate _Alexandria_, Captain +Cathcart, and _Spitfire_, 16, Captain Ellis. James quotes from the +logs of the two British ships, and it would seem that he is correct, +as it would not be possible for him to falsify the logs so utterly. +In case he is true, it was certainly carrying caution to an excessive +degree for the commodore to retreat before getting some idea of what +his antagonists really were. His mistaking them for so much heavier +ships was a precisely similar error to that made by Sir George Collier +and Lord Stuart at a later date about the _Cyane_ and _Levant_. James +wishes to prove that each party perceived the force of the other, +and draws a contrast (p. 312) between the "gallantry of one party +and pusillanimity of the other." This is nonsense, and, as in similar +cases, James overreaches himself by proving too much. If he had made +an 18-pounder frigate like the _Congress_ flee from another 18-pounder, +his narrative would be within the bounds of possibility and would +need serious examination. But the little 12-pounder _Alexandria_, +and the ship-sloop with her 18-pound carronades, would not have stood +the ghost of a chance in the contest. Any man who would have been +afraid of them would also have been afraid of the _Little Belt_, the +sloop Rodgers captured before the war. As for Captains Cathcart and +Ellis, had they known the force of the _President_, and chased her +with a view of attacking her, their conduct would have only been +explicable on the ground that they were afflicted with emotional +insanity. + +The _President_ now steered southward and got into the mouth of the +Irish Channel; on August 2d she shifted her berth and almost circled +Ireland; then steered across to Newfoundland, and worked south along +the coast. On Sept. 23d, a little south of Nantucket, she decoyed +under her guns and captured the British schooner _Highflyer_, 6, +Lieut. William Hutchinson, and 45 men; and went into Newport on the +27th of the same month, having made some 12 prizes. + +On May 24th Commodore Decatur in the _United States_, which had sent +ashore six carronades, and now mounted but 48 guns, accompanied by +Captain Jones in the _Macedonian_, 38, and Captain Biddle in the +_Wasp_, 20, left New York, passing through Hell Gate, as there was +a large blockading force off the Hook. Opposite Hunter's Point the +main-mast of the _States_ was struck by lightning, which cut off +the broad pendant, shot down the hatchway into the doctor's cabin, +put out his candle, ripped up the bed, and entering between the skin +and ceiling of the ship tore off two or three sheets of copper near +the waterline, and disappeared without leaving a trace! The +_Macedonian_, which was close behind, hove all aback, in expectation +of seeing the _States_ blown up. + +At the end of the sound Commodore Decatur anchored to watch for a +chance of getting out. Early on June 1st he started; but in a couple +of hours met the British Captain R. D. Oliver's squadron, consisting +of a 74, a razee, and a frigate. These chased him back, and all his +three ships ran into New London. Here, in the mud of the Thames river, +the two frigates remained blockaded till the close of the war; but +the little sloop slipped out later, to the enemy's cost. + +We left the _Chesapeake_, 38, being fitted out at Boston by Captain +James Lawrence, late of the _Hornet_. Most of her crew, as already +stated, their time being up, left, dissatisfied with the ship's ill +luck, and angry at not having received their due share of prize-money. +It was very hard to get sailors, most of the men preferring to ship +in some of the numerous privateers where the discipline was less +strict and the chance of prize-money much greater. In consequence +of this an unusually large number of foreigners had to be taken, +including about forty British and a number of Portuguese. The latter +were peculiarly troublesome; one of their number, a boatswain's mate, +finally almost brought about a mutiny among the crew which was only +pacified by giving the men prize-checks. A few of the _Constitution's_ +old crew came aboard, and these, together with some of the men who +had been on the _Chesapeake_ during her former voyage, made an excellent +nucleus. Such men needed very little training at either guns or sails; +but the new hands were unpractised, and came on board so late that +the last draft that arrived still had their hammocks and bags lying +in the boats stowed over the booms when the ship was captured. The +officers were largely new to the ship, though the first lieutenant, +Mr. A. Ludlow, had been the third in her former cruise; the third +and fourth lieutenants were not regularly commissioned as such, but +were only midshipmen acting for the first time in higher positions. +Captain Lawrence himself was of course new to all, both officers and +crew. [Footnote: On the day on which he sailed to attack the _Shannon_, +Lawrence writes to the Secretary of the Navy as follows: "Lieutenant +Paige is so ill as to be unable to go to sea with the ship. At the +urgent request of Acting-Lieutenant Pierce I have granted him, also, +permission to go on shore; one inducement for my granting his request +was his being at variance with every officer in his mess." "Captains' +Letters," vol. 29, No. 1, in the Naval Archives at Washington. Neither +officers nor men had shaken together.] In other words, the _Chesapeake_ +possessed good material, but in an exceedingly unseasoned state. + +Meanwhile the British frigate _Shannon_, 38, Captain Philip Bowes +Vere Broke, was cruising off the mouth of the harbor. To give some +idea of the reason why she proved herself so much more formidable +than her British sister frigates it may be well to quote, slightly +condensing, from James: + +"There was another point in which the generality of British crews, +as compared with any one American crew, were miserably deficient; +that is, skill in the art of gunnery. While the American seamen +were constantly firing at marks, the British seamen, except in +particular cases, scarcely did so once in a year; and some ships +could be named on board which not a shot had been fired in this way +for upward of three years. Nor was the fault wholly the captain's. +The instructions under which he was bound to act forbade him to use, +during the first six months after the ship had received her armament, +more shots per month than amounted to a third in number of the +upper-deck guns; and, after these six months, only half the quantity. +Many captains never put a shot in the guns till an enemy appeared; +they employed the leisure time of the men in handling the sails and +in decorating the ship. Captain Broke was not one of this kind. +From the day on which he had joined her, the 14th of September, 1806, +the _Shannon_ began to feel the effect of her captain's proficiency +as a gunner and zeal for the service. The laying of the ship's +ordnance so that it may be correctly fired in a horizontal direction +is justly deemed a most important operation, as upon it depends in +a great measure the true aim and destructive effect of the shot; +this was attended to by Captain Broke in person. By draughts from +other ships, and the usual means to which a British man-of-war is +obliged to resort, the _Shannon_ got together a crew; and in the +course of a year or two, by the paternal care and excellent regulations +of Captain Broke, the ship's company became as pleasant to command +as it was dangerous to meet." The _Shannon's_ guns were all carefully +sighted, and, moreover, "every day, for about an hour and a half +in the forenoon, when not prevented by chase or the state of the +weather, the men were exercised at training the guns, and for the +same time in the afternoon in the use of the broadsword, pike, musket, +etc. Twice a week the crew fired at targets, both with great guns +and musketry; and Captain Broke, as an additional stimulus beyond +the emulation excited, gave a pound of tobacco to every man that +put a shot through the bull's eye." He would frequently have a cask +thrown overboard and suddenly order some one gun to be manned to sink +the cask. In short, the _Shannon_ was very greatly superior, thanks +to her careful training, to the average British frigate of her rate, +while the _Chesapeake_, owing to her having a raw and inexperienced +crew, was decidedly inferior to the average American frigate of the +same strength. + +In force the two frigates compared pretty equally, [Footnote: Taking +each commander's account for his own force.] the American being the +superior in just about the same proportion that the _Wasp_ was to +the _Frolic_, or, at a later date, the _Hornet_ to the _Penguin_. +The _Chesapeake_ carried 50 guns (26 in broadside), 28 long 18's +on the gun-deck, and on the spar-deck two long 12's, one long 18, +eighteen 32-pound carronades, and one 12-pound carronade (which was +not used in the fight however). Her broadside, allowing for the short +weight of metal was 542 lbs.; her complement, 379 men. The _Shannon_ +earned 52 guns (26 in broadside), 28 long 18's on the gun-deck, and +on the spar-deck four long 9's, one long 6, 16 32-pound carronades, +and three 12-pound carronades (two of which were not used in the +fight). Her broadside was 550 lbs.; her crew consisted of 330 men, +30 of whom were raw hands. Early on the morning of June 1st, Captain +Broke sent in to Captain Lawrence, by an American prisoner, a letter +of challenge, which for courteousness, manliness, and candor is the +very model of what such an epistle should be. Before it reached Boston, +however, Captain Lawrence had weighed anchor, to attack the _Shannon_, +which frigate was in full sight in the offing. It has been often said +that he engaged against his judgment, but this may be doubted. His +experience with the _Bonne Citoyenne_, _Espiègle_, and _Peacock_ +had not tended to give him a very high idea of the navy to which he +was opposed, and there is no doubt that he was confident of capturing +the _Shannon_. [Footnote: In his letter written just before sailing +(already quoted on p. 177) he says: An English frigate is now in +sight from our deck. * * * I am in hopes to give a good account of +her before night. My account of the action is mainly taken from +James' "Naval History" and Brighton's "Memoir of Admiral Broke" +(according to which the official letter of Captain Broke was tampered +with); see also the letter of Lieut. George Budd, June 15, 1813; +the report of the Court of Inquiry. Commodore Bainbridge presiding, +and the Court-martial held on board frigate _United States_, April 15, +1814, Commodore Decatur presiding.] It was most unfortunate that he +did not receive Broke's letter, as the latter in it expressed himself +willing to meet Lawrence in any latitude and longitude he might +appoint; and there would thus have been some chance of the American +crew having time enough to get into shape. + +At midday of June 1, 1813, the _Chesapeake_ weighed anchor, stood +out of Boston Harbor, and at 1 P.M. rounded the Light-house. The +_Shannon_ stood off under easy sail, and at 3.40 _Shannon_ up and +reefed top-sails. At 4 P.M. she again bore away with her foresail +brailed up, and her main top-sail braced flat and shivering, that +the _Chesapeake_ might overtake her. An hour later, Boston Light-house +bearing west distant about six leagues, she again hauled up, with +her head to the southeast and lay to under top-sails, top-gallant +sails, jib, and spanker. Meanwhile, as the breeze freshened the +_Chesapeake_ took in her studding-sails, top-gallant sails, and +royals, got her royal yards on deck, and came down very fast under +top-sails and jib. At 5.30, to keep under command and be able to +wear if necessary, the _Shannon_ filled her main top-sail and kept +a close luff, and then again let the sail shiver. At 5.25 the +_Chesapeake_ hauled up her foresail, and, with three ensigns flying, +steered straight for the _Shannon's_ starboard quarter. Broke was +afraid that Lawrence would pass under the _Shannon's_ stern, rake +her, and engage her on the quarter; but either overlooking or waiving +this advantage, the American captain luffed up within 50 yards upon +the _Shannon's_ starboard quarter, and squared his main-yard. On +board the _Shannon_ the captain of the 14th gun, William Mindham, +had been ordered not to fire till it bore into the second main-deck +port forward; at 5.50 it was fired, and then the other guns in quick +succession from aft forward, the _Chesapeake_ replying with her +whole broadside. At 5.53 Lawrence, finding he was forging ahead, +hauled up a little. The _Chesapeake's_ broadsides were doing great +damage, but she herself was suffering even more than her foe; the +men in the _Shannon's_ tops could hardly see the deck of the +American frigate through the cloud of splinters, hammocks, and other +wreck that was flying across it. Man after man was killed at the +wheel; the fourth lieutenant, the master, and the boatswain were +slain; and at 5.56, having had her jib sheet and foretop-sail tie +shot away, and her spanker brails loosened so that the sail blew +out, the _Chesapeake_ came up into the wind somewhat, so as to expose +her quarter to her antagonist's broadside, which beat in her +stern-ports and swept the men from the after guns. One of the arm +chests on the quarter-deck was blown up by a hand-grenade thrown +from the _Shannon_. [Footnote: This explosion may have had more effect +than is commonly supposed in the capture of the _Chesapeake_. +Commodore Bainbridge, writing from Charleston, Mass., on June 2, +1813 (see "Captains' Letters," vol. xxix. No. 10), says: "Mr. Knox, +the pilot on board, left the _Chesapeake_ at 5 P.M. * * * At 6 P.M., +Mr. Knox informs me, the fire opened, and at 12 minutes past six +both ships were laying alongside one another as if in the act of +boarding; at that moment an explosion took place on board the +_Chesapeake_, which spread a fire on her upper deck from the foremast +to the mizzen-mast, as high as her tops, and enveloped both ships +in smoke for several minutes. After it cleared away they were seen +separate, with the British flag hoisted on board the _Chesapeake_ +over the American." James denies that the explosion was caused by +a hand-grenade, though he says there were some of these aboard the +_Shannon_. It is a point of no interest.] The _Chesapeake_ was now +seen to have stern-way on and to be paying slowly off; so the +_Shannon_ put her helm a-starboard and shivered her mizzen top-sail, +so as to keep off the wind and delay the boarding. But at that moment +her jib stay was shot away, and her head-sails becoming becalmed, she +went off very slowly. In consequence, at 6 P.M. the two frigates fell +aboard, the _Chesapeake's_ quarter pressing upon the _Shannon's_ side +just forward the starboard main-chains, and the frigates were kept +in this position by the fluke of the _Shannon's_ anchor catching +in the _Chesapeake's_ quarter port. + +The _Shannon's_ crew had suffered severely, but not the least panic +or disorder existed among them. Broke ran forward, and seeing his +foes flinching from the quarter-deck guns, he ordered the ships to +be lashed together, the great guns to cease firing, and the boarders +to be called. The boatswain, who had fought in Rodney's action, set +about fastening the vessels together, which the grim veteran succeeded +in doing, though his right arm was literally hacked off by a blow +from a cutlass. All was confusion and dismay on board the _Chesapeake_. +Lieutenant Ludlow had been mortally wounded and carried below; +Lawrence himself, while standing on the quarterdeck, fatally conspicuous +by his full-dress uniform and commanding stature, was shot down, as +the vessels closed, by Lieutenant Law of the British marines. He fell +dying, and was carried below, exclaiming: "Don't give up the ship"--a +phrase that has since become proverbial among his countrymen. The +third lieutenant, Mr. W. S. Cox, came on deck, but, utterly demoralized +by the aspect of affairs, he basely ran below without staying to +rally the men, and was court-martialled afterward for so doing. At +6.02 Captain Broke stepped from the _Shannon's_ gangway rail on to +the muzzle of the _Chesapeake's_ aftermost carronade, and thence over +the bulwark on to her quarter-deck, followed by about 20 men. As they +came aboard, the _Chesapeake's_ foreign mercenaries and the raw natives +of the crew deserted their quarters; the Portuguese boatswain's mate +removed the gratings of the berth-deck, and he ran below, followed +by many of the crew, among them one of the midshipmen named Deforest. +On the quarter-deck almost the only man that made any resistance was +the chaplain, Mr. Livermore, who advanced, firing his pistol at Broke, +and in return nearly had his arm hewed off by a stroke from the latter's +broad Toledo blade. On the upper deck the only men who behaved well +were the marines, but of their original number of 44 men, 14, including +Lieutenant James Broom and Corporal Dixon, were dead, and 20, including +Sergeants Twin and Harris, wounded, so that there were left but one +corporal and nine men, several of whom had been knocked down and +bruised, though reported unwounded. There was thus hardly any resistance, +Captain Broke stopping his men for a moment till they were joined by +the rest of the boarders under Lieutenants Watt and Falkiner. The +_Chesapeake's_ mizzen-topmen began firing at the boarders, mortally +wounding a midshipman, Mr. Samwell, and killing Lieutenant Watt; but +one of the _Shannon's_ long nines was pointed at the top and cleared +it out, being assisted by the English main-topmen, under Midshipman +Coshnahan. At the same time the men in the _Chesapeake's_ main-top +were driven out of it by the fire of the _Shannon's_ foretopmen, +under Midshipman Smith. Lieutenant George Budd, who was on the +main-deck, now for the first time learned that the English had boarded, +as the upper-deck men came crowding down, and at once called on his +people to follow him; but the foreigners and novices held back, and +only a few of the veterans followed him up. As soon as he reached +the spar-deck, Budd, followed by only a dozen men, attacked the +British as they came along the gangways, repulsing them for a moment, +and killing the British purser, Aldham, and captain's clerk, Dunn; +but the handful of Americans were at once cut down or dispersed, +Lieutenant Budd being wounded and knocked down the main hatchway. +"The enemy," writes Captain Broke, "fought desperately, but in +disorder." Lieutenant Ludlow, already mortally wounded, struggled +up on deck followed by two or three men, but was at once disabled +by a sabre cut. On the forecastle a few seamen and marines turned +to bay. Captain Broke was still leading his men with the same +brilliant personal courage he had all along shown. Attacking the +first American, who was armed with a pike, he parried a blow from +it, and cut down the man; attacking another he was himself cut down, +and only saved by the seaman Mindham, already mentioned, who slew +his assailant. One of the American marines, using his clubbed musket, +killed an Englishman, and so stubborn was the resistance of the little +group that for a moment the assailants gave back, having lost several +killed and wounded; but immediately afterward they closed in and slew +their foes to the last man. The British fired a volley or two down +the hatchway, in response to a couple of shots fired up; all resistance +was at an end, and at 6.05, just fifteen minutes after the first gun +had been fired, and not five after Captain Broke had come aboard, the +colors of the _Chesapeake_ were struck. Of her crew of 379 men, 61 +were killed or mortally wounded, including her captain, her first +and fourth lieutenants, the lieutenant of marines, the master (White), +boatswain (Adams), and three midshipmen, and 85 severely and slightly +wounded, including both her other lieutenants, five midshipmen, and +the chaplain; total, 148; the loss falling almost entirely upon the +American portion of the crew. + +[Illustration: Chesapeake vs. _Shannon_: an engraving published in +London in or before 1815 from a painting done under the supervision +of the _Shannon's_ first lieutenant. (Courtesy Beverly R. Robinson +Collection, U.S. Naval Academy Museum)] + +Of the _Shannon's_ men, 33 were killed outright or died of their +wounds, including her first lieutenant, purser, captain's clerk, +and one midshipman, and 50 wounded, including the captain himself +and the boatswain; total, 83. + +The _Chesapeake_ was taken into Halifax, where Captain Lawrence and +Lieutenant Ludlow were both buried with military honors. Captain +Broke was made a baronet, very deservedly, and Lieutenants Wallis +and Falkiner were both made commanders. + +The British writers accuse some of the American crew of treachery; +the Americans, in turn, accuse the British of revolting brutality. +Of course in such a fight things are not managed with urbane courtesy, +and, moreover, writers are prejudiced. Those who would like to hear +one side are referred to James; if they wish to hear the other, to +the various letters from officers published in "Niles' Register," +especially vol. v, p. 142. + +[Illustration of _Chesapeake_ and _Shannon_ action from 5.50 to 6.04.] + + "CHESAPEAKE" STRUCK BY "SHANNON" STRUCK BY + 29 eighteen-pound shot, 12 eighteen-pound shot, + 25 thirty-two-pound shot, 13 thirty-two pound shot, + 2 nine-pound shot, 14 bar shot, + 306 grape, 119 grape, + ---------- ---------- + 362-shot. 158 shot. + +Neither ship had lost a spar, but all the lower masts, especially +the two mizzen-masts, were badly wounded. The Americans at that +period were fond of using bar shot, which were of very questionable +benefit, being useless against a ship's hull, though said to be +sometimes of great help in unrigging an antagonist from whom one +was desirous of escaping, as in the case of the _President_ and +_Endymion_. + +It is thus seen that the _Shannon_ received from shot alone only +about half the damage the _Chesapeake_ did; the latter was thoroughly +beaten at the guns, in spite of what some American authors say to +the contrary. And her victory was not in the slightest degree to be +attributed to, though it may have been slightly hastened by, accident. +Training and discipline won the victory, as often before; only in +this instance the training and discipline were against us. + +It is interesting to notice that the _Chesapeake_ battered the +_Shannon's_ hull far more than either the _Java_, _Guerrière_, or +_Macedonian_ did the hulls of their opponents, and that she suffered +less in return (not in _loss_ but in _damage_) than they did. The +_Chesapeake_ was a better fighter than either the _Java_, _Guerrière_, +or _Macedonian_, and could have captured any one of them. The +_Shannon_ of course did less damage than any of the American 44's, +probably just about in the proportion of the difference in force. + +Almost all American writers have treated the capture of the +_Chesapeake_ as if it was due simply to a succession of unfortunate +accidents; for example, Cooper, with his usual cheerful optimism, +says that the incidents of the battle, excepting its short duration, +are "altogether the results of the chances of war," and that it was +mainly decided by "fortuitous events as unconnected with any particular +merit on the one side as they are with any particular demerit on the +other." [Footnote: The worth of such an explanation is very aptly +gauged in General Alexander S. Webb's "The Peninsula; McClellan's +Campaign of 1862" (New York, 1881), p. 35, where he speaks of "those +unforeseen or uncontrollable agencies which are vaguely described +as the 'fortune of war,' but which usually prove to be the superior +ability or resources of the antagonist."] Most naval men consider +it a species of treason to regard the defeat as due to any thing +but extraordinary ill fortune. And yet no disinterested reader can +help acknowledging that the true reason of the defeat was the very +simple one that the _Shannon_ fought better than the _Chesapeake_. +It has often been said that up to the moment when the ships came +together the loss and damage suffered by each were about the same. +This is not true, and even if it was, would not affect the question. +The heavy loss on board the _Shannon_ did not confuse or terrify +the thoroughly trained men with their implicit reliance on their +leaders; and the experienced officers were ready to defend any point +that was menaced. An equal or greater amount of loss aboard the +_Chesapeake_ disheartened and confused the raw crew, who simply had +not had the time or chance to become well disciplined. Many of the +old hands, of course, kept their wits and their pluck, but the novices +and the disaffected did not. Similarly with the officers; some, as +the Court of Inquiry found, had not kept to their posts, and all +being new to each other and the ship, could not show to their best. +There is no doubt that the _Chesapeake_ was beaten at the guns before +she was boarded. Had the ships not come together, the fight would have +been longer, the loss greater, and more nearly equal; but the result +would have been the same. Cooper says that the enemy entered with +great caution, and so slowly that twenty resolute men could have +repulsed him. It was no proof of caution for Captain Broke and his +few followers to leap on board, unsupported, and then they only +waited for the main body to come up; and no twenty men could have +repulsed such boarders as followed Broke. The fight was another +lesson, with the parties reversed, to the effect that want of +training and discipline is a bad handicap. Had the _Chesapeake's_ +crew been in service as many months as the _Shannon's_ had been years, +such a captain as Lawrence would have had his men perfectly in hand; +they would not have been cowed by their losses, nor some of the +officers too demoralized to act properly, and the material advantages +which the _Chesapeake_ possessed, although not very great, would +probably have been enough to give her a good chance of victory. It +is well worth noticing that the only thoroughly disciplined set of +men aboard (all, according to James himself, by the way, native +Americans), namely, the marines, did excellently, as shown by the +fact that three fourths of their number were among the killed and +wounded. The foreigners aboard the _Chesapeake_ did not do as well +as the Americans, but it is nonsense to ascribe the defeat in any +way to them; it was only rendered rather more disastrous by their +actions. Most of the English authors give very fair accounts of the +battle, except that they hardly allude to the peculiar disadvantages +under which the _Chesapeake_ suffered when she entered into it. Thus, +James thinks the _Java_ was unprepared because she had only been to +sea six weeks; but does not lay any weight on the fact that the +_Chesapeake_ had been out only as many hours. + +Altogether the best criticism on the fight is that written by M. de +la Gravière. [Footnote: "Guerres Maritimes," ii, 272.] "It is +impossible to avoid seeing in the capture of the _Chesapeake_ a new +proof of the enormous power of a good organization, when it has +received the consecration of a few years' actual service on the sea. +On this occasion, in effect, two captains equally renowned, the honor +of two navies, were opposed to each other on two ships of the same +tonnage and number of guns. Never had the chances seemed better +balanced, but Sir Philip Broke had commanded the _Shannon_ for nearly +seven years, while Captain Lawrence had only commanded the _Chesapeake_ +for a few days. The first of these frigates had cruised for eighteen +months on the coast of America; the second was leaving port. One had +a crew long accustomed to habits of strict obedience; the other was +manned by men who had just been engaged in mutiny. The Americans were +wrong to accuse fortune on this occasion. Fortune was not fickle, +she was merely logical. The _Shannon_ captured the _Chesapeake_ on +the first of June, 1813, but on the 14th of September, 1806, the day +when he took command of his frigate, Captain Broke had begun to +prepare the glorious termination to this bloody affair." + +Hard as it is to breathe a word against such a man as Lawrence, +a very Bayard of the seas, who was admired as much for his dauntless +bravery as he was loved for his gentleness and uprightness, it must +be confessed that he acted rashly. And after he had sailed, it was, +as Lord Howard Douglass has pointed out, a tactical error, however +chivalric to neglect the chance of luffing across the _Shannon's_ +stern to rake her; exactly as it was a tactical error of his equally +chivalrous antagonist to have let him have such an opportunity. Hull +would not have committed either error, and would, for the matter of +that, have been an overmatch for either commander. But it must always +be remembered that Lawrence's encounters with the English had not +been such as to give him a high opinion of them. The only foe he +had fought had been inferior in strength, it is true, but had hardly +made any effective resistance. Another sloop, of equal, if not +superior force, had tamely submitted to blockade for several days, +and had absolutely refused to fight. And there can be no doubt that +the _Chesapeake_, unprepared though she was, would have been an +overmatch for the _Guerrière_, _Macedonian_, or _Java_. Altogether +it is hard to blame Lawrence for going out, and in every other respect +his actions never have been, nor will be, mentioned, by either friend +or foe, without the warmest respect. But that is no reason for +insisting that he was ruined purely by an adverse fate. We will do +far better to recollect that as much can be learned from reverses +as from victories. Instead of flattering ourselves by saying the +defeat was due to chance, let us try to find out what the real cause +was, and then take care that it does not have an opportunity to act +again. A little less rashness would have saved Lawrence's life and +his frigate, while a little more audacity on one occasion would have +made Commodore Chauncy famous for ever. And whether a lesson is to +be learned or not, a historian should remember that his profession +is not that of a panegyrist. The facts of the case unquestionably +are that Captain Broke, in fair fight, within sight of the enemy's +harbor, proved conqueror over a nominally equal and in reality slightly +superior force; and that this is the only single-ship action of the +war in which the victor was weaker in force than his opponent. So +much can be gathered by reading only the American accounts. Moreover +accident had little or nothing to do with the gaining of the victory. +The explanation is perfectly easy; Lawrence and Broke were probably +exactly equal in almost every thing that goes to make up a first-class +commander, but one had trained his crew for seven years, and the +other was new to the ship, to the officers, and to the men, and the +last to each other. The _Chesapeake's_ crew must have been of fine +material, or they would not have fought so well as they did. + +So much for the American accounts. On the other hand, the capture +of the _Chesapeake_ was, and is, held by many British historians +to "conclusively prove" a good many different things; such as, that +if the odds were anything like equal, a British frigate could always +whip an American, that in a hand-to-hand conflict such would invariably +be the case, etc.; and as this was the only single-ship action of +the war in which the victor was the inferior in force, most British +writers insist that it reflected more honor on them than all the +frigate actions of 1812 put together did on the Americans. + +These assertions can be best appreciated by reference to a victory +won by the French in the year of the Battle of the Nile. On the 14th +of December, 1798, after two hours' conflict, the French 24-gun +corvette _Bayonnaise_ captured, by boarding, the English 32-gun +frigate _Ambuscade_. According to James the _Ambuscade_ threw at +a broadside 262 pounds of shot, and was manned by 190 men, while +the _Bayonnaise_ threw 150 pounds, and had on board supernumeraries +and passenger soldiers enough to make in all 250 men. According +to the French historian Rouvier [Footnote: "Histoire des Marins +Français sous la République," par Charles Rouvier, Lieutenant de +Vaisseau. Paris, 1868.] the broadside force was 246 pounds against +80 pounds; according to Troude [Footnote: "Batailles Navales."] it +was 270 pounds against 112. M. Léon Guérin, in his voluminous but +exceedingly prejudiced and one-sided work, [Footnote: "Histoire +Maritime de France" (par Léon Guérin, Historien titulaire de la +Marine, Membre de la Legion d'Honneur), vi. 142 (Paris, 1852).] makes +the difference even greater. At any rate the English vessel was +vastly the superior in force, and was captured by boarding, after +a long and bloody conflict in which she lost 46, and her antagonist +over 50, men. During all the wars waged with the Republic and the +Empire, no English vessel captured a French one as much superior +to itself as the _Ambuscade_ was to the _Bayonnaise_, precisely as +in the war of 1812 no American vessel captured a British opponent +as much superior to itself as the _Chesapeake_ was to the _Shannon_. +Yet no sensible man can help acknowledging, in spite of these and +a few other isolated instances, that at that time the French were +inferior to the English, and the latter to the Americans. + +It is amusing to compare the French histories of the English with +the English histories of the Americans, and to notice the similarity +of the arguments they use to detract from their opponents' fame. +Of course I do not allude to such writers as Lord Howard Douglass +or Admiral de la Gravière, but to men like William James and Léon +Guérin, or even O. Troude. James is always recounting how American +ships ran away from British ones, and Guérin tells as many anecdotes +of British ships who fled from French foes. James reproaches the +Americans for adopting a "Parthian" mode of warfare, instead of +"bringing to in a bold and becoming manner." Precisely the same +reproaches are used by the French writers, who assert that the English +would not fight "fairly," but acquired an advantage by manoeuvring. +James lays great stress on the American long guns; so does Lieutenant +Rouvier on the British carronades. James always tells how the +Americans avoided the British ships, when the crews of the latter +demanded to be led aboard; Troude says the British always kept at +long shot, while the French sailors "demandérent, à grands cris, +l'abordage." James says the Americans "hesitated to grapple" with +their foes "unless they possessed a twofold superiority"; Guérin +that the English "never dared attack" except when they possessed +"une supériorité énorme." The British sneer at the "mighty dollar"; +the French at the "eternal guinea." The former consider Decatur's +name as "sunk" to the level of Porter's or Bainbridge's; the latter +assert that the "presumptuous Nelson" was inferior to any of the +French admirals of the time preceding the Republic. Says James: +"The Americans only fight well when they have the superiority of +force on their side"; and Lieutenant Rouvier: "Never have the +English vanquished us with an undoubted inferiority of force." + +On June 12, 1813, the small cutter _Surveyor_, of 6 12-pound +carronades, was lying in York River, in the Chesapeake, under the +command of Mr. William S. Travis; her crew consisted of but 15 men. +[Footnote: Letter of W. S. Travis, June 16, 1813.] At nightfall +she was attacked by the boats of the _Narcissus_ frigate, containing +about 50 men, under the command of Lieutenant John Creerie. [Footnote: +James, vi. 334.] None of the carronades could be used; but Mr. Travis +made every preparation that he could for defence. The Americans +waited till the British were within pistol shot before they opened +their fire; the latter dashed gallantly on, however, and at once +carried the cutter. But though brief, the struggle was bloody; +5 of the Americans were wounded, and of the British 3 were killed +and 7 wounded. Lieutenant Creerie considered his opponents to have +shown so much bravery that he returned Mr. Travis his sword, with +a letter as complimentary to him as it was creditable to the writer. +[Footnote: The letter, dated June 13th, is as follows: "Your gallant +and desperate attempt to defend your vessel against more than double +your number, on the night of the 12th instant, excited such admiration +on the part of your opponents as I have seldom witnessed, and induced +me to return you the sword you had so nobly used, in testimony of +mine. Our poor fellows have suffered severely, occasioned chiefly, +if not solely, by the precautions you had taken to prevent surprise. +In short, I am at a loss which to admire most, the previous arrangement +aboard the _Surveyor_, or the determined manner in which her deck +was disputed inch by inch. I am, sir," etc.] + +As has been already mentioned, the Americans possessed a large force +of gun-boats at the beginning of the war. Some of these were fairly +sea-worthy vessels, of 90 tons burden, sloop--or schooner-rigged, +and armed with one or two long, heavy guns, and sometime with several +light carronades to repel boarders. [Footnote: According to a letter +from Captain Hugh G. Campbell (in the Naval Archives, "Captains' +Letters," 1812, vol. ii. Nos. 21 and 192), the crews were distributed +as follows: ten men and a boy to a long 32. seven men and a boy to +a long 9. and five men and a boy to a carronade, exclusive of petty +officers. Captain Campbell complains of the scarcity of men, and +rather naively remarks that he is glad the marines have been +withdrawn from the gun boats, as this may make the commanders of +the latter keep a brighter lookout than formerly.] Gun-boats of this +kind, together with the few small cutters owned by the government, +were serviceable enough. They were employed all along the shores +of Georgia and the Carolinas, and in Long Island Sound, in protecting +the coasting trade by convoying parties of small vessels from one +port to another, and preventing them from being molested by the +boats of any of the British frigates. They also acted as checks +upon the latter in their descents upon the towns and plantations, +occasionally capturing their boats and tenders, and forcing them to +be very cautious in their operations. They were very useful in +keeping privateers off the coast, and capturing them when they +came too far in. The exploits of those on the southern coast will +be mentioned as they occurred. Those in Long Island Sound never +came into collision with the foe, except for a couple of slight +skirmishes at very long range; but in convoying little fleets of +coasters, and keeping at bay the man-of-war boats sent to molest +them, they were invaluable; and they also kept the Sound clear of +hostile privateers. + +Many of the gun-boats were much smaller than those just mentioned, +trusting mainly to their sweeps for motive power, and each relying +for offence on one long pivot gun, a 12- or 18-pounder. In the +Chesapeake there was a quite a large number of these small gallies, +with a few of the larger kind, and here it was thought that by +acting together in flotillas the gun-boats might in fine weather +do considerable damage to the enemy's fleet by destroying detached +vessels, instead of confining themselves to the more humble tasks +in which their brethren elsewhere were fairly successful. At this +period Denmark, having lost all her larger ships of war, was confining +herself purely to gun-brigs. These were stout little crafts, with +heavy guns, which, acting together, and being handled with spirit +and skill, had on several occasions in calm weather captured small +British sloops, and had twice so injured frigates as to make their +return to Great Britain necessary; while they themselves had frequently +been the object of successful cutting-out expeditions. Congress +hoped that our gun-boats would do as well as the Danish; but for +a variety of reasons they failed utterly in every serious attack that +they made on a man-of-war, and were worse than useless for all but +the various subordinate employments above mentioned. The main +reason for this failure was in the gun-boats themselves. They were +utterly useless except in perfectly calm weather, for in any wind +the heavy guns caused them to careen over so as to make it difficult +to keep them right side up, and impossible to fire. Even in smooth +water they could not be fought at anchor, requiring to be kept in +position by means of sweeps; and they were very unstable, the recoil +of the guns causing them to roll so as to make it difficult to aim +with any accuracy after the first discharge, while a single shot +hitting one put it _hors de combat_. This last event rarely happened, +however, for they were not often handled with any approach to +temerity, and, on the contrary, usually made their attacks at a +range that rendered it as impossible to inflict as to receive harm. +It does not seem as if they were very well managed; but they were +such ill-conditioned craft that the best officers might be pardoned +for feeling uncomfortable in them. Their operations throughout the +war offer a painfully ludicrous commentary on Jefferson's remarkable +project of having our navy composed exclusively of such craft. + +The first aggressive attempt made with the gun-boats was +characteristically futile. On June 20th 15 of them, under Captain +Tarbell, attacked the _Junon_, 38, Captain Sanders, then lying becalmed +in Hampton Roads, with the _Barossa_, 36, and _Laurestinus_, 24, +near her. The gun-boats, while still at very long range, anchored, +and promptly drifted round so that they couldn't shoot. Then they +got under way, and began gradually to draw nearer to the _Junon_. +Her defence was very feeble; after some hasty and ill-directed +vollies she endeavored to beat out of the way. But meanwhile, a +slight breeze having sprung up, the _Barossa_, Captain Sherriff, +approached near enough to take a hand in the affair, and at once +made it evident that she was a more dangerous foe than the _Junon_, +though a lighter ship. As soon as they felt the effects of the +breeze the gun-boats became almost useless and, the _Barossa's_ fire +being animated and well aimed, they withdrew. They had suffered +nothing from the _Junon_, but during the short period she was engaged, +the _Barossa_ had crippled one boat and slightly damaged another; +one man was killed and two wounded. The _Barossa_ escaped unscathed +and the _Junon_ was but slightly injured. Of the combatants, the +_Barossa_ was the only one that came off with credit, the _Junon_ +behaving, if any thing, rather worse than the gun-boats. There was +no longer any doubt as to the amount of reliance to be placed on the +latter. [Footnote: Though the flotilla men did nothing in the boats, +they acted with the most stubborn bravery at the battle of Bladensburg. +The British Lieutenant Graig, himself a spectator, thus writes of +their deeds on that occasion ("Campaign at Washington," p. 119). +"Of the sailors, however, it would be injustice not to speak in the +terms which their conduct merits. They were employed as gunners, and +not only did they serve their guns with a quickness and precision +which astonished their assailants, but they stood till some of them +were actually bayoneted with fuses in their hands; nor was it till +their leader was wounded and taken, and they saw themselves deserted +on all sides by the soldiers, that they quitted the field." Certainly +such men could not be accused of lack of courage. Something else is +needed to account for the failure of the gun-boat system.] + +On June 20, 1813, a British force of three 74's, one 64, four frigates, +two sloops, and three transports was anchored off Craney Island. +On the north-west side of this island was a battery of 18-pounders, +to take charge of which Captain Cassin, commanding the naval forces +at Norfolk, sent ashore one hundred sailors of the _Constellation_, +under the command of Lieutenants Neale, Shubrick, and Saunders, and +fifty marines under Lieutenant Breckenbridge.[Footnote: Letter of +Captain John Cassin, June 23, 1813.] On the morning of the 22d they +were attacked by a division of 15 boats, containing 700 men, +[Footnote: James, vi, 337.] seamen, marines, chasseurs, and soldiers +of the 102d regiment, the whole under the command of Captain Pechell, +of the _San Domingo_, 74. Captain Hanchett led the attack in the +_Diadem's_ launch. The battery's guns were not fired till the British +were close in, when they opened with destructive effect. While still +some seventy yards from the guns the _Diadem's_ launch grounded, +and the attack was checked. Three of the boats were now sunk by shot, +but the water was so shallow that they remained above water; and while +the fighting was still at its height, some of the _Constellation's_ +crew, headed by Midshipman Tatnall, waded out and took possession +of them. [Footnote: "Life of Commodore Josiah Tatnall," by Charles +C. Jones, Jr. (Savannah, 1878), p. 17.] A few of their crew threw +away their arms and came ashore with their captors; others escaped +to the remaining boats, and immediately afterward the flotilla made +off in disorder having lost 91 men. The three captured barges were +large, strong boats, one called the Centipede being fifty feet long, +and more formidable than many of the American gun-vessels. The +_Constellation's_ men deserve great credit for their defence, but +the British certainly did not attack with their usual obstinacy. When +the foremost boats were sunk, the water was so shallow and the bottom +so good that the Americans on shore, as just stated, at once waded +out to them; and if in the heat of the fight Tatnall and his seamen +could get _out_ to the boats, the 700 British ought to have been +able to get _in_ to the battery, whose 150 defenders would then have +stood no chance. [Footnote: James comments on this repulse as "a +defeat as discreditable to those that caused it as honorable to those +that suffered in it." "Unlike most other nations, the Americans in +particular, the British, when engaged in expeditions of this nature, +always rest their hopes of success upon valor rather than on numbers." +These comments read particularly well when it is remembered that +the assailants outnumbered the assailed in the proportion of 5 to 1. +It is monotonous work to have to supplement a history by a running +commentary on James' mistakes and inventions; but it is worth while +to prove once for all the utter unreliability of the author who is +accepted in Great Britain as the great authority about the war. Still, +James is no worse than his compeers. In the American Coggeshall's +"History of Privateers," the misstatements are as gross and the +sneers in as poor taste--the British, instead of the Americans, +being the objects.] + +On July 14, 1813, the two small vessels _Scorpion_ and _Asp_, the +latter commanded by Mr. Sigourney, got under way from out of the +Yeocomico Creek, [Footnote: Letter of Midshipman McClintock, July +15, 1813.] and at 10 A.M. discovered in chase the British brig-sloops +_Contest_, Captain James Rattray, and _Mohawk_, Captain Henry D. +Byng. [Footnote: James, vi, 343.] The _Scorpion_ beat up the +Chesapeake, but the dull-sailing _Asp_ had to reenter the creek; +the two brigs anchored off the bar and hoisted out their boats, +under the command of Lieutenant Rodger C. Curry; whereupon the _Asp_ +cut her cable and ran up the creek some distance. Here she was +attacked by three boats, which Mr. Sigourney and his crew of twenty +men, with two light guns, beat off; but they were joined by two +others, and the five carried the _Asp_, giving no quarter. Mr. +Sigourney and 10 of his men were killed or wounded, while the +British also suffered heavily, having 4 killed and 7 (including +Lieutenant Curry) wounded. The surviving Americans reached the shore, +rallied under Midshipman H. McClintock (second in command), and when +the British retired after setting the _Asp_ on fire, at once boarded +her, put out the flames, and got her in fighting order; but they +were not again molested. + +On July 29th, while the _Junon_, 38, Captain Sanders, and _Martin_, +18, Captain Senhouse, were in Delaware Bay, the latter grounded on +the outside of Crow's Shoal; the frigate anchored within supporting +distance, and while in this position the two ships were attacked by +the American flotilla in those waters, consisting of eight gun-boats, +carrying each 25 men and one long 32, and two heavier block-sloops, +[Footnote: Letter of Lieutenant Angus, July 30, 1813.] commanded by +Lieutenant Samuel Angus. The flotilla kept at such a distance that +an hour's cannonading did no damage whatever to anybody; and during +that time gun-boat No. 121, Sailing-master Shead, drifted a mile +and a half away from her consorts. Seeing this the British made a +dash at her, in 7 boats, containing 140 men, led by Lieutenant Philip +Westphal. Mr. Shead anchored and made an obstinate defence, but at +the first discharge the gun's pintle gave way, and the next time +it was fired the gun-carriage was almost torn to pieces. He kept +up a spirited fire of small arms, in reply to the boat-carronades +and musketry of the assailants; but the latter advanced steadily +and carried the gun-boat by boarding, 7 of her people being wounded, +while 7 of the British were killed and 13 wounded. [Footnote: Letter +of Mr. Shead. Aug. 5, 1813.] The defence of No. 121 was very creditable, +but otherwise the honor of the day was certainly with the British; +whether because the gun-boats were themselves so worthless or because +they were not handled boldly enough, they did no damage, even to +the grounded sloop, that would seem to have been at their mercy. +[Footnote: The explanation possibly lies in the fact that the +gun-boats had worthless powder. In the Naval Archives there is a +letter from Mr. Angus ("Masters' Commandant Letters," 1813, No. 3: +see also No. 91), in which he says that the frigate's shot passed +over them, while theirs could not even reach the sloop. He also +encloses a copy of a paper, signed by the other gun-boat officers, +which runs: "We, the officers of the vessels comprising the Delaware +flotilla, protest against the powder as being unfit for service."] + +On June 18th the American brig-sloop _Argus_, commanded by Lieutenant +William Henry Allen, late first of the _United States_, sailed from +New York for France, with Mr. Crawford, minister for that country, +aboard, and reached L'Orient on July 11th, having made one prize +on the way. On July 14th she again sailed, and cruised in the chops +of the Channel, capturing and burning ship after ship, and creating +the greatest consternation among the London merchants; she then +cruised along Cornwall and got into St. George's Channel, where the +work of destruction went on. The labor was very severe and harassing, +the men being able to get very little rest. [Footnote: Court of +Inquiry into loss of _Argus_, 1815.] On the night of August 13th, +a brig laden with wine from Oporto was captured and burnt, and +unluckily many of the crew succeeded in getting at some of the +cargo. At 5 A.M. on the 14th a large brig-of-war was discovered +standing down under a cloud of canvas. [Footnote: Letter of Lieutenant +Watson, March 2, 1815.] This was the British brig-sloop _Pelican_, +Captain John Fordyce Maples, which, from information received at +Cork three days previous, had been cruising especially after the +_Argus_, and had at last found her; St. David's Head bore east +five leagues (lat. 52° 15' N. and 5° 50' W.) + +The small, fine-lined American cruiser, with her lofty masts and +long spars, could easily have escaped from her heavier antagonist: +but Captain Allen had no such intention, and, finding he could not +get the weather-gage, he shortened sail and ran easily along on the +starboard tack, while the _Pelican_ came down on him with the wind +(which was from the south) nearly aft. At 6 A.M. the _Argus_ wore +and fired her port guns within grape distance, the _Pelican_ responding +with her starboard battery, and the action began with great spirit +on both sides. [Footnote: Letter of Captain Maples to Admiral +Thornborough, Aug. 14, 1813.] At 6.04 a round shot carried off Captain +Allen's leg, inflicting a mortal wound, but he stayed on deck till +he fainted from loss of blood. Soon the British fire carried away +the main-braces, main-spring-stay, gaff, and try-sail mast of the +_Argus_; the first lieutenant, Mr. Watson, was wounded in the head +by a grape-shot and carried below; the second lieutenant, Mr. U. H. +Allen (no relation of the captain), continued to fight the ship +with great skill. The _Pelican's_ fire continued very heavy, the +_Argus_ losing her spritsail-yard and most of the standing rigging +on the port side of the foremast. At 6.14 Captain Maples bore up +to pass astern of his antagonist, but Lieutenant Allen luffed into +the wind and threw the main-top-sail aback, getting into a beautiful +raking position [Footnote: Letter of Lieutenant Watson.]; had the +men at the guns done their duty as well as those on the quarter-deck +did theirs, the issue of the fight would have been very different; +but, as it was, in spite of her favorable position, the raking +broadside of the _Argus_ did little damage. Two or three minutes +afterward the _Argus_ lost the use of her after-sails through having +her preventer-main-braces and top-sail tie shot away, and fell off +before the wind, when the _Pelican_ at 6.18 passed her stern, raking +her heavily, and then ranged up on her starboard quarter. In a few +minutes the wheel-ropes and running-rigging of every description were +shot away, and the _Argus_ became utterly unmanageable. The _Pelican_ +continued raking her with perfect impunity, and at 6.35 passed her +broadside and took a position on her starboard bow, when at 6.45 +the brigs fell together, and the British "were in the act of boarding +when the _Argus_ struck her colors," [Footnote: Letter of Captain +Maples.] at 6.45 A.M. The _Pelican_ carried, besides her regular +armament, two long 6's as stern-chasers, and her broadside weight +of metal was thus: [Footnote: James, vi, 320.] + +1 X 6 +1 X 6 +1 X 12 +8 X 32 + +or 280 lbs. against the _Argus_': + +1 X 12 +9 X 24 + +or, subtracting as usual 7 per cent. for light weight of metal, 210 +lbs. The _Pelican's_ crew consisted of but 116 men, according to +the British account, though the American reports make it much larger. +The _Argus_ had started from New York with 137 men, but having manned +and sent in several prizes, her crew amounted, as near as can be +ascertained, to 104. Mr. Low in his "Naval History," published just +after the event, makes it but 99. James makes it 121; as he placed +the crew of the _Enterprise_ at 125, when it was really 102; that +of the _Hornet_ at 162, instead of 135; of the _Peacock_ at 185, +instead of 166; of the _Nautilus_ at 106 instead of 95, etc., etc., +it is safe to presume that he has overestimated it by at least 20, +which brings the number pretty near to the American accounts. The +_Pelican_ lost but two men killed and five wounded. Captain Maples +had a narrow escape, a spent grape-shot striking him in the chest +with some force, and then falling on the deck. One shot had passed +through the boatswain's and one through the carpenter's cabin; her +sides were filled with grape-shot, and her rigging and sails much +injured; her foremast, main-top-mast, and royal masts were slightly +wounded, and two of her carronades dismounted. + +The injuries of the _Argus_ have already been detailed; her hull +and lower masts were also tolerably well cut up. Of her crew, Captain +Allen, two midshipmen, the carpenter, and six seamen were killed or +mortally wounded; her first lieutenant and 13 seamen severely and +slightly wounded: total, 10 killed and 14 wounded. + +In reckoning the comparative force, I include the Englishman's +six-pound stern-chaser, which could not be fired in broadside with +the rest of the guns, because I include the _Argus_' 12-pound +bow-chaser, which also could not be fired in broadside, as it was +crowded into the bridle-port. James, of course, carefully includes +the latter, though leaving out the former. + +[Illustration: _Argus_ vs. _Pelican_: an engraving published in +London in 1817. (Courtesy Beverley R. Robinson Collection, U.S. +Naval Academy Museum)] + +COMPARISON. + + Comparative + No. Weight Comparative Loss + Tons. Guns. Metal. Men. Loss. Force. Inflicted. +_Argus_ 298 10 210 104 24 .82 .29 +_Pelican_ 467 11 280 116 7 1.00 1.00 + +[Illustration of _ARGUS_ and _PELICAN_ action from 6.00 A.M. to 6.45] + +Of all the single-ship actions fought in the war this is the least +creditable to the Americans. The odds in force, it is true, were +against the _Argus_, about in the proportion of 10 to 8, but this +is neither enough to account for the loss inflicted being as 10 to +3, nor for her surrendering when she had been so little ill used. +It was not even as if her antagonist had been an unusually fine +vessel of her class. The _Pelican_ did not do as well as either +the _Frolic_ previously, or the _Reindeer_ afterward, though perhaps +rather better than the _Avon_, _Penguin_, or _Peacock_. With a +comparatively unmanageable antagonist, in smooth water, she ought +to have sunk her in three quarters of an hour. But the _Pelican's_ +not having done particularly well merely makes the conduct of the +Americans look worse; it is just the reverse of the _Chesapeake's_ +case, where, paying the highest credit to the British, we still +thought the fight no discredit to us. Here we can indulge no such +reflection. The officers did well, but the crew did not. Cooper +says: "The enemy was so much heavier that it may be doubted whether +the _Argus_ would have captured her antagonist under any ordinary +circumstances." This I doubt; such a crew as the _Wasp's_ or _Hornet's_ +probably would have been successful. The trouble with the guns of +the _Argus_ was not so much that they were too small, as that they +did not hit; and this seems all the more incomprehensible when it +is remembered that Captain Allen is the very man to whom Commodore +Decatur, in his official letter, attributed the skilful gun-practice +of the crew of the frigate _United States_. Cooper says that the +powder was bad; and it has also been said that the men of the _Argus_ +were over-fatigued and were drunk, in which case they ought not to +have been brought into action. Besides unskilfulness, there is +another very serious count against the crew. Had the _Pelican_ been +some distance from the _Argus_, and in a position where she could +pour in her fire with perfect impunity to herself, when the surrender +took place, it would have been more justifiable. But, on the contrary, +the vessels were touching, and the British boarded just as the +colors were hauled down; it was certainly very disgraceful that the +Americans did not rally to repel them, for they had still four fifths +of their number absolutely untouched. They certainly _ought_ to have +succeeded, for boarding is a difficult and dangerous experiment; +and if they had repulsed their antagonists they might in turn have +carried the _Pelican_. So that, in summing up the merits of this +action, it is fair to say that both sides showed skilful seamanship +and unskilful gunnery; that the British fought bravely and that the +Americans did not. + +It is somewhat interesting to compare this fight, where a weaker +American sloop was taken by a stronger British one, with two or three +others, where both the comparative force and the result were reversed. +Comparing it, therefore, with the actions between the _Hornet_ and +_Peacock_ (British), the _Wasp_ and _Avon_, and the _Peacock_ +(American) and _Epervier_, we get four actions, in one of which, the +first-named, the British were victorious, and in the other three the +Americans. + + Comparative Comparative Loss Per cent. + Force. Inflicted. Loss. + +_Pelican_ (British) 1.00 1.00 .06 +_Argus_ (American) .82 .29 .23 + +_Hornet_ (American) 1.00 1.00 .02 +_Peacock_ (British) .83 .07 .31 + +_Wasp_ (American) 1.00 1.00 .02 +_Avon_ (British) .80 .07 .33 + +_Peacock_ (American) 1.00 1.00 .01 +_Epervier_ (British) .81 .08 .20 + +It is thus seen that in these sloop actions the superiority of force +on the side of the victor was each time about the same. The _Argus_ +made a much more effectual resistance than did either the _Peacock_, +_Avon_, or _Epervier_, while the _Pelican_ did her work in poorer +form than either of the victorious American sloops; and, on the other +hand, the resistance of the _Argus_ did not by any means show as much +bravery as was shown in the defence of the _Peacock_ or _Avon_, +although rather more than in the case of the _Epervier_. + +This is the only action of the war where it is almost impossible +to find out the cause of the inferiority of the beaten crew. In +almost all other cases we find that one crew had been carefully +drilled, and so proved superior to a less-trained antagonist; but +it is incredible that the man, to whose exertions when first lieutenant +of the _States_ Commodore Decatur ascribes the skilfulness of that +ship's men, should have neglected to train his own crew; and this +had the reputation of being composed of a fine set of men. Bad powder +would not account for the surrender of the _Argus_ when so little +damaged. It really seems as if the men _must_ have been drunk or +over-fatigued, as has been so often asserted. Of course drunkenness +would account for the defeat, although not in the least altering its +humiliating character. + +"Et tu quoque" is not much of an argument; still it may be as well +to call to mind here two engagements in which British sloops suffered +much more discreditable defeats than the _Argus_ did. The figures +are taken from James; as given by the French historians they make +even a worse showing for the British. + +A short time before our war the British brig _Carnation_, 18, had +been captured, by boarding, by the French brig _Palinure_, 16, and +the British brig _Alacrity_, 18, had been captured, also by boarding, +by the corvette _Abeille_, 20. + +The following was the comparative force, etc., of the combatants: + + Weight Metal. No. Crew. Loss. +_Carnation_ 262 117 40 +_Palmure_ 174 100 20 + +_Alacrity_ 262 100 18 +_Abeille_ 260 130 19 + +In spite of the pride the British take in their hand-to-hand prowess +both of these ships were captured by boarding. The _Carnation_ was +captured by a much smaller force, instead of by a much larger one, +as in the case of the _Argus_; and if the _Argus_ gave up before +she had suffered greatly, the _Alacrity_ surrendered when she had +suffered still less. French historians asserted that the capture of +the two brigs proved that "French valor could conquer British +courage"; and a similar opinion was very complacently expressed by +British historians after the defeat of the _Argus_. All that the +three combats really "proved" was, that in eight encounters between +British and American sloops the Americans were defeated once, and +in a far greater number of encounters between French and British +sloops the British were defeated twice. No one pretends that either +navy was invincible; the question is, which side averaged best? + +At the opening of the war we possessed several small brigs; these +had originally been fast, handy little schooners, each armed with +12 long sixes, and with a crew of 60 men. As such they were effective +enough; but when afterward changed into brigs, each armed with a +couple of extra guns, and given 40 additional men, they became too +slow to run, without becoming strong enough to fight. They carried +far too many guns and men for their size, and not enough to give +them a chance with any respectable opponent; and they were almost +all ignominiously captured. The single exception was the brig +_Enterprise_. She managed to escape capture, owing chiefly to good +luck, and once fought a victorious engagement, thanks to the fact +that the British possessed a class of vessels even worse than our +own. She was kept near the land and finally took up her station off +the eastern coast, where she did good service in chasing away or +capturing the various Nova Scotian or New Brunswick privateers, +which were smaller and less formidable vessels than the privateers +of the United States, and not calculated for fighting. + +By crowding guns into her bridle-ports, and over-manning herself, +the _Enterprise_, now under the command of Lieutenant William +Burrows, mounted 14 eighteen-pound carronades and 2 long 9's, with +102 men. On September 5th, while standing along shore near Penguin +Point, a few miles to the eastward of Portland, Me., she discovered, +at anchor inside, a man-of-war brig [Footnote: Letter from Lieutenant +Edward R. McCall to Commodore Hull, September 5, 1813.] which proved +to be H.M.S. _Boxer_, Captain Samuel Blyth, of 12 carronades, +eighteen-pounders and two long sixes, with but 66 men aboard, 12 of +her crew being absent.[Footnote: James, "Naval Occurrences," 264. +The American accounts give the _Boxer_ 104 men, on very insufficient +grounds. Similarly, James gives the _Enterprise_ 123 men. Each side +will be considered authority for its own force and loss.] The _Boxer_ +at once hoisted three British ensigns and bore up for the _Enterprise_, +then standing in on the starboard tack; but when the two brigs were +still 4 miles apart it fell calm. At midday a breeze sprang up from +the southwest, giving the American the weather-gage, but the latter +manoeuvred for some time to windward to try the comparative rates +of sailing of the vessels. At 3 P.M. Lieutenant Burrows hoisted three +ensigns, shortened sail, and edged away toward the enemy, who came +gallantly on. Captain Blyth had nailed his colors to the mast, telling +his men they should never be struck while he had life in his body. +[Footnote: "Naval Chronicle," vol. xxxii, p. 462.] Both crews cheered +loudly as they neared each other, and at 3.15, the two brigs being +on the starboard tack not a half pistol-shot apart, they opened fire, +the American using the port, and the English the starboard, battery. +Both broadsides were very destructive, each of the commanders falling +at the very beginning of the action. Captain Blyth was struck by +an eighteen-pound shot while he was standing on the quarter-deck; +it passed completely through his body, shattering his left arm and +killing him on the spot. The command, thereupon, devolved on Lieutenant +David McCreery. At almost the same time his equally gallant antagonist +fell. Lieutenant Burrows, while encouraging his men, laid hold of +a gun-tackle fall to help the crew of a carronade run out the gun; +in doing so he raised one leg against the bulwark, when a canister +shot struck his thigh, glancing into his body and inflicting a +fearful wound. [Footnote: Cooper, "Naval History," vol. ii, p. 259.] +In spite of the pain he refused to be carried below, and lay on the +deck, crying out that the colors must never be struck. Lieutenant +Edward McCall now took command. At 3.30 the _Enterprise_ ranged +ahead, rounded to on the starboard tack, and raked the _Boxer_ with +the starboard guns. At 3.35 the _Boxer_ lost her main-top-mast and +top-sail yard, but her crew still kept up the fight bravely, with +the exception of four men who deserted their quarters and were +afterward court-martialed for cowardice. [Footnote: Minutes of +court-martial held aboard H.M.S. _Surprise_, January 8, 1814.] The +_Enterprise_ now set her fore-sail and took position on the enemy's +starboard bow, delivering raking fires; and at 3.45 the latter +surrendered, when entirely unmanageable and defenceless. Lieutenant +Burrows would not go below until he had received the sword of his +adversary, when he exclaimed, "I am satisfied, I die contented." + +[Illustration of action between _ENTERPRISE_ and _BOXER_ from +3.15 to 3.45] + +Both brigs had suffered severely, especially the _Boxer_, which had +been hulled repeatedly, had three eighteen-pound shot through her +foremast, her top-gallant forecastle almost cut away, and several +of her guns dismounted. Three men were killed and seventeen wounded, +four mortally. The _Enterprise_ had been hulled by one round and +many grape; one 18-pound ball had gone through her foremast, and +another through her main-mast, and she was much cut up aloft. Two +of her men were killed and ten wounded, two of them (her commander +and Midshipman Kervin Waters) mortally. The British court-martial +attributed the defeat of the _Boxer_ "to a superiority in the enemy's +force, principally in the number of men, as well as to a greater +degree of skill in the direction of her fire, and to the destructive +effects of the first broadside." But the main element was the +superiority in force, the difference in loss being very nearly +proportional to it; both sides fought with equal bravery and equal +skill. This fact was appreciated by the victors, for at a naval dinner +given in New York shortly afterward, one of the toasts offered was: +"The crew of the _Boxer_; enemies by law, but by gallantry brothers." +The two commanders were both buried at Portland, with all the honors +of war. The conduct of Lieutenant Burrows needs no comment. He was +an officer greatly beloved and respected in the service. Captain +Blyth, on the other side, had not only shown himself on many occasions +to be a man of distinguished personal courage, but was equally noted +for his gentleness and humanity. He had been one of Captain Lawrence's +pall-bearers, and but a month previous to his death had received a +public note of thanks from an American colonel, for an act of great +kindness and courtesy. [Footnote: "Naval Chronicle," xxxii, 466.] + +The _Enterprise_, under Lieut.-Com. Renshaw, now cruised off the +southern coast, where she made several captures. One of them was +a heavy British privateer, the _Mars_, of 14 long nines and 75 men, +which struck after receiving a broadside that killed and wounded 4 +of her crew. The _Enterprise_ was chased by frigates on several +occasions; being once forced to throw overboard all her guns but +two, and escaping only by a shift in the wind. Afterward, as she +was unfit to cruise, she was made a guard-ship at Charlestown; for +the same reason the _Boxer_ was not purchased into the service. + +On October 4th some volunteers from the Newport flotilla captured, +by boarding, the British privateer _Dart_, [Footnote: Letter of +Mr. Joseph Nicholson, Oct. 5, 1813.] after a short struggle in +which two of the assailants were wounded and several of the +privateersmen, including the first officer, were killed. + +On December 4th, Commodore Rodgers, still in command of the +_President_, sailed again from Providence, Rhode Island. On the +25th, in lat. 19° N. and long. 35° W., the _President_, during the +night, fell in with two frigates, and came so close that the head-most +fired at her, when she made off. These were thought to be British, +but were in reality the two French 40-gun frigates _Nymphe_ and +_Meduse_, one month out of Brest. After this little encounter Rodgers +headed toward the Barbadoes, and cruised to windward of them. + +On the whole the ocean warfare of 1813 was decidedly in favor of +the British, except during the first few months. The _Hornet's_ +fight with the _Peacock_ was an action similar to those that took +place in 1812, and the cruise of Porter was unique in our annals, +both for the audacity with which it was planned, and the success +with which it was executed. Even later in the year the _Argus_ and +the _President_ made bold cruises in sight of the British coasts, +the former working great havoc among the merchant-men. But by that +time the tide had turned strongly in favor of our enemies. From the +beginning of summer the blockade was kept up so strictly that it +was with difficulty any of our vessels broke through it; they were +either chased back or captured. In the three actions that occurred, +the British showed themselves markedly superior in two, and in the +third the combatants fought equally well, the result being fairly +decided by the fuller crew and slightly heavier metal of the +_Enterprise_. The gun-boats, to which many had looked for harbor +defence, proved nearly useless, and were beaten off with ease +whenever they made an attack. + +The lessons taught by all this were the usual ones. Lawrence's +victory in the _Hornet_ showed the superiority of a properly trained +crew to one that had not been properly trained; and his defeat in +the _Chesapeake_ pointed exactly the same way, demonstrating in +addition the folly of taking a raw levy out of port, and, before +they have had the slightest chance of getting seasoned, pitting them +against skilled veterans. The victory of the _Enterprise_ showed +the wisdom of having the odds in men and metal in our favor, when +our antagonist was otherwise our equal; it proved, what hardly +needed proving, that, whenever possible, a ship should be so +constructed as to be superior in force to the foes it would be likely +to meet. As far as the capture of the _Argus_ showed any thing, it +was the advantage of heavy metal and the absolute need that a crew +should fight with pluck. The failure of the gun-boats _ought_ to +have taught the lesson (though it did not) that too great economy +in providing the means of defence may prove very expensive in the +end, and that good officers and men are powerless when embarked +in worthless vessels. A similar point was emphasized by the strictness +of the blockade, and the great inconvenience it caused; namely, +that we ought to have had ships powerful enough to break it. + +We had certainly lost ground during this year; fortunately we +regained it during the next two. + +BRITISH VESSELS SUNK OR TAKEN. + + Name. Guns. Tonnage. +_Peacock_ 20 477 +_Boxer_ 14 181 +_Highflyer_ 6 96 + ___ ____ + 40 754 + +AMERICAN VESSELS SUNK OR TAKEN. + + Name. Guns. Tonnage. +_Chesapeake_ 50 1,265 +_Argus_ 20 298 +_Viper_ 10 148 + ___ _____ + 80 1,711 + +VESSELS BUILT OR PURCHASED. + + Name. Rig. Guns. Tonnage. Where Built. Cost. +_Rattlesnake_ Brig 14 278 Medford, Pa. $18,000 +_Alligator_ Schooner 4 80 +_Asp_ Sloop 3 56 2,600 + +PRIZES MADE. + +Name of Ship. No. of Prizes. +_President_ 13 +_Congress_ 4 +_Chesapeake_ 6 +_Essex_ 14 +_Hornet_ 3 +_Argus_ 21 +Small craft 18 + ___ + 79 + + + +Chapter VI + + +1813 + +ON THE LAKES + +_ONTARIO--Comparison of the rival squadrons---Chauncy takes York +and Fort George--Yeo is repulsed at Sackett's Harbor, but keeps +command of the lake--Chauncy sails--Yeo's partial victory off +Niagara---Indecisive action off the Genesee--Chauncy's partial +victory off Burlington, which gives him the command of the +lake--ERIE--Perry's success in creating a fleet--His +victory--CHAMPLAIN--Loss of the Growler and Eagle--Summary._ + +ONTARIO. + +Winter had almost completely stopped preparations on the American +side. Bad weather put an end to all communication with Albany or +New York, and so prevented the transit of stores, implements, etc. +It was worse still with the men, for the cold and exposure so thinned +them out that the new arrivals could at first barely keep the ranks +filled. It was, moreover, exceedingly difficult to get seamen to +come from the coast to serve on the lakes, where work was hard, +sickness prevailed, and there was no chance of prize-money. The +British government had the great advantage of being able to move +its sailors where it pleased, while in the American service, at +that period, the men enlisted for particular ships, and the only +way to get them for the lakes at all was by inducing portions of +crews to volunteer to follow their officers thither. [Footnote: +Cooper, ii, 357. One of James' most comical misstatements is that +on the lakes the American sailors were all "picked men." On p. 367, +for example, in speaking of the battle of Lake Erie he says: +"Commodore Perry had picked crews to all his vessels." As a matter +of fact Perry had once sent in his resignation solely on account of +the very poor quality of his crews, and had with difficulty been +induced to withdraw it. Perry's crews were of hardly average +excellence, but then the average American sailor was a very good +specimen.] However, the work went on in spite of interruptions. +Fresh gangs of shipwrights arrived, and, largely owing to the energy +and capacity of the head builder, Mr. Henry Eckford (who did as +much as any naval officer in giving us an effective force on Ontario), +the _Madison_ was equipped, a small despatch sloop, The _Lady of the +Lake_ prepared, and a large new ship, the _General Pike_, 28, begun, +to mount 13 guns in each broadside and 2 on pivots. + +Meanwhile Sir George Prevost, the British commander in Canada, had +ordered two 24-gun ships to be built, and they were begun; but he +committed the mistake of having one laid down in Kingston and the +other in York, at the opposite end of the lake. Earle, the Canadian +commodore, having proved himself so incompetent, was removed; and +in the beginning of May Captain Sir James Lucas Yeo arrived, to act +as commander-in-chief of the naval forces, together with four captains, +eight lieutenants, twenty-four midshipmen, and about 450 picked +seamen, sent out by the home government especially for service on +the Canada lakes. [Footnote: James, vi, 353.] + +The comparative force of the two fleets or squadrons it is hard to +estimate. I have already spoken of the difficulty in finding out +what guns were mounted on any given ship at a particular time, and +it is even more perplexing with the crews. A schooner would make +one cruise with but thirty hands; on the next it would appear with +fifty, a number of militia having volunteered as marines. Finding +the militia rather a nuisance, they would be sent ashore, and on +her third cruise the schooner would substitute half a dozen frontier +seamen in their place. It was the same with the larger vessels. The +_Madison_ might at one time have her full complement of 200 men; +a month's sickness would ensue, and she would sail with but 150 +effectives. The _Pike's_ crew of 300 men at one time would shortly +afterward be less by a third in consequence of a draft of sailors +being sent to the upper lakes. So it is almost impossible to be +perfectly accurate; but, making a comparison of the various authorities +from Lieutenant Emmons to James, the following tables of the forces +may be given as very nearly correct. In broadside force I count +every pivot gun, and half of those that were not on pivots. + +CHAUNCY'S SQUADRON. + + Broadside +Name. Rig. Tonnage. Crew. Metal; lbs Armament + +_Pike_, Ship 875 300 360 28 long 24's +_Madison_, " 593 200 364 24 short 32's +_Oneida_, brig 243 100 172 16 " 24's + -+- 1 long 32 +_Hamilton_, schooner 112 50 80 | 1 " 24 + - 8 " 6's + -+- 1 " 32 +_Scourge_, " 110 50 80 - 8 short 12's + -+- 1 long 32 +_Conquest_, " 82 40 56 | 1 " 12 + - 4 " 6's + -+- 1 " 32 +_Tompkins_, " 96 40 62 | 1 " 12 + - 6 " 6's + -+- 1 " 32 +_Julia_, " 82 35 44 - 1 " 12 + -+- 1 " 32 +_Growler_, " 81 35 44 - 1 " 12 + -+- 1 long 32 +_Ontario_, schooner 53 35 44 - 1 " 12 + +_Fair -+- 1 " 24 + American_, " 53 30 36 - 1 " 12 +_Pert_, " 50 25 24 1 " 24 +_Asp_, " 57 25 24 1 " 24 +_Lady of + the Lake_, " 89 15 9 1 " 9 +_________________________________________________________________ + + 14 2,576 980 1,399 112 + +This is not materially different from James' account (p. 356), which +gives Chauncy 114 guns, 1,193 men, and 2,121 tons. The _Lady of the +Lake_, however, was never intended for anything but a despatch boat, +and the _Scourge_ and _Hamilton_ were both lost before Chauncy +actually came into collision with Yeo. Deducting these, in order +to compare the two foes, Chauncy had left 11 vessels of 2,265 tons, +with 865 men and 92 guns throwing a broadside of 1,230 pounds. + +YEO'S SQUADRON. + + Broadside +Name. Rig. Tonnage. Crew. Metal; lbs. Armament. + +_Wolfe_, ship 637 220 392 -+- 1 long 24 + | 8 " 18's + | 4 short 68's + '- 10 " 32's +_Royal " 510 200 360 -+- 3 long 18's + George_, | 2 short 68's + '- 16 " 32's +_Melville_, brig 279 100 210 -+- 2 long 18's + '- 12 short 32 s +_Moira_, " 262 100 153 -+- 2 long 9's + '- 12 short 24's +_Sydney schooner 216 80 172 -+- 2 long 12's + Smith_, '- 10 short 32's +_Beresford_, " 187 70 87 -+- 1 long 24 + | 1 " 9 + '- 6 short 18's +___________ _____ _____ _____ _________________ + 6 2,091 770 1,374 92 + +This differs but slightly from James, who gives Yeo 92 guns throwing +a broadside of 1,374 pounds, but only 717 men. As the evidence in +the court-martial held on Captain Barclay, and the official accounts +(on both sides) of Macdonough's victory, convict him of very much +underrating the force in men of the British on Erie and Champlain, +it can be safely assumed that he has underestimated the force in +men on Lake Ontario. By comparing the tonnage he gives to Barclay's +and Downie's squadrons with what it really was, we can correct his +account of Yeo's tonnage. + +The above figures would apparently make the two squadrons about +equal, Chauncy having 95 men more, and throwing at a broadside 144 +pounds shot less than his antagonist. But the figures do not by any +means show all the truth. The Americans greatly excelled in the number +and calibre of their long guns. Compared thus, they threw at one +discharge 694 pounds of long-gun metal and 536 pounds of carronade +metal; while the British only threw from their long guns 180 pounds, +and from their carronades 1,194. This unequal distribution of metal +was very much in favor of the Americans. Nor was this all. The +_Pike_, with her 15 long 24's in battery was an overmatch for any +one of the enemy's vessels, and bore the same relation to them that +the _Confiance_, at a later date, did to Macdonough's squadron. She +should certainly have been a match for the _Wolfe_ and _Melville_ +together, and the _Madison_ and _Oneida_ for the _Royal George_ and +_Sydney Smith_. In fact, the three heavy American vessels ought to +have been an overmatch for the four heaviest of the British squadron, +although these possessed the nominal superiority. And in ordinary +cases the eight remaining American gun-vessels would certainly seem +to be an overmatch for the two British schooners, but it is just +here that the difficulty of comparing the forces comes in. When the +water was very smooth and the wind light, the long 32's and 24's of +the Americans could play havoc with the British schooners, at a +distance which would render the carronades of the latter useless. +But the latter were built for war, possessed quarters and were good +cruisers, while Chauncy's schooners were merchant vessels, without +quarters, crank, and so loaded down with heavy metal that whenever +it blew at all hard they could with difficulty be kept from upsetting, +and ceased to be capable even of defending themselves. When Sir James +Yeo captured two of them he would not let them cruise with his other +vessels at all, but sent them back to act as gun-boats, in which +capacity they were serving when recaptured; this is a tolerable test +of their value compared to their opponents. Another disadvantage +that Chauncy had to contend with, was the difference in the speed +of the various vessels. The _Pike_ and _Madison_ were fast, weatherly +ships; but the _Oneida_ was a perfect slug, even going free, and +could hardly be persuaded to beat to windward at all. In this respect +Yeo was much better off; his six ships were regular men-of-war, with +quarters, all of them seaworthy, and fast enough to be able to act +with uniformity and not needing to pay much regard to the weather. +His force could act as a unit; but Chauncy's could not. Enough wind +to make a good working breeze for his larger vessels put all his +smaller ones _hors de combat_: and in weather that suited the latter, +the former could not move about at all. When speed became necessary +the two ships left the brig hopelessly behind, and either had to do +without her, or else perhaps let the critical moment slip by while +waiting for her to come up. Some of the schooners sailed quite as +slowly; and finally it was found out that the only way to get all +the vessels into action at once was to have one half the fleet tow +the other half. It was certainly difficult to keep the command of +the lake when, if it came on to blow, the commodore had to put into +port under penalty of seeing a quarter of his fleet founder before +his eyes. These conflicting considerations render it hard to pass +judgment; but on the whole it would seem as if Chauncy was the +superior in force, for even if his schooners were not counted, his +three square-rigged vessels were at least a match for the four +square-rigged British vessels, and the two British schooners would +not have counted very much in such a conflict. In calm weather he +was certainly the superior. This only solves one of the points in +which the official letters of the two commanders differ: after every +meeting each one insists that he was inferior in force, that the +weather suited his antagonist, and that the latter ran away, and +got the worst of it; all of which will be considered further on. + +In order to settle toward which side the balance of success inclined, +we must remember that there were two things the combatants were trying +to do viz.: + +(1) To damage the enemy directly by capturing or destroying his vessels. +This was the only object we had in view in sending out ocean cruisers, +but on the lakes it was subordinated to:-- + +(2) Getting the control of the lake, by which invaluable assistance +could be rendered to the army. The most thorough way of accomplishing +this, of course, was by destroying the enemy's squadron; but it could +also be done by building ships too powerful for him to face, or by +beating him in some engagement which, although not destroying his +fleet, would force him to go into port. If one side was stronger, +then the weaker party by skillful manoeuvring might baffle the foe, +and rest satisfied by keeping the sovereignty of the lake disputed; +for, as long as one squadron was not undisputed master it could not +be of much assistance in transporting troops attacking forts, or +otherwise helping the military. + +In 1813 the Americans gained the first point by being the first to +begin operations. They were building a new ship, afterward the _Pike_, +at Sackett's Harbor; the British were building two new ships, each +about two thirds the force of the _Pike_, one at Toronto (then called +York), one at Kingston. Before these were built the two fleets were +just on a par; the destruction of the _Pike_ would give the British +the supremacy; the destruction of either of the British ships, provided +the _Pike_ were saved, would give the Americans the supremacy. Both +sides had already committed faults. The Americans had left Sackett's +Harbor so poorly defended and garrisoned that it invited attack, +while the British had fortified Kingston very strongly, but had done +little for York, and, moreover, ought not to have divided their forces +by building ships in different places. + +Commodore Chauncy's squadron was ready for service on April 19th, +and on the 25th he made sail with the _Madison_, Lieutenant-Commander +Elliott, floating his own broad pennant, _Oneida_, Lieutenant Woolsey, +_Hamilton_, Lieutenant McPherson, _Scourge_, Mr. Osgood, _Tompkins_, +Lieutenant Brown, _Conquest_, Lieutenant Pettigrew, _Growler_, Mr. Mix, +_Julia_, Mr. Trant, _Asp_, Lieutenant Smith, _Pert_, Lieutenant Adams, +_American_, Lieutenant Chauncy, _Ontario_, Mr. Stevens, _Lady of the +Lake_, Mr. Hinn, and _Raven_, transport, having on board General +Dearborn and 1700 troops, to attack York, which was garrisoned by +about 700 British regulars and Canadian militia under Major-General +Sheafe. The new 24-gun ship was almost completed, and the _Gloucester_ +10-gun brig was in port; the guns of both vessels were used in defence +of the port. The fleet arrived before York early on April 27th, and +the debarkation began at about 8 A.M. The schooners beat up to the +fort under a heavy cannonade, and opened a spirited fire from their +long guns; while the troops went ashore under the command of +Brigadier-General Pike. The boats were blown to leeward by the strong +east wind, and were exposed to a galling fire, but landed the troops +under cover of the grape thrown by the vessels. The schooners now +beat up to within a quarter of a mile from the principal work, and +opened heavily upon it, while at the same time General Pike and the +main body of the troops on shore moved forward to the assault, using +their bayonets only. The British regulars and Canadian militia, +outnumbered three to one (including the American sailors) and with +no very good defensive works, of course had to give way, having lost +heavily, especially from the fire of the vessels. An explosion +immediately afterward killed or wounded 250 of the victors, including +General Pike. The Americans lost, on board the fleet, 4 killed, +including midshipmen Haifield and Thompson, and 8 wounded; [Footnote: +Letter of Commodore Chauncy, April 28, 1813.] and of the army, +[Footnote: James, "Military Occurrences" (London, 1818), vol. i, p. +151.] 14 killed and 32 wounded by the enemy's fire, and 52 killed +and 180 wounded by the explosion: total loss, 288. The British +regulars lost 130 killed and wounded, including 40 by the explosion; +[Footnote: Lossing's "Field-Book of the War of 1812," p. 581. The +accounts vary somewhat.] together with 50 Canadians and Indians, +making a total of 180, besides 290 prisoners. The 24-gun ship was +burned, her guns taken away, and the _Gloucester_ sailed back to +Sackett's Harbor with the fleet. Many military and naval stores were +destroyed, and much more shipped to the Harbor. The great fault that +the British had committed was in letting the defences of so important +a place remain so poor, and the force in it so small. It was impossible +to resist very long when Pike's troops were landed, and the fleet +in position. On the other hand, the Americans did the work in good +style; the schooners were finely handled, firing with great precision +and completely covering the troops, who, in turn, were disembarked +and brought into action very handsomely. + +After being detained in York a week by bad weather the squadron got +out, and for the next fortnight was employed in conveying troops +and stores to General Dearborn. Then it was determined to make an +attack on Fort George, where the British General Vincent was stationed +with from 1,000 [Footnote: James, "Military Occurrences," i, p. 151.] +to 1,800 [Footnote: Lossing, 596.] regulars, 600 militia, and about +100 Indians. The American troops numbered about 4,500, practically +under the command of Colonel Scott. On May 26th Commodore Chauncy +carefully reconnoitred the place to be attacked, and in the night +made soundings along the coast, and laid buoys so as to direct the +small vessels, who were to do the fighting. At 3 A.M. on the 27th +the signal was made to weigh, the heavy land artillery being on the +_Madison_, and the other troops on the _Oneida_, the _Lady of the +Lake_, and in batteaux, many of which had been captured at York. +The _Julia_, _Growler_, and _Ontario_ moved in and attacked a battery +near the light-house, opening a cross-fire which silenced it. The +troops were to be disembarked farther along the lake, near a battery +of one long 24, managed by Canadian militia. The _Conquest_ and +_Tompkins_ swept in under fire to this battery, and in 10 minutes +killed or drove off the artillerymen, who left the gun spiked, and +then opened on the British. "The American ships with their heavy +discharges of round and grape too well succeeded in thinning the +British ranks." [Footnote: James, "Military Occurrences," i, p. 151.] +Meanwhile the troop-boats, under Captain Perry and Colonel Scott +dashed in, completely covered by a heavy fire of grape directed +point-blank at the foe by the _Hamilton_, _Scourge_, and _Asp_. +"The fire from the American shipping committed dreadful havoc among +the British, and rendered their efforts to oppose the landing of +the enemy ineffectual." [Footnote: _Loc. cit_] Colonel Scott's troops, +thus protected, made good their landing and met the British regulars; +but the latter were so terribly cut up by the tremendous discharges +of grape and canister from the schooners, that in spite of their +gallantry and discipline they were obliged to retreat, blowing up +and abandoning the fort. One sailor was killed and two wounded +[Footnote: Letter of Commodore Chauncy, May 29, 1813.]; seventeen +soldiers were killed and forty-five wounded [Footnote: Letter of +General Dearborn, May 27, 1813.]; making the total American loss +sixty-five. Of the British regulars 52 were killed, 44 wounded, and +262 "wounded and missing," [Footnote: Letter of Brig.-Gen. Vincent, +May 28, 1813.] in addition to about forty Canadians and Indians +_hors de combat_ and nearly 500 militia captured; so that in this +very brilliant affair the assailants suffered hardly more than a +fifth of the loss in killed and wounded that the assailed did; +which must be attributed to the care with which Chauncy had +reconnoitred the ground and prepared the attack, the excellent +handling of the schooners, and the exceedingly destructive nature +of their fire. The British batteries were very weak, and, moreover, +badly served. Their regular troops fought excellently; it was +impossible for them to stand against the fire of the schooners, +which should have been engaged by the batteries on shore; and they +were too weak in numbers to permit the American army to land and +then attack it when away from the boats. The Americans were greatly +superior in force, and yet deserve very much credit for achieving +their object so quickly, with such slight loss to themselves, and +at such a heavy cost to the foe. The effect of the victory was most +important, the British evacuating the whole Niagara frontier, and +leaving the river in complete possession of the Americans for the +time being. This offered the opportunity for despatching Captain +Perry up above the falls to take out one captured brig (the +_Caledonia_) and four purchased schooners, which had been lying in +the river unable to get past the British batteries into Lake Erie. +These five vessels were now carried into that lake, being tracked +up against the current by oxen, to become a most important addition +to the American force upon it. + +While Chauncy's squadron was thus absent at the west end of the lake +the _Wolfe_, 24, was launched and equipped at Kingston, making the +British force on the lake superior to that of the Americans. +Immediately Sir George Prevost, and Sir James Lucas Yeo, the +commanders-in-chief of the land and water forces in the Canadas, +decided to strike a blow at Sackett's Harbor and destroy the _General +Pike_, 28, thus securing to themselves the superiority for the rest +of the season. Accordingly they embarked on May 27th, in the _Wolfe_, +_Royal George_, _Moira_, _Prince Regent_, _Simco_, and _Seneca_, +with a large number of gun-boats, barges, and batteaux; and on the +next day saw and attacked a brigade of 19 boats transporting troops +to Sackett's Harbor, under command of Lieutenant Aspinwall. Twelve +boats were driven ashore, and 70 of the men in them captured; but +Lieutenant Aspinwall and 100 men succeeded in reaching the Harbor, +bringing up the total number of regulars there to 500 men, General +Brown having been summoned to take the chief command. About 400 +militia also came in, but were of no earthly service. There were, +however, 200 Albany volunteers, under Colonel Mills, who could be +relied on. The defences were miserably inadequate, consisting +of a battery of one long gun and a block-house. + +On the 29th Sir George Prevost and 800 regulars landed, being covered +by the gun-boats under Sir James Lucas Yeo. The American militia +fled at once, but the regulars and volunteers held their ground in +and around the block-house. "At this point the further energies of +the [British] troops became unavailing. The [American] block-house +and stockade could not be carried by assault nor reduced by +field-pieces, had we been provided with them; the fire of the +gun-boats proved insufficient to attain that end; light and adverse +winds continued, and our larger vessels were still far off." +[Footnote: Letter of Adj.-Gen. Baynes, May 30. 1813.] The British +reëmbarked precipitately. The American loss amounted to 23 killed +and 114 wounded; that of the British to 52 killed and 211 wounded, +[Footnote: James, "Military Occurrences," p. 173.] most of the +latter being taken prisoners. During the fight some of the frightened +Americans set fire to the store-houses, the _Pike_ and the _Gloucester_; +the former were consumed, but the flames were extinguished before +they did any damage to either of the vessels. This attack differed +especially from those on Fort George and York, in that the attacking +force was relatively much weaker; still it ought to have been +successful. But Sir George could not compare as a leader with Col. +Scott or Gen. Pike; and Sir James did not handle the gun-boats by +any means as well as the Americans did their schooners in similar +attacks. The admirers of Sir James lay the blame on Sir George, and +_vice versa_; but in reality neither seems to have done particularly +well. At any rate the affair was the reverse of creditable to the British. + +The British squadron returned to Kingston, and Chauncy, having heard +that they were out, came down the lake and went into port about June +2d. So far the Americans had had all the success, and had controlled +the lake; but now Yeo's force was too formidable to be encountered +until the _Pike_ was built, and the supremacy passed undisputed into +his hands, while Chauncy lay in Sackett's Harbor. Of course with the +_Pike_ soon to be built, Yeo's uncontested superiority could be of +but short duration; but he used his time most actively. He sailed +from Kingston on the 3d of June, to coöperate with the British army +at the head of the lake, and intercept all supplies going to the +Americans. On the 8th he discovered a small camp of the latter near +Forty Mile Creek, and attacked it with the _Beresford_, _Sydney +Smith_, and gun-boats, obliging the Americans to leave their camp, +while their equipages, provisions, stores, and batteaux fell into +the hands of the British, whose troops occupied the post, thus +assisting in the series of engagements which ended in the humiliating +repulse of General Wilkinson's expedition into Canada. On the 13th +two schooners and some boats bringing supplies to the Americans were +captured, and on the 16th a depot of provisions at the Genesee River +shared the same fate. On the 19th a party of British soldiers were +landed by the fleet at Great Sodas, and took off 600 barrels of flour. +Yeo then returned to Kingston, where he anchored on the 27th having +done good service in assisting the land forces. [Footnote: Letter of +Sir James Lucas Yeo to Mr. Croker, June 29, 1813.] As a small +compensation, on the 18th of the same month the _Lady of the Lake_, +Lieut. Wolcott Chauncy, captured off Presqu' Isle the British schooner +_Lady Murray_, containing 1 ensign, 15 soldiers, and 6 sailors, +together with stores and ammunition. [Footnote: Letter of Lieut. +Wolcott Chauncy to Com. Chauncy, June 18, 1813.] + +During the early part of July neither squadron put out in force; +although on the first of the month Commodore Yeo made an abortive +attempt to surprise Sackett's Harbor, but abandoned it when it was +discovered. Meanwhile the Americans were building a new schooner, +the _Sylph_, and the formidable corvette _Pike_ was made ready to +sail by July 21st. On the same day the entire American squadron, or +fleet, sailed up to the head of the lake, and reached Niagara on the +27th. Here Col. Scott and some of his regulars were embarked, and on +the 30th a descent was made upon York, where 11 transports were +destroyed, 5 cannon, a quantity of flour, and some ammunition carried +off, and the barracks burned. On the 3d of August the troops were +disembarked at the Niagara, and 111 officers and men were sent up +to join Perry on Lake Erie. As this left the squadron much deranged +150 militia were subsequently lent it by General Boyd, but they proved +of no assistance (beyond swelling the number of men Yeo captured in +the _Growler_ and _Julia_ from 70 individuals to 80), and were again +landed. + +Commodore Yeo sailed with his squadron from Kingston on Aug. 2d, +and on the 7th the two fleets for the first time came in sight of +one another, the Americans at anchor off Fort Niagara, the British +six miles to windward, in the W. N. W. Chauncy's squadron contained +one corvette, one ship sloop, one brig sloop, and ten schooners, +manned by about 965 men, and throwing at a broadside 1,390 lbs. of +shot, nearly 800 of which were from long guns. Yeo's included two +ship sloops, two brig sloops, and two schooners, manned by 770 men, +and throwing at a broadside 1,374 lbs., but 180 being from long guns. +But Yeo's vessels were all built with bulwarks, while ten of Chauncy's +had none; and, moreover, his vessels could all sail and manoeuvre +together, while, as already remarked, one half of the American fleet +spent a large part of its time towing the other half. The _Pike_ +would at ordinary range be a match for the _Wolfe_ and _Melville_ +together; yet in actual weight of metal she threw less than the former +ship alone. In calm weather the long guns of the American schooners +gave them a great advantage; in rough weather they could not be used +at all. Still, on the whole, it could fairly be said that Yeo was +advancing to attack a superior fleet. + +All through the day of the 7th the wind blew light and variable, +and the two squadrons went through a series of manoeuvres, nominally +to bring on an action. As each side flatly contradicts the other +it is hard to tell precisely what the manoeuvres were; each captain +says the other avoided him and that _he_ made all sail in chase. At +any rate it was just the weather for Chauncy to engage in. + +That night the wind came out squally; and about 1 A.M. on the morning +of the 8th a heavy gust struck the _Hamilton_ and _Scourge_, forcing +them to careen over till the heavy guns broke loose, and they foundered, +but 16 men escaping,--which accident did not open a particularly +cheerful prospect to the remainder of the schooners. Chauncy's force +was, by this accident, reduced to a numerical equality with Yeo's, +having perhaps a hundred more men, [Footnote: This estimate as to men +is a mere balancing of probabilities. If James underestimates the +British force on Ontario as much as he has on Erie and Champlain, +Yeo had as many men as his opponent. Chauncy, in one of his letters +(preserved with the other manuscript letters in the Naval Archives), +says: "I enclose the muster-rolls of all my ships," but I have not +been able to find them, and in any event the complements were +continually changing completely. The point is not important, as each +side certainly had plenty of men on this occasion.] and throwing 144 +lbs. less shot at a broadside. All through the two succeeding days +the same manoeuvring went on; the question as to which avoided the +fight is simply one of veracity between the two commanders, and of +course each side, to the end of time, will believe its own leader. +But it is not of the least consequence, as neither accomplished any thing. + +On the 10th the same tedious evolutions were continued, but at 7 P.M. +the two squadrons were tolerably near one another, Yeo to windward, +the breeze being fresh from the S. W. Commodore Chauncy formed his +force in two lines on the port tack, while Commodore Yeo approached +from behind and to windward, in single column, on the same tack. +Commodore Chauncy's weather line was formed of the _Julia_, _Growler_, +_Pert_, _Asp_, _Ontario_, and _American_, in that order, and the +lee line of the _Pike_, _Oneida_, _Madison_, _Tompkins_, and +_Conquest_. Chauncy formed his weather line of the smaller vessels, +directing them, when the British should engage, to edge away and +form to leeward of the second line, expecting that Sir James would +follow them down. At 11 the weather line opened fire at very long +range; at 11.15 it was returned, and the action became general and +harmless; at 11.30 the weather line bore up and passed to leeward, +except the _Julia_ and _Growler_, which tacked. The British ships +kept their luff and cut off the two that had tacked; while Commodore +Chauncy's lee line "edged away two points, to lead the enemy down, +not only to engage him to more advantage, but to lead him from the +_Julia_ and _Growler_." [Footnote: Letter of Commodore Isaac Chauncy. +Aug. 13, 1813.] Of course, the enemy did not come down, and the +_Julia_ and _Growler_ were not saved. Yeo kept on till he had cut +off the two schooners, fired an ineffectual broadside at the other +ships, and tacked after the _Growler_ and _Julia_. Then, when too +late, Chauncy tacked also, and stood after him. The schooners, +meanwhile, kept clawing to windward till they were overtaken, and, +after making a fruitless effort to run the gauntlet through the +enemy's squadron by putting before the wind, were captured. Yeo's +account is simple: "Came within gunshot of _Pike_ and _Madison_, +when they immediately bore up, fired their stern-chase guns, and +made all sail for Niagara, leaving two of their schooners astern, +which we captured." [Footnote: Letter of Sir James Lucas Yeo, Aug. +10, 1813.] The British had acted faultlessly, and the honor and +profit gained by the encounter rested entirely with them. On the +contrary, neither Chauncy nor his subordinates showed to advantage. + +Cooper says that the line of battle was "singularly well adapted +to draw the enemy down," and "admirable for its advantages and +ingenuity." In the first place it is an open question whether the +enemy needed drawing down; on this occasion he advanced boldly +enough. The formation may have been ingenious, but it was the +reverse of advantageous. It would have been far better to have had +the strongest vessels to windward, and the schooners, with their +long guns, to leeward, where they would not be exposed to capture +by any accident happening to them. Moreover, it does not speak well +for the discipline of the fleet, that two commanders should have +directly disobeyed orders. And when the two schooners did tack, and +it was evident that Sir James would cut them off, it was an +extraordinary proceeding for Chauncy to "edge away two points * * * +to lead the enemy from the _Growler_ and _Julia_." It is certainly +a novel principle, that if part of a force is surrounded the true +way to rescue it is to run away with the balance, in hopes that the +enemy will follow. Had Chauncy tacked at once, Sir James would have +been placed between two fires, and it would have been impossible for +him to capture the schooners. As it was, the British commander had +attacked a superior force in weather that just suited it, and yet had +captured two of its vessels without suffering any injury beyond a few +shot holes in the sails. The action, however, was in no way decisive. +All next day, the 11th, the fleets were in sight of one another, the +British to windward, but neither attempted to renew the engagement. +The wind grew heavier, and the villainous little American schooners +showed such strong tendencies to upset, that two had to run into +Niagara Bay to anchor. With the rest Chauncy ran down the lake to +Sackett's Harbor, which he reached on the 13th, provisioned his +squadron for five weeks, and that same evening proceeded up the lake again. + +[Illustration: The ships are shown just before the weather line bore +up; the dotted lines show the courses the vessels kept, and the crosses +indicate their positions shortly after the _Julia_ and _Growler_ +had tacked, and after Chauncy's lee line had "kept off two points."] + +The advantage in this action had been entirely with the British, +but it is simple nonsense to say, as one British historian does, +that "on Lake Ontario, therefore, we at last secured a decisive +predominance, which we maintained until the end of the war." +[Footnote: "History of the British Navy," by Charles Duke Yonge +(London, 1866), vol. iii. p. 24. It is apparently not a work of any +authority, but I quote it as showing probably the general feeling +of British writers about the action and its results, which can only +proceed from extreme partizanship and ignorance of the subject.] +This "decisive" battle left the Americans just as much in command of +the lake as the British; and even this very questionable "predominance" +lasted but six weeks, after which the British squadron was blockaded +in port most of the time. The action has a parallel in that fought +on the 22d of July, 1805, by Sir Robert Calder's fleet of 15 sail +of the line against the Franco-Spanish fleet of 20 sail of the line, +under M. Villeneuve.[Footnote: "Batailles Navales de la France," par O. +Troude, iii, 352. It seems rather ridiculous to compare these lake +actions, fought between small flotillas, with the gigantic contests +which the huge fleets of Europe waged in contending for the supremacy +of the ocean; but the difference is one of degree and not of kind, and +they serve well enough for purposes of illustration or comparison.] +The two fleets engaged in a fog, and the English captured two ships, +when both sides drew off, and remained in sight of each other the +next day without either renewing the action. "A victory therefore +it was that Sir Robert Calder had gained, but not a 'decisive' nor +a 'brilliant' victory." [Footnote: James' "Naval History," iv, 14.] +This is exactly the criticism that should be passed on Sir James +Lucas Yeo's action of the 10th of August. + +From the 13th of August to the 10th of September both fleets were +on the lake most of the time, each commodore stoutly maintaining +that he was chasing the other; and each expressing in his letters +his surprise and disgust that his opponent should be afraid of +meeting him "though so much superior in force." The facts are of +course difficult to get at, but it seems pretty evident that Yeo was +determined to engage in heavy, and Chauncy in light, weather; and +that the party to leeward generally made off. The Americans had +been re-inforced by the _Sylph_ schooner, of 300 tons and 70 men, +carrying four long 32's on pivots, and six long 6's. Theoretically +her armament would make her formidable; but practically her guns +were so crowded as to be of little use, and the next year she was +converted into a brig, mounting 24-pound carronades. + +On the 11th of September a partial engagement, at very long range, +in light weather, occurred near the mouth of the Genesee River; the +Americans suffered no loss whatever, while the British had one +midshipman and three seamen killed and seven wounded, and afterward +ran into Amherst Bay. One of their brigs, the _Melville_, received +a shot so far under water that to get at and plug it, the guns had +to be run in on one side and out on the other. Chauncy describes +it as a running fight of 3 1/2 hours, the enemy then escaping into +Amherst Bay. [Footnote: Letter to the Secretary of the Navy, Sept. +13, 1813.] James (p. 38) says that "At sunset a breeze sprang up +from the westward, when Sir James steered for the American fleet; +but the American commodore avoided a close action, and thus the affair +ended." This is a good sample of James' trustworthiness; his account +is supposed to be taken from Commodore Yeo's letter, [Footnote: Letter +to Admiral Warren, Sept. 12. 1813.] which says: "At sunset a breeze +sprang up from the westward, when I steered for the False Duck Islands, +under which the enemy could not keep the weather-gage, but be obliged +to meet us on equal terms. This, however, he carefully avoided doing." +In other words Yeo did _not_ steer _for_ but _away from_ Chauncy. +Both sides admit that Yeo got the worst of it and ran away, and it +is only a question as to whether Chauncy followed him or not. Of +course in such light weather Chauncy's long guns gave him a great +advantage. He had present 10 vessels; the _Pike_, _Madison_, +_Oneida_, _Sylph_, _Tompkins_, _Conquest_, _Ontario_, _Pert_, _American_, +and _Asp_, throwing 1,288 lbs. of shot, with a total of 98 guns. Yeo +had 92 guns, throwing at a broadside 1,374 lbs. Nevertheless, Chauncy +told but part of the truth in writing as he did: "I was much +disappointed at Sir James refusing to fight me, as he was so much +superior in point of force, both in guns and men, having upward of +20 guns more than we have, and heaves a greater weight of shot." +His inferiority in the long guns placed Yeo at a great disadvantage +in such a very light wind; but in his letter he makes a marvellous +admission of how little able he was to make good use of even what +he had. He says: "I found it impossible to bring them to close +action. We remained in this mortifying situation five hours, having +only six guns in all the squadron that would reach the enemy (not +a carronade being fired)." Now according to James himself ("Naval +Occurrences," p. 297) he had in his squadron 2 long 24's, 13 long +18's, 2 long 12's, and 3 long 9's, and, in a fight of five hours, +at very long range, in smooth water, it was a proof of culpable +incompetency on his part that he did not think of doing what Elliott +and Perry did in similar circumstances on Lake Erie--substitute all +his long guns for some of the carronades on the engaged side. +Chauncy could place in broadside 7 long 32's, 18 long 24's, 4 long +12's, 8 long 6's; so he could oppose 37 long guns, throwing 752 lbs. +of shot, to Yeo's 20 long guns, throwing 333 lbs. of shot. The odds +were thus more than two to one against the British in any case; and +their commander's lack of resource made them still greater. But it +proved a mere skirmish, with no decisive results. + +The two squadrons did not come in contact again till on the 28th, +in York Bay. The Americans had the weather-gage, the wind being +fresh from the east. Yeo tacked and stretched out into the lake, +while Chauncy steered directly for his centre. When the squadrons +were still a league apart the British formed on the port tack, with +their heavy vessels ahead; the Americans got on the same tack and +edged down toward them, the _Pike_ ahead, towing the _Asp_; the +_Tompkins_, under Lieut. Bolton Finch, next; the _Madison_ next, +being much retarded by having a schooner in tow; then the _Sylph_, +with another schooner in tow, the _Oneida_, and the two other +schooners. The British, fearing their sternmost vessels would be +cut off, at 12.10 came round on the starboard tack, beginning with +the _Wolfe_, Commodore Yeo, and _Royal George_, Captain William +Howe Mulcaster, which composed the van of the line. They opened +with their starboard guns as soon as they came round. When the +_Pike_ was a-beam of the _Wolfe_, which was past the centre of the +British line, the Americans bore up in succession for their centre. + +The _Madison_ was far back, and so was the _Sylph_, neither having +cast off their tows; so the whole brunt of the action fell on the +_Pike_, _Asp_, and _Tompkins_. The latter kept up a most gallant +and spirited fire till her foremast was shot away. But already the +_Pike_ had shot away the _Wolfe's_ main-top-mast and main-yard, and +inflicted so heavy a loss upon her that Commodore Yeo, not very +heroically, put dead before the wind, crowding all the canvas he +could on her forward spars, and she ran completely past all her own +vessels, who of course crowded sail after her. The retreat of the +commodore was most ably covered by the _Royal George_, under Captain +Mulcaster, who was unquestionably the best British officer on the +lake. He luffed up across the commodore's stern, and delivered +broadsides in a manner that won the admiration even of his foes. +The _Madison_ and _Sylph_, having the schooners in tow, could not +overtake the British ships, though the _Sylph_ opened a distant fire; +the _Pike_ kept on after them, but did not cast off the _Asp_, and +so did not gain; and at 3.15 the pursuit was relinquished, [Footnote: +Letter of Commodore Chauncy. Sept. 28, 1813.] when the enemy were +running into the entirely undefended port of Burlington Bay, whence +escape would have been impossible. The _Tompkins_ had lost her +foremast, and the _Pike_ her foretop-gallant mast, with her bowsprit +and main-mast wounded; and of her crew five men were killed or wounded, +almost all by the guns of the _Royal George_. These were the only +injuries occasioned by the enemy's fire, but the _Pike's_ starboard +bow-chaser burst, killing or wounding 22 men, besides blowing up +the top-gallant forecastle, so that the bow pivot gun could not be +used. Among the British ships, the _Wolfe_ lost her main-top-mast, +mizzen-top-mast, and main-yard, and the _Royal George_ her foretop-mast; +both suffered a heavy loss in killed and wounded, according to the +report of the British officers captured in the transports a few days +afterward. + +[Illustration of the action between _TOMPKINS_, _ASP_, and _PIKE_, +and the _WOLFE_, _ROYAL GEORGE_, and small gun-boats.] + +As already mentioned, the British authorities no longer published +accounts of their defeats, so Commodore Yeo's report on the action +was not made public. Brenton merely alludes to it as follows (vol. +ii, p. 503): "The action of the 28th of September, 1813, in which +Sir James Yeo in the _Wolfe_ had his main- and mizzen-top-masts +shot away, and was obliged to put before the wind, gave Mulcaster +an opportunity of displaying a trait of valor and seamanship which +elicited the admiration of friends and foes, when he gallantly +placed himself between his disabled commodore and a superior enemy." +James speaks in the vaguest terms. He first says, "Commodore Chauncy, +having the weather-gage, kept his favorite distance," which he did +because Commodore Yeo fled so fast that he could not be overtaken; +then James mentions the injuries the _Wolfe_ received, and says that +"it was these and not, as Mr. Clark says, 'a manoeuvre of the +commodore's' that threw the British in confusion." In other words, +it was the commodore's shot and not his manoeuvring that threw the +British into confusion--a very futile distinction. Next he says that +"Commodore Chauncy would not venture within carronade range," whereas +he _was_ within carronade range of the _Wolfe_ and _Royal George_, +but the latter did not wait for the _Madison_ and _Oneida_ to get +within range with _their_ carronades. The rest of his article is +taken up with exposing the absurdities of some of the American +writings, miscalled histories, which appeared at the close of the +war. His criticisms on these are very just, but afford a funny instance +of the pot calling the kettle black. This much is clear, that the +British were beaten and forced to flee, when but part of the American +force was engaged. But in good weather the American force was so +superior that being beaten would have been no disgrace to Yeo, had +it not been for the claims advanced both by himself and his friends, +that on the whole he was victorious over Chauncy. The _Wolfe_ made +any thing but an obstinate fight, leaving almost all the work to the +gallant Mulcaster, in the _Royal George_, who shares with Lieutenant +Finch of the _Tompkins_ most of the glory of the day. The battle, +if such it may be called, completely established Chauncy's supremacy, +Yeo spending most of the remainder of the season blockaded in Kingston. +So Chauncy gained a victory which established his control over the +lakes; and, moreover, he gained it by fighting in succession, almost +single-handed, the two heaviest ships of the enemy. But gaining the +victory was only what should have been expected from a superior force. +The question is, did Chauncy use his force to the best advantage? +And it can not be said that he did. When the enemy bore up it was +a great mistake not to cast off the schooners which were being towed. +They were small craft, not of much use in the fight, and they entirely +prevented the _Madison_ from taking any part in the contest, and +kept the _Sylph_ at a great distance; and by keeping the _Asp_ in +tow the _Pike_, which sailed faster than any of Yeo's ships, was +distanced by them. Had she left the _Asp_ behind and run in to engage +the _Royal George_ she could have mastered, or at any rate disabled, +her; and had the swift _Madison_ cast off her tow she could also +have taken an effective part in the engagement. If the _Pike_ could +put the British to flight almost single-handed, how much more could +she not have done when assisted by the _Madison_ and _Oneida_? The +cardinal error, however, was made in discontinuing the chase. The +British were in an almost open roadstead, from which they could not +possibly escape. Commodore Chauncy was afraid that the wind would +come up to blow a gale, and both fleets would be thrown ashore; and, +moreover, he expected to be able to keep a watch over the enemy and +to attack him at a more suitable time. But he utterly failed in +this last; and had the American squadron cast off their tows and +gone boldly in, they certainly ought to have been able to destroy +or capture the entire British force before a gale could blow up. +Chauncy would have done well to keep in mind the old adage, so +peculiarly applicable to naval affairs: "L'audace! toujours l'audace! +et encore l'audace!" Whether the fault was his or that of his +subordinates, it is certain that while the victory of the 28th of +September definitely settled the supremacy of the lake in favor of +the Americans, yet this victory was by no means so decided as it +should have been, taking into account his superiority in force and +advantage in position, and the somewhat spiritless conduct of his foe. + +Next day a gale came on to blow, which lasted till the evening of +the 31st. There was no longer any apprehension of molestation from +the British, so the troop transports were sent down the lake by +themselves, while the squadron remained to watch Yeo. On Oct. 2d +he was chased, but escaped by his better sailing; and next day +false information induced Chauncy to think Yeo had eluded him +and passed down the lake, and he accordingly made sail in the +direction of his supposed flight. On the 5th, at 3 P.M., while near +the False Ducks, seven vessels were made out ahead, which proved +to be British gun-boats, engaged in transporting troops. All sails +was made after them; one was burned, another escaped, and five were +captured, the _Mary_, _Drummond_, _Lady Gore_, _Confiance_, and +_Hamilton_, [Footnote: Letter of Commodore Chauncy, Oct. 8, 1813.]--the +two latter being the rechristened _Julia_ and _Growler_. Each +gun-vessel had from one to three guns, and they had aboard in all +264 men, including seven naval (three royal and four provincial) +and ten military officers. These prisoners stated that in the action +of the 28th the _Wolfe_ and _Royal George_ had lost very heavily. + +After this Yeo remained in Kingston, blockaded there by Chauncy for +most of the time; on Nov. 10th he came out and was at once chased +back into port by Chauncy, leaving the latter for the rest of the +season entirely undisturbed. Accordingly, Chauncy was able to convert +his small schooners into transports. On the 17th these transports +were used to convey 1,100 men of the army of General Harrison from +the mouth of the Genesee to Sackett's Harbor, while Chauncy blockaded +Yeo in Kingston. The duty of transporting troops and stores went +on till the 27th, when every thing had been accomplished; and a day +or two afterward navigation closed. + +As between the Americans and British, the success of the season was +greatly in favor of the former. They had uncontested control over +the lake from April 19th to June 3d, and from Sept. 28th to Nov. +29th, in all 107 days; while their foes only held it from June 3d +to July 21st, or for 48 days; and from that date to Sept. 28th, for +69 days, the two sides were contending for the mastery. York and +Fort George had been taken, while the attack on Sackett's Harbor +was repulsed. The Americans lost but two schooners, both of which +were recaptured; while the British had one 24-gun-ship nearly ready +for launching destroyed, and one 10-gun brig taken, and the loss +inflicted upon each other in transports, gun-boats, store-houses, +stores, etc., was greatly in favor of the former. Chauncy's fleet, +moreover, was able to co-operate with the army for over twice the +length of time Yeo's could (107 days to 48). + +It is more difficult to decide between the respective merits of the +two commanders. We had shown so much more energy than the +Anglo-Canadians that at the beginning of the year we had overtaken +them in the building race, and the two fleets were about equally +formidable. The _Madison_ and _Oneida_ were not quite a match for +the _Royal George_ and _Sydney Smith_ (opposing 12 32-pound and 8 +24-pound carronades to 2 long 18's, 1 long 12, 1 68-pound and 13 +32-pound carronades); and our ten gun-schooners would hardly be +considered very much of an overmatch for the _Melville_, _Motra_, +and _Beresford_. Had Sir James Yeo been as bold and energetic as +Barclay or Mulcaster he would certainly not have permitted the +Americans, when the forces were so equal, to hold uncontested sway +over the lake, and by reducing Fort George, to cause disaster to +the British land forces. It would certainly have been better to risk +a battle with equal forces, than to wait till each fleet received +an additional ship, which rendered Chauncy's squadron the superior +by just about the superiority of the _Pike_ to the _Wolfe_. Again, +Yeo did not do particularly well in the repulse before Sackett's +Harbor; in the skirmish off Genesee river he showed a marked lack +of resource; and in the action of the 28th of September (popularly +called the "Burlington Races" from the celerity of his retreat) he +evinced an amount of caution that verged toward timidity, in allowing +the entire brunt of the fighting to fall on Mulcaster in the _Royal +George_, a weaker ship than the _Wolfe_. On the other hand, he gave +able co-operation to the army while he possessed control of the lake; +he made a most gallant and successful attack on a superior force on +the 10th of August; and for six weeks subsequently by skilful manoeuvring +he prevented this same superior force from acquiring the uncontested +mastery. It was no disgrace to be subsequently blockaded; but it is +very ludicrous in his admirers to think that he came out first best. + +Chauncy rendered able and invaluable assistance to the army all the +while that he had control of the water; his attacks on York and Fort +George were managed with consummate skill and success, and on the +28th of September he practically defeated the opposing force with +his own ship alone. Nevertheless he can by no means be said to have +done the best he could with the materials he had. His stronger fleet +was kept two months in check by a weaker British fleet. When he first +encountered the foe, on August 10th, he ought to have inflicted such +a check upon him as would at least have confined him to port and +given the Americans immediate superiority on the lake; instead of +which he suffered a mortifying, although not at all disastrous, defeat, +which allowed the British to contest the supremacy with him for six +weeks longer. On the 28th of September, when he only gained a rather +barren victory, it was nothing but excessive caution that prevented +him from utterly destroying his foe. Had Perry on that day commanded +the American fleet there would have been hardly a British ship left +on Ontario. Chauncy was an average commander; and the balance of +success inclined to the side of the Americans only because they showed +greater energy and skill in shipbuilding, the crews and commanders +on both sides being very nearly equal. + + +Lake Erie. + +Captain Oliver Hazard Perry had assumed command of Erie and the upper +lakes, acting under Commodore Chauncy. With intense energy he at once +began creating a naval force which should be able to contend successfully +with the foe. As already said, the latter in the beginning had exclusive +control of Lake Erie; but the Americans had captured the _Caledonia_, +brig, and purchased three schooners, afterward named the _Somers_, +_Tigress_, and _Ohio_, and a sloop, the _Trippe_. These at first +were blockaded in the Niagara, but after the fall of Fort George and +retreat of the British forces, Captain Perry was enabled to get them +out, tracking them up against the current by the most arduous labor. +They ran up to Presque Isle (now called Erie), where two 20-gun brigs +were being constructed under the directions of the indefatigable +captain. Three other schooners, the _Ariel_, _Scorpion_, and +_Porcupine_, were also built. + +The harbor of Erie was good and spacious, but had a bar on which +there was less than seven feet of water. Hitherto this had prevented +the enemy from getting in; now it prevented the two brigs from +getting out. Captain Robert Heriot Barclay had been appointed +commander of the British forces on Lake Erie; and he was having +built at Amherstburg a 20-gun ship. Meanwhile he blockaded Perry's +force, and as the brigs could not cross the bar with their guns in, +or except in smooth water, they of course could not do so in his +presence. He kept a close blockade for some time; but on the 2d of +August he disappeared. Perry at once hurried forward every thing; +and on the 4th, at 2 P.M., one brig, the _Lawrence_, was towed to +that point of the bar where the water was deepest. Her guns were +whipped out and landed on the beach, and the brig got over the bar +by a hastily improvised "camel." + +"Two large scows, prepared for the purpose, were hauled alongside, +and the work of lifting the brig proceeded as fast as possible. +Pieces of massive timber had been run through the forward and after +ports, and when the scows were sunk to the water's edge, the ends +of the timbers were blocked up, supported by these floating foundations. +The plugs were now put in the scows, and the water was pumped out +of them. By this process the brig was lifted quite two feet, though +when she was got on the bar it was found that she still drew too +much water. It became necessary, in consequence, to cover up every +thing, sink the scows anew, and block up the timbers afresh. This +duty occupied the whole night." [Footnote: Cooper, ii, 389. Perry's +letter of Aug. 5th is very brief.] + +Just as the _Lawrence_ had passed the bar, at 8 A.M. on the 5th, +the enemy reappeared, but too late; Captain Barclay exchanged a few +shots with the schooners and then drew off. The _Niagara_ crossed +without difficulty. There were still not enough men to man the vessels, +but a draft arrived from Ontario, and many of the frontiersmen +volunteered, while soldiers also were sent on board. The squadron +sailed on the 18th in pursuit of the enemy, whose ship was now ready. +After cruising about some time the _Ohio_ was sent down the lake, +and the other ships went into Put-in Bay. On the 9th of September +Captain Barclay put out from Amherstburg, being so short of provisions +that he felt compelled to risk an action with the superior force +opposed. On the 10th of September his squadron was discovered from +the mast-head of the _Lawrence_ in the northwest. Before going into +details of the action we will examine the force of the two squadrons, +as the accounts vary considerably. + +The tonnage of the British ships, as already stated, we know exactly, +they having been all carefully appraised and measured by the builder +Mr. Henry Eckford, and two sea-captains. We also know the dimensions +of the American ships. The _Lawrence_ and _Niagara_ measured 480 +tons apiece. The _Caledonia_, brig, was about the size of the _Hunter_, +or 180 tons. The _Tigress_, _Somers_, and _Scorpion_ were subsequently +captured by the foe and were then said to measure, respectively, +96, 94, and 86 tons; in which case they were larger than similar +boats on Lake Ontario. The _Ariel_ was about the size of the _Hamilton_; +the _Porcupine_ and _Trippe_ about the size of the _Asp_ and _Pert_. +As for the guns, Captain Barclay in his letter gives a complete +account of those on board his squadron. He has also given a complete +account of the American guns, which is most accurate, and, if any +thing, underestimates them. At least Emmons in his "History" gives +the _Trippe_ a long 32, while Barclay says she had only a long 24; +and Lossing in his "Field-Book" says (but I do not know on what +authority) that the _Caledonia_ had 3 long 24's, while Barclay gives +her 2 long 24's and one 32-pound carronade; and that the _Somers_ +had two long 32's, while Barclay gives her one long 32 and one +24-pound carronade. I shall take Barclay's account, which corresponds +with that of Emmons; the only difference being that Emmons puts a +24-pounder on the _Scorpion_ and a 32 on the _Trippe_, while Barclay +reverses this. I shall also follow Emmons in giving the _Scorpion_ +a 32-pound carronade instead of a 24. + +It is more difficult to give the strength of the respective crews. +James says the Americans had 580, all "picked men." They were just +as much picked men as Barclay's were, and no more; that is, the ships +had "scratch" crews. Lieutenant Emmons gives Perry 490 men; and Lossing +says he "had upon his muster-roll 490 names." In vol. xiv, p. 566, +of the American State Papers, is a list of the prize-monies owing +to each man (or to the survivors of the killed), which gives a grand +total of 532 men, including 136 on the _Lawrence_ and 155 on the +_Niagara_, 45 of whom were volunteers--frontiersmen. Deducting these +we get 487 men, which is pretty near Lieutenant Emmons' 490. Possibly +Lieutenant Emmons did not include these volunteers; and it may be +that some of the men whose names were down on the prize list had +been so sick that they were left on shore. Thus Lieutenant Yarnall +testified before a Court of Inquiry in 1815, that there were but +131 men and boys of every description on board the _Lawrence_ in +the action; and the _Niagara_ was said to have had but 140. Lieutenant +Yarnall also said that "but 103 men on board the _Lawrence_ were +fit for duty"; as Captain Perry in his letter said that 31 were unfit +for duty, this would make a total of 134. So I shall follow the +prize-money list; at any rate the difference in number is so slight +as to be immaterial. Of the 532 men whose names the list gives, 45 +were volunteers, or landsmen, from among the surrounding inhabitants; +158 were marines or soldiers (I do not know which, as the list gives +marines, soldiers, and privates, and it is impossible to tell which +of the two former heads include the last); and 329 were officers, +seamen, cooks, pursers, chaplains, and supernumeraries. Of the total +number, there were on the day of action, according to Perry's report, +116 men unfit for duty, including 31 on board the _Lawrence_, 28 on +board the _Niagara_, and 57 on the small vessels. + +All the later American writers put the number of men in Barclay's +fleet precisely at "502," but I have not been able to find out the +original authority. James ("Naval Occurrences," p. 289) says the +British had but 345, consisting of 50 seamen, 85 Canadians, and 210 +soldiers. But the letter of Adjutant-General E. Bayne, Nov. 24, 1813, +states that there were 250 soldiers aboard Barclay's squadron, of +whom 23 were killed, 49 wounded, and the balance (178) captured; +and James himself on a previous page (284) states that there were +102 Canadians on Barclay's vessels, not counting the _Detroit_, and +we know that Barclay originally joined the squadron with 19 sailors +from the Ontario fleet, and that subsequently 50 sailors came up +from the _Dover_, James gives at the end of his "Naval Occurrences" +some extracts from the court-martial held on Captain Barclay. Lieut. +Thomas Stokes, of the _Queen Charlotte_, there testified that he +had on board "between 120 and 130 men, officers and all together," +of whom "16 came up from the _Dover_ three days before." James, on +p. 284, says her crew already consisted of 110 men; adding these +16 gives us 126 (almost exactly "between 120 and 130"). Lieutenant +Stokes also testified that the _Detroit_ had more men on account +of being a larger and heavier vessel; to give her 150 is perfectly +safe, as her heavier guns and larger size would at least need 24 +men more than the _Queen Charlotte_. James gives the _Lady Prevost_ +76, _Hunter_ 39, _Little Belt_ 15, and _Chippeway_ 13 men, Canadians +and soldiers, a total of 143; supposing that the number of British +sailors placed on them was proportional to the amount placed on board +the _Queen Charlotte_, we could add 21. This would make a grand +total of 440 men, which must certainly be near the truth. This number +is corroborated otherwise: General Bayne, as already quoted, says +that there were aboard 250 soldiers, of whom 72 were killed or wounded. +Barclay reports a total loss of 135, of whom 63 must therefore have +been sailors or Canadians, and if the loss suffered by these bore +the same proportion to their whole number as in the case of the +soldiers, there ought to have been 219 sailors and Canadians, making +in all 469 men. It can thus be said with certainty that there were +between 440 and 490 men aboard, and I shall take the former number, +though I have no doubt that this is too small. But it is not a point +of very much importance, as the battle was fought largely at long +range, where the number of men, provided there were plenty to handle +the sails and guns, did not much matter. The following statement +of the comparative force must therefore be very nearly accurate: + +PERRY'S SQUADRON. + + Crew Broad + Total fit for side; +Name. Rig. Tons. Crew. Duty. lbs. Armament. + +_Lawrence_, brig 480 136 105 300 -+- 2 long 12's + '-18 short 32's +_Niagara_, " 480 155 127 300 -+- 2 long 12's + |-18 short 32's +_Caledonia_, " 180 53-+ 80 -+- 2 long 24's + | '- 1 short 32 +_Ariel_, schooner 112 36 | 48 4 long 12's +_Scorpion_, " 86 35 | 64 -+- 1 " 32 + | '- 1 short 32 +_Somers_, " 86 35 +- 184 56 -+- 1 long 24 + | '- 1 short 32 +_Porcupine_, " 83 25 | 32 1 long 32 +_Tigress_, " 96 27 | 32 1 " 32 +_Trippe_, sloop 60 35-+ 24 1 " 24 +--------- ---- --- ---- --- --------------- +9 vessels, 1,671 532 (416) 936 lbs. + +During the action, however, the _Lawrence_ and _Niagara_ each fought +a long 12 instead of one of the carronades on the engaged side, making +a broadside of 896 lbs., 288 lbs. being from long guns. + +BARCLAY'S SQUADRON. + + Broadside; +Name. Rig. Tons. Crew. lbs. Armament. + + ,- 1 long 18 + | 2 " 24's +_Detroit_, Ship 490 150 138 -+ 6 " 12's + | 2 " 24's + | 8 " 9's + | 1 short 24 + '- 1 " 18 + ,- 1 long 12 +_Queen Charlotte_, " 400 126 189 -+ 2 " 9's + '-14 short 24's +_Lady Prevost_, schooner 230 86 75 -+- 1 long 9 + | 2 " 6's + '- 10 short 12's +_Hunter_, brig 180 45 30 -+- 4 long 6's + | 2 " 4's + | 2 " 2's + '- 2 short 12's +_Chippeway_, schooner 70 15 9 1 long 9 +_Little Belt_, sloop 90 18 18 -+- 1 " 12 + '- 2 " 6's +-------- ---- --- ------ +6 vessels 1460 440 459 lbs. + +These six vessels thus threw at a broadside 459 lbs., of which 195 +were from long guns. + +The superiority of the Americans in long-gun metal was therefore +nearly as three is to two, and in carronade metal greater than two +to one. The chief fault to be found in the various American accounts +is that they sedulously conceal the comparative weight of metal, +while carefully specifying the number of guns. Thus, Lossing says: +"Barclay had 35 long guns to Perry's 15, and possessed greatly the +advantage in action at a distance"; which he certainly did not. The +tonnage of the fleets is not so very important; the above tables are +probably pretty nearly right. It is, I suppose, impossible to tell +exactly the number of men in the two crews. Barclay almost certainly +had more than the 440 men I have given him, but in all likelihood +some of them were unfit for duty, and the number of his effectives +was most probably somewhat less than Perry's. As the battle was +fought in such smooth water, and part of the time at long range, +this, as already said, does not much matter. The Niagara might be +considered a match for the Detroit, and the Lawrence and Caledonia +for the five other British vessels; so the Americans were certainly +very greatly superior in force. + +At daylight on Sept. 10th Barclay's squadron was discovered in the +N. W., and Perry at once got under weigh; the wind soon shifted to +the N. E., giving us the weather-gage, the breeze being very light. +Barclay lay to in a close column, heading to the S. W in the +following order: _Chippeway_, _Master's Mate J. Campbell; _Detroit_, +Captain R. H. Barclay; _Hunter_, Lieutenant G. Bignall; _Queen +Charlotte_, Captain R. Finnis; _Lady Prevost_, Lieutenant Edward +Buchan; and _Little Belt_, by whom commanded is not said. Perry +came down with the wind on his port beam, and made the attack in +column ahead, obliquely. First in order came the _Ariel_, Lieut. +John H. Packet, and _Scorpion_, Sailing-Master Stephen Champlin, +both being on the weather bow of the _Lawrence_, Captain O. H. +Perry; next came the _Caledonia_, Lieut. Daniel Turner; _Niagara_, +Captain Jesse D. Elliott; _Somers_, Lieutenant A. H. M. Conklin; +_Porcupine_, Acting Master George Serrat; _Tigress_, Sailing-Master +Thomas C. Almy, and _Trippe_, Lieutenant Thomas Holdup. [Footnote: +The accounts of the two commanders tally almost exactly. Barclay's +letter is a model of its kind for candor and generosity. Letter of +Captain R. H. Barclay to Sir James. Sept. 2, 1813; of Lieutenant +Inglis to Captain Barclay, Sept. 10th; of Captain Perry to the +Secretary of the Navy, Sept. 10th and Sept. 13th, and to General +Harrison, Sept. 11th and Sept. 13th. I have relied mainly on Lossing's +"Field-Book of the War of 1812" (especially for the diagrams furnished +him by Commodore Champlin), on Commander Ward's "Naval Tactics," p. 76, +and on Cooper's "Naval History." Extracts from the court-martial on +Captain Barclay are given in James' "Naval Occurrences," lxxxiii.] + +As, amid light and rather baffling winds, the American squadron +approached the enemy, Perry's straggling line formed an angle of +about fifteen degrees with the more compact one of his foes. At 11.45 +the Detroit opened the action by a shot from her long 24, which fell +short; at 11.50 she fired a second which went crashing through the +_Lawrence_, and was replied to by the _Scorpion's_ long 32. At 11.55 +the _Lawrence_, having shifted her port bow-chaser, opened with both +the long 12's, and at meridian began with her carronades, but the +shot from the latter all fell short. At the same time the action +became general on both sides, though the rearmost American vessels +were almost beyond the range of their own guns, and quite out of +range of the guns of their antagonists. Meanwhile the _Lawrence_ +was already suffering considerably as she bore down on the enemy. + +[Illustration: The Battle of Lake Eire: a painting done for Thomas +Brownell, sailing master of the _Ariel_, by George I. Cook in 1815-16. +The composition was inspected for accuracy by Commodore Perry and +three other officers as well as by Brownell himself, "all of whom," +he wrote years later, "were in the battle, and in whose minds all +its incidents, the positions of the fleets & appearance of the vessels +was fresh. In the last two particulars the picture is the product +of our joined opinions and recollections; it is, therefore, to be +presumed that it is a correct representation of that naval combat." +Here published for the first time, it depicts the second stage of +the battle, in which Perry, having transferred his flag to the +_Niagara_, brought the entire American squadron into action. The +vessels, from left to right, are American unless denoted (Br): +_Lady Prevost_ (Br), _Trippe_, _Chippeway_ (Br), _Caledonia_, +_Niagara_, _Detroit_ (Br), _Queen Charlotte_ (Br), _Hunter_ (Br), +_Scorpion_, _Ariel_, _Porcupine_, and _Lawrence_. (Courtesy U.S. +Naval Academy Museum)] + +It was twenty minutes before she succeeded in getting within good +carronade range, and during that time the action at the head of the +line was between the long guns of the _Chippeway_ and _Detroit_, +throwing 123 pounds, and those of the _Scorpion_, _Ariel_, and +_Lawrence_, throwing 104 pounds. As the enemy's fire was directed +almost exclusively at the _Lawrence_ she suffered a great deal. The +_Caledonia_, _Niagara_, and _Somers_ were meanwhile engaging, at +long range, the _Hunter_ and _Queen Charlotte_, opposing from their +long guns 96 pounds to the 39 pounds of their antagonists, while +from a distance the three other American gun-vessels engaged the +_Prevost_ and _Little Belt_. By 12.20 the _Lawrence_ had worked +down to close quarters, and at 12.30 the action was going on with +great fury between her and her antagonists, within canister range. +The raw and inexperienced American crews committed the same fault +the British so often fell into on the ocean, and overloaded their +carronades. In consequence, that of the _Scorpion_ upset down the +hatchway in the middle of the action, and the sides of the _Detroit_ +were dotted with marks from shot that did not penetrate. One of the +_Ariel's_ long 12's also burst. Barclay fought the _Detroit_ +exceedingly well, her guns being most excellently aimed, though they +actually had to be discharged by flashing pistols at the touchholes, +so deficient was the ship's equipment. Meanwhile the _Caledonia_ +came down too, but the _Niagara_ was wretchedly handled, Elliott +keeping at a distance which prevented the use either of his carronades +or of those of the _Queen Charlotte_, his antagonist; the latter, +however, suffered greatly from the long guns of the opposing schooners, +and lost her gallant commander, Captain Finnis, and first lieutenant, +Mr. Stokes, who were killed early in the action; her next in command, +Provincial Lieutenant Irvine, perceiving that he could do no good, +passed the _Hunter_ and joined in the attack on the _Lawrence_, at +close quarters. The _Niagara_, the most efficient and best-manned +of the American vessels, was thus almost kept out of the action by +her captain's misconduct. At the end of the line the fight went on +at long range between the _Somers_, _Tigress_, _Porcupine_, and +_Trippe_ on one side, and _Little Belt_ and _Lady Prevost_ on the +other; the _Lady Prevost_ making a very noble fight, although her +12-pound carronades rendered her almost helpless against the long +guns of the Americans. She was greatly cut up, her commander, Lieutenant +Buchan, was dangerously, and her acting first lieutenant, Mr. Roulette, +severely wounded, and she began falling gradually to leeward. + +The fighting at the head of the line was fierce and bloody to an +extraordinary degree. The _Scorpion_, _Ariel_, _Lawrence_, and +_Caledonia_, all of them handled with the most determined courage, +were opposed to the _Chippeway_, _Detroit_, _Queen Charlotte_, +and _Hunter_, which were fought to the full as bravely. At such +close quarters the two sides engaged on about equal terms, the +Americans being superior in weight of metal, and inferior in number +of men. But the _Lawrence_ had received such damage in working down +as to make the odds against Perry. On each side almost the whole +fire was directed at the opposing large vessel or vessels; in +consequence the _Queen Charlotte_ was almost disabled, and the +_Detroit_ was also frightfully shattered, especially by the raking +fire of the gun-boats, her first lieutenant, Mr. Garland, being +mortally wounded, and Captain Barclay so severely injured that he +was obliged to quit the deck, leaving his ship in the command of +Lieutenant George Inglis. But on board the _Lawrence_ matters had +gone even worse, the combined fire of her adversaries having made +the grimmest carnage on her decks. Of the 103 men who were fit for +duty when she began the action, 83, or over four fifths, were killed +or wounded. The vessel was shallow, and the ward-room, used as a +cockpit, to which the wounded were taken, was mostly above water, +and the shot came through it continually, killing and wounding many +men under the hands of the surgeon. + +The first lieutenant, Yarnall, was three times wounded, but kept +to the deck through all; the only other lieutenant on board, Brooks, +of the marines, was mortally wounded. Every brace and bowline was +shot away, and the brig almost completely dismantled; her hull was +shattered to pieces, many shot going completely through it, and the +guns on the engaged side were by degrees all dismounted. Perry kept +up the fight with splendid courage. As the crew fell one by one, +the commodore called down through the skylight for one of the +surgeon's assistants; and this call was repeated and obeyed till +none were left; then he asked, "Can any of the wounded pull a rope?" +and three or four of them crawled up on deck to lend a feeble hand +in placing the last guns. Perry himself fired the last effective +heavy gun, assisted only by the purser and chaplain. A man who did +not possess his indomitable spirit would have then struck. Instead, +however, although failing in the attack so far, Perry merely determined +to win by new methods, and remodelled the line accordingly. Mr. Turner, +in the _Caledonia_, when ordered to close, had put his helm up, run +down on the opposing line, and engaged at very short range, though the +brig was absolutely without quarters. The _Niagara_ had thus become +the next in line astern of the _Lawrence_, and the sloop _Trippe_, +having passed the three schooners in front of her, was next ahead. +The _Niagara_ now, having a breeze, steered for the head of Barclay's +line, passing over a quarter of a mile to windward of the _Lawrence_, +on her port beam. She was almost uninjured, having so far taken very +little part in the combat, and to her Perry shifted his flag. Leaping +into a row boat, with his brother and four seamen, he rowed to the +fresh brig, where he arrived at 2.30, and at once sent Elliott astern +to hurry up the three schooners. The _Trippe_ was now very near the +_Caledonia_. The _Lawrence_, having but 14 sound men left, struck her +colors, but could not be taken possession of before the action +re-commenced. She drifted astern, the _Caledonia_ passing between +her and her foes. At 2.45, the schooners having closed up, Perry, +in his fresh vessel, bore up to break Barclay's line. + +The British ships had fought themselves to a standstill. The _Lady +Prevost_ was crippled and sagged to leeward, though ahead of the +others. The _Detroit_ and _Queen Charlotte_ were so disabled that +they could not effectually oppose fresh antagonists. There could +thus be but little resistance to Perry, as the _Niagara_ stood down, +and broke the British line, firing her port guns into the _Chippeway_, +_Little Belt_, and _Lady Prevost_, and the starboard ones into the +_Detroit_, _Queen Charlotte_, and _Hunter_, raking on both sides. +Too disabled to tack, the _Detroit_ and _Charlotte_ tried to wear, +the latter running up to leeward of the former; and, both vessels +having every brace and almost every stay shot away, they fell foul. +The _Niagara_ luffed athwart their bows, within half pistol-shot, +keeping up a terrific discharge of great guns and musketry, while +on the other side the British vessels were raked by the _Caledonia_ +and the schooners so closely that some of their grape shot, passing +over the foe, rattled through Perry's spars. Nothing further could +be done, and Barclay's flag was struck at 3 P.M., after three and +a quarter hours' most gallant and desperate fighting. The _Chippeway_ +and _Little Belt_ tried to escape, but were overtaken and brought +to respectively by the _Trippe_ and _Scorpion_, the commander of +the latter, Mr. Stephen Champlin, firing the last, as he had the +first, shot of the battle. "Captain Perry has behaved in the most +humane and attentive manner, not only to myself and officers, but +to all the wounded," writes Captain Barclay. + +The American squadron had suffered severely, more than two thirds +of the loss falling upon the _Lawrence_, which was reduced to the +condition of a perfect wreck, her starboard bulwarks being completely +beaten in. She had, as already stated, 22 men killed, including +Lieutenant of Marines Brooks and Midshipman Lamb; and 61 wounded, +including Lieutenant Yarnall, Midshipman (acting second lieutenant) +Forrest, Sailing-Master Taylor, Purser Hambleton, and Midshipmen +Swartout and Claxton. The _Niagara_ lost 2 killed and 25 wounded +(almost a fifth of her effectives), including among the latter the +second lieutenant, Mr. Edwards, and Midshipman Cummings. The +_Caledonia_ had 3, the _Somers_ 2, and _Trippe_ 2, men wounded. The +_Ariel_ had 1 killed and 3 wounded; the _Scorpion_ 2 killed, including +Midshipman Lamb. The total loss was 123; 27 were killed and 96 wounded, +of whom 3 died. + +The British loss, falling most heavily on the _Detroit_ and _Queen +Charlotte_, amounted to 41 killed (including Capt. S. J. Garden, +R.N., and Captain R. A. Finnis), and 94 wounded (including Captain +Barclay and Lieutenants Stokes, Buchan, Rolette, and Bignall): in +all 135. The first and second in command on every vessel were killed +or wounded, a sufficient proof of the desperate nature of the defence. + +[Illustration: The following diagrams will serve to explain the movements.] + +[Illustration: 2 P.M.] + +[Illustration: 2:30 P.M.] + +The victory of Lake Erie was most important, both in its material +results and in its moral effect. It gave us complete command of all +the upper lakes, prevented any fears of invasion from that quarter, +increased our prestige with the foe and our confidence in ourselves, +and ensured the conquest of upper Canada; in all these respects its +importance has not been overrated. But the "glory" acquired by it +most certainly _has_ been estimated at more than its worth. Most +Americans, even the well educated, if asked which was the most +glorious victory of the war, would point to this battle. Captain +Perry's name is more widely known than that of any other commander. +Every school-boy reads about _him_, if of no other sea-captain; +yet he certainly stands on a lower grade than either Hull or +Macdonough, and not a bit higher than a dozen others. On Lake Erie +our seamen displayed great courage and skill; but so did their +antagonists. The simple truth is, that, where on both sides the +officers and men were equally brave and skilful, the side which +possessed the superiority in force, in the proportion of three to +two, could not well help winning. The courage with which the +_Lawrence_ was defended has hardly ever been surpassed, and may fairly +be called heroic; but equal praise belongs to the men on board the +_Detroit_, who had to discharge the great guns by flashing pistols at +the touchholes, and yet made such a terribly effective defence. +Courage is only one of the many elements which go to make up the +character of a first-class commander; something more than bravery +is needed before a leader can be really called great. + +There happened to be circumstances which rendered the bragging of +our writers over the victory somewhat plausible. Thus they could +say with an appearance of truth that the enemy had 63 guns to our +54, and outnumbered us. In reality, as well as can be ascertained +from the conflicting evidence, he was inferior in number; but a few +men more or less mattered nothing. Both sides had men enough to work +the guns and handle the ships, especially as the fight was in smooth +water, and largely at long range. The important fact was that though +we had nine guns less, yet, at a broadside, they threw half as much +metal again as those of our antagonist. With such odds in our favor +it would have been a disgrace to have been beaten. The water was +too smooth for our two brigs to show at their best; but this very +smoothness rendered our gun-boats more formidable than any of the +British vessels, and the British testimony is unanimous, that it +was to them the defeat was primarily due. The American fleet came +into action in worse form than the hostile squadron, the ships +straggling badly, either owing to Perry having formed his line badly, +or else to his having failed to train the subordinate commanders +how to keep their places. The Niagara was not fought well at first, +Captain Elliott keeping her at a distance that prevented her from +doing any damage to the vessels opposed, which were battered to pieces +by the gun-boats without the chance of replying. It certainly seems +as if the small vessels at the rear of the line should have been +closer up, and in a position to render more effectual assistance; +the attack was made in too loose order, and, whether it was the fault +of Perry or of his subordinates, it fails to reflect credit on the +Americans. Cooper, as usual, praises all concerned; but in this +instance not with very good judgment. He says the line-of-battle +was highly judicious, but this may be doubted. The weather was +peculiarly suitable for the gun-boats, with their long, heavy guns; +and yet the line-of-battle was so arranged as to keep them in the +rear and let the brunt of the assault fall on the _Lawrence_, with +her short carronades. Cooper again praises Perry for steering for +the head of the enemy's line, but he could hardly have done any thing +else. In this battle the firing seems to have been equally skilful +on both sides, the _Detroit's_ long guns being peculiarly well served; +but the British captains manoeuvred better than their foes at first, +and supported one another better, so that the disparity in damage +done on each side was not equal to the disparity in force. The chief +merit of the American commander and his followers was indomitable +courage, and determination not to be beaten. This is no slight merit; +but it may well be doubted if it would have ensured victory had +Barclay's force been as strong as Perry's. Perry made a headlong +attack; his superior force, whether through his fault or his +misfortune can hardly be said, being brought into action in such +a manner that the head of the line was crushed by the inferior force +opposed. Being literally hammered out of his own ship, Perry brought +up its powerful twin-sister, and the already shattered hostile squadron +was crushed by sheer weight. The manoeuvres which marked the close +of the battle, and which ensured the capture of all the opposing +ships, were unquestionably very fine. + +The British ships were fought as resolutely as their antagonists, +not being surrendered till they were crippled and helpless, and +almost all the officers, and a large proportion of the men placed +_hors de combat_. Captain Barclay handled his ships like a first-rate +seaman. It was impossible to arrange them so as to be superior to +his antagonist, for the latter's force was of such a nature that in +smooth water his gun-boats gave him a great advantage, while in any +sea his two brigs were more than a match for the whole British squadron. +In short, our victory was due to our heavy metal. As regards the +honor of the affair, in spite of the amount of boasting it has given +rise to, I should say it was a battle to be looked upon as in an +equally high degree creditable to both sides. Indeed, if it were +not for the fact that the victory was so complete, it might be said +that the length of the contest and the trifling disparity in loss +reflected rather the most credit on the British. Captain Perry showed +indomitable pluck, and readiness to adapt himself to circumstances; +but his claim to fame rests much less on his actual victory than on +the way in which he prepared the fleet that was to win it. Here his +energy and activity deserve all praise, not only for his success in +collecting sailors and vessels and in building the two brigs, but +above all for the manner in which he succeeded in getting them out +on the lake. On _that_ occasion he certainly out-generalled Barclay; +indeed the latter committed an error that the skill and address he +subsequently showed could not retrieve. But it will always be a +source of surprise that the American public should have so glorified +Perry's victory over an inferior force, and have paid comparatively +little attention to Macdonough's victory, which really was won +against decided odds in ships, men, and metal. + +There are always men who consider it unpatriotic to tell the truth, +if the truth is not very flattering; but, aside from the morality +of the case, we never can learn how to produce a certain effect unless +we know rightly what the causes were that produced a similar effect +in times past. Lake Erie teaches us the advantage of having the odds +on our side; Lake Champlain, that, even if they are not, skill can +still counteract them. It is amusing to read some of the pamphlets +written "in reply" to Cooper's account of this battle, the writers +apparently regarding him as a kind of traitor for hinting that the +victory was not "Nelsonic," "unsurpassed," etc. The arguments are +stereotyped: Perry had 9 fewer guns, and also fewer men than the +foe. This last point is the only one respecting which there is any +doubt. Taking sick and well together, the Americans unquestionably +had the greatest number in crew; but a quarter of them were sick. +Even deducting these they were still, in all probability, more +numerous than their foes. + +But it is really not a point of much consequence, as both sides had +enough, as stated, to serve the guns and handle the ships. In +sea-fights, after there are enough hands for those purposes additional +ones are not of so much advantage. I have in all my accounts summed +up as accurately as possible the contending forces, because it is +so customary with British writers to follow James' minute and +inaccurate statements, that I thought it best to give every thing +exactly; but it was really scarcely necessary, and, indeed, it is +impossible to compare forces numerically. Aside from a few exceptional +cases, the number of men, after a certain point was reached, made +little difference. For example, the _Java_ would fight just as +effectually with 377 men, the number James gives her, as with 426, +the number I think she really had. Again, my figures make the _Wasp_ +slightly superior in force to the _Frolic_, as she had 25 men the +most; but in reality, as the battle was fought under very short sail, +and decided purely by gunnery, the difference in number of crew was +not of the least consequence. The Hornet had nine men more than the +_Penguin_, and it would be absurd to say that this gave her much +advantage. In both the latter cases, the forces were practically equal, +although, numerically expressed, the odds were in favor of the +Americans. The exact reverse is the case in the last action of the +_Constitution_. Here, the _Levant_ and _Cyane_ had all the men they +required, and threw a heavier broadside than their foe. Expressed +in numbers, the odds against them were not great, but numbers could +not express the fact that carronades were opposed to long guns, and +two small ships to one big one. Again, though in the action on Lake +Champlain numbers do show a slight advantage both in weight of metal +and number of men on the British side, they do not make the advantage +as great as it really was, for they do not show that the British +possessed a frigate with a main-deck battery of 24-pounders, which +was equal to the two chief vessels of the Americans, exactly as the +_Constitution_ was superior to the _Cyane_ and _Levant_. [Footnote: +It must always be remembered that these rules cut both ways. British +writers are very eloquent about the disadvantage in which carronades +placed the _Cyane_ and _Levant_, but do not hint that the _Essex_ +suffered from a precisely similar cause, in addition to her other +misfortunes; either they should give the _Constitution_ more credit +or the _Phoebe_ less. So the _Confiance_, throwing 480 pounds of +metal at a broadside, was really equal to both the _Eagle_ and +_Saratoga_, who jointly threw 678. From her long guns she threw 384 +pounds, from her carronades 96. Their long guns threw 168, their +carronades 510. Now the 32-pound carronade mounted on the spar-deck +of a 38-gun frigate, was certainly much less formidable than the +long 18 on the main-deck; indeed, it probably ranked more nearly +with a long 12, in the ordinary chances of war (and it must be +remembered that Downie was the attacking party and chose his own +position, so far as Macdonough's excellent arrangements would let +him.) So that in comparing the forces, the carronades should not +be reckoned for more than half the value of the long guns, and we +get, as a mere approximation, 384 + 48 = 432, against 168 + 255 = +423. At any rate, British writers, as well as Americans, should +remember that if the _Constitution_ was greatly superior to her +two foes, then the _Confiance_ was certainly equal to the _Eagle_ +and _Saratoga_; and _vica versa_.] And on the same principles I think +that every fair-minded man must admit the great superiority of Perry's +fleet over Barclay's, though the advantage was greater in carronades +than in long guns. + +But to admit this by no means precludes us from taking credit for +the victory. Almost all the victories gamed by the English over the +Dutch in the 17th century were due purely to great superiority in +force. The cases have a curious analogy to this lake battle. Perry +won with 54 guns against Barclay's 63; but the odds were largely +in his favor. Blake won a doubtful victory on the 18th of February, +1653, with 80 ships against Tromp's 70; but the English vessels were +twice the size of the Dutch, and in number of men and weight of metal +greatly their superior. The English were excellent fighters, but no +better than the Dutch, and none of their admirals of that period +deserve to rank with De Ruyter. Again, the great victory of La Hogue +was won over a very much smaller French fleet, after a day's hard +fighting, which resulted in the capture of _one_ vessel! This victory +was most exultingly chronicled, yet it was precisely as if Perry had +fought Barclay all day and only succeeded in capturing the _Little +Belt_. Most of Lord Nelson's successes were certainly won against +heavy odds by his great genius and the daring skill of the captains +who served under him; but the battle of the Baltic, as far as the +fighting went, reflected as much honor on the defeated Danes as on +the mighty sea-chief who conquered them. Many a much-vaunted victory, +both on sea and land, has really reflected less credit on the victors +than the battle of Lake Erie did on the Americans. And it must always +be remembered that a victory, honorably won, if even over a weaker +foe, _does_ reflect credit on the nation by whom it is gained. It +was creditable to us as a nation that our ships were better made +and better armed than the British frigates, exactly as it was creditable +to them that a few years before their vessels had stood in the same +relation to the Dutch ships. [Footnote: After Lord Duncan's victory +at Camperdown, James chronicled the fact that all the captured +line-of-battle ships were such poor craft as not to be of as much +value as so many French frigates. This at least showed that the Dutch +sailors must have done well to have made such a bloody and obstinate +fight as they did, with the materials they had. According to his +own statements the loss was about proportional to the forces in action. +It was another parallel to Perry's victory.] It was greatly to our +credit that we had been enterprising enough to fit out such an effective +little flotilla on Lake Erie, and for this Perry deserves the highest +praise. [Footnote: Some of my countrymen will consider this but scant +approbation, to which the answer must be that a history is not a +panegyric.] + +Before leaving the subject it is worth while making a few observations +on the men who composed the crews. James, who despised a Canadian +as much as he hated an American, gives as one excuse for the defeat, +the fact that most of Barclay's crew were Canadians, whom he considers +to be "sorry substitutes." On each side the regular sailors, from +the seaboard, were not numerous enough to permit the battle to be +fought purely by them. Barclay took a number of soldiers of the regular +army, and Perry a number of militia, aboard; the former had a few +Indian sharp-shooters, the latter quite a number of negroes. A great +many men in each fleet were lake sailors, frontiersmen, and these +were the especial objects of James' contempt; but it may be doubted +if they, thoroughly accustomed to lake navigation, used to contests +with Indians and whites, naturally forced to be good sailors, and +skilful in the use of rifle and cannon, were not, when trained by +good men and on their own waters, the very best possible material. +Certainly the battle of Lake Erie, fought mainly by Canadians, was +better contested than that of Lake Champlain, fought mainly by British. + +The difference between the American and British seamen on the Atlantic +was small, but on the lakes what little there was disappeared. A +New Englander and an Old Englander differed little enough, but they +differed more than a frontiersman born north of the line did from +one born south of it. These last two resembled one another more nearly +than either did the parent. There had been no long-established naval +school on the lakes, and the British sailors that came up there were +the best of their kind; so the combatants were really so evenly matched +in courage, skill, and all other fighting qualities, as to make it +impossible to award the palm to either for these attributes. The +dogged obstinacy of the fighting, the skilful firing and manoeuvring, +and the daring and coolness with which cutting-out expeditions were +planned and executed, were as marked on one side as the other. The +only un-English element in the contest was the presence among the +Canadian English of some of the descendants of the Latin race from +whom they had conquered the country. Otherwise the men were equally +matched, but the Americans owed their success--for the balance of +success was largely on their side--to the fact that their officers +had been trained in the best and most practical, although the smallest, +navy of the day. The British sailors on the lakes were as good as +our own, but no better. None of their commanders compare with Macdonough. + +Perry deserves all praise for the manner in which he got his fleet +ready; his victory over Barclay was precisely similar to the +quasi-victories of Blake over the Dutch, which have given that admiral +such renown. Blake's success in attacking Spanish and Algerian forts +is his true title to fame. In his engagements with the Dutch fleets +(as well as in those of Monk, after him) his claim to merit is no +greater and no less than Perry's. Each made a headlong attack, with +furious, stubborn courage, and by dint of sheer weight crushed or +disabled a greatly inferior foe. In the fight that took place on +Feb. 18, 1653, De Ruyter's ship carried but 34 guns, [Footnote: +"La Vie et Les Actions Memorables de Lt.-Amiral Michel De Ruyter" +(Amsterdam, 1677), p. 23. By the way, why is Tromp always called +Van Tromp by English writers? It would be quite as correct for a +Frenchman to speak of MacNelson.] and yet with it he captured the +_Prosperous_ of 54; which vessel was stronger than any in the Dutch +fleet. The fact that Blake's battles were generally so indecisive +must be ascribed to the fact that his opponents were, though inferior +in force, superior in skill. No decisive defeat was inflicted on +the Dutch until Tromp's death. Perry's operations were on a very +small, and Blake's on a very large, scale; but whereas Perry left +no antagonists to question his claim to victory, Blake's successes +were sufficiently doubtful to admit of his antagonists in almost +every instance claiming that _they_ had won, or else that it was +a draw. Of course it is absurd to put Perry and Blake on a par, +for one worked with a fleet forty times the strength of the other's +flotilla; but the way in which the work was done was very similar. +And it must always be remembered that when Perry fought this battle +he was but 27 years old; and the commanders of his other vessels +were younger still. + + +Champlain. + +The commander on this lake at this time was Lieutenant Thomas +Macdonough, who had superseded the former commander, Lieutenant +Sydney Smith,--whose name was a curious commentary on the close +inter-relationship of the two contesting peoples. The American naval +force now consisted of two sloops, the _Growler_ and _Eagle_, each +mounting 11 guns, and six galleys, mounting one gun each. Lieutenant +Smith was sent down with his two sloops to harass the British +gun-boats, which were stationed round the head of Sorel River, the +outlet to Lake Champlain. On June 3d he chased three gun-boats into +the river, the wind being aft, up to within sight of the fort of +Isle-aux-noix. A strong British land-force, under Major-General +Taylor, now came up both banks of the narrow stream, and joined the +three gun-boats in attacking the sloops. The latter tried to beat +up the stream, but the current was so strong and the wind so light +that no headway could be made. The gun-boats kept out of range of +the sloop's guns, while keeping up a hot fire from their long 24's, +to which no reply could be made; but the galling fire of the infantry +who lined the banks was responded to by showers of grape. After three +hours' conflict, at 12.30, a 24-pound shot from one of the galleys +struck the _Eagle_ under her starboard quarter, and ripped out a +whole plank under water. She sank at once, but it was in such shoal +water that she did not settle entirely, and none of the men were +drowned. Soon afterward the _Growler_ had her forestay and main-boom +shot away, and, becoming unmanageable, ran ashore and was also captured. +The _Growler_ had 1 killed and 8 wounded, the _Eagle_ 11 wounded; +their united crews, including 34 volunteers, amounted to 112 men. +The British gun-boats suffered no loss; of the troops on shore three +were wounded, one dangerously, by grape. [Footnote: Letter from Major +General Taylor (British) to Major-General Stone. June 3, 1813. Lossing +says the loss of the British was "probably at least one hundred,"--on +what authority, if any, I do not know.] Lieutenant Smith had certainly +made a very plucky fight, but it was a great mistake to get cooped +up in a narrow channel, with wind and current dead against him. It +was a very creditable success to the British, and showed the +effectiveness of well-handled gun-boats under certain circumstances. +The possession of these two sloops gave the command of the lake to +the British. Macdonough at once set about building others, but with +all his energy the materials at hand were so deficient that he could +not get them finished in time. On July 31st, 1,000 British troops, +under Col. J. Murray, convoyed by Captain Thomas Everard, with the +sloops _Chubb_ and _Finch_ (late _Growler_ and _Eagle_) and three +gunboats, landed at Plattsburg and destroyed all the barracks and +stores both there and at Saranac. For some reason Colonel Murray +left so precipitately that he overlooked a picket of 20 of his men, +who were captured; then he made descents on two or three other places, +and returned to the head of the lake by Aug. 3d. Three days afterward, +on Aug. 6th, Macdonough completed his three sloops, the _President_, +_Montgomery_, and _Preble_, of 7 guns each, and also six gunboats; +which force enabled him to prevent any more plundering expeditions +taking place that summer, and to convoy Hampton's troops when they +made an abortive effort to penetrate into Canada by the Sorel River +on Sept. 21st. + +BRITISH LOSS ON THE LAKES DURING 1813. + +Name. Tons Guns Remarks +_Ship_. 600 24 Burnt on stocks. +_Gloucester_. 180 10 Taken at York. +_Mary_. 80 3 Burnt. +_Drummond_. 80 3 Captured. +_Lady Gore_. 80 3 " +_Schooner_. 80 3 " +_Detroit_. 490 19 " +_Queen Charlotte_. 400 17 " +_Lady Prevost_. 230 13 " +_Hunter_. 180 10 " +_Chippeway_. 70 1 " +_Little Belt_. 90 3 " +-------------- ----- ----- +12 vessels 2,560 109 + +AMERICAN LOSS.[1] + +Name. Tons. Guns. Remarks +_Growler_. 112 11 Captured +_Eagle_. 110 11 " +------------- ----- ---- +2 vessels, 222 22 + +[Footnote 1: Excluding the _Growler_ and _Julia_ which were recaptured.] + + + + +Chapter VII + + +1814 + +ON THE OCEAN + +_Strictness of the blockade--Cruise of Rodgers--Cruise of the_ +Constitution--_Her unsuccessful chase of_ La Pique--_Attack on the_ +Alligator--_The_ Essex _captured--The_ Frolic _captured--The_ +Peacock _captures the_ Epervier--_Commodore Barney's flotilla--The +British in the Chesapeake--The_ Wasp _captures the_ Reindeer _and +sinks the_ Avon--_Cruise and loss of the_ Adams--_The privateer_ +General Armstrong--_The privateer_ Prince de Neufchatel--_Loss of +the gunboats in Lake Borgne--Fighting near New Orleans--Summary_. + +During this year the blockade of the American coast was kept up +with ever increasing rigor. The British frigates hovered like hawks +off every seaport that was known to harbor any fighting craft; they +almost invariably went in couples, to support one another and to +lighten, as far as was possible, the severity of their work. On the +northern coasts in particular, the intense cold of the furious winter +gales rendered it no easy task to keep the assigned stations; the +ropes were turned into stiff and brittle bars, the hulls were coated +with ice, and many, both of men and officers, were frost-bitten and +crippled. But no stress of weather could long keep the stubborn and +hardy British from their posts. With ceaseless vigilance they traversed +continually the allotted cruising grounds, capturing the privateers, +harrying the coasters, and keeping the more powerful ships confined +to port; "no American frigate could proceed singly to sea without +imminent risk of being crushed by the superior force of the numerous +British squadrons." [Footnote: Captain Broke's letter of challenge +to Captain Lawrence.] But the sloops of war, commanded by officers +as skillful as they were daring, and manned by as hardy seamen as +ever sailed salt water, could often slip out; generally on some dark +night, when a heavy gale was blowing, they would make the attempt, +under storm canvas, and with almost invariable success. The harder +the weather, the better was their chance; once clear of the coast +the greatest danger ceased, though throughout the cruise the most +untiring vigilance was needed. The new sloops that I have mentioned +as being built proved themselves the best possible vessels for this +kind of work; they were fast enough to escape from most cruisers of +superior force, and were overmatches for any British flush-decked +ship, that is, for any thing below the rank of the frigate-built +corvettes of the _Cyane's_ class. The danger of recapture was too +great to permit of the prizes being sent in, so they were generally +destroyed as soon as captured; and as the cruising grounds were chosen +right in the track of commerce, the damage done and consternation +caused were very great. + +Besides the numerous frigates cruising along the coast in couples +or small squadrons, there were two or three places that were blockaded +by a heavier force. One of these was New London, before which cruised +a squadron under the direction of Sir Thomas Hardy, in the 74 gun-ship +_Ramillies_. Most of the other cruising squadrons off the coast contained +razees or two-deckers. The boats of the _Hogue_, 74, took part in +the destruction of some coasters and fishing-boats at Pettipauge in +April; and those of the _Superb_, 74, shared in a similar expedition +against Wareham in June. [Footnote: James, vi. 474.] The command on +the coast of North America was now given to Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander +Cochrane. The main British force continued to lie in the Chesapeake, +where about 50 sail were collected. During the first part of this +year these were under the command of Sir Robert Barrie, but in May +he was relieved by Rear-Admiral Cockburn.[Footnote: James, vi, 437.] + +The _President_, 44, Commodore Rodgers, at the beginning of 1814 +was still out, cruising among the Barbadoes and West Indies, only +making a few prizes of not much value. She then turned toward the +American coast, striking soundings near St. Augustine, and thence +proceeding north along the coast to Sandy Hook, which was reached +on Feb. 18th. The light was passed in the night, and shortly afterward +several sail were made out, when the _President_ was at once cleared +for action. [Footnote: Letter of Commodore Rodgers, Feb. 20, 1814.] +One of these strange sail was the _Loire_, 38 (British), Capt. Thomas +Brown, which ran down to close the _President_, unaware of her force; +but on discovering her to be a 44, hauled to the wind and made off. +[Footnote: James, vi, 412.] The _President_ did not pursue, another +frigate and a gunbrig being in sight. [Footnote: "Naval Monument," +p. 235.] This rencontre gave rise to nonsensical boastings on both +sides; one American writer calls the _Loire_ the _Plantagenet_, 74; +James, on the other hand, states that the _President_ was afraid to +engage the 38-gun frigate, and that the only reason the latter declined +the combat was because she was short of men. The best answer to this +is a quotation from his own work (vol. vi, p. 402), that "the admiralty +had issued an order that no 18-pounder frigate was voluntarily to +engage one of the 24-pounder frigates of America." Coupling this +order with the results of the combats that had already taken place +between frigates of these classes, it can always be safely set down +as sheer bravado when any talk is made of an American 44 refusing +to give battle to a British 38; and it is even more absurd to say +that a British line-of-battle ship would hesitate for a minute about +engaging _any_ frigate. + +On Jan. 1st, the _Constitution_, which had been lying in Boston harbor +undergoing complete repairs, put out to sea under the command of +Capt. Charles Stewart. The British 38-gun frigate _Nymphe_ had been +lying before the port, but she disappeared long before the +_Constitution_ was in condition, in obedience to the order already +mentioned. Capt. Stewart ran down toward the Barbadoes, and on the +14th of February captured and destroyed the British 14-gun schooner +_Pictou_, with a crew of 75 men. After making a few other prizes +and reaching the coast of Guiana she turned homeward, and on the +23d of the same month fell in, at the entrance to the Mona passage, +with the British 36-gun frigate _Pique_ (late French _Pallas_), Captain +Maitland. The _Constitution_ at once made sail for the _Pique_, steering +free; [Footnote: Letter of Capt. Stewart, April 8, 1814.] the latter +at first hauled to the wind and waited for her antagonist, but when +the latter was still 3 miles distant she made out her force and +immediately made all sail to escape; the _Constitution_, however, +gained steadily till 8 P.M., when the night and thick squally weather +caused her to lose sight of the chase. Captain Maitland had on board +the prohibitory order issued by the admiralty, [Footnote: James, +vi, 477.] and acted correctly. His ship was altogether too light +for his antagonist. James, however, is not satisfied with this, and +wishes to prove that _both_ ships were desirous of avoiding the combat. +He says that Capt. Stewart came near enough to count "13 ports and +a bridle on the _Pique's_ main-deck," and "saw at once that she was +of a class inferior to the _Guerrière_ or _Java_," but "thought the +_Pique's_ 18's were 24's, and therefore did not make an effort to +bring her to action." He portrays very picturesquely the grief of +the _Pique's_ crew when they find they are not going to engage; how +they come aft and request to be taken into action; how Captain Maitland +reads them his instructions, but "fails to persuade them that there +had been any necessity of issuing them"; and, finally, how the sailors, +overcome by woe and indignation, refuse to take their supper-time +grog,--which was certainly remarkable. As the _Constitution_ had +twice captured British frigates "with impunity," according to James +himself, is it likely that she would now shrink from an encounter +with a ship which she "saw at once was of an inferior class" to those +already conquered? Even such abject cowards as James' Americans would +not be guilty of so stupid an action. Of course neither Capt. Stewart +nor any one else supposed for an instant that a 36-gun frigate was +armed with 24-pounders. + +It is worth while mentioning as an instance of how utterly untrustworthy +James is in dealing with American affairs, that he says (p. 476) +the _Constitution_ had now "what the Americans would call a bad crew," +whereas, in her previous battles, all her men had been "picked." +Curiously enough, this is the exact reverse of the truth. In no case +was an American ship manned with a "picked" crew, but the nearest +approach to such was the crew the _Constitution_ carried in this +and the next cruise, when "she probably possessed as fine a crew +as ever manned a frigate. They were principally New England men, +and it has been said of them that they were almost qualified to fight +the ship without her officers." [Footnote: Cooper, ii, 463.] The +statement that such men, commanded by one of the bravest and most +skilful captains of our navy, would shrink from attacking a greatly +inferior foe, is hardly worth while denying; and, fortunately, such +denial is needless, Captain Stewart's account being fully corroborated +in the "Memoir of Admiral Durham," written by his nephew, Captain +Murray, London, 1846. + +The _Constitution_ arrived off the port of Marblehead on April 3d, +and at 7 A.M. fell in with the two British 38-gun frigates _Junon_, +Captain Upton, and _Tenedos_, Captain Parker. "The American frigate +was standing to the westward with the wind about north by west and +bore from the two British frigates about northwest by west. The +_Junon_ and _Tenedos_ quickly hauled up in chase, and the _Constitution_ +crowded sail in the direction of Marblehead. At 9.30, finding the +_Tenedos_ rather gaining upon her, the _Constitution_ started her +water and threw overboard a quantity of provisions and other articles. +At 11.30 she hoisted her colors, and the two British frigates, who +were now dropping slowly in the chase, did the same. At 1.30 P.M. +the _Constitution_ anchored in the harbor of Marblehead. Captain +Parker was anxious to follow her into the port, which had no defences; +but the _Tenedos_ was recalled by a signal from the _Junon_." +[Footnote: James, vi, 479.] Shortly afterward the _Constitution_ +again put out, and reached Boston unmolested. + +On Jan. 29, 1814, the small U.S. coasting schooner _Alligator_, of +4 guns and 40 men, Sailing-master R. Basset, was lying at anchor +in the mouth of Stone River, S. C., when a frigate and a brig were +perceived close inshore near the breakers. Judging from their motions +that they would attempt to cut him out when it was dark, Mr. Basset +made his preparations accordingly. [Footnote: Letter of Sailing-master +Basset, Jan. 31, 1814.] At half-past seven six boats were observed +approaching cautiously under cover of the marsh, with muffled oars; +on being hailed they cheered and opened with boat carronades and +musketry, coming on at full speed; whereupon the _Alligator_ cut +her cable and made sail, the wind being light from the southwest; +while the crew opened such a heavy fire on the assailants, who were +then not thirty yards off, that they stopped the advance and fell +astern. At this moment the _Alligator_ grounded, but the enemy had +suffered so severely that they made no attempt to renew the attack, +rowing off down stream. On board the _Alligator_ two men were killed +and two wounded, including the pilot, who was struck down by a +grape-shot while standing at the helm; and her sails and rigging +were much cut. The extent of the enemy's loss was never known; next +day one of his cutters was picked up at North Edisto, much injured +and containing the bodies of an officer and a seaman. [Footnote: +Letter from Commander J. H. Dent, Feb. 21, 1814.] For his skill and +gallantry Mr. Basset was promoted to a lieutenancy, and for a time +his exploit put a complete stop to the cutting-out expeditions along +that part of the coast. The _Alligator_ herself sank in a squall on +July 1st, but was afterward raised and refitted. + +It is much to be regretted that it is almost impossible to get at +the British account of any of these expeditions which ended +successfully for the Americans; all such cases are generally ignored +by the British historians; so that I am obliged to rely solely upon +the accounts of the victors, who, with the best intentions in the +world, could hardly be perfectly accurate. + +At the close of 1813 Captain Porter was still cruising in the Pacific. + +Early in January the _Essex_, now with 255 men aboard, made the South +American coast, and on the 12th of that month anchored in the harbor +of Valparaiso. She had in company a prize, re-christened the _Essex +Junior_, with a crew of 60 men, and 20 guns, 10 long sixes and 10 +eighteen-pound carronades. Of course she could not be used in a combat +with regular cruisers. + +On Feb. 8th, the British frigate _Phoebe_, 36, Captain James Hilyar, +accompanied by the _Cherub_, 18, Captain Thomas Tudor Tucker, the +former carrying 300 and the latter 140 men, [Footnote: They afterward +took on board enough men from British merchant-vessels to raise their +complements respectively to 320 and 180.] made their appearance, +and apparently proposed to take the _Essex_ by a _coup de main_. +They hauled into the harbor on a wind, the _Cherub_ falling to leeward; +while the _Phoebe_ made the port quarter of the _Essex_, and then, +putting her helm down, luffed up on her starboard bow, but 10 or +15 feet distant. Porter's crew were all at quarters, the powder-boys +with slow matches ready to discharge the guns, the boarders standing +by, cutlass in hand, to board in the smoke; every thing was cleared +for action on both frigates. Captain Hilyar now probably saw that +there was no chance of carrying the _Essex_ by surprise, and, standing +on the after-gun, he inquired after Captain Porter's health; the +latter returned the inquiry, but warned Hilyar not to fall foul. +The British captain then braced back his yards, remarking that if +he did fall aboard it would be purely accidental. "Well," said +Porter, "you have no business where you are; if you touch a rope-yarn +of this ship I shall board instantly." [Footnote: "Life of Farragut," +p. 33.] The _Phoebe_, in her then position, was completely at the +mercy of the American ships, and Hilyar, greatly agitated, assured +Porter that he meant nothing hostile; and the _Phoebe_ backed down, +her yards passing over those of the _Essex_ without touching a rope, +and anchored half a mile astern. Shortly afterward the two captains +met on shore, when Hilyar thanked Porter for his behavior, and, on +his inquiry, assured him that after thus owing his safety to the +latter's forbearance, Porter need be under no apprehension as to +his breaking the neutrality. + +[Illustration: The _Essex_: a watercolor by Joseph Howard of Salem, +circa 1801. (Courtesy Peabody Museum of Salem)] + +The British ships now began a blockade of the port. On Feb. 27th, +the _Phoebe_ being hove to close off the port, and the _Cherub_ a +league to leeward, the former fired a weather-gun; the _Essex_ +interpreting this as a challenge, took the crew of the _Essex Junior_ +aboard and went out to attack the British frigate. But the latter did +not await the combat; she bore up, set her studding-sails, and ran +down to the _Cherub_. The American officers were intensely irritated +over this, and American writers have sneered much at "a British 36 +refusing combat with an American 32." But the armaments of the two +frigates were so wholly dissimilar that it is hard to make comparison. +When the fight really took place, the Essex was so crippled and the +water so smooth that the British ships fought at their own distance; +and as they had long guns to oppose to Porter's carronades, this +really made the _Cherub_ more nearly suited to contend with the _Essex_ +than the latter was to fight the _Phoebe_. But when the _Essex_ in +fairly heavy weather, with the crew of the _Essex Junior_ aboard, +was to windward, the circumstances were very different; she carried +as many men and guns as the _Phoebe_, and in close combat, or in +a hand-to-hand struggle, could probably have taken her. Still, Hilyar's +conduct in avoiding Porter except when the _Cherub_ was in company +was certainly over-cautious, and very difficult to explain in a man +of his tried courage. + +On March 27th Porter decided to run out of the harbor on the first +opportunity, so as to draw away his two antagonists in chase, and +let the _Essex Junior_ escape. This plan had to be tried sooner than +was expected. The two vessels were always ready, the _Essex_ only +having her proper complement of 255 men aboard. On the next day, +the 28th, it came on to blow from the south, when the _Essex_ parted +her port cable and dragged the starboard anchor to leeward, so she +got under way, and made sail; by several trials it had been found +that she was faster than the _Phoebe_, and that the _Cherub_ was +very slow indeed, so Porter had little anxiety about his own ship, +only fearing for his consort. The British vessels were close in with +the weather-most point of the bay, but Porter thought he could weather +them, and hauled up for that purpose. Just as he was rounding the +outermost point, which, if accomplished, would have secured his safety, +a heavy squall struck the _Essex_, and when she was nearly gunwale +under, the main-top-mast went by the board. She now wore and stood +in for the harbor, but the wind had shifted, and on account of her +crippled condition she could not gain it; so she bore up and anchored +in a small bay, three miles from Valparaiso, and half a mile from +a detached Chilian battery of one gun, the _Essex_ being within +pistol-shot of the shore. [Footnote: Letter of Captain David Porter, +July 3, 1814.] The _Phoebe_ and _Cherub_ now bore down upon her, +covered with ensigns, union-jacks, and motto flags; and it became +evident that Hilyar did not intend to keep his word, as soon as he +saw that Porter was disabled. So the _Essex_ prepared for action, +though there could be no chance whatever of success. Her flags were +flying from every mast, and every thing was made ready as far as +was possible. The attack was made before springs could be got on +her cables. She was anchored so near the shore as to preclude the +possibility of Captain Hilyar's passing ahead of her; [Footnote: +Letter of Captain James Hilyar, March 30, 1814.] so his two ships +came cautiously down, the _Cherub_ taking her position on the +starboard bow of the _Essex_, and the _Phoebe_ under the latter's +stern. The attack began at 4 P.M. [Footnote: Mean time. Porter says +3.45; Hilyar, a few minutes past 4. The former says the first attack +lasted half an hour; the latter, but 10 minutes. I accordingly make +it 20.] Some of the bow-guns of the American frigate bore upon the +_Cherub_, and, as soon as she found this out, the sloop ran down +and stationed herself near the _Phoebe_. The latter had opened with +her broadside of long 18's, from a position in which not one of +Porter's guns could reach her. Three times springs were got on the +cables of the _Essex_, in order to bring her round till her broadside +bore; but in each instance they were shot away, as soon as they were +hauled taut. Three long 12's were got out of the stern-ports, and +with these an animated fire was kept up on the two British ships, +the aim being especially to cripple their rigging. A good many of +Porter's crew were killed during the first five minutes, before he +could bring any guns to bear; but afterward he did not suffer much, +and at 4.20, after a quarter of an hour's fight between the three +long 12's of the _Essex_, and the whole 36 broadside guns of the +_Phoebe_ and _Cherub_, the latter were actually driven off. They +wore, and again began with their long guns; but, these producing +no visible effect, both of the British ships hauled out of the fight +at 4.30. "Having lost the use of main-sail, jib, and main-stay, +appearances looked a little inauspicious," writes Captain Hilyar. +But the damages were soon repaired, and his two ships stood back +for the crippled foe. Both stationed themselves on her port-quarter, +the _Phoebe_ at anchor, with a spring, firing her broadside, while +the _Cherub_ kept under way, using her long bow-chasers. Their fire +was very destructive, for they were out of reach of the _Essex's_ +carronades, and not one of her long guns could be brought to bear +on them. Porter now cut his cable, at 5.20, and tried to close with +his antagonists. After many ineffectual efforts sail was made. The +flying-jib halyards were the only serviceable ropes uncut. That sail +was hoisted, and the foretop-sail and fore-sail let fall, though the +want of sheets and tacks rendered them almost useless. Still the +_Essex_ drove down on her assailants, and for the first time got +near enough to use her carronades; for a minute or two the firing +was tremendous, but after the first broadside the _Cherub_ hauled +out of the fight in great haste, and during the remainder of the +action confined herself to using her bow-guns from a distance. +Immediately afterward the _Phoebe_ also edged off, and by her +superiority of sailing, her foe being now almost helpless, was enabled +to choose her own distance, and again opened from her long 18's, +out of range of Porter's carronades. [Footnote: American writers +often sneer at Hilyar for keeping away from the _Essex_, and out +of reach of her short guns; but his conduct was eminently proper +in this respect. It was no part of his duty to fight the _Essex_ +at the distance which best suited her; but, on the contrary, at +that which least suited her. He, of course, wished to win the victory +with the least possible loss to himself, and acted accordingly. His +conduct in the action itself could not be improved upon.] The carnage +on board the _Essex_ had now made her decks look like shambles. One +gun was manned three times, fifteen men being slam at it; its captain +alone escaped without a wound. There were but one or two instances +of flinching; the wounded, many of whom were killed by flying splinters +while under the hands of the doctors, cheered on their comrades, +and themselves worked at the guns like fiends as long as they could +stand. At one of the bow-guns was stationed a young Scotchman, named +Bissly, who had one leg shot off close by the groin. Using his +handkerchief as a tourniquet, he said, turning to his American +shipmates: "I left my own country and adopted the United States, +to fight for her. I hope I have this day proved myself worthy of +the country of my adoption. I am no longer of any use to you or to +her, so good-by!" With these words he leaned on the sill of the port, +and threw himself overboard. [Footnote: This and most of the other +anecdotes are taken from the invaluable "Life of Farragut," pp. 37-46.] +Among the very few men who flinched was one named William Roach; +Porter sent one of his midshipmen to shoot him, but he was not to +be found. He was discovered by a man named William Call, whose leg +had been shot off and was hanging by the skin, and who dragged the +shattered stump all round the bag-house, pistol in hand, trying to +get a shot at him. Lieut. J. G. Cowell had his leg shot off above +the knee, and his life might have been saved had it been amputated +at once; but the surgeons already had rows of wounded men waiting +for them, and when it was proposed to him that he should be attended +to out of order, he replied: "No, doctor, none of that; fair play's +a jewel. One man's life is as dear as another's; I would not cheat +any poor fellow out of his turn." So he stayed at his post, and +died from loss of blood. + +[Illustration: Captain David Porter: an unattributed early-19th-century +portrait. (Courtesy U.S. Naval Academy Museum)] + +Finding it hopeless to try to close, the _Essex_ stood for the land, +Porter intending to run her ashore and burn her. But when she had +drifted close to the bluffs the wind suddenly shifted, took her flat +aback and paid her head off shore, exposing her to a raking fire. At +this moment Lieutenant Downes, commanding the _Junior_, pulled out +in a boat, through all the fire, to see if he could do any thing. +Three of the men with him, including an old boatswain's mate, named +Kingsbury, had come out expressly "to share the fate of their old +ship"; so they remained aboard, and, in their places, Lieutenant +Downes took some of the wounded ashore, while the Cherub kept up a +tremendous fire upon him. The shift of the wind gave Porter a faint +hope of closing; and once more the riddled hulk of the little American +frigate was headed for her foes. But Hilyar put his helm up to avoid +close quarters; the battle was his already, and the cool old captain +was too good an officer to leave any thing to chance. Seeing he +could not close, Porter had a hawser bent on the sheet-anchor and +let go. This brought the ship's head round, keeping her stationary; +and from such of her guns as were not dismounted and had men enough +left to man them, a broadside was fired at the _Phoebe_. The wind +was now very light, and the _Phoebe_, whose main- and mizzen-masts +and main-yard were rather seriously wounded, and who had suffered +a great loss of canvas and cordage aloft, besides receiving a number +of shot between wind and water, [Footnote: Captain Hilyar's letter. +James says the _Phoebe_ had 7 shot between wind and water, and one +below the water-line. Porter says she had 18 12-pound shot below +the water-line. The latter statement must have been an exaggeration; +and James is probably farther wrong still] and was thus a good deal +crippled, began to drift slowly to leeward. It was hoped that she +would drift out of gun-shot, but this last chance was lost by the +parting of the hawser, which left the _Essex_ at the mercy of the +British vessels. Their fire was deliberate and destructive, and could +only be occasionally replied to by a shot from one of the long 12's +of the _Essex_. The ship caught fire, and the flames came bursting +up the hatchway, and a quantity of powder exploded below. Many of +the crew were knocked overboard by shot, and drowned; others leaped +into the water, thinking the ship was about to blow up, and tried +to swim to the land. Some succeeded; among them was one man who had +sixteen or eighteen pieces of iron in his leg, scales from the muzzle +of his gun. The frigate had been shattered to pieces above the +water-line, although from the smoothness of the sea she was not harmed +enough below it to reduce her to a sinking condition. [Footnote: +An exactly analogous case to that of the British sloop _Reindeer_.] +The carpenter reported that he alone of his crew was fit for duty; +the others were dead or disabled. Lieutenant Wilmer was knocked +overboard by a splinter, and drowned; his little negro boy, "Ruff," +came up on deck, and, hearing of the disaster, deliberately leaped +into the sea and shared his master's fate. Lieutenant Odenheimer +was also knocked overboard, but afterward regained the ship. A shot, +glancing upward, killed four of the men who were standing by a gun, +striking the last one in the head and scattering his brains over +his comrades. The only commissioned officer left on duty was Lieutenant +Decatur McKnight. The sailing-master, Barnwell, when terribly wounded, +remained at his post till he fainted from loss of blood. Of the 255 +men aboard the _Essex_ when the battle began, 58 had been killed, +66 wounded, and 31 drowned ("missing"), while 24 had succeeded in +reaching shore. But 76 men were left unwounded, and many of these +had been bruised or otherwise injured. Porter himself was knocked +down by the windage of a passing shot. While the young midshipman, +Farragut, was on the ward-room ladder, going below for gun-primers, +the captain of the gun directly opposite the hatchway was struck +full in the face by an 18-pound shot, and tumbled back on him. They +fell down the hatch together, Farragut being stunned for some minutes. +Later, while standing by the man at the wheel, an old quartermaster +named Francis Bland, a shot coming over the fore-yard took off the +quartermaster's right leg, carrying away at the same time one of +Farragut's coat tails. The old fellow was helped below, but he died +for lack of a tourniquet, before he could be attended to. + +Nothing remained to be done, and at 6.20 the _Essex_ surrendered +and was taken possession of. The _Phoebe_ had lost 4 men killed, +including her first lieutenant, William Ingram, and 7 wounded; the +_Cherub_, 1 killed, and 3, including Captain Tucker, wounded. Total, +5 killed and 10 wounded. [Footnote: James says that most of the loss +was occasioned by the first three broadsides of the _Essex_; this +is not surprising, as in all she hardly fired half a dozen, and the +last were discharged when half of the guns had been disabled, and +there were scarcely men enough to man the remainder. Most of the +time her resistance was limited to firing such of her six long guns +as would bear.] The difference in loss was natural, as, owing to +their having long guns and the choice of position, the British had +been able to fire ten shot to the Americans' one. + +The conduct of the two English captains in attacking Porter as soon +as he was disabled, in neutral waters, while they had been very careful +to abstain from breaking the neutrality while he was in good condition, +does not look well; at the best it shows that Hilyar had only been +withheld hitherto from the attack by timidity, and it looks all the +worse when it is remembered that Hilyar owed his ship's previous +escape entirely to Porter's forbearance on a former occasion when +the British frigate was entirely at his mercy, and that the British +captain had afterward expressly said that he would not break the +neutrality. Still, the British in this war did not act very differently +from the way we ourselves did on one or two occasions in the Civil +War,--witness the capture of the _Florida_. And after the battle +was once begun the sneers which most of our historians, as well as +the participators in the fight, have showered upon the British +captains for not foregoing the advantages which their entire masts +and better artillery gave them by coming to close quarters, are +decidedly foolish. Hilyar's conduct during the battle, as well as +his treatment of the prisoners afterward, was perfect, and as a minor +matter it may be mentioned that his official letter is singularly +just and fair-minded. Says Lord Howard Douglass: [Footnote: "Naval +Gunnery," p. 149.] "The action displayed all that can reflect honor +on the science and admirable conduct of Captain Hilyar and his crew, +which, without the assistance of the _Cherub_, would have insured +the same termination. Captain Porter's sneers at the respectful +distance the _Phoebe_ kept are in fact acknowledgments of the ability +with which Captain Hilyar availed himself of the superiority of his +arms; it was a brilliant affair." While endorsing this criticism, +it may be worth while to compare it with some of the author's comments +upon the other actions, as that between Decatur and the _Macedonian_. +To make the odds here as great against Garden as they were against +Porter, it would be necessary to suppose that the _Macedonian_ had +lost her main-top-mast, had but six long 18's to oppose to her +antagonist's 24's, and that the latter was assisted by the corvette +_Adams_; so that as a matter of fact Porter fought at fully double +or treble the disadvantage Garden did, and, instead of surrendering +when he had lost a third of his crew, fought till three fifths of +his men were dead or wounded, and, moreover, inflicted greater loss +and damage on his antagonists than Garden did. If, then, as Lord +Douglass says, the defence of the _Macedonian_ brilliantly upheld +the character of the British navy for courage, how much more did +that of the _Essex_ show for the American navy; and if Hilyar's +conduct was "brilliant," that of Decatur was more so. + +This was an action in which it is difficult to tell exactly how to +award praise. Captain Hilyar deserves it, for the coolness and skill +with which he made his approaches and took his positions so as to +destroy his adversary with least loss to himself, and also for the +precision of his fire. The Cherub's behavior was more remarkable +for extreme caution than for any thing else. As regards the mere +fight, Porter certainly did every thing a man could do to contend +successfully with the overwhelming force opposed to him, and the +few guns that were available were served with the utmost precision. +As an exhibition of dogged courage it has never been surpassed since +the time when the Dutch captain, Klaesoon, after fighting two long +days, blew up his disabled ship, devoting himself and all his crew +to death, rather than surrender to the hereditary foes of his race, +and was bitterly avenged afterward by the grim "sea-beggars" of +Holland; the days when Drake singed the beard of the Catholic king, +and the small English craft were the dread and scourge of the great +floating castles of Spain. Any man reading Farragut's account is +forcibly reminded of some of the deeds of "derring do" in that, the +heroic age of the Teutonic navies. Captain Hilyar in his letter says: +"The defence of the _Essex_, taking into consideration our superiority +of force and the very discouraging circumstances of her having lost +her main-top-mast and being twice on fire, did honor to her brave +defenders, and most fully evinced the courage of Captain Porter and +those under his command. Her colors were not struck until the loss +in killed and wounded was so awfully great and her shattered condition +so seriously bad as to render all further resistance unavailing." +[Footnote: James (p. 419) says: "The _Essex_, as far as is borne +out by proof (the only safe way where an American is concerned), +had 24 men killed and 45 wounded. But Capt. Porter, thinking by +exaggerating his loss to prop up his fame, talks of 58 killed and +mortally wounded, 39 severely, 27 slightly," etc., etc. This would +be no more worthy of notice than any other of his falsifications, +were it not followed by various British writers. Hilyar states that +he has 161 prisoners, has found 23 dead, that 3 wounded were taken +off, between 20 and 30 reached the shore, and that the "remainder +are either killed or wounded." It is by wilfully preserving silence +about this last sentence that James makes out his case. It will be +observed that Hilyar enumerates 161 + 23 + 3 + 25 (say) or 212, and +says the remainder were either killed or wounded; Porter having 255 +men at first, this remainder was 43. Hilyar stating that of his 161 +prisoners, 42 were wounded, his account thus gives the Americans 111 +killed and wounded. James' silence about Hilyat's last sentence +enables him to make the loss but 69, and his wilful omission is quite +on a par with the other meannesses and falsehoods which utterly +destroy the reliability of his work. By Hilyar's own letter it is +thus seen that Porter's loss in killed and wounded was certainly 111, +perhaps 116, or if Porter had, as James says, 265 men, 126. There +still remain some discrepancies between the official accounts, which +can be compared in tabular form: + + Hilyar. Porter. +Prisoners unwounded. 119 75 prisoners unwounded. + " wounded. 42 27 " slightly wounded, +Taken away wounded. 3 39 " severely " +Those who reached shore. 25 58 killed. +Remainder killed or wounded. 43 31 missing. +Killed. 23 25 reached shore. + ------ ----- + 255 255 + +The explanation probably is that Hilyar's "42 wounded" do not include +Porter's "27 slightly wounded," and that his "161 prisoners" include +Porter's "25 who reached shore," and his "25 who reached shore" comes +under Porter's "31 missing." This would make the accounts nearly +tally. At any rate in Porter's book are to be found the names of +all his killed, wounded, and missing; and their relatives received +pensions from the American government, which, if the returns were +false, would certainly have been a most elaborate piece of deception. +It is far more likely that Hilyar was mistaken; or he may have +counted in the _Essex Junior's_ crew, which would entirely account +for the discrepancies. In any event it must be remembered that he +makes the American killed and wounded 111 (Porter, 124), and _not_ +69, as James says. The latter's statement is wilfully false, as he +had seen Hilyar's letter.] He also bears very candid testimony to +the defence of the _Essex_ having been effective enough to at one +time render the result doubtful, saying: "Our first attack * * * +produced no visible effect. Our second * * * was not more successful; +and having lost the use of our main-sail, jib, and main-stay, +appearances looked a little inauspicious." Throughout the war no +ship was so desperately defended as the _Essex_, taking into account +the frightful odds against which she fought, which always enhances +the merit of a defence. The _Lawrence_, which suffered even more, +was backed by a fleet; the _Frolic_ was overcome by an equal foe; +and the _Reindeer_ fought at far less of a disadvantage, and suffered +less. None of the frigates, British or American, were defended with +any thing like the resolution she displayed. + +But it is perhaps permissible to inquire whether Porter's course, +after the accident to his top-mast occurred, was altogether the best +that could have been taken. On such a question no opinion could have +been better than Farragut's, although of course his judgment was +_ex post facto_, as he was very young at the time of the fight. + +"In the first place, I consider our original and greatest error was +in attempting to regain the anchorage; being greatly superior in +sailing powers we should have borne up and run before the wind. +If we had come in contact with the _Phoebe_ we should have carried +her by boarding; if she avoided us, as she might have done by her +greater ability to manoeuvre, then we should have taken her fire +and passed on, leaving both vessels behind until we had replaced +our top-mast, by which time they would have been separated, as unless +they did so it would have been no chase, the _Cherub_ being a dull +sailer. + +"Secondly, when it was apparent to everybody that we had no chance +of success under the circumstances, the ship should have been run +ashore, throwing her broadside to the beach to prevent raking, and +fought as long as was consistent with humanity, and then set on fire. +But having determined upon anchoring we should have bent a spring +on to the ring of the anchor, instead of to the cable, where it was +exposed, and could be shot away as fast as put on." + +But it must be remembered that when Porter decided to anchor near +shore, in neutral water, he could not anticipate Hilyar's deliberate +and treacherous breach of faith. I do not allude to the mere disregard +of neutrality. Whatever international moralists may say, such +disregard is a mere question of expediency. If the benefits to be +gained by attacking a hostile ship in neutral waters are such as to +counterbalance the risk of incurring the enmity of the neutral +power, why then the attack ought to be made. Had Hilyar, when he +first made his appearance off Valparaiso, sailed in with his two +ships, the men at quarters and guns out, and at once attacked +Porter, considering the destruction of the _Essex_ as outweighing +the insult to Chili, why his behavior would have been perfectly +justifiable. In fact this is unquestionably what he intended to do, +but he suddenly found himself in such a position, that in the even +of hostilities, _his_ ship would be the captured one, and he owed +his escape purely to Porter's over-forbearance, under great provocation +Then he gave his word to Potter that he would not infringe on the +neutrality; and he never dared to break it, until he saw Porter was +disabled and almost helpless! This may seem strong language to use +about a British officer, but it is justly strong. Exactly as any +outsider must consider Warrington's attack on the British brig +_Nautilus_ in 1815, as a piece of needless cruelty; so any outsider +must consider Hilyar as having most treacherously broken faith with +Porter. + +After the fight Hilyar behaved most kindly and courteously to the +prisoners; and, as already said, he fought his ship most ably, for +it would have been quixotic to a degree to forego his advantages. +But previous to the battle his conduct had been over-cautious. It +was to be expected that the _Essex_ would make her escape as soon +as practicable, and so he should have used every effort to bring +her to action. Instead of this he always declined the fight when +alone; and he owed his ultimate success to the fact that the _Essex_ +instead of escaping, as she could several times have done, stayed, +hoping to bring the _Phoebe_ to action single-handed. It must be +remembered that the _Essex_ was almost as weak compared to the +_Phoebe_, as the _Cherub_ was compared to the _Essex_. The latter +was just about midway between the British ships, as may be seen by +the following comparison. In the action the _Essex_ fought all six +of her long 12's, and the _Cherub_ both her long 9's, instead of +the corresponding broadside carronades which the ships regularly +used. This gives the _Essex_ a better armament than she would have +had fighting her guns as they were regularly used; but it can be +seen how great the inequality still was. It must also be kept in +mind, that while in the battles between the American 44's and +British 38's, the short weight 24-pounders of the former had in +reality no greater range or accuracy than the full weight 18's of +their opponents, in this case the _Phoebe's_ full weight 18's had +a very much greater range and accuracy than the short weight 12's +of the _Essex_. + +COMPARATIVE FORCE. + + Men. Broadside Guns. Weight. Total. + +_Phoebe_, 320 13 long 18's 234 lbs. + 1 " 12 12 " + 1 " 9 9 " (255) + 7 short 32's 224 " + 1 " 18 18 " (242) + __________ _____ + 23 guns. 497 lbs. + +_Cherub_, 180 2 long 9's 18 lbs. (18) + 2 short 18's 36 " + 9 " 32's 288 " (342) + ___________ ______ + 13 guns. 342 lbs. +______________________________ ______ _____ + 500 men. 36 guns. 839 lbs. metal. + -+- 273 long. -+- + '- 566 short. -' + +_Essex_, 255 6 long 12's 66 lbs. -+- Taking 7 per + 17 short 32's 504 " | cent off + | for short + '- weight. +____________ _____________ ________ _______________ + 255 men, 32 guns, 570 lbs. + +All accounts agree as to the armament of the _Essex_. I have taken +that of the _Phoebe_ and _Cherub_ from James; but Captain Porter's +official letter, and all the other American accounts make the +_Phoebe's_ broadside 15 long 18's and 8 short 32's, and give the +_Cherub_, in all, 18 short 32's, 8 short 24's, and two long nines. +This would make their broadside 904 lbs., 288 long, 616 short. I +would have no doubt that the American accounts were right if the +question rested solely on James' veracity; but he probably took his +figures from official sources. At any rate, remembering the difference +between long guns and carronades, it appears that the _Essex_ was +really nearly intermediate in force between the _Phoebe_ and the +_Cherub_. The battle being fought, with a very trifling exception, +at long range, it was in reality a conflict between a crippled ship +throwing a broadside of 66 lbs. of metal, and two ships throwing +273 lbs., who by their ability to manoeuvre could choose positions +where they could act with full effect, while their antagonist could +not return a shot. Contemporary history does not afford a single +instance of so determined a defence against such frightful odds. + +The official letters of Captains Hilyar and Porter agree substantially +in all respects; the details of the fight, as seen in the _Essex_, +are found in the "Life of Farragut." But although the British captain +does full justice to his foe, British historians have universally +tried to belittle Porter's conduct. It is much to be regretted that +we have no British account worth paying attention to of the proceedings +before the fight, when the _Phoebe_ declined single combat with the +_Essex_. James, of course, states that the _Phoebe_ did not decline +it, but he gives no authority, and his unsupported assertion would +be valueless even if uncontradicted. His account of the action is +grossly inaccurate as he has inexcusably garbled Hilyar's report. +One instance of this I have already mentioned, as regards Hilyar's +account of Porter's loss. Again, Hilyar distinctly states that the +_Essex_ was twice on fire, yet James (p. 418) utterly denies this, +thereby impliedly accusing the British captain of falsehood. There +is really no need of the corroboration of Porter's letter, but he +has it most fully in the "Life of Farragut," p. 37: "The men came +rushing up from below, many with their clothes burning, which were +torn from them as quickly as possible, and those for whom this could +not be done were told to jump overboard and quench the flames. * * * +One man swam to shore with scarcely a square inch of his body which +had not been burned, and, although he was deranged for some days, +he ultimately recovered, and afterward served with me in the West +Indies." The third unfounded statement in James' account is that +buckets of spirits were found in all parts of the main deck of the +_Essex_, and that most of the prisoners were drunk. No authority +is cited for this, and there is not a shadow of truth in it. He ends +by stating that "few even in his own country will venture to speak +well of Captain David Porter." After these various paragraphs we +are certainly justified in rejecting James' account _in toto_. An +occasional mistake is perfectly excusable, and gross ignorance of +a good many facts does not invalidate a man's testimony with regard +to some others with which he is acquainted; but a wilful and systematic +perversion of the truth in a number of cases throws a very strong +doubt on a historian's remaining statements, unless they are supported +by unquestionable authority. + +But if British historians have generally given Porter much less than +his due, by omitting all reference to the inferiority of his guns, +his lost top-mast, etc., it is no worse than Americans have done in +similar cases. The latter, for example, will make great allowances +in the case of the _Essex_ for her having carronades only, but utterly +fail to allude to the _Cyane_ and _Levant_ as having suffered under +the same disadvantage. They should remember that the rules cut both ways. + +The _Essex_ having suffered chiefly above the waterline, she was +repaired sufficiently in Valparaiso to enable her to make the voyage +to England, where she was added to the British navy. The _Essex Junior_ +was disarmed and the American prisoners embarked in her for New York, +on parole. But Lieutenant McKnight, Chaplain Adams, Midshipman Lyman, +and 11 seamen were exchanged on the spot for some of the British +prisoners on board the _Essex Junior_. McKnight and Lyman accompanied +the _Phoebe_ to Rio Janeiro, where they embarked on a Swedish vessel, +were taken out of her by the _Wasp_, Captain Blakely, and were lost +with the rest of the crew of that vessel. The others reached New +York in safety. Of the prizes made by the _Essex_, some were burnt +or sunk by the Americans, and some retaken by the British. And so, +after nearly two years' uninterrupted success, the career of the +_Essex_ terminated amid disasters of all kinds. But at least her +officers and crew could reflect that they had afforded an example +of courage in adversity that it would be difficult to match elsewhere. + +The first of the new heavy sloops of war that got to sea was the +_Frolic_, Master Commandant Joseph Bainbridge, which put out early +in February. Shortly afterward she encountered a large Carthagenian +privateer, which refused to surrender and was sunk by a broadside, +nearly a hundred of her crew being drowned. Before daylight on the +20th of April, lat. 24° 12' N., long. 81° 25' W., she fell in with +the British 36-gun frigate _Orpheus_, Capt. Pigot, and the 12-gun +schooner _Shelburne_, Lieut. Hope, both to leeward. The schooner +soon weathered the _Frolic_, but of course was afraid to close, and +the American sloop continued beating to windward, in the effort to +escape, for nearly 13 hours; the water was started, the anchors cut +away, and finally the guns thrown overboard--a measure by means of +which both the _Hornet_, the _Rattlesnake_, and the _Adams_ succeeded +in escaping under similar circumstances,--but all was of no avail, +and she was finally captured. The court of inquiry honorably acquitted +both officers and crew. As was to be expected James considers the +surrender a disgraceful one, because the guns were thrown overboard. +As I have said, this was a measure which had proved successful in +several cases of a like nature; the criticism is a piece of petty +meanness. Fortunately we have Admiral Codrington's dictum on the +surrender ("Memoirs," vol. 1, p. 310), which he evidently considered +as perfectly honorable. + +[Illustration: Master Commandant Lewis Warrington: a contemporary +portrait by Rembrandt Peale. (Courtesy Naval Historical Foundation)] + +A sister ship to the _Frolic_, the _Peacock_, Capt. Lewis Warrington, +sailed from New York on March 12th, and cruised southward; on the +28th of April, at seven in the morning, lat. 17° 47' N., long. 80° +7' W., several sail were made to windward. [Footnote: Official letter +of Capt. Warrington, April 29. 1814.] These were a small convoy of +merchant-men, bound for the Bermudas, under the protection of the +18-gun brig-sloop _Epervier_, Capt. Wales, 5 days out of Havana, +and with $118,000 in specie on board. [Footnote: James, vi, 424.] +The _Epervier_ when discovered was steering north by east, the wind +being from the eastward; soon afterward the wind veered gradually +round to the southward, and the _Epervier_ hauled up close on the +port tack, while the convoy made all sail away, and the _Peacock_ +came down with the wind on her starboard quarter. At 10 A.M. the +vessels were within gun-shot, and the _Peacock_ edged away to get +in a raking broadside, but the _Epervier_ frustrated this by putting +her helm up until close on her adversary's bow, when she rounded to +and fired her starboard guns, receiving in return the starboard +broadside of the _Peacock_ at 10.20 A.M. These first broadsides took +effect aloft, the brig being partially dismantled, while the +_Peacock's_ fore-yard was totally disabled by two round shot in the +starboard quarter, which deprived the ship of the use of her fore-sail +and fore-top-sail, and compelled her to run large. However, the +_Epervier_ eased away [Footnote: According to some accounts she at +this time tacked.] when abaft her foe's beam, and ran off alongside +of her (using her port guns, while the American still had the +starboard battery engaged) at 10.35. The _Peacock's_ fire was now +very hot, and directed chiefly at her adversary's hull, on which +it told heavily, while she did not suffer at all in return. The +_Epervier_ coming up into the wind, owing somewhat to the loss of +head-sail, Capt. Wales called his crew aft to try boarding, but they +refused, saying "she's too heavy for us," [Footnote: James, "Naval +Occurrences," p. 243.] and then, at 11.05 the colors were hauled down. + +[Illustration of the action between _PEACOCK_ and _EPERVIER_ between +10.10 and 11.05.] + +Except the injury to her fore-yard, the _Peacock's_ damages were +confined to the loss of a few top-mast and top-gallant backstays, +and some shot-holes through her sails. Of her crew, consisting, all +told, of 166 men and boys, [Footnote: "Niles' Register," vi. 196, +says only 160; the above is taken from Warrington's letter of June +1st, preserved with the other manuscript letters in the Naval Archives. +The crew contained about 10 boys, was not composed of picked men, +and did not number 185--_vide_ James.] only two were wounded, both +slightly. The _Epervier_, on the other hand, had 45 shot-holes in +her hull, 5 feet of water in her hold, main-top-mast over the side, +main-mast nearly in two, main-boom shot away, bowsprit wounded +severely, and most of the fore-rigging and stays shot away; and of +her crew of 128 men (according to the list of prisoners given by +Captain Warrington; James says 118, but he is not backed up by any +official report) 9 were killed and mortally wounded, and 14 severely +and slightly wounded. Instead of two long sixes for bow-chasers, +and a shifting carronade, she had two 18-pound carronades (according +to the American prize-lists; [Footnote: American State Papers, vol. +xiv, p. 427.] Capt. Warrington says 32's). Otherwise she was armed +as usual. She was, like the rest of her kind, very "tubby," being +as broad as the _Peacock_, though 10 feet shorter on deck. Allowing, +as usual, 7 per cent, for short weight of the American shot, we get the + + COMPARATIVE FORCE. + + Tons. No. Broadside Guns. Weight Metal. Crew. Loss. +_Peacock_ 509 11 315 166 2 +_Epervier_ 477 9 274 128 23 + +That is, the relative force being as 12 is to 10, the relative +execution done was as 12 is to 1, and the _Epervier_ surrendered +before she had lost a fifth of her crew. The case of the _Epervier_ +closely resembles that of the _Argus_. In both cases the officers +behaved finely; in both cases, too, the victorious foe was heavier, +in about the same proportion, while neither the crew of the _Argus_, +nor the crew of the _Epervier_ fought with the determined bravery +displayed by the combatants in almost every other struggle of the +war. But it must be added that the _Epervier_ did worse than the +_Argus_, and the _Peacock_ (American) better than the _Pelican_. +The gunnery of the _Epervier_ was extraordinarily poor; "the most +disgraceful part of the affair was that our ship was cut to pieces +and the enemy hardly scratched." [Footnote: "Memoirs of Admiral +Codrington," i, 322.] James states that after the first two or three +broadsides several carronades became unshipped, and that the others +were dismounted by the fire of the _Peacock_; that the men had not +been exercised at the guns; and, most important of all, that the +crew (which contained "several foreigners," but was chiefly British; +as the _Argus_ was chiefly American) was disgracefully bad. The +_Peacock_, on the contrary, showed skilful seamanship as well as +excellent gunnery. In 45 minutes after the fight was over the fore-yard +had been sent down and fished, the fore-sail set up, and every thing +in complete order again; [Footnote: Letter of Capt. Warrington, April +29, 1814.] the prize was got in sailing order by dark, though great +exertions had to be made to prevent her sinking. Mr. Nicholson, first +of the _Peacock_, was put in charge as prize-master. The next day +the two vessels were abreast of Amelia Island, when two frigates were +discovered in the north, to leeward. Capt. Warrington at once directed +the prize to proceed to St. Mary's, while he separated and made sail +on a wind to the south, intending to draw the frigates after him, +as he was confident that the _Peacock_, a very fast vessel, could +outsail them. [Footnote: Letter of Capt. Warrington, May 4, 1814.] +The plan succeeded perfectly, the brig reaching Savannah on the first +of May, and the ship three days afterward. The _Epervier_ was purchased +for the U.S. navy, under the same name and rate. The _Peacock_ sailed +again on June 4th, [Footnote: Letter of Capt. Warrington, Oct. 30, 1814.] +going first northward to the Grand Banks, then to the Azores; then +she stationed herself in the mouth of the Irish Channel, and afterward +cruised off Cork, the mouth of the _Shannon_, and the north of Ireland, +capturing several very valuable prizes and creating great consternation. +She then changed her station, to elude the numerous vessels that +had been sent after her, and sailed southward, off Cape Ortegal, +Cape Finisterre, and finally among the Barbadoes, reaching New York, +Oct. 29th. During this cruise she encountered no war vessel smaller +than a frigate; but captured 14 sail of merchant-men, some containing +valuable cargoes, and manned by 148 men. + +On April 29th, H.M.S. schooner _Ballahou_, 6, Lieut. King, while +cruising off the American coast was captured by the _Perry_, privateer, +a much heavier vessel, after an action of 10 minutes' duration. + +The general peace prevailing in Europe allowed the British to turn +their energies altogether to America; and in no place was this +increased vigor so much felt as in Chesapeake Bay where a great +number of line-of-battle ships, frigates, sloops, and transports +had assembled, in preparation for the assault on Washington and +Baltimore. The defence of these waters was confided to Capt. Joshua +Barney, [Footnote: He was born at Baltimore, July 7, 1759; James, +with habitual accuracy, calls him an Irishman. He makes Decatur, +by the way, commit the geographical solecism of being born in +"Maryland, Virginia."] with a flotilla of gun-boats. These consisted +of three or four sloops and schooners, but mainly of barges, which +were often smaller than the ship's boats that were sent against them. +These gun-boats were manned by from 20 to 40 men each, and each +carried, according to its size, one or two long 24-, 18-, or 12-pounders. +They were bad craft at best; and, in addition, it is difficult to +believe that they were handled to the fullest advantage. + +On June 1st Commodore Barney, with the block sloop _Scorpion_ and +14 smaller "gun-boats," chiefly row gallies, passed the mouth of +the Patuxent, and chased the British schooner _St. Lawrence_ and +seven boats, under Captain Barrie, until they took refuge with the +_Dragon_, 74, which in turn chased Barney's flotilla into the Patuxent, +where she blockaded it in company with the _Albion_, 74. They were +afterward joined by the _Loire_, 38, _Narcissus_, 32, and _Lasseur_, +18, and Commodore Barney moved two miles up St. Leonard's Creek, +while the frigates and sloop blockaded its mouth. A deadlock now +ensued; the gunboats were afraid to attack the ships, and the ships' +boats were just as afraid of the gun-boats. On the 8th, 9th, and +11th skirmishes occurred; on each occasion the British boats came +up till they caught sight of Barney's flotilla, and were promptly +chased off by the latter, which, however, took good care not to +meddle with the larger vessels. Finally, Colonel Wadsworth, of the +artillery, with two long 18-pounders, assisted by the marines, under +Captain Miller, and a few regulars, offered to cooperate from the +shore while Barney assailed the two frigates with the flotilla. On +the 26th the joint attack took place most successfully; the _Loire_ +and _Narcissus_ were driven off, although not much damaged, and the +flotilla rowed out in triumph, with a loss of but 4 killed and 7 +wounded. But in spite of this small success, which was mainly due +to Colonel Wadsworth, Commodore Barney made no more attempts with +his gun-boats. The bravery and skill which the flotilla men showed +at Bladensburg prove conclusively that their ill success on the water +was due to the craft they were in, and not to any failing of the men. +At the same period the French gun-boats were even more unsuccessful, +but the Danes certainly did very well with theirs. + +Barney's flotilla in the Patuxent remained quiet until August 22d, +and then was burned when the British advanced on Washington. The +history of this advance, as well as of the unsuccessful one on +Baltimore, concerns less the American than the British navy, and +will be but briefly alluded to here. On August 20th Major-General +Ross and Rear-Admiral Cockburn, with about 5,000 soldiers and marines, +moved on Washington by land; while a squadron, composed of the +_Seahorse_, 38, _Euryalus_, 36, bombs _Devastation_, _Aetna_, and +_Meteor_, and rocket-ship _Erebus_, under Captain James Alexander +Gordon, moved up the Potomac to attack Fort Washington, near +Alexandria; and Sir Peter Parker, in the _Menelaus_, 38, was sent +"to create a diversion" above Baltimore. Sir Peter's "diversion" +turned out most unfortunately for him: for, having landed to attack +120 Maryland militia, under Colonel Reade, he lost his own life, +while fifty of his followers were placed _hors de combat_ and the +remainder chased back to the ship by the victors, who had but three +wounded. + +The American army, which was to oppose Ross and Cockburn, consisted +of some seven thousand militia, who fled so quickly that only about +1,500 British had time to become engaged. The fight was really between +these 1,500 British regulars and the American flotilla men. These +consisted of 78 marines, under Captain Miller, and 370 sailors, some +of whom served under Captain Barney, who had a battery of two 18's +and three 12's, while the others were armed with muskets and pikes, +and acted with the marines. Both sailors and marines did nobly, +inflicting most of the loss the British suffered, which amounted +to 256 men, and in return lost over a hundred of their own men, +including the two captains, who were wounded and captured, with +the guns. [Footnote: The optimistic Cooper thinks that two regular +regiments would have given the Americans this battle--which is open +to doubt.] Ross took Washington and burned the public buildings; +and the panic-struck Americans foolishly burned the _Columbia_, 44, +and _Argus_, 18, which were nearly ready for service. + +Captain Gordon's attack on Fort Washington was conducted with great +skill and success. Fort Washington was abandoned as soon as fired +upon, and the city of Alexandria surrendered upon most humiliating +conditions. Captain Gordon was now joined by the _Fairy_, 18, Captain +Baker, who brought him orders to return from Vice-Admiral Cochrane; +and the squadron began to work down the river, which was very difficult +to navigate. Commodore Rodgers, with some of the crew of the two +44's, _Guerrière_ and _Java_, tried to bar their progress, but had +not sufficient means. On September 1st an attempt was made to destroy +the _Devastation_ by fire-ships, but it failed; on the 4th the attempt +was repeated by Commodore Rodgers, with a party of some forty men, +but they were driven off and attacked by the British boats, under +Captain Baker, who in turn was repulsed with the loss of his second +lieutenant killed, and some twenty-five men killed or wounded. The +squadron also had to pass and silence a battery of light field-pieces +on the 5th, where they suffered enough to raise their total loss to +seven killed and thirty-five wounded. Gordon's inland expedition was +thus concluded most successfully, at a very trivial cost; it was +a most venturesome feat, reflecting great honor on the captains and +crews engaged in it. + +Baltimore was threatened actively by sea and land early in September. +On the 13th an indecisive conflict took place between the British +regulars and American militia, in which the former came off with +the honor, and the latter with the profit. The regulars held the +field, losing 350 men, including General Ross; the militia retreated +in fair order with a loss of but 200. The water attack was also +unsuccessful. At 5 A.M. on the 13th the bomb vessels _Meteor_, +_Aetna_, _Terror_, _Volcano_, and _Devastation_, the rocket-ship +_Erebus_, and the frigates _Severn_, _Euryalus_, _Havannah_, and +_Hebrus_ opened on Fort McHenry, some of the other fortifications +being occasionally fired at. A furious but harmless cannonade was +kept up between the forts and ships until 7 A.M. on the 14th, when +the British fleet and army retired. + +I have related these events out of their natural order because they +really had very little to do with our navy, and yet it is necessary +to mention them in order to give an idea of the course of events. +The British and American accounts of the various gun-boat attacks +differ widely; but it is very certain that the gun-boats accomplished +little or nothing of importance. On the other hand, their loss amounted +to nothing, for many of those that were sunk were afterward raised, +and the total tonnage of those destroyed would not much exceed that +of the British barges captured by them from time to time or destroyed +by the land batteries. + +The purchased brig _Rattlesnake_, 16, had been cruising in the +Atlantic with a good deal of success; but in lat. 40° N., long. 33° W., +was chased by a frigate from which Lieutenant Renshaw, the brig's +commander, managed to escape only by throwing overboard all his +guns except two long nines; and on June 22d he was captured by +the _Leander_, 50, Captain Sir George Ralph Collier, K. C. B. + +The third of the new sloops to get to sea was the _Wasp_, 22, Captain +Johnston Blakely, which left Portsmouth on May 1st, with a very fine +crew of 173 men, almost exclusively New Englanders; there was said +not to have been a single foreign seaman on board. It is, at all +events, certain that during the whole war no vessel was ever better +manned and commanded than this daring and resolute cruiser. The _Wasp_ +slipped unperceived through the blockading frigates, and ran into +the mouth of the English Channel, right in the thick of the English +cruisers; here she remained several weeks, burning and scuttling +many ships. Finally, on June 28th, at 4 A.M., in lat. 48° 36' N., +long. 11° 15' W., [Footnote: Letter of Captain Blakely, July 8, +1814.] while in chase of two merchant-men, a sail was made on the +weather-beam. This was the British brig-sloop _Reindeer_, 18, +Captain William Manners, [Footnote: James, vi, 429.] with a crew +of 118, as brave men as ever sailed or fought on the narrow seas. +Like the _Peacock_ (British) the _Reindeer_ was only armed with +24-pounders, and Captain Manners must have known well that he was +to do battle with a foe heavier than himself; but there was no more +gallant seaman in the whole British navy, fertile as it was in men +who cared but little for odds of size or strength. As the day broke, +the _Reindeer_ made sail for the _Wasp_, then lying in the west-southwest. + +The sky was overcast with clouds, and the smoothness of the sea was +hardly disturbed by the light breeze that blew out of the northeast. +Captain Blakely hauled up and stood for his antagonist, as the latter +came slowly down with the wind nearly aft, and so light was the weather +that the vessels kept almost on even keels. It was not till quarter +past one that the _Wasp's_ drum rolled out its loud challenge as +it beat to quarters, and a few minutes afterward the ship put about +and stood for the foe, thinking to weather him; but at 1.50 the brig +also tacked and stood away, each of the cool and skilful captains +being bent on keeping the weather-gage. At half past two the _Reindeer_ +again tacked, and, taking in her stay-sails, stood for the _Wasp_, +who furled her royals; and, seeing that she would be weathered, at +2.50, put about in her turn and ran off, with the wind a little forward +the port beam, brailing up the mizzen, while the _Reindeer_ hoisted +her flying-jib, to close, and gradually came up on the _Wasp's_ +weather-quarter. At 17 minutes past three, when the vessels were +not sixty yards apart, the British opened the conflict, firing the +shifting 12-pound carronade, loaded with round and grape. To this +the Americans could make no return, and it was again loaded and fired, +with the utmost deliberation; this was repeated five times, and would +have been a trying ordeal to a crew less perfectly disciplined than +the _Wasp's_. At 3.26 Captain Blakely, finding his enemy did not +get on his beam, put his helm a-lee and luffed up, firing his guns +from aft forward as they bore. For ten minutes the ship and the brig +lay abreast, not twenty yards apart, while the cannonade was terribly +destructive. The concussion of the explosions almost deadened what +little way the vessels had on, and the smoke hung over them like a +pall. The men worked at the guns with desperate energy, but the odds +in weight of metal (3 to 2) were too great against the _Reindeer_, +where both sides played their parts so manfully. Captain Manners +stood at his post, as resolute as ever, though wounded again and +again. A grape-shot passed through both his thighs, bringing him +to the deck; but, maimed and bleeding to death, he sprang to his +feet, cheering on the seamen. The vessels were now almost touching, +and putting his helm aweather, he ran the _Wasp_ aboard on her port +[Footnote: Letter of Captain Blakely, July 8, 1814. Cooper starboard: +it is a point of little importance; all accounts agree as to the +_relative_ positions of the craft.] quarter, while the boarders +gathered forward, to try it with the steel. But the Carolina captain +had prepared for this with cool confidence; the marines came aft; +close under the bulwarks crouched the boarders, grasping in their +hands the naked cutlasses, while behind them were drawn up the pikemen. +As the vessels came grinding together the men hacked and thrust at +one another through the open port-holes, while the black smoke curled +up from between the hulls. Then through the smoke appeared the grim +faces of the British sea-dogs, and the fighting was bloody enough; +for the stubborn English stood well in the hard hand play. But those +who escaped the deadly fire of the topmen, escaped only to be riddled +through by the long Yankee pikes; so, avenged by their own hands, +the foremost of the assailants died, and the others gave back. The +attack was foiled, though the _Reindeer's_ marines kept answering +well the American fire. Then the English captain, already mortally +wounded, but with the indomitable courage that nothing but death +could conquer, cheering and rallying his men, himself sprang, sword +in hand, into the rigging, to lead them on; and they followed him +with a will. At that instant a ball from the _Wasp's_ main-top +crashed through his skull, and, still clenching in his right hand +the sword he had shown he could wear so worthily, with his face to +the foe, he fell back on his own deck dead, while above him yet +floated the flag for which he had given his life. No Norse Viking, +slain over shield, ever died better. As the British leader fell and +his men recoiled, Captain Blakely passed the word to board; with +wild hurrahs the boarders swarmed over the hammock nettings, there +was a moment's furious struggle, the surviving British were slain +or driven below, and the captain's clerk, _the highest officer left_, +surrendered the brig, at 3.44, just 27 minutes after the _Reindeer_ +had fired the first gun, and just 18 after the _Wasp_ had responded. + +[Illustration showing the action between the _WASP_ and the _REINDEER_ +from 3.17 to 3.45.] + +Both ships had suffered severely in the short struggle; but, as with +the _Shannon_ and _Chesapeake_, the injuries were much less severe +aloft than in the hulls. All the spars were in their places. The +_Wasp's_ hull had received 6 round, and many grape; a 24-pound shot +had passed through the foremast; and of her crew of 173, 11 were +killed or mortally wounded, and 15 wounded severely or slightly. +The _Reindeer_ was completely cut to pieces in a line with her ports; +her upper works, boats, and spare spars being one entire wreck. Of +her crew of 118 men, 33 were killed outright or died later, and 34 +were wounded, nearly all severely. + + COMPARATIVE FORCE. + + Broadside Weight No. + Tons. Guns. Metal. Men. Loss +_Wasp,_ 509 11 315 173 26 +_Reindeer,_ 477 10 210 118 67 + + +It is thus seen that the _Reindeer_ fought at a greater disadvantage +than any other of the various British sloops that were captured in +single action during the war; and yet she made a better fight than +any of them (though the _Frolic_, and the _Frolic_ only, was defended +with the same desperate courage); a pretty sure proof that heavy +metal is not the only factor to be considered in accounting for the +American victories. "It is difficult to say which vessel behaved the +best in this short but gallant combat." [Footnote: Cooper, ii, 287.] +I doubt if the war produced two better single-ship commanders than +Captain Blakely and Captain Manners; and an equal meed of praise +attaches to both crews. The British could rightly say that they +yielded purely to heavy odds in men and metal; and the Americans, +that the difference in execution was fully proportioned to the +difference in force. It is difficult to know which to admire most, +the wary skill with which each captain manoeuvred before the fight, +the perfect training and discipline that their crews showed, the +decision and promptitude with which Captain Manners tried to retrieve +the day by boarding, and the desperate bravery with which the attempt +was made; or the readiness with which Captain Blakely made his +preparations, and the cool courage with which the assault was foiled. +All people of the English stock, no matter on which side of the +Atlantic they live, if they have any pride in the many feats of +fierce prowess done by the men of their blood and race, should never +forget this fight; although we cannot but feel grieved to find that +such men--men of one race and one speech; brothers in blood, as well +as in bravery--should ever have had to turn their weapons against +one another. + +The day after the conflict the prize's foremast went by the board, +and, as she was much damaged by shot, Captain Blakely burned her, +put a portion of his wounded prisoners on board a neutral, and with +the remainder proceeded to France, reaching l'Orient on the 8th day +of July. + +On July 4th Sailing-master Percival and 30 volunteers of the New York +flotilla [Footnote: Letter of Com. J. Lewis, July 6, 1814.] concealed +themselves on board a fishing-smack, and carried by surprise the +_Eagle_ tender, which contained a 32-pound howitzer and 14 men, 4 +of whom were wounded. + +On July 12th, while off the west coast of South Africa, the American +brig _Syren_ was captured after a chase of 11 hours by the _Medway_, +74, Capt. Brine. The chase was to windward during the whole time, +and made every effort to escape, throwing overboard all her boats, +anchors, cables, and spare spars. [Footnote: Letter of Capt. Brine +to Vice-Admiral Tyler, July 12. 1814.] Her commander, Captain Parker, +had died, and she was in charge of Lieut. N. J. Nicholson. By a curious +coincidence, on the same day, July 12th, H. M. cutter _Landrail_, 4, +[Footnote: James, vi, 436: his statement is wrong as regards the +privateer.] of 20 men, Lieut. Lancaster, was captured by the American +privateer _Syren_, a schooner mounting 1 long heavy gun, with a crew +of 70 men; the _Landrail_ had 7, and the _Syren_ 3 men wounded. + +On July 14th Gun-boat No. 88, Sailing-master George Clement, captured +after a short skirmish the tender of the _Tenedos_ frigate, with +her second lieutenant, 2 midshipmen, and 10 seamen. [Footnote: Letter +of Capt. Isaac Hull, July 15. 1814.] + +The _Wasp_ stayed in l'Orient till she was thoroughly refitted, and +had filled, in part, the gaps in her crew, from the American privateers +in port. On Aug. 27th, Captain Blakely sailed again, making two prizes +during the next three days. On Sept. 1st she came up to a convoy of +10 sail under the protection of the _Armada_, 74, all bound for +Gibraltar; the swift cruiser hovered round the merchant-men like +a hawk, and though chased off again and again by the line-of-battle +ship, always returned the instant the pursuit stopped, and finally +actually succeeded in cutting off and capturing one ship, laden with +iron and brass cannon, muskets, and other military stores of great +value. At half past six on the evening of the same day, in lat. 47° +30' N., long. 11° W., while running almost free, four sail, two on +the starboard bow, and two on the port, rather more to leeward, were +made out. [Footnote: Official letter of Capt. Blakely. Sept. 8, 1814.] +Capt. Blakely at once made sail for the most weatherly of the four +ships in sight, though well aware that more than one of them might +prove to be hostile cruisers, and they were all of unknown force. +But the determined Carolinian was not one to be troubled by such +considerations. He probably had several men less under his command +than in the former action, but had profited by his experience with +the _Reindeer_ in one point, having taken aboard her 12-pounder +boat carronade, of whose efficacy he had had very practical proof. + +The chase, the British brig-sloop _Avon_, 18, Captain the Honorable +James Arbuthnot, [Footnote: James, vi, 432] was steering almost +southwest; the wind, which was blowing fresh from the southeast, +being a little abaft the port beam. At 7.00 the _Avon_ began making +night signals with the lanterns, but the _Wasp_, disregarding these, +came steadily on; at 8.38 the _Avon_ fired a shot from her stern-chaser, +[Footnote: James, vi, 432.] and shortly afterward another from one +of her lee or starboard guns. At 20 minutes past 9, the _Wasp_ was +on the port or weather-quarter of the _Avon_, and the vessels interchanged +several hails; one of the American officers then came forward on +the forecastle and ordered the brig to heave to, which the latter +declined doing, and set her port foretop-mast studding sail. The +_Wasp_ then, at 9.29, fired the 12-pound carronade into her, to which +the _Avon_ responded with her stern-chaser and the aftermost port +guns. Capt. Blakely then put his helm up, for fear his adversary +would try to escape, and ran to leeward of her, and then ranged up +alongside, having poured a broadside into her quarter. A close and +furious engagement began, at such short range that the only one of +the _Wasp's_ crew who was wounded, was hit by a wad; four round shot +struck her hull, killing two men, and she suffered a good deal in +her rigging. The men on board did not know the name of their antagonist; +but they could see through the smoke and the gloom of the night, +as her black hull surged through the water, that she was a large +brig; and aloft, against the sky, the sailors could be discerned, +clustering in the tops. [Footnote: Captain Blakely's letter.] In +spite of the darkness the _Wasp's_ fire was directed with deadly +precision; the _Avon's_ gaff was shot away at almost the first +broadside, and most of her main-rigging and spars followed suit. +She was hulled again and again, often below water-line; some of her +carronades were dismounted, and finally the main-mast went by the +board. At 10.00, after 31 minutes of combat, her fire had been +completely silenced and Captain Blakely hailed to know if she had +struck. No answer being received, and the brig firing a few random +shot, the action recommended; but at 10.12 the _Avon_ was again +hailed, and this time answered that she had struck. While lowering +away a boat to take possession, another sail (H. B. M. brig-sloop +_Castilian_, 18, Captain Braimer) was seen astern. The men were again +called to quarters, and every thing put in readiness as rapidly as +possible; but at 10.36 two more sail were seen (one of which was +H. B. M. _Tartarus_, 20 [Footnote: "Niles' Register," vi. 216.]). +The braces being cut away, the _Wasp_ was put before the wind until +new ones could be rove. The _Castilian_ pursued till she came up +close, when she fired her lee guns into, or rather over, the +weather-quarter of the _Wasp_, cutting her rigging slightly. Repeated +signals of distress having now been made by the _Avon_ (which had +lost 10 men killed and 32 wounded), the _Castilian_ tacked and stood +for her, and on closing found out she was sinking. Hardly had her +crew been taken out when she went down. + +[Illustration of the action between _WASP_ and _AVON_ from 9.25 +to 10.00.] + +Counting the _Wasp's_ complement as full (though it was probably +two or three short), taking James' statement of the crew of the +_Avon_ as true, including the boat carronades of both vessels, and +considering the _Avon's_ stern-chaser to have been a six-pounder, +we get the + + COMPARATIVE FORCE. + No. Weight No. + Tons. Guns. Metal. Men. Loss. +_Wasp,_ 509 12 327 160 3 +_Avon,_ 477 11 280 117 42 + + +It is self-evident that in the case of this action the odds, 14 to +11, are neither enough to account for the loss inflicted being as +14 to 1, nor for the rapidity with which, during a night encounter, +the _Avon_ was placed in a sinking condition. "The gallantry of the +_Avon's_ officers and crew cannot for a moment be questioned; but +the gunnery of the latter appears to have been not one whit better +than, to the discredit of the British navy, had frequently before +been displayed in combats of this kind. Nor, judging from the specimen +given by the _Castilian_, is it likely that she would have performed +any better." [Footnote: James, vi, 435.] On the other hand, "Capt. +Blakely's conduct on this occasion had all the merit shown in the +previous action, with the additional claim of engaging an enemy +under circumstances which led him to believe that her consorts were +in the immediate vicinity. The steady, officer-like way in which +the _Avon_ was destroyed, and the coolness with which he prepared +to engage the _Castilian_ within ten minutes after his first antagonist +had struck, are the best encomiums on this officer's character and +spirit, as well as on the school in which he had been trained." +[Footnote: Cooper, ii, 291.] + +The _Wasp_ now cruised to the southward and westward, taking and +scuttling one or two prizes. On Sept. 21st, lat. 33° 12' N., long. +14° 56' W., she captured the brig _Atalanta_, 8, with 19 men, which +proved a valuable prize, and was sent in with one of the midshipmen, +Mr. Geisinger, aboard, as prize-master, who reached Savannah in safety +on Nov. 4th. Meanwhile the _Wasp_ kept on toward the southeast. On +Oct. 9th, in lat. 18° 35' N., long. 30° 10' W., she spoke and boarded +the Swedish brig _Adonis_, and took out of her Lieut. McKnight and +Mr. Lyman, a master's mate, both late of the _Essex_, on their way +to England from Brazil. + +This was the last that was ever heard of the gallant but ill-fated +_Wasp_. How she perished none ever knew; all that is certain is that +she was never seen again. She was as good a ship, as well manned, +and as ably commanded as any vessel in our little navy; and it may +be doubted if there was at that time any foreign sloop of war of her +size and strength that could have stood against her in fair fight. + +As I have said, the _Wasp_ was manned almost exclusively by Americans. +James says they were mostly Irish; the reason he gives for the +assertion being that Capt. Blakely spent the first 16 months of his +life in Dublin. This argument is quite on a par with another piece +of logic which I cannot resist noticing. The point he wishes to prove +is that Americans are cowards. Accordingly, on p. 475: "On her capstan +the _Constitution_ now mounted a piece resembling 7 musket barrels, +fixed together with iron bands. It was discharged by one lock, and +each barrel threw 25 balls. * * * What could have impelled the Americans +to invent such extraordinary implements of war but fear, down-right +fear?" Then a little further on: "The men were provided with leather +boarding-caps, fitted with bands of iron, * * * another strong symptom +of fear!" Now, such a piece of writing as this is simply evidence +of an unsound mind; it is not so much malicious as idiotic. I only +reproduce it to help prove what I have all along insisted on, that +any of James' unsupported statements about the Americans, whether +respecting the tonnage of the ships or the courage of the crews, +are not worth the paper they are written on; on all points connected +purely with the British navy, or which can be checked off by official +documents or ships' logs, or where there would be no particular object +in falsifying, James is an invaluable assistant, from the diligence +and painstaking care he shows, and the thoroughness and minuteness +with which he goes into details. + +A fair-minded and interesting English critic, [Footnote: Lord Howard +Douglass, "Treatise on Naval Gunnery," p. 416.] whose remarks are +generally very just, seems to me to have erred somewhat in commenting +on this last sloop action. He says that the _Avon_ was first crippled +by dismantling shot from _long guns_. Now, the _Wasp_ had but _one_ +long gun on the side engaged, and, moreover, began the action with +the shortest and lightest of her carronades. Then he continues that +the _Avon_, like the _Peacock_, "was hulled so low that the shot-holes +could not be got at, and yielded to this fatal circumstance only." +It certainly cannot be said when a brig has been dismasted, has had +a third of her crew placed _hors de combat_, and has been rendered +an unmanageable hulk, that she yields _only_ because she has received +a few shot below the water-line. These shot-holes undoubtedly hastened +the result, but both the _Peacock_ and the _Avon_ would have +surrendered even if they had remained absolutely water-tight. + +The _Adams_, 28, had been cut down to a sloop of war at Washington, +and then lengthened into a flush-decked, heavy corvette, mounting +on each side 13 medium 18's, or columbiads, and 1 long 12, with a +crew of 220 men, under the command of Capt. Charles Morris, late +first lieut. of the _Constitution_. [Footnote: "Autobiography of +Commodore Morris," Annapolis, 1880, p. 172.] She slipped out of the +Potomac and past the blockaders on Jan. 18th, and cruised eastward +to the African coast and along it from Cape Mount to Cape Palmas, +thence to the Canaries and Cape de Verd. She returned very nearly +along the Equator, thence going toward the West Indies. The cruise +was unlucky, but a few small prizes, laden with palm-oil and ivory, +being made. In hazy weather, on March 25th, a large Indiaman (the +_Woodbridge_) was captured; but while taking possession the weather +cleared up, and Capt. Morris found himself to leeward of 25 sail, +two of which, a two-decker and a frigate, were making for him, and +it took him till the next day to shake them off. He entered Savannah +on May 1st and sailed again on the 8th, standing in to the Gulf +Stream, between Makanilla and Florida, to look out for the Jamaica +fleet. He found this fleet on the 24th, but the discovery failed +to do him much good, as the ships were under the convoy of a 74, +two frigates, and three brigs. The _Adams_ hovered on their skirts +for a couple of days, but nothing could be done with them, for the +merchant-men sailed in the closest possible order and the six war +vessels exercised the greatest vigilance. So the corvette passed +northward to the Newfoundland Banks, where she met with nothing but +fogs and floating ice, and then turned her prow toward Ireland. On +July 4th she made out and chased two sail, who escaped into the mouth +of the Shannon. After this the _Adams_, heartily tired of fogs and +cold, stood to the southward and made a few prizes; then, in lat. +44° N., long. 10° W., on July 15th, she stumbled across the 18-pounder +36-gun frigate _Tigris_, Capt. Henderson. The frigate was to leeward, +and a hard chase ensued. It was only by dint of cutting away her +anchors and throwing overboard some of her guns that the _Adams_ +held her own till sunset, when it fell calm. Capt. Morris and his +first lieutenant, Mr. Wadsworth, had been the first and second +lieutenants of _Old Ironsides_ in Hull's famous cruise, and they +proved that they had not forgotten their early experience, for they +got out the boats to tow, and employed their time so well that by +sunrise the frigate was two leagues astern. After 18 hours' more +chase the _Adams_ dropped her. But in a day or two she ran across +a couple more, one of which, an old bluff-bows, was soon thrown out; +but the other was very fast, and kept close on the corvette's heels. +As before, the frigate was to leeward. The _Adams_ had been built +by contract; one side was let to a sub-contractor of economical +instincts, and accordingly turned out rather shorter than the other; +the result was, the ship sailed a good deal faster on one tack than +on the other. In this chase she finally got on her good tack in the +night, and so escaped. [Footnote: This statement is somewhat +traditional; I have also seen it made about the _John Adams_. But +some old officers have told me positively that it occurred to the +_Adams_ on this cruise.] Capt. Morris now turned homeward. During +his two cruises he had made but 10 prizes (manned by 161 men), none +of very great value. His luck grew worse and worse. The continual +cold and damp produced scurvy, and soon half of his crew were +prostrated by the disease; and the weather kept on foggy as ever. +Off the Maine coast a brig-sloop (the _Rifleman_, Capt. Pearce) was +discovered and chased, but it escaped in the thick weather. The fog +grew heavier, and early on the morning of Aug. 17th the _Adams_ struck +land--literally struck it, too, for she grounded on the Isle of Haute, +and had to throw over provisions, spare spars, etc., before she could +be got off. Then she entered the Penobscot, and sailed 27 miles up +it to Hampden. The _Rifleman_ meanwhile conveyed intelligence of +her whereabouts to a British fleet, consisting of two line-of-battle +ships, three frigates, three sloops, and ten troop transports, under +the joint command of Rear-Admiral Griffeth and Lieutenant-General +Sherbrooke. [Footnote: James, vi, 479.] + +This expedition accordingly went into the Penobscot and anchored +off Castine. Captain Morris made every preparation he could to defend +his ship, but his means were very limited; seventy of his men were +dead or disabled by the scurvy; the remainder, many of them also +diseased, were mustered out, to the number of 130 officers and seamen +(without muskets) and 20 marines. He was joined, however, by 30 +regulars, and later by over 300 militia armed with squirrel guns, +ducking- and fowling-pieces, etc.,--in all between 500 and 550 men, +[Footnote: "Autobiography of Commodore Morris."] only 180 of whom, +with 50 muskets among them, could be depended upon. On Sept. 3d the +British advanced by land and water, the land-force being under the +direction of Lieutenant-Colonel John, and consisting of 600 troops, +80 marines, and 80 seamen. [Footnote: James, vi. 481. Whenever militia +are concerned James has not much fear of official documents and lets +his imagination run riot; he here says the Americans had 1,400 men, +which is as accurate as he generally is in writing about this species +of force. His aim being to overestimate the number of the Americans +in the various engagements, he always supplies militia _ad libitum_, +to make up any possible deficiency.] The flotilla was composed of +barges, launches, and rocket-boats, under the command of Captain +Barry of the _Dragon_, 74. In all there were over 1,500 men. The +seamen of the _Adams_, from the wharf, opened fire on the flotilla, +which returned it with rockets and carronades; but the advance was +checked. Meanwhile the British land-forces attacked the militia, +who acted up to the traditional militia standard, and retreated with +the utmost promptitude and celerity, omitting the empty formality +of firing. This left Captain Morris surrounded by eight times his +number, and there was nothing to do but set fire to the corvette +and retreat. The seamen, marines, and regulars behaved well, and +no attempt was made to molest them. None of Captain Morris' men +were hit; his loss was confined to one sailor and one marine who +were too much weakened by scurvy to retreat with the others, who +marched to Portland, 200 miles off. The British lost ten men killed +or wounded. + +On Sept. 9th Gunboats No. 160 and 151, commanded by Mr. Thomas M. +Pendleton, captured off Sapoleo Bar, Ga., the British privateer +_Fortune of War_, armed with two heavy pivot guns, and 35 men. She +made a brief resistance, losing two of her men. [Footnote: Letter +from Commodore H. E. Campbell, St. Mary's, Sept. 12, 1814.] + +On Sept. 15th the British 20-gun ship-sloops _Hermes_ and _Carron_, +and 18-gun brig-sloops _Sophie_ and _Childers_, and a force of 200 +men on shore, [Footnote: James, vi, 527.] attacked Fort Bowyer, on +Mobile Point, but were repulsed without being able to do any damage +whatever to the Americans. The _Hermes_ was sunk and the assailants +lost about 80 men. + +[Illustration: Captain Samuel C. Reid: a portrait painted by John +Wesley Jarvis in 1815. (Courtesy U.S. Naval Academy Museum)] + +On the 26th of September, while the privateer-schooner _General +Armstrong_, of New York, Captain Samuel C. Reid, of one long 24, +eight long 9's, and 90 men, was lying at anchor in the road of Fayal, +a British squadron, composed of the _Plantagenet_, 74, Captain Robert +Floyd, _Rota_, 38, Captain Philip Somerville, and _Carnation_, 18, +Captain George Bentham, hove in sight. [Footnote: Letter of Captain +S. C. Reid, Oct. 7, 1814; and of John B. Dabney, Consul at Fayal, +Oct. 5, 1814.] One or more boats were sent in by the British, to +reconnoitre the schooner, as they asserted, or, according to the +American accounts, to carry her by a _coup de main_. At any rate, +after repeatedly warning them off, the privateer fired into them, +and they withdrew. Captain Reid then anchored, with springs on his +cables, nearer shore, to await the expected attack, which was not +long deferred. At 8 P.M. four boats from the _Plantagenet_ and three +from the _Rota_, containing in all 180 men, [Footnote: James, vi, +509: Both American accounts say 12 boats, with 400 men, and give +the British loss as 250. According to my usual rule, I take each +side's statement of its own force and loss.] under the command of +Lieutenant William Matterface, first of the _Rota_, pulled in toward +the road, while the _Carnation_ accompanied them to attack the schooner +if she got under way. The boats pulled in under cover of a small +reef of rocks, where they lay for some time, and about midnight +made the attack. The Americans opened with the pivot gun, and +immediately afterward with their long 9's, while the boats replied +with their carronades, and, pulling spiritedly on amidst a terrific +fire of musketry from both sides, laid the schooner aboard on her +bow and starboard quarter. The struggle was savage enough, the British +hacking at the nettings and trying to clamber up on deck, while the +Americans fired their muskets and pistols in the faces of their +assailants and thrust the foremost through with their long pikes. +The boats on the quarter were driven off; but on the forecastle all +three of the American lieutenants were killed or disabled, and the +men were giving back when Captain Reid led all the after-division +up and drove the British back into their boats. This put an end to +the assault. Two boats were sunk, most of the wounded being saved +as the shore was so near; two others were captured, and but three +of the scattered flotilla returned to the ships. Of the Americans, +2 were killed, including the second lieutenant, Alexander O. Williams, +and 7 were wounded, including the first and third lieutenants, +Frederick A. Worth and Robert Johnson. Of the British, 34 were killed +and 86 were wounded; among the former being the Rota's first and +third lieutenants, William Matterface and Charles R. Norman, and +among the latter her second lieutenant and first lieutenant of +marines, Richard Rawle and Thomas Park. The schooner's long 24 had +been knocked off its carriage by a carronade shot, but it was replaced +and the deck cleared for another action. Next day the _Carnation_ +came in to destroy the privateer, but was driven off by the judicious +use the latter made of her "Long Tom." But affairs being now hopeless, +the _General Armstrong_ was scuttled and burned, and the Americans +retreated to the land. The British squadron was bound for New Orleans, +and on account of the delay and loss that it suffered, it was late +in arriving, so that this action may be said to have helped in saving +the Crescent City. Few regular commanders could have done as well +as Captain Reid. + +On October 6th, while Gun-boat No. 160 was convoying some coasters +from Savannah, it was carried by a British tender and nine boats. +[Footnote: Letter from Commander H. C. Campbell, Oct. 12, 1814.] +The gun-vessel was lying at anchor about eight leagues from St. +Mary's, and the boats approached with muffled oars early in the +morning. They were not discovered till nearly aboard, but the defence +though short was spirited, the British losing about 20 men. Of the +gun-boat's 30 men but 16 were fit for action: those, under +Sailing-master Thomas Paine, behaved well. Mr. Paine, especially, +fought with the greatest gallantry; his thigh was broken by a +grape-shot at the very beginning, but he hobbled up on his other +leg to resist the boarders, fighting till he was thrust through by +a pike and had received two sabre cuts. Any one of his wounds would +have been enough to put an ordinary man _hors de combat_. + +On October 11th, another desperate privateer battle took place. +The brigantine _Prince-de-Neufchatel_, Captain Ordronaux, of New +York, was a superbly built vessel of 310 tons, mounting 17 guns, +and originally possessing a crew of 150 men. [Footnote: "History +of American Privateers," by George Coggeshall, p. 241, New York, +1876.] She had made a very successful cruise, having on board goods +to the amount of $300,000, but had manned and sent in so many prizes +that only 40 of her crew were left on board, while 37 prisoners were +confined in the hold. One of her prizes was in company, but had +drifted off to such a distance that she was unable to take part in +the fight. At mid-day, on the 11th of October, while off Nantucket, +the British frigate _Endymion_, 40, Captain Henry Hope, discovered +the privateer and made sail in chase. [Footnote: James, vi, p. 527.] +At 8.30 P.M., a calm having come on, the frigate despatched 5 boats, +containing 111 men, [Footnote: According to Captain Ordronaux; James +does not give the number, but says 28 were killed, 37 wounded, and +the crew of the launch captured. Ten of the latter were unwounded, +and 18 wounded. I do not know if he included these last among his +"37 wounded."] under the command of the first lieutenant, Abel Hawkins, +to take the brigantine; while the latter triced up the boarding +nettings, loaded the guns with grape and bullets, and prepared herself +in every way for the coming encounter. She opened fire on the boats +as they drew near, but they were soon alongside, and a most desperate +engagement ensued. Some of the British actually cut through the +nettings and reached the deck, but were killed by the privateersmen; +and in a few minutes one boat was sunk, three others drifted off, +and the launch, which was under the brigantine's stern, was taken +possession of. The slaughter had been frightful, considering the +number of the combatants. The victorious privateersmen had lost +7 killed, 15 badly and 9 slightly wounded, leaving but 9 untouched! +Of the _Endymion's_ men, James says 28, including the first lieutenant +and a midshipman, were killed, and 37, including the second lieutenant +and a master's mate, wounded; "besides which the launch was captured +and the crew made prisoners." I do not know if this means 37 wounded, +_besides_ the wounded in the launch, or not [Footnote: I think James +does not include the wounded in the launch, as he says 28 wounded +were sent aboard the _Saturn_; this could hardly have included the +men who had been captured.]; of the prisoners captured 18 were +wounded and 10 unhurt, so the loss was either 28 killed, 55 wounded, +and 10 unhurt prisoners; or else 28 killed, 37 wounded, and 10 +prisoners; but whether the total was 93 or 75 does not much matter. +It was a most desperate conflict, and, remembering how short-handed +the brigantine was, it reflected the highest honor on the American +captain and his crew. + +After their repulse before Baltimore the British concentrated their +forces for an attack upon New Orleans. Accordingly a great fleet +of line-of-battle ships, frigates, and smaller vessels, under +Vice-Admiral Cochrane, convoying a still larger number of store-ships +and transports, containing the army of General Packenham, appeared +off the Chandeleur Islands on Dec. 8th. The American navy in these +parts consisted of the ship _Louisiana_ and schooner _Carolina_ in +the Mississippi river, and in the shallow bayous a few gun-boats, +of course without quarters, low in the water, and perfectly easy +of entrance. There were also a few tenders and small boats. The +British frigates and sloops anchored off the broad, shallow inlet +called Lake Borgne on the 12th; on this inlet there were 5 gun-boats +and 2 small tenders, under the command of Lieut. Thomas Catesby Jones. +It was impossible for the British to transport their troops across +Lake Borgne, as contemplated, until this flotilla was destroyed. +Accordingly, on the night of the 12th, 42 launches, armed with +24-, 18-, and 12-pounder carronades, and 3 unarmed gigs, carrying +980 seamen and marines, under the orders of Capt. Lockyer, [Footnote: +James, vi, 521.] pushed off from the _Armide_, 38, in three divisions; +the first under the command of Capt. Lockyer, the second under Capt. +Montresor, and the third under Capt. Roberts. [Footnote: Letter of +Capt. Lockyer to Vice-Admiral Cochrane, Dec. 18, 1814.] Lieut. Jones +was at anchor with his boats at the Malheureux Islands, when he +discovered, on the 13th, the British flotilla advancing toward Port +Christian. He at once despatched the _Seahorse_ of one 6-pounder +and 14 men, under Sailing-master William Johnston, to destroy the +stores at Bay St. Louis. She moored herself under the bank, where +she was assisted by two 6-pounders. There the British attacked her +with seven of their smaller boats, which were repulsed after sustaining +for nearly half an hour a very destructive fire. [Footnote: James, +vi, 521.] However, Mr. Johnston had to burn his boat to prevent it +from being taken by a larger force. Meanwhile Lieut. Jones got under +way with the five gun-vessels, trying to reach Les Petites Coquilles, +near a small fort at the mouth of a creek. But as the wind was light +and baffling, and the current very strong, the effort was given up, +and the vessels came to anchor off Malheureux Island passage at +1 A.M. on the 14th. [Footnote: Official letter of Lieut. Jones, March +12, 1815.] The other tender, the _Alligator_, Sailing-master Sheppard, +of one 4-pounder and 8 men, was discovered next morning trying to +get to her consorts, and taken with a rush by Capt. Roberts and his +division. At daybreak Lieut. Jones saw the British boats about nine +miles to the eastward, and moored his 5-gun vessel abreast in the +channel, with their boarding nettings triced up, and every thing +in readiness; but the force of the current drifted two of them, +Nos. 156 and 163, a hundred yards down the pass and out of line, +No. 156 being the headmost of all. Their exact force was as follows: +No. 156, Lieut. Jones, 41 men and 5 guns (1 long 24 and 4 12-pound +carronades); No. 163, Sailing-master Geo. Ulrick, 21 men, 3 guns +(1 long 24 and 2 12-pound carronades); No. 162, Lieut. Robert Speddes, +35 men, 5 guns (1 long 24 and 4 light sixes); No. 5, Sailing-master +John D. Ferris, 36 men, 5 guns (1 long 24, 4 12-pound carronades); +No. 23, Lieut. Isaac McKeever, 39 men and 5 guns (1 long 32 and 4 +light sixes). There were thus, in all, 182 men and a broadside of +14 guns, throwing 212 pounds of shot. The British forces amounted, +as I have said, to 980 men, and (supposing they had equal numbers +of 24's, 18's and 12's,) the flotilla threw seven hundred and +fifty-eight pounds of shot. The odds of course were not as much +against the Americans as these figures would make them, for they +were stationary, had some long, heavy guns and boarding nettings; +on the other hand the fact that two of their vessels had drifted +out of line was a very serious misfortune. At any rate, the odds +were great enough, considering that he had British sailors to deal +with, to make it any thing but a cheerful look-out for Lieut. Jones; +but nowise daunted by the almost certain prospect of defeat the American +officers and seamen prepared very coolly for the fight. In this +connection it should be remembered that simply to run the boats on +shore would have permitted the men to escape, if they had chosen to +do so. + +[Illustration: The Battle of Lake Borgne: an early-19th-century +painting by Thomas Hornbrook. (Courtesy U.S. Naval Academy Museum)] + +Captain Lockyer acted as coolly as his antagonist. When he had reached +a point just out of gun-shot, he brought the boats to a grapnel, +to let the sailors eat breakfast and get a little rest after the +fatigue of their long row. When his men were rested and in good trim +he formed the boats in open order, and they pulled gallantly on against +the strong current. At 10.50 the Americans opened fire from their +long guns, and in about 15 minutes the cannonade became general on +both sides. At 11.50 [Footnote: Lieut. Jones' letter.] Captain Lockyer's +barge was laid alongside No. 156, and a very obstinate struggle ensued, +"in which the greater part of the officers and crew of the barge were +killed or wounded," [Footnote: Captain Lockyer's letter.] including +among the latter the gallant captain himself, severely, and his equally +gallant first lieutenant, Mr. Pratt, of the _Seahorse_ frigate, mortally. +At the same time Lieut. Tatnall (of the _Tonnant_) also laid his +barge aboard the gun-boat, only to have it sunk; another shared the +same fate; and the assailants were for the moment repulsed. But at +this time Lieut. Jones, who had shown as much personal bravery during +the assault, as forethought in preparing for it, received a dangerous +and disabling wound, while many of his men received the same fate; +the boarding nettings, too, had all been cut or shot away. Several +more barges at once assailed the boats, the command of which had +devolved on a young midshipman, Mr. George Parker; the latter, fighting +as bravely as his commander, was like him severely wounded, whereupon +the boat was carried at 12.10. Its guns were turned on No. 163, and +this, the smallest of the gun-boats, was soon taken; then the British +dashed at No. 162 and carried it, after a very gallant defence, in +which Lieut. Speddes was badly wounded. No. 5 had her long 24 dismounted +by the recoil, and was next carried; finally, No. 23, being left +entirely alone, hauled down her flag at 12.30. [Footnote: Minutes +of the Court of Inquiry, held May 15, 1851.*] The Americans had lost +6 killed and 35 wounded; the British 17 killed and 77 (many mortally) +wounded. The greater part of the loss on both sides occurred in boarding +No. 156, and also the next two gun-boats. + +__________________________________ +* Poster's note: the date 1851 above may well have been 1815 +in the original; if you have a copy of this book, we would +appreciate confirmation. +__________________________________ + +I have in this case, as usual, taken each commander's account of +his own force and loss. Lieut. Jones states the British force to +have been 1,000, which tallies almost exactly with their own account; +but believes that they lost 300 in killed and wounded. Captain +Lockyer, on the other hand, gives the Americans 225 men and three +additional light guns. But on the main points the two accounts agree +perfectly. The victors certainly deserve great credit for the +perseverance, gallantry and dash they displayed; but still more +belongs to the vanquished for the cool skill and obstinate courage +with which they fought, although with the certainty of ultimate defeat +before them,--which is always the severest test of bravery. No comment +is needed to prove the effectiveness of their resistance. Even James +says that the Americans made an obstinate struggle, that Lieut. Jones +displayed great personal bravery, and that the British loss was very +severe. + +On the night of Dec. 23d Gen. Jackson beat up the quarters of the +British encamped on the bank of the Mississippi. The attack was +opened by Capt. Patterson in the schooner _Carolina_, 14; she was +manned by 70 men, and mounted on each side six 12-pound carronades +and one long 12. Dropping down the stream unobserved, till opposite +the bivouac of the troops and so close to the shore that his first +command to fire was plainly heard by the foe, Patterson opened a +slaughtering cannonade on the flank of the British, and kept it up +without suffering any loss in return, as long as the attack lasted. +But on the 27th the British had their revenge, attacking the little +schooner as she lay at anchor, unable to ascend the current on account +of the rapid current and a strong head-wind. The assailants had a +battery of 5 guns, throwing hot shot and shell, while the only gun +of the schooner's that would reach was the long 12. After half an +hour's fighting the schooner was set on fire and blown up; the crew +escaped to the shore with the loss of 7 men killed and wounded. The +only remaining vessel, exclusive of some small, unarmed row-boats, +was the _Louisiana_, 16, carrying on each side eight long 24's. She +was of great assistance in the battle of the 28th, throwing during +the course of the cannonade over 800 shot, and suffering very little +in return. [Footnote: Cooper, ii, p. 320.] Afterward the American +seamen and marines played a most gallant part in all the engagements +on shore; they made very efficient artillerists. + + SUMMARY. +The following vessels were got ready for sea during this year: +[Footnote: Am. State Papers, xiv, p. 828; also Emmons' statistical +"History."] + +Name. Rig. Where Built. Cost. Men. Guns. Tons. Remarks + +_Wasp_, Ship Newburyport $77,459.60 160 22 509 Built +_Frolic_, " Boston 72,094.82 " " " " +_Peacock_, " New York 75,644.36 " " " " +_Ontario_, " Baltimore 59,343.69 " " " " +_Erie_, " " 56,174.36 " " " " +_Tom Bowline_, Schooner Portsmouth 13,000.00 90 12 260 Purchased +_Lynx_, " Washington 50 6 Built +_Epervier_, Brig England 50,000.00 130 18 477 Captured +_Flambeau_, " Baltimore 14,000.00 90 14 300 Purchased +-+- _Spark_, " " 17,389.00 " " " " + | _Firefly_, " " 17,435.00 " " 333 " + | _Torch_, Schooner " 13,000.00 60 12 260 " + | _Spitfire_, " " 20,000.00 " " 286 " + '- _Eagle_, " N.O. " " 270 " +-+- _Prometheus_, " Philadelphia 20,000.00 " " 290 " + | _Chippeway_, Brig R.I. 52,000.00 90 14 390 " + | _Saranac_, " Middleton 26,000.00 " " 360 " + '- _Boxer_, " " 26,000.00 " " 370 " +_Despatch_, Schooner 23 2 52 + + +The first 5 small vessels that are bracketed were to cruise under +Commodore Porter; the next 4 under Commodore Perry; but the news +of peace arrived before either squadron put to sea. Some of the +vessels under this catalogue were really almost ready for sea at +the end of 1813; and some that I have included in the catalogue of +1815 were almost completely fitted at the end of 1814,--but this +arrangement is practically the best. + +LIST OF VESSELS LOST TO THE BRITISH. + +1. Destroyed by British Armies. + +Name. Tons. Guns. +_Columbia_, 1,508 52-+- Destroyed to prevent them +_Adams_, 760 28 | falling into hands of enemy. +_Argus_. 509 22 '- +_Carolina_. 230 14 Destroyed by battery. + ----- ---- + 3,007 116 + +2. Captured, Etc., By British Navy on Ocean. + +Name. Tons. Guns. +_Essex_. 860 46 Captured by frigate and corvette. +_Frolic_. 509 22 " by frigate and schooner. +_Rattlesnake_, 258 16 " by frigate. +_Syren_, 250 16 " by seventy-four. + --- ---- + 1,877 100 + +Total, 4,884 tons. 216 guns + + +There were also a good many gun-boats, which I do not count, because, +as already said, they were often not as large as the barges that +were sunk and taken in attacking them, as at Craney Island, etc. + +LIST OF VESSELS TAKEN FROM THE BRITISH. + +1. Captured by American Privateers. + +Name. Tons. Guns. +_Ballabou_, 86 4 +_Landrail_, 76 4 + +2. Captured, Etc., By British Navy on Ocean. + +Name. Tons. Guns. +_Epervier_, 477 18 captured by sloop _Peacock_. +_Avon_, 477 20 sunk " " _Wasp_. +_Reindeer_, 477 19 " " " ". +_Pictou_, 300 14 captured by frigate. + +3. Sunk in Attacking Fort. + + Name. Tons. Guns. +_Hermes_, 500 22 + ----- ----- + 2,393 101 + + +Taking into account the losses on the lakes, there was not very much +difference in the amount of damage done to each combatant by the other; +but both as regards the material results and the moral effects, the +balance inclined largely to the Americans. The chief damage done +to our navy was by the British land-forces, and consisted mainly +in forcing us to burn an unfinished frigate and sloop. On the ocean +our three sloops were captured in each case by an overwhelming force, +against which no resistance could be made, and the same was true +of the captured British schooner. The _Essex_ certainly gained as +much honor as her opponents. There were but three single ship actions, +in all of which the Americans were so superior in force as to give +them a very great advantage; nevertheless, in two of them the victory +was won with such perfect impunity and the difference in the loss +and damage inflicted was so very great, that I doubt if the result +would have been affected if the odds had been reversed. In the other +case, that of the _Reindeer_, the defeated party fought at a still +greater disadvantage, and yet came out of the conflict with full +as much honor as the victor. No man with a particle of generosity +in his nature can help feeling the most honest admiration for the +unflinching courage and cool skill displayed by Capt. Manners and +his crew. It is worthy of notice (remembering the sneers of so many +of the British authors at the "wary circumspection" of the Americans) +that Capt. Manners, who has left a more honorable name than any other +British commander of the war, excepting Capt. Broke, behaved with +the greatest caution as long as it would serve his purpose, while +he showed the most splendid personal courage afterward. It is this +combination of courage and skill that made him so dangerous an +antagonist; it showed that the traditional British bravery was not +impaired by refusing to adhere to the traditional British tactics +of rushing into a fight "bull-headed." Needless exposure to danger +denotes not so much pluck as stupidity. Capt. Manners had no intention +of giving his adversary any advantage he could prevent. No one can +help feeling regret that he was killed; but if he was to fall, what +more glorious death could he meet? It must be remembered that while +paying all homage to Capt. Manners, Capt. Blakely did equally well. +It was a case where the victory between two combatants, equal in +courage and skill, was decided by superior weight of metal and number +of men. + + PRIZES MADE. + +Name of ship. Number of prizes. +_President_ 3 +_Constitution_ 6 +_Adams_ 10 +_Frolic_ 2 +_Wasp_ 15 +_Peacock_ 15 +_Hornet_ 1 +Small craft 35 + --- + 87 + + + +Chapter VIII + + +1814 + +ON THE LAKES + +_ONTARIO-The contest one of ship-building merely--Extreme caution +of the commanders, verging on timidity--Yeo takes Oswego, and +blockades Sackett's Harbor--British gun-boats captured--Chauncy +blockades Kingston--ERIE--Captain Sinclair's unsuccessful +expedition--Daring and successful cutting-out expeditions of the +British--CHAMPLAIN--Macdonough's victory._ + +Ontario. + +The winter was spent by both parties in preparing more formidable +fleets for the ensuing summer. All the American schooners had proved +themselves so unfit for service that they were converted into +transports, except the _Sylph_, which was brig-rigged and armed like +the _Oneida_. Sackett's Harbor possessed but slight fortifications, +and the Americans were kept constantly on the alert, through fear +lest the British should cross over. Commodore Chauncy and Mr. Eckford +were as unremitting in their exertions as ever. In February two 22-gun +brigs, the _Jefferson_ and _Jones_, and one large frigate of 50 guns, +the _Superior_, were laid; afterward a deserter brought in news of +the enormous size of one of the new British frigates, and the +_Superior_ was enlarged to permit her carrying 62 guns. The _Jefferson_ +was launched on April 7th, the _Jones_ on the 10th; and the _Superior_ +on May 2d,--an attempt on the part of the British to blow her up +having been foiled a few days before. Another frigate, the _Mohawk_, +42, was at once begun. Neither guns nor men for the first three ships +had as yet arrived, but they soon began to come in, as the roads +got better and the streams opened. Chauncy and Eckford, besides +building ships that were literally laid down in the forest, and +seeing that they were armed with heavy guns, which, as well as all +their stores, had to be carried overland hundreds of miles through +the wilderness, were obliged to settle quarrels that occurred among +the men, the most serious being one that arose from a sentinel's +accidentally killing a shipwright, whose companions instantly struck +work in a body. What was more serious, they had to contend with such +constant and virulent sickness that it almost assumed the proportions +of a plague. During the winter it was seldom that two thirds of the +force were fit for duty, and nearly a sixth of the whole number of +men in the port died before navigation opened. [Footnote: Cooper +mentions that in five months the _Madison_ buried a fifth of her crew.] + +Meanwhile Yeo had been nearly as active at Kingston, laying down +two frigates and a huge line-of-battle ship, but his shipwrights +did not succeed in getting the latter ready much before navigation +closed. The _Prince Regent_, 58, and _Princess Charlotte_, 42, were +launched on April 15th. I shall anticipate somewhat by giving tabular +lists of the comparative forces, after the two British frigates, the +two American frigates, and the two American brigs had all been equipped +and manned. Commodore Yeo's original six cruisers had been all renamed, +some of them re-armed, and both the schooners changed into brigs. +The _Wolfe_, _Royal George_, _Melville_, _Moira_, _Beresford_, and +_Sydney Smith_, were now named respectively _Montreal_, _Niagara_, +_Star_, _Charwell_, _Netly_, and _Magnet_. On the American side there +had been but slight changes, beyond the alteration of the _Sylph_ +into a brig armed like the _Oneida_. Of the _Superior's_ 62 guns, +4 were very shortly sent on shore again. + +CHAUNCY'S SQUADRON. + + Broadside + Name. Rig. Tonnage. Crew. Metal. Armament. +_Superior_, ship, 1,580 500 1,050lbs. +- 30 long 32's + | 2 " 24's + - 26 short 42's +_Mohawk_, " 1,350 350 554 lbs. -+- 26 long 24's + | 2 " 18's + '- 14 short 32's +_Pike_, " 875 300 360 " -+- 26 long 24's + '- 2 " 24's +_Madison_, " 593 200 364 " -+- 2 long 12's + '- 22 short 32's +_Jones_, brig, 500 160 332 " -+- 2 long 12's + '- 20 short 32's +_Jefferson_, " 500 160 332 " -+- 2 long 12's + '- 20 short 32's +_Sylph_, " 300 100 180 " -+- 2 long 12's + '- 14 short 24's +_Oneida_, " 243 100 180 " -+- 2 long 12's + '- 14 short 24's +__________ _____ _____ __________ ________ +8 vessels, 5,941 1,870 3,352 lbs. 228 guns. + +This is considerably less than James makes it, as he includes all +the schooners, which were abandoned as cruisers, and only used as +transports or gun-boats. Similarly Sir James had a large number of +gun-boats, which are not included in his cruising force. James thus +makes Chauncy's force 2,321 men, and a broadside of 4,188 lbs. + +YEO'S SQUADRON + + Broadside +Name. Rig. Tonnage. Crew. Metal. Armament. +_Prince ship, 1,450 485 872 lbs. -+- 32 long 24's + Regent_, | 4 short 68's + '- 22 " 32's +_Princess " 1,215 315 604 " -+- 26 long 24's + Charlotte_, | 2 short 68's + '- 14 " 32's +_Montreal_, " 637 220 258 " -+- 7 long 24's + '- 18 " 18's +_Niagara_, " 510 200 332 " -+- 2 long 12's + '- 20 short 32's +_Charwell_, brig, 279 110 236 " -+- 2 long 12's + '-14 short 32's +_Star_, " 262 110 236 " -+- 2 long 12's + '-14 short 32's +_Netly_, " 216 100 180 " -+- 2 long 12's + '-14 short 24's +_Magnet_, " 187 80 156 " -+- 2 long 12's + '-12 short 24's +__________ _____ _____ _________ ________ +8 vessels, 4,756 1,620 2,874 lbs. 209 guns. + +This tallies pretty well with James' statement, which (on p. 488) +is 1,517 men, and a broadside of 2,752 lbs. But there are very +probably errors as regards the armaments of the small brigs, which +were continually changed. At any rate the American fleet was certainly +the stronger, about in the proportion of six to five. The disproportion +was enough to justify Sir James in his determination not to hazard +a battle, although the odds were certainly not such as British +commanders had been previously accustomed to pay much regard to. +Chauncy would have acted exactly as his opponent did, had he been +similarly placed. The odds against the British commodore were too +great to be overcome, where the combatants were otherwise on a par, +although the refusal to do battle against them would certainly preclude +Yeo from advancing any claims to _superiority_ in skill or courage. +The _Princess Charlotte_ and _Niagara_ were just about equal to the +_Mohawk_ and _Madison_, and so were the _Charwell_ and _Netly_ to +the _Oneida_ and _Sylph_; but both the _Star_ and _Magnet_ together +could hardly have matched either the _Jones_ or the _Jefferson_, +while the main-deck 32's of the _Superior_ gave her a great advantage +over the _Prince Regent's_ 24's, where the crews were so equal; and +the _Pike_ was certainly too heavy for the _Montreal_. A decided +superiority in the effectiveness of both crews and captains could +alone have warranted Sir James Lucas Yeo in engaging, and this +superiority he certainly did not possess. + +This year the British architects outstripped ours in the race for +supremacy, and Commodore Yeo put out of port with his eight vessels +long before the Americans were ready. His first attempt was a +successful attack on Oswego. This town is situated some 60 miles +distant from Sackett's Harbor, and is the first port on the lake +which the stores, sent from the seaboard to Chauncy, reached. +Accordingly it was a place of some little importance, but was very +much neglected by the American authorities. It was insufficiently +garrisoned, and was defended only by an entirely ruined fort of 6 +guns, two of them dismounted. Commodore Yeo sailed from Kingston +to attack it on the 3d of May, having on board his ships a detachment +of 1,080 troops. Oswego was garrisoned by less than 300 men, [Footnote: +General order of Gen. Jacob Brown, by R. Jones, Ass. Adj.-General, +May 12, 1814.] chiefly belonging to a light artillery regiment, with +a score or two of militia; they were under the command of Colonel +Mitchell. The recaptured schooner _Growler_ was in port, with 7 guns +destined for the Harbor; she was sunk by her commander, but afterward +raised and carried off by the foe. + +On the 5th Yeo appeared off Oswego and sent in Captain Collier and +13 gun-boats to draw the fort's fire; after some firing between them +and the four guns mounted in the fort (two long 24's, one long 12, +and one long 6), the gun-boats retired. The next day the attack was +seriously made. The _Princess Charlotte_, _Montreal_, and _Niagara_ +engaged the batteries, while the _Charwell_ and _Star_ scoured the +woods with grape to clear them of the militia. [Footnote: Letter of +General Gordon Drummond, May 7, 1814.] The debarkation of the troops +was superintended by Captain O'Connor, and until it was accomplished +the _Montreal_ sustained almost the whole fire of the fort, being +set on fire three times, and much cut up in hull, masts, and rigging. +[Footnote: Letter of Sir James Lucas Yeo, May 17, 1814.] Under this +fire 800 British troops were landed, under Lieutenant-Colonel Fischer, +assisted by 200 seamen, armed with long pikes, under Captain Mulcaster. +They moved gallantly up the hill, under a heavy fire, and carried +the fort by assault; Mitchell then fell back unmolested to the Falls, +about 12 miles above the town, where there was a large quantity of +stores. But he was not again attacked. The Americans lost 6 men killed, +including Lieutenant Blaeny, 38 wounded, and 25 missing, both of +these last falling into the enemy's hands. The British lost 22 +soldiers, marines, and seamen (including Captain Hollaway) killed, +and 73 (including the gallant Captain Mulcaster dangerously, and +Captain Popham slightly) wounded, [Footnote: Letter of Lieut.-Col. +V. Fischer, May 17, 1814. James says "18 killed and 64 wounded," +why I do not know; the official report of Col. Fischer, as quoted, +says: "Of the army, 19 killed and 62 wounded; of the navy, 3 killed +and 11 wounded."] the total loss being 95--nearly a third of the +American force engaged. General Drummond, in his official letter, +reports that "the fort being everywhere almost open, the whole of +the garrison * * * effected their escape, except about 60 men, half +of them wounded." No doubt the fort's being "everywhere almost open" +afforded excellent opportunities for retreat; but it was not much +of a recommendation of it as a structure intended for defence. + +The British destroyed the four guns in the battery, and raised the +_Growler_ and carried her off, with her valuable cargo of seven long +guns. They also carried off a small quantity of ordnance stores and +some flour, and burned the barracks; otherwise but little damage was +done, and the Americans reoccupied the place at once. It certainly +showed great lack of energy on Commodore Yeo's part that he did not +strike a really important blow by sending an expedition up to destroy +the quantity of stores and ordnance collected at the Falls. But the +attack itself was admirably managed. The ships were well placed, +and kept up so heavy a fire on the fort as to effectually cover the +debarkation of the troops, which was very cleverly accomplished; and +the soldiers and seamen behaved with great gallantry and steadiness, +their officers leading them, sword in hand, up a long, steep hill, +under a destructive fire. It was similar to Chauncy's attacks on +York and Fort George, except that in this case the assailants suffered +a much severer loss compared to that inflicted on the assailed. Colonel +Mitchell managed the defence with skill, doing all he could with +his insufficient materials. + +After returning to Kingston, Yeo sailed with his squadron for +Sackett's Harbor, where he appeared on May 19th and began a strict +blockade. This was especially troublesome because most of the guns +and cables for the two frigates had not yet arrived, and though the +lighter pieces and stores could be carried over land, the heavier +ones could only go by water, which route was now made dangerous by +the presence of the blockading squadron. The very important duty +of convoying these great guns was entrusted to Captain Woolsey, an +officer of tried merit. He decided to take them by water to Stony +Creek, whence they might be carried by land to the Harbor, which +was but three miles distant; and on the success of his enterprise +depended Chauncy's chances of regaining command of the lake. On +the 28th of May, at sunset, Woolsey left Oswego with 19 boats, +carrying 21 long 32's, 10 long 24's, three 42-pound carronades, and +10 cables--one of the latter, for the _Superior_, being a huge rope +22 inches in circumference and weighing 9,600 pounds. The boats +rowed all through the night, and at sunrise on the 29th 18 of them +found themselves off the Big Salmon River, and, as it was unsafe +to travel by daylight, Woolsey ran up into Big Sandy Creek, 8 miles +from the Harbor. The other boat, containing two long 24's and a +cable, got out of line, ran into the British squadron, and was +captured. The news she brought induced Sir James Yeo at once to +send out an expedition to capture the others. He accordingly +despatched Captains Popham and Spilsbury in two gun-boats, one armed +with one 68-pound and one 24-pound carronade, and the other with +a long 32, accompanied by three cutters and a gig, mounting between +them two long 12's and two brass 6's, with a total of 180 men. +[Footnote: James, vi. 487; while Cooper says 186, James says the +British loss was 18 killed and 50 wounded; Major Appling says "14 +were killed, 28 wounded, and 27 marines and 106 sailors captured."] +They rowed up to Sandy Creek and lay off its mouth all the night, +and began ascending it shortly after daylight on the 30th. Their +force, however, was absurdly inadequate for the accomplishment of +their object. Captain Woolsey had been reinforced by some Oneida +Indians, a company of light artillery, and some militia, so that +his only care was, not to repulse, but to capture the British party +entire, and even this did not need any exertion. He accordingly +despatched Major Appling down the river with 120 riflemen [Footnote: +Letter from Major D. Appling, May 30, 1814.] and some Indians to +lie in ambush. [Footnote: Letter of Capt. M. T. Woolsey, June 1, +1814. There were about 60 Indians: In all, the American force amounted +to 180 men. James adds 30 riflemen, 140 Indians, and "a large body +of militia and cavalry,"--none of whom were present.] When going +up the creek the British marines, under Lieutenant Cox, were landed +on the left bank, and the small-arm men, under Lieutenant Brown, +on the right bank; while the two captains rowed up the stream between +them, throwing grape into the bushes to disperse the Indians. Major +Appling waited until the British were close up, when his riflemen +opened with so destructive a volley as to completely demoralize and +"stampede" them, and their whole force was captured with hardly any +resistance, the American having only one man slightly wounded. The +British loss was severe,--18 killed and 50 dangerously wounded, +according to Captain Popham's report, as quoted by James; or "14 +killed and 28 wounded," according to Major Appling's letter. It was +a very clever and successful ambush. + +On June 6th Yeo raised the blockade of the Harbor, but Chauncy's +squadron was not in condition to put out till six weeks later, +during which time nothing was done by either fleet, except that two +very gallant cutting-out expeditions were successfully attempted +by Lieutenant Francis H. Gregory, U.S.N. On June 16th he left the +Harbor, accompanied by Sailing-masters Vaughan and Dixon and 22 +seamen, in three gigs, to intercept some of the enemy's provision +schooners; on the 19th he was discovered by the British gun-boat +_Black Snake_, of one 18-pound carronade and 18 men, commanded by +Captain H. Landon. Lieutenant Gregory dashed at the gun-boat and +carried it without the loss of a man; he was afterward obliged to +burn it, but he brought the prisoners, chiefly royal marines, safely +into port. On the 1st of July he again started out, with Messrs. +Vaughan and Dixon, and two gigs. The plucky little party suffered +greatly from hunger, but on the 5th he made a sudden descent on +Presque Isle, and burned a 14-gun schooner just ready for launching; +he was off before the foe could assemble, and reached the Harbor +in safety next day. + +On July 31st Commodore Chauncy sailed with his fleet; some days +previously the larger British vessels had retired to Kingston, where +a 100-gun two-decker was building. Chauncy sailed up to the head +of the lake, where he intercepted the small brig _Magnet_. The +_Sylph_ was sent in to destroy her, but her crew ran her ashore and +burned her. The _Jefferson_, _Sylph_, and _Oneida_ were left to watch +some other small craft in the Niagara; the _Jones_ was kept cruising +between the Harbor and Oswego, and with the four larger vessels +Chauncy blockaded Yeo's four large vessels lying in Kingston. The +four American vessels were in the aggregate of 4,398 tons, manned +by rather more than 1,350 men, and presenting in broadside 77 guns, +throwing 2,328 lbs. of shot. The four British vessels measured in +all _about_ 3,812 tons, manned by 1,220 men, and presenting in +broadside 74 guns, throwing 2,066 lbs. of shot. The former were thus +superior by about 15 per cent., and Sir James Yeo very properly +declined to fight with the odds against him--although it was a nicer +calculation than British commanders had been accustomed to enter into. + +Major-General Brown had written to Commodore Chauncy on July 13th: +"I do not doubt my ability to meet the enemy in the field and to +march in any direction over his country, your fleet carrying for +me the necessary supplies. We can threaten Forts George and Niagara, +and carry Burlington Heights and York, and proceed direct to Kingston +and carry that place. For God's sake let me see you: Sir James will +not fight." To which Chauncy replied: "I shall afford every assistance +in my power to cooperate with the army whenever it can be done without +losing sight of the great object for the attainment of which this +fleet has been created,--the capture or destruction of the enemy's +fleet. But that I consider the primary object. * * * We are intended +to seek and fight the enemy's fleet, and I shall not be diverted +from my efforts to effectuate it by any sinister attempt to render +us subordinate to, or an appendage of, the army." That is, by any +"sinister attempt" to make him cooperate intelligently in a really +well-concerted scheme of invasion. In further support of these noble +and independent sentiments, he writes to the Secretary of the Navy +on August 10th [Footnote: See Niles, vii, 12, and other places (under +"Chauncy" in index).], "I told (General Brown) that I should not +visit the head of the lake unless the enemy's fleet did so. * * * +To deprive the enemy of an apology for not meeting me, I have sent +ashore four guns from the _Superior_ to reduce her armament in number +to an equality with the _Prince Regent_'s, yielding the advantage +of their 68-pounders. The _Mohawk_ mounts two guns less than the +_Princess Charlotte_, and the _Montreal_ and _Niagara_ are equal +to the _Pike_ and _Madison_." He here justifies his refusal to +co-operate with General Brown by saying that he was of only equal +force with Sir James, and that he has deprived the latter of "an +apology" for not meeting him. This last was not at all true. The +_Mohawk_ and _Madison_ were just about equal to the _Princess +Charlotte_ and _Niagara_: but the _Pike_ was half as strong again +as the _Montreal_; and Chauncy could very well afford to "yield the +advantage of their 68-pounders," when in return Sir James had to +yield the advantage of Chauncy's long 32's and 42-pound carronades. +The _Superior_ was a 32-pounder frigate, and, even without her four +extra guns, was about a fourth heavier than the _Prince Regent_ with +her 24-pounders. Sir James was not acting more warily than Chauncy +had acted during June and July, 1813. Then he had a fleet which tonned +1,701, was manned by 680 men, and threw at a broadside 1,099 lbs. +of shot; and he declined to go out of port or in any way try to check +the operation of Yeo's fleet which tonned 2,091, was manned by 770 +men, and threw at a broadside 1,374 lbs. of shot. Chauncy then acted +perfectly proper, no doubt, but he could not afford to sneer at Yeo +for behaving in the same way. Whatever either commander might write, +in reality he well knew that his officers and crews were, man for +man, just about on a par with those of his antagonists, and so, after +the first brush or two, he was exceedingly careful to see that the +odds were not against him. Chauncy, in his petulant answers to Brown's +letter, ignored the fact that his superiority of force would prevent +his opponent from giving battle, and would, therefore, prevent any +thing more important than a blockade occurring. + +His ideas of the purpose for which his command had been created were +erroneous and very hurtful to the American cause. That purpose was +not, except incidentally, "the destruction of the enemy's fleet"; +and, if it was, he entirely failed to accomplish it. The real purpose +was to enable Canada to be successfully invaded, or to assist in +repelling an invasion of the United States. These services could +only be efficiently performed by acting in union with the land-forces, +for his independent action could evidently have little effect. The +only important services he had performed had been in attacking Forts +George and York, where he _had_ been rendered "subordinate to, and +an appendage of, the army." His only chance of accomplishing any +thing lay in similar acts of cooperation, and he refused to do these. +Had he acted as he ought to have done, and assisted Brown to the +utmost, he would certainly have accomplished much more than he did, +and might have enabled Brown to assault Kingston, when Yeo's fleet +would of course have been captured. The insubordination, petty +stickling for his own dignity, and lack of appreciation of the +necessity of acting in concert that he showed, were the very faults +which proved most fatal to the success of our various land commanders +in the early part of the war. Even had Chauncy's assistance availed +nothing, he could not have accomplished less than he did. He remained +off Kingston blockading Yeo, being once or twice blown off by gales. +He sent Lieutenant Gregory, accompanied by Midshipman Hart and six +men, in to reconnoitre on August 25th; the lieutenant ran across +two barges containing 30 men, and was captured after the midshipman +had been killed and the lieutenant and four men wounded. On September +21st he transported General Izard and 3,000 men from Sackett's Harbor +to the Genesee; and then again blockaded Kingston until the two-decker +was nearly completed, when he promptly retired to the Harbor. + +The equally cautious Yeo did not come out on the lake till Oct. 15th; +he did not indulge in the empty and useless formality of blockading +his antagonist, but assisted the British army on the Niagara frontier +till navigation closed, about Nov. 21st. A couple of days before, +Midshipman McGowan headed an expedition to blow up the two-decker +(named the _St. Lawrence_) with a torpedo, but was discovered by +two of the enemy's boats, which he captured and brought in; the +attempt was abandoned, because the _St. Lawrence_ was found not to +be lying in Kingston. + +For this year the material loss again fell heaviest on the British, +amounting to one 14-gun brig burned by her crew, one 10-gun schooner +burned on the stocks, three gun-boats, three cutters, and one gig +captured; while in return the Americans lost one schooner loaded +with seven guns, one boat loaded with two, and a gig captured and +four guns destroyed at Oswego. In men the British loss was heavier +still relatively to that of the Americans, being in killed, wounded, +and prisoners about 300 to 80. But in spite of this loss and damage, +which was too trivial to be of any account to either side, the +success of the season was with the British, inasmuch as they held +command over the lake for more than four months, during which time +they could coöperate with their army; while the Americans held it +for barely two months and a half. In fact the conduct of the two +fleets on Lake Ontario during the latter part of the war was almost +farcical. As soon as one, by building, acquired the superiority, +the foe at once retired to port, where he waited until _he_ had built +another vessel or two, when he came out, and the other went into +port in turn. Under such circumstances it was hopeless ever to finish +the contest by a stand-up sea-fight, each commander calculating the +chances with mathematical exactness. The only hope of destroying +the enemy's fleet was by cooperating with the land-forces in a +successful attack on his main post, when he would be forced to be +either destroyed or to fight--and this cooperation Chauncy refused +to give. He seems to have been an excellent organizer, but he did +not use (certainly not in the summer of 1813) his materials by any +means to the best advantage. He was hardly equal to his opponent, +and the latter seems to have been little more than an average officer. +Yeo blundered several times, as in the attack on Sackett's Harbor, +in not following up his advantage at Oswego, in showing so little +resource in the action off the Genesee, etc., and he was not troubled +by any excess of daring; but during the period when he was actually +cruising against Chauncy on the lake he certainly showed to better +advantage than the American did. With an inferior force he won a +partial victory over his opponent off Niagara, and then kept him +in check for six weeks; while Chauncy, with his superior force, was +not only partially defeated once, but, when he did gain a partial +victory, failed to take advantage of it. + +In commenting upon the timid and dilatory tactics of the two commanders +on Ontario, however, it must be remembered that the indecisive nature +of the results attained had been often paralleled by the numerous +similar encounters that took place on the ocean during the wars of +the preceding century. In the War of the American Revolution, the +English fought some 19 fleet actions with the French, Dutch, and +Spaniards; one victory was gained over the French, and one over the +Spaniards, while the 17 others were all indecisive, both sides claiming +the victory, and neither winning it. Of course, some of them, though +indecisive as regards loss and damage, were strategetical victories: +thus, Admiral Arbuthnot beat back Admiral Barras off the Chesapeake, +in March of 1781; and near the same place in September of the same +year the French had their revenge in the victory (one at least in +its results) of the Comte de Grasse over Sir Thomas Graves. In the +five desperate and bloody combats which De Suffrein waged with Sir +Edward Hughes in the East Indies, the laurels were very evenly divided. +These five conflicts were not rendered indecisive by any overwariness +in manoeuvring, for De Suffrein's attacks were carried out with as +much boldness as skill, and his stubborn antagonist was never inclined +to baulk him of a fair battle; but the two hardy fighters were so +evenly matched that they would pound one another till each was helpless +to inflict injury. Very different were the three consecutive battles +that took place in the same waters, on the 25th of April, 1758, the +3d of August, 1758, and on the 10th of September, 1759, between Pocock +and d'Aché [Footnote: "La Marine Française sous le Regne de Louis XV," +par Henri Riviere, Lieutenant de Vaisseau, Chevalier de la Legion d' +Honneur. (Paris et Toulon, 1859), pp. 385 and 439.], where, by skilful +manoeuvring, the French admiral saved his somewhat inferior force +from capture, and the English admiral gained indecisive victories. +M. Riviere, after giving a most just and impartial account of the +battles, sums up with the following excellent criticism. [Footnote: +_Ibid_., p. 425. I pay more attention to the sense than to the letter +in my translation.] + +"It is this battle, won by Hawke, the 20th of November, 1757, and +the combats of Pocock and d'Aché, from which date two distinct schools +in the naval affairs of the 18th century: one of these was all for +promptness and audacity, which were regarded as the indispensable +conditions for victory; the other, on the contrary, praised skilful +delays and able evolutions, and created success by science united +to prudence. * * * But these two schools were true only according +to circumstances, not absolutely. When two fleets of equal worth +are facing one another, as in the War of the American Revolution, +then tactics should come into play, and audacity would often be mere +foolhardiness. If it happens, on the other hand, as in the Republic, +or during the last years of Louis XV, that an irresolute fleet, without +organization, has to contend with a fleet prepared in every way, +then, on the part of this last, audacity is wisdom and prudence would +be cowardice, for it would give an enemy who distrusts himself time +to become more hardy. The only school always true is that one which, +freed from all routine, produces men whose genius will unite in one, +in knowing how to apply them appropriately, the audacity which will +carry off victory, and the prudence which knows how to obtain it in +preparing for it." + +These generalizations are drawn from the results of mighty battles, +but they apply just as well to the campaigns carried on on a small +scale, or even to single-ship actions. Chauncy, as already said, +does not deserve the praise which most American historians, and +especially Cooper, have lavished on him as well as on all our other +officers of that period. Such indiscriminate eulogy entirely detracts +from the worth of a writer's favorable criticisms. Our _average_ +commander was, I firmly believe, at that time superior to the average +commander of any other nation; but to get at this average we must +include Chauncy, Rodgers, and Angus, as well as Hull, Macdonough, +Perry, Porter, Bainbridge, Biddle, Lawrence, and Warrington. + +Sir James Yeo did to the full as well as his opponent, and like him +was a good organizer; but he did little enough. His campaigns must +be considered as being conducted well or ill according as he is believed +to have commanded better men than his opponent, or not. If, as many +British writers contend, his crews were an overmatch for the Americans, +man for man, even to a slight degree, then Yeo's conduct was very +cowardly; if, on the contrary, the officers and men of the two fleets +were on a par, then he acted properly and outgeneralled his opponent. +It is to be regretted that most of the histories written on the subject, +on either side of the Atlantic, should be of the "hurrah" order of +literature, with no attempt whatever to get at the truth, but merely +to explain away the defeats or immensely exaggerate the victories +suffered or gained by their own side. + + +Erie and the Upper Lakes. + +Hitherto the vessels on these lakes (as well as on Ontario) had been +under the command of Commodore Chauncy; but they were now formed into +a separate department, under Captain Arthur Sinclair. The Americans +had, of course, complete supremacy, and no attempt was seriously made +to contest it with them; but they received a couple of stinging, if +not very important, defeats. It is rather singular that here the +British, who began with a large force, while there was none whatever +to oppose it, should have had it by degrees completely annihilated; +and should have then, and not till then, when apparently rendered +harmless, have turned round and partially revenged themselves by +two cutting-out expeditions which were as boldly executed as they +were skilfully planned. + +Captain Sinclair sailed into Lake Huron with the _Niagara_, _Caledonia_, +_Ariel_, _Scorpion_, and _Tigress_, and on July 20th burnt the fort +and barracks of St. Joseph, which were abandoned by their garrison. +On Aug. 4th he arrived off the fort of Machilimacinac (Mackinaw), +which was situated on such an eminence that the guns of the vessels +could not reach it. Accordingly, the troops under Col. Croghan were +landed, covered by the fire of the schooners, very successfully; but +when they tried to carry the fort they were driven back with the loss +of 70 men. Thence Sinclair sailed to the Nattagawassa Creek, attacked +and destroyed a block-house three miles up it, which mounted three +light guns, and also a schooner called the _Nancy_; but the commander +of the schooner, Lieutenant Worsely, with his crew, escaped up the +river. Captain Sinclair then departed for Lake Erie, leaving the +_Scorpion_, Lieutenant Turner, and _Tigress_, Sailing-master Champlin, +to blockade the Nattagawassa. News was received by the British from +a party of Indians that the two American vessels were five leagues +apart, and it was at once resolved to attempt their capture. On the +first of September, in the evening, four boats started out, one manned +by 20 seamen, under Lieutenant Worsely, the three others by 72 soldiers +under Lieutenants Bulger, Armstrong, and Raderhurst of the army--in +all 92 men and two guns, a 6- and a 3-pounder. A number of Indians +accompanied the expedition but took no part in the fighting. At sunset +on the 2d the boats arrived at St. Mary's Strait, and spent 24 hours +in finding out where the American schooners were. At 6 P.M. on the 3d, +the nearest vessel, the _Tigress_, was made out, six miles off, and +they pulled for her. It was very dark, and they were not discovered +till they had come within fifty yards, when Champlin at once fired +his long 24 at them; before it could be reloaded the four boats had +dashed up, those of Lieutenants Worsely and Armstrong placing themselves +on the starboard, and those of Lieutenants Bulger and Raderhurst on +the port side. There was a short, sharp struggle, and the schooner +was carried. Of her crew of 28 men, 3 were killed and five, including +Mr. Champlin, dangerously wounded. The assailants lost three seamen +killed, Lieutenant Bulger, seven soldiers and several seamen wounded. +[Footnote: Letter of Lieutenant A. H. Bulger, Sept. 7, 1814. James +says only 3 killed and 8 wounded; but Lieutenant Bulger distinctly +says in addition, "and several seamen wounded."] "The defence of +this vessel," writes Lieut. Bulger, "did credit to her officers, +who were all severely wounded." Next day the prisoners were sent +on shore; and on the 5th the _Scorpion_ was discovered working up +to join her consort, entirely ignorant of what had happened. She +anchored about 2 miles from the _Tigress_; and next morning at 6 +o'clock the latter slipped her cable and ran down under the jib and +fore-sail, the American ensign and pendant still flying. When within +10 yards of the _Scorpion_, the concealed soldiers jumped up, poured +a volley into her which killed 2 and wounded 2 men, and the next +moment carried her, her surprised crew of 30 men making no resistance. +The whole affair reflected great credit on the enterprise and pluck +of the British without being discreditable to the Americans. It was +like Lieut. Elliot's capture of the _Detroit_ and _Caledonia_. + +Meanwhile a still more daring cutting-out expedition had taken place +at the foot of Lake Erie. The three American schooners, _Ohio_, +_Somers_, and _Porcupine_, each with 30 men, under Lieut. Conkling, +were anchored just at the outlet of the lake, to cover the flank of +the works at Fort Erie. On the night of August 12th, Capt. Dobbs, +of the _Charwell_, and Lieut. Radcliffe, of the _Netly_, with 75 +seamen and marines from their two vessels, which were lying off Fort +Erie, resolved to attempt the capture of the schooners. The seamen +carried the captain's gig upon their shoulders from Queenstown to +Frenchman's Creek, a distance of 20 miles; thence, by the aid of +some militia, 5 batteaux as well as the gig were carried 8 miles +across the woods to Lake Erie, and the party (whether with or without +the militia I do not know) embarked in them. Between 11 and 12 the +boats were discovered a short distance ahead of the _Somers_ and +hailed. They answered "provision boats," which deceived the officer +on deck, as such boats had been in the habit of passing and repassing +continually during the night. Before he discovered his mistake the +boats drifted across his hawse, cut his cables, and ran him aboard +with a volley of musketry, which wounded two of his men, and before +the others could get on deck the schooner was captured. In another +moment the British boats were alongside the _Ohio_, Lieut. Conkling's +vessel. Here the people had hurried on deck, and there was a moment's +sharp struggle, in which the assailants lost Lieut. Radcliffe and +one seaman killed and six seamen and marines wounded; but on board +the _Ohio_ Lieut. Conkling and Sailing-master M. Cally were shot +down, one seaman killed, and four wounded, and Captain Dobbs carried +her, sword in hand. The _Porcupine_ was not molested, and made no +effort to interfere with the British in their retreat; so they drifted +down the rapids with their two prizes and secured them below. The +boldness of this enterprise will be appreciated when it is remembered +that but 75 British seamen (unless there were some militia along), +with no artillery, attacked and captured two out of three fine +schooners, armed each with a long 32 or 24, and an aggregate of 90 +men; and that this had been done in waters where the gig and five +batteaux of the victors were the only British vessels afloat. + + +CHAMPLAIN. + +This lake, which had hitherto played but an inconspicuous part, was +now to become the scene of the greatest naval battle of the war. A +British army of 11,000 men under Sir George Prevost undertook the +invasion of New York by advancing up the western bank of Lake Champlain. +This advance was impracticable unless there was a sufficiently strong +British naval force to drive back the American squadron at the same +time. Accordingly, the British began to construct a frigate, the +_Confiance_, to be added to their already existing force, which consisted +of a brig, two sloops, and 12 or 14 gun-boats. The Americans already +possessed a heavy corvette, a schooner, a small sloop, and 10 gun-boats +or row-galleys; they now began to build a large brig, the _Eagle_, +which was launched about the 16th of August. Nine days later, on the +25th, the _Confiance_ was launched. The two squadrons were equally +deficient in stores, etc.; the _Confiance_ having locks to her guns, +some of which could not be used, while the American schooner +_Ticonderoga_ had to fire her guns by means of pistols flashed at +the touchholes (like Barclay on Lake Erie). Macdonough and Downie +were hurried into action before they had time to prepare themselves +thoroughly; but it was a disadvantage common to both, and arose from +the nature of the case, which called for immediate action. The British +army advanced slowly toward Plattsburg, which was held by General +Macomb with less than 2,000 effective American troops. Captain Thomas +Macdonough, the American commodore, took the lake a day or two before +his antagonist, and came to anchor in Plattsburg harbor. The British +fleet, under Captain George Downie, moved from Isle-aux-Noix on Sept. +8th, and on the morning of the 11th sailed into Plattsburg harbor. + +The American force consisted of the ship _Saratoga_, Captain T. +Macdonough, of about 734 tons, [Footnote: In the Naval Archives +("Masters'-Commandant Letters," 1814, 1, No. 134) is a letter from +Macdonough in which he states that the _Saratoga_ is intermediate +in size between the _Pike_, of 875, and the _Madison_, of 593 tons; +this would make her 734. The _Eagle_ was very nearly the size of +the _Lawrence_ or _Niagara_, on Lake Erie. The _Ticonderoga_ was +originally a small steamer, but Commodore Macdonough had her +schooner-rigged, because he found that her machinery got out of +order on almost every trip that she took. Her tonnage is only +approximately known, but she was of the same size as the _Linnet_.] +carrying eight long 24-pounders, six 42-pound and twelve 32-pound +carronades; the brig _Eagle_, Captain Robert Henly, of about 500 +tons, carrying eight long 18's and twelve 32-pound carronades; schooner +_Ticonderoga_, Lieut.-Com. Stephen Cassin, of about 350 tons carrying +eight long 12-pounders, four long 18-pounders, and five 32-pound +carronades; sloop _Preble_, Lieutenant Charles Budd, of about 80 +tons, mounting seven long 9's; the row-galleys _Boxer_, _Centipede_, +_Nettle_, _Allen_, _Viper_, and _Burrows_, each of about 70 tons, +and mounting one long 24- and one short 18-pounder; and the row-galleys +_Wilmer_, _Ludlow_, _Aylwin_, and _Ballard_, each of about 40 tons, +and mounting one long 12. James puts down the number of men on board +the squadron as 950,--merely a guess, as he gives no authority. Cooper +says "about 850 men, including officers, and a small detachment of +soldiers to act as marines." Lossing (p. 866, note 1) says 882 in all. +Vol. xiv of the "American State Papers" contains on p. 572 the +prize-money list presented by the purser, George Beale, Jr. This +numbers the men (the dead being represented by their heirs or executors) +up to 915, including soldiers and seamen, but many of the numbers +are omitted, probably owing to the fact that their owners, though +belonging on board; happened to be absent on shore, or in the hospital; +so that the actual number of names tallies very closely with that +given by Lossing; and accordingly I shall take that. [Footnote: In +the Naval Archives are numerous letters from Macdonough, in which he +states continually that, as fast as they arrive, he substitutes sailors +for the soldiers with which the vessels were originally manned. Men +were continually being sent ashore on account of sickness. In the +Bureau of Navigation is the log-book of "sloop-of-war _Surprise_, +Captain Robert Henly" (_Surprise_ was the name the _Eagle_ originally +went by). It mentions from time to time that men were buried and sent +ashore to the hospital (five being sent ashore on September 2d); and +finally mentions that the places of the absent were partially filled +by a draft of 21 soldiers, to act as marines. The notes on the day +of battle are very brief.] The total number of men in the galleys +(including a number of soldiers, as there were not enough sailors) +was 350. The exact proportions in which this force was distributed +among the gunboats can not be told, but it may be roughly said to +be 41 in each large galley and 26 in each small one. The complement +of the _Saratoga_ was 210, of the _Eagle_, 130, of the _Ticonderoga_, +100, and of the _Preble_, 30; but the first three had also a few +soldiers distributed between them. The following list is probably +pretty accurate as to the aggregate; but there may have been a score +or two fewer men on the gun-boats, or more on the larger vessels. + +MACDONOUGH'S FORCE. + + Metal, from long +Name. Tons. Crew. Broadside. or short guns. + +_Saratoga_, 734 240 414 lbs. -+- long, 96 + '- short, 318 +_Eagle_, 500 150 264 " -+- long, 72 + '- short, 192 +_Ticonderoga_, 350 112 180 " -+- long, 84 + '- short, 96 +_Preble_, 80 30 36 " long, 36 + +Six gun-boats, 420 246 252 " -+- long, 144 + '- short, 108 +Four gun-boats, 160 104 48 " long, 48 + +In all, 14 vessels of 2,244 tons and 882 men, with 86 guns throwing +at a broadside 1,194 lbs. of shot, 480 from long, and 714 from short guns. + +[Illustration: Commodore Thomas Macdonough: a contemporary +portrait by Gilbert Stuart. (Courtesy National Gallery of +Art, Mellon Collection)] + +The force of the British squadron in guns and ships is known accurately, +as most of it was captured. The _Confiance_ rated for years in our +lists as a frigate of the class of the _Constellation_, _Congress_, +and _Macedonian_; she was thus of over 1,200 tons. (Cooper says more, +"nearly double the tonnage of the _Saratoga._") She carried on her +main-deck thirty long 24's, fifteen in each broadside. She did not +have a complete spar-deck; on her poop, which came forward to the +mizzen-mast, were two 32-pound (or possibly 42-pound) carronades +and on her spacious top-gallant forecastle were four 32--(or 42-) +pound carronades, and a long 24 on a pivot. [Footnote: This is her +armament as given by Cooper, on the authority of Lieutenant E. A. +F. Lavallette. who was in charge of her for three months, and went +aboard her ten minutes after the _Linnet_ struck.] She had aboard her +a furnace for heating shot; eight or ten of which heated shot were +found with the furnace. [Footnote: James stigmatizes the statement +of Commodore Macdonough about the furnace as "as gross a falsehood +as ever was uttered"; but he gives no authority for the denial, and +it appears to have been merely an ebullition of spleen on his part. +Every American officer who went aboard the _Confiance_ saw the furnace +and the hot shot.] This was, of course, a perfectly legitimate advantage. +The _Linnet_, Captain Daniel Pring, was a brig of the same size as +the _Ticonderoga_, mounting 16 long 12's. The _Chubb_ and _Finch_, +Lieutenants James McGhie and William Hicks, were formerly the +American sloops _Growler_ and _Eagle_, of 112 and 110 tons respectively. +The former mounted ten 18-pound carronades and one long 6; the latter, +six 18-pound carronades, four long 6's, and one short 18. There were +twelve gun-boats. [Footnote: Letter of General George Prevost, Sept. +11, 1814. All the American accounts say 13; the British official +account had best be taken. James says only ten, but gives no authority; +he appears to have been entirely ignorant of all things connected with +this action.] Five of these were large, of about 70 tons each; three +mounted a long 24 and a 32-pound carronade each; one mounted a long +18 and a 32-pound carronade; one a long 18 and a short 18. Seven +were smaller, of about 40 tons each; three of these carried each a +long 18, and four carried each a 32-pound carronade. There is greater +difficulty in finding out the number of men in the British fleet. +American historians are unanimous in stating it at from 1,000 to +1,100; British historians never do any thing but copy James blindly. +Midshipman Lea of the _Confiance_, in a letter (already quoted) +published in the "London Naval Chronicle," vol. xxxii, p. 292, gives +her crew as 300; but more than this amount of dead and prisoners +were taken out of her. The number given her by Commander Ward in +his "Naval Tactics," is probably nearest right--325. [Footnote: James +gives her but 270 men,--without stating his authority.] The _Linnet_ +had about 125 men, and the _Chubb_ and _Finch_ about 50 men each. +According to Admiral Paulding (given by Lossing, in his "Field Book +of the War of 1812," p. 868) their gun-boats averaged 50 men each. +This is probably true, as they were manned largely by soldiers, any +number of whom could be spared from Sir George Prevost's great army; +but it may be best to consider the large ones as having 41, and the +small 26 men, which were the complements of the American gun-boats +of the same sizes. The following, then, is the force of + +DOWNIE'S SQUADRON. + + From what guns, +Name. Tonnage. Crew. Broadside. long or short. + +_Confiance_, 1200 325 480 lbs. -+- long, 384 + '- short, 96 +_Linnet_, 350 125 96 " long, 96 + +_Chubb_, 112 50 96 " -+- long, 6 + '- short, 90 +_Finch_, 110 50 84 " -+- long, 12 + '- short, 72 +Five gun-boats, 350 205 254 " -+- long, 12 + '- short, 72 +Seven gun-boats, 280 182 182 " -+- long, 54 + '- short, 128 + +In all, 16 vessels, of about 2,402 tons, with 937 men, [Footnote: +About; there were probably more rather than less.] and a total of +92 guns, throwing at a broadside 1,192 lbs., 660 from long and +532 from short pieces. + +These are widely different from the figures that appear in the pages +of most British historians, from Sir Archibald Alison down and up. +Thus, in the "History of the British Navy," by C. D. Yonge (already +quoted), it is said that on Lake Champlain "our (the British) force +was manifestly and vastly inferior, * * * their (the American) broadside +outweighing ours in more than the proportion of three to two, while +the difference in their tonnage and in the number of their crews was +still more in their favor." None of these historians, or quasi-historians, +have made the faintest effort to find out the facts for themselves, +following James' figures with blind reliance, and accordingly it is +only necessary to discuss the latter. This reputable gentleman ends +his account ("Naval Occurrences," p. 424) by remarking that Macdonough +wrote as he did because "he knew that nothing would stamp a falsehood +with currency equal to a pious expression, * * * his falsehoods +equalling in number the lines of his letter." These remarks are +interesting as showing the unbiassed and truthful character of the +author, rather than for any particular weight they will have in +influencing any one's judgment on Commodore Macdonough. James gives +the engaged force of the British as "8 vessels, of 1,426 tons, with +537 men, and throwing 765 lbs. of shot." To reduce the force down +to this, he first excludes the _Finch_, because she "grounded opposite +an American battery _before the engagement commenced_," which reads +especially well in connection with Capt. Pring's official letter: +"Lieut. Hicks, of the _Finch_, had the mortification to strike on +a reef of rocks to the eastward of Crab Island _about the middle of +the engagement_." [Footnote: The italics are mine. The letter is +given in full in the "Naval Chronicle."] What James means cannot +be imagined; no stretch of language will convert "about the middle +of" into "before." The _Finch_ struck on the reef in consequence of +having been disabled and rendered helpless by the fire from the +_Ticonderoga_. Adding her force to James' statement (counting her +crew only as he gives it), we get 9 vessels, 1,536 tons, 577 men, +849 lbs. of shot. James also excludes five gun-boats, because they +ran away almost as soon as the action commenced (vol. vi, p. 501). +This assertion is by no means equivalent to the statement in Captain +Pring's letter "that the flotilla of gun-boats had abandoned the +object assigned to them," and, if it was, it would not warrant his +excluding the five gun-boats. Their flight may have been disgraceful, +but they formed part of the attacking force nevertheless; almost +any general could say that he had won against superior numbers if +he refused to count in any of his own men whom he suspected of behaving +badly. James gives his 10 gun-boats 294 men and 13 guns (two long +24's, five long 18's, six 32-pound carronades), and makes them average +45 tons; adding on the five he leaves out, we get 14 vessels, of +1,761 tons, with 714 men, throwing at a broadside 1,025 lbs. of +shot (591 from long guns, 434 from carronades). But Sir George Prevost, +in the letter already quoted, says there were 12 gun-boats, and the +American accounts say more. Supposing the two gun-boats James did +not include at all to be equal respectively to one of the largest +and one of the smallest of the gun-boats as he gives them ("Naval +Occurrences," p. 417); that is, one to have had 35 men, a long 24, +and a 32-pound carronade, the other, 25 men and a 32-pound carronade, +we get for Downie's force 16 vessels, of 1,851 tons, with 774 men, +throwing at a broadside 1,113 lbs. of shot (615 from long guns, +498 from carronades). It must be remembered that so far I have merely +corrected James by means of the authorities from which he draws his +account--the official letters of the British commanders. I have not +brought up a single American authority against him, but have only +made such alterations as a writer could with nothing whatever but +the accounts of Sir George Prevost and Captain Pring before him to +compare with James. Thus it is seen that according to James himself +Downie really had 774 men to Macdonough's 882, and threw at a broadside +1,113 lbs. of shot to Macdonough's 1,194 lbs. James says ("Naval +Occurrences," pp. 410, 413): "Let it be recollected, no musketry +was employed on either side," and "The marines were of no use, as +the action was fought out of the range of musketry"; the 106 additional +men on the part of the Americans were thus not of much consequence, +the action being fought at anchor, and there being men enough to +manage the guns and perform every other duty. So we need only attend +to the broadside force. Here, then, Downie could present at a broadside +615 lbs. of shot from long guns to Macdonough's 480, and 498 lbs. +from carronades to Macdonough's 714; or, he threw 135 lbs. of shot +more from his long guns, and 216 less from his carronades. This is +equivalent to Downie's having seven long 18's and one long 9, and +Macdonough's having one 24-pound and six 32-pound carronades. A +32-pound carronade is not equal to a long 18; so that _even by +James' own showing Downie's force was slightly the superior_. + +Thus far, I may repeat, I have corrected James solely by the evidence +of his own side; now I shall bring in some American authorities. +These do not contradict the British official letters, for they virtually +agree with them; but they do go against James' unsupported assertions, +and, being made by naval officers of irreproachable reputation, will +certainly outweigh them. In the first place, James asserts that on +the main-deck of the _Confiance_ but 13 guns were presented in broadside, +two 32-pound carronades being thrust through the bridle- and two +others through the stern-ports; so he excludes two of her guns from +the broadside. Such guns would have been of great use to her at certain +stages of the combat, and ought to be included in the force. But +besides this the American officers positively say that she had a +_broadside_ of 15 guns. Adding these two guns, and making a trifling +change in the arrangement of the guns in the row-galleys, we get +a broadside of 1,192 lbs., exactly as I have given it above. There +is no difficulty in accounting for the difference of tonnage as given +by James and by the Americans, for we have considered the same subject +in reference to the battle of Lake Erie. James calculates the American +tonnage as if for sea-vessels of deep holds, while, as regards the +British vessels, he allows for the shallow holds that all the lake +craft had; that is, he gives in one the nominal, in the other the +real, tonnage. This fully accounts for the discrepancy. It only remains +to account for the difference in the number of men. From James we +can get 772. In the first place, we can reason by analogy. I have +already shown that, as regards the battle of Lake Erie, he is convicted +(by English, not by American, evidence) of having underestimated +Barclay's force by about 25 per cent. If he did the same thing here, +the British force was over 1,000 strong, and I have no doubt that +it was. But we have other proofs. On p. 417 of the "Naval Occurrences" +he says the complement of the four captured British vessels amounted +to 420 men, of whom 54 were killed in action, leaving 366 prisoners, +including the wounded. But the report of prisoners, as given by the +American authorities, gives 369 officers and seamen unhurt or but +slightly wounded, 57 wounded men paroled, and other wounded whose +number was unspecified. Supposing this number to have been 82, and +adding 54 dead, we would get in all 550 men for the four ships, the +number I have adopted in my list. This would make the British wounded +129 instead of 116, as James says: but neither the Americans nor +the British seem to have enumerated all their wounded in this fight. +Taking into account all these considerations, it will be seen that +the figures I have given are probably approximately correct, and, +at any rate, indicate pretty closely the _relative_ strength of the +two squadrons. The slight differences in tonnage and crews (158 tons +and 55 men, in favor of the British) are so trivial that they need +not be taken into account, and we will merely consider the broadside +force. In absolute weight of metal the two combatants were evenly +matched--almost exactly;--but whereas from Downie's broadside of +1,192 lbs. 660 were from long and 532 from short guns, of Macdonough's +broadside of 1,194 lbs., but 480 were from long and 714 from short +pieces. The forces were thus equal, except that Downie opposed 180 +lbs. from long guns to 182 from carronades; as if 10 long 18's were +opposed to ten 18-pound carronades. This would make the odds on their +face about 10 to 9 against the Americans; in reality they were greater, +for the possession of the _Confiance_ was a very great advantage. +The action is, as regards metal, the exact reverse of those between +Chauncy and Yeo. Take, for example, the fight off Burlington on +Sept. 28, 1813. Yeo's broadside was 1,374 lbs. to Chauncy's 1,288; +but whereas only 180 of Yeo's was from long guns, of Chauncy's but +536 was from carronades. Chauncy's fleet was thus much the superior. +At least we must say this: if Macdonough beat merely an equal force, +then Yeo made a most disgraceful and cowardly flight before an +inferior foe; but if we contend that Macdonough's force was inferior +to that of his antagonist, then we must admit that Yeo's was in +like manner inferior to Chauncy's. These rules work both ways. The +_Confiance_ was a heavier vessel than the _Pike_, presenting in +broadside one long 24- and three 32-pound carronades more than the +latter. James (vol. vi, p. 355) says: "The _Pike_ alone was nearly +a match for Sir James Yeo's squadron," and Brenton says (vol. ii, +503): "The _General Pike_ was more than a match for the whole British +squadron." Neither of these writers means quite as much as he says, +for the logical result would be that the _Confiance_ alone was a +match for all of Macdonough's force. Still it is safe to say that +the _Pike_ gave Chauncy a great advantage, and that the _Confiance_ +made Downie's fleet much superior to Macdonough's. + +Macdonough saw that the British would be forced to make the attack +in order to get the control of the waters. On this long, narrow lake +the winds usually blow pretty nearly north or south, and the set of +the current is of course northward; all the vessels, being flat and +shallow, could not beat to windward well, so there was little chance +of the British making the attack when there was a southerly wind +blowing. So late in the season there was danger of sudden and furious +gales, which would make it risky for Downie to wait outside the bay +till the wind suited him; and inside the bay the wind was pretty +sure to be light and baffling. Young Macdonough (then but 28 years +of age) calculated all these chances very coolly and decided to await +the attack at anchor in Plattsburg Bay, with the head of his line +so far to the north that it could hardly be turned; and then proceeded +to make all the other preparations with the same foresight. Not +only were his vessels provided with springs, but also with anchors +to be used astern in any emergency. The _Saratoga _was further +prepared for a change of wind, or for the necessity of winding ship, +by having a kedge planted broad off on each of her bows, with a hawser +and preventer hawser (hanging in bights under water) leading from +each quarter to the kedge on that side. There had not been time to +train the men thoroughly at the guns; and to make these produce their +full effect the constant supervision of the officers had to be exerted. +The British were laboring under this same disadvantage, but neither +side felt the want very much, as the smooth water, stationary position +of the ships, and fair range, made the fire of both sides very destructive. + +Plattsburg Bay is deep and opens to the southward; so that a wind +which would enable the British to sail up the lake would force them +to beat when entering the bay. The east side of the mouth of the +bay is formed by Cumberland Head; the entrance is about a mile and +a half across, and the other boundary, southwest from the Head, is +an extensive shoal, and a small, low island. This is called Crab +Island, and on it was a hospital and one six-pounder gun, which was +to be manned in case of necessity by the strongest patients. Macdonough +had anchored in a north-and-south line a little to the south of the +outlet of the Saranac, and out of range of the shore batteries, being +two miles from the western shore. The head of his line was so near +Cumberland Head that an attempt to turn it would place the opponent +under a very heavy fire, while to the south the shoal prevented a +flank attack. The _Eagle_ lay to the north, flanked on each side +by a couple of gun-boats; then came the _Saratoga_, with three +gun-boats between her and the _Ticonderoga_, the next in line; then +came three gun-boats and the _Preble_. The four large vessels were +at anchor; the galleys being under their sweeps and forming a second +line about 40 yards back, some of them keeping their places and some +not doing so. By this arrangement his line could not be doubled upon, +there was not room to anchor on his broadside out of reach of his +carronades, and the enemy was forced to attack him by standing in bows on. + +The morning of September 11th opened with a light breeze from the +northeast. Downie's fleet weighed anchor at daylight, and came down +the lake with the wind nearly aft, the booms of the two sloops +swinging out to starboard. At half-past seven, [Footnote: The letters +of the two commanders conflict a little as to time, both absolutely +and relatively. Pring says the action lasted two hours and three +quarters, the American accounts, two hours and twenty minutes. Pring +says it began at 8.00; Macdonough says a few minutes before nine, etc. +I take the mean time.] the people in the ships could see their +adversaries' upper sails across the narrow strip of land ending in +Cumberland Head, before the British doubled the latter. Captain Downie +hove to with his four large vessels when he had fairly opened the +Bay, and waited for his galleys to overtake him. Then his four vessels +filled on the starboard tack and headed for the American line, going +abreast, the _Chubb_ to the north, heading well to windward of the +_Eagle_, for whose bows the _Linnet_ was headed, while the _Confiance_ +was to be laid athwart the hawse of the _Saratoga_; the _Finch_ was +to leeward with the twelve gun-boats, and was to engage the rear of +the American line. + +As the English squadron stood bravely in, young Macdonough, who feared +his foes not at all, but his God a great deal, knelt for a moment, +with his officers, on the quarter-deck; and then ensued a few minutes +of perfect quiet, the men waiting with grim expectancy for the opening +of the fight. The Eagle spoke first with her long 18's, but to no +effect, for the shot fell short. Then, as the _Linnet_ passed the +_Saratoga_, she fired her broadside of long 12's, but her shot also +fell short, except one that struck a hen-coop which happened to be +aboard the _Saratoga_. There was a game cock inside, and, instead +of being frightened at his sudden release, he jumped up on a gun-slide, +clapped his wings, and crowed lustily. The men laughed and cheered; +and immediately afterward Macdonough himself fired the first shot +from one of the long guns. The 24-pound ball struck the _Confiance_ +near the hawse-hole and ranged the length of her deck, killing and +wounding several men. All the American long guns now opened and were +replied to by the British galleys. + +The _Confiance_ stood steadily on without replying. But she was +baffled by shifting winds, and was soon so cut up, having both her +port bow-anchors shot away, and suffering much loss, that she was +obliged to port her helm and come to while still nearly a quarter +of a mile distant from the _Saratoga_. Captain Downie came to anchor +in grand style,--securing every thing carefully before he fired a +gun, and then opening with a terribly destructive broadside. The +_Chubb_ and _Linnet_ stood farther in, and anchored forward the +_Eagle's_ beam. Meanwhile the _Finch_ got abreast of the _Ticonderoga_, +under her sweeps, supported by the gun-boats. The main fighting was +thus to take place between the vans, where the _Eagle_, _Saratoga_, +and six or seven gun-boats were engaged with the _Chubb_, _Linnet_, +_Confiance_, and two or three gun-boats; while in the rear, the +_Ticonderoga_, the _Preble_, and the other American galleys engaged +the _Finch_ and the remaining nine or ten English galleys. The battle +at the foot of the line was fought on the part of the Americans to +prevent their flank being turned, and on the part of the British +to effect that object. At first, the fighting was at long range, +but gradually the British galleys closed up, firing very well. The +American galleys at this end of the line were chiefly the small ones, +armed with one 12-pounder apiece, and they by degrees drew back before +the heavy fire of their opponents. About an hour after the discharge +of the first gun had been fired the _Finch_ closed up toward the +_Ticonderoga_, and was completely crippled by a couple of broadsides +from the latter. She drifted helplessly down the line and grounded +near Crab Island; some of the convalescent patients manned the +six-pounder and fired a shot or two at her, when she struck, nearly +half of her crew being killed or wounded. About the same time the +British gun-boats forced the _Preble_ out of line, whereupon she +cut her cable and drifted inshore out of the fight. Two or three +of the British gun-boats had already been sufficiently damaged by +some of the shot from the _Ticonderoga's_ long guns to make them +wary; and the contest at this part of the line narrowed down to one +between the American schooner and the remaining British gun-boats, +who combined to make a most determined attack upon her. So hastily +had the squadron been fitted out that many of the matches for her +guns were at the last moment found to be defective. The captain of +one of the divisions was a midshipman, but sixteen years old, Hiram +Paulding. When he found the matches to be bad he fired the guns of +his section by having pistols flashed at them, and continued this +through the whole fight. The _Ticonderoga's_ commander, Lieut. Cassin, +fought his schooner most nobly. He kept walking the taffrail amidst +showers of musketry and grape, coolly watching the movements of the +galleys and directing the guns to be loaded with canister and bags +of bullets, when the enemy tried to board. The British galleys were +handled with determined gallantry, under the command of Lieutenant +Bell. Had they driven off the _Ticonderoga_ they would have won +the day for their side, and they pushed up till they were not a +boat-hook's length distant, to try to carry her by boarding; but +every attempt was repulsed and they were forced to draw off, some +of them so crippled by the slaughter they had suffered that they +could hardly man the oars. + +Meanwhile the fighting at the head of the line had been even fiercer. +The first broadside of the _Confiance_, fired from 16 long 24's, +double shotted, coolly sighted, in smooth water, at point-blank range, +produced the most terrible effect on the _Saratoga_. Her hull shivered +all over with the shock, and when the crash subsided nearly half of +her people were seen stretched on deck, for many had been knocked +down who were not seriously hurt. Among the slain was her first +lieutenant, Peter Gamble; he was kneeling down to sight the bow-gun, +when a shot entered the port, split the quoin, and drove a portion +of it against his side, killing him without breaking the skin. The +survivors carried on the fight with undiminished energy. Macdonough +himself worked like a common sailor, in pointing and handling a +favorite gun. While bending over to sight it a round shot cut in +two the spanker boom, which fell on his head and struck him senseless +for two or three minutes; he then leaped to his feet and continued +as before, when a shot took off the head of the captain of the gun +and drove it in his face with such a force as to knock him to the +other side of the deck. But after the first broadside not so much +injury was done; the guns of the _Confiance_ had been levelled to +point-blank range, and as the quoins were loosened by the successive +discharges they were not properly replaced, so that her broadsides +kept going higher and higher and doing less and less damage. Very +shortly after the beginning of the action her gallant captain was +slain. He was standing behind one of the long guns when a shot from +the _Saratoga_ struck it and threw it completely off the carriage +against his right groin, killing him almost instantly. His skin was +not broken; a black mark, about the size of a small plate, was the +only visible injury. His watch was found flattened, with its hands +pointing to the very second at which he received the fatal blow. As +the contest went on the fire gradually decreased in weight, the guns +being disabled. The inexperience of both crews partly caused this. +The American sailors overloaded their carronades so as to very much +destroy the effect of their fire; when the officers became disabled, +the men would cram the guns with shot till the last projected from +the muzzle. Of course, this lessened the execution, and also gradually +crippled the guns. On board the _Confiance_ the confusion was even +worse: after the battle the charges of the guns were drawn, and on +the side she had fought one was found with a canvas bag containing +two round of shot rammed home and wadded without any powder; another +with two cartridges and no shot; and a third with a wad below the +cartridge. + +At the extreme head of the line the advantage had been with the British. +The _Chubb_ and _Linnet_ had begun a brisk engagement with the _Eagle_ +and American gun-boats. In a short time the _Chubb_ had her cable, +bowsprit, and main-boom shot away, drifted within the American lines, +and was taken possession of by one of the _Saratoga's_ midshipmen. +The _Linnet_ paid no attention to the American gunboats, directing +her whole fire against the _Eagle_, and the latter was, in addition, +exposed to part of the fire of the _Confiance_. After keeping up a +heavy fire for a long time her springs were shot away, and she came +up into the wind, hanging so that she could not return a shot to +the well-directed broadsides of the _Linnet_. Henly accordingly cut +his cable, started home his top-sails, ran down, and anchored by +the stern between and inshore of the _Confiance_ and _Ticonderoga_, +from which position he opened on the _Confiance_. The _Linnet_ now +directed her attention to the American gun-boats, which at this end +of the line were very well fought, but she soon drove them off, and +then sprung her broadside so as to rake the _Saratoga_ on her bows. + +Macdonough by this time had his hands full, and his fire was slackening; +he was bearing the whole brunt of the action, with the frigate on +his beam and the brig raking him. Twice his ship had been set on +fire by the hot shot of the _Confiance_; one by one his long guns +were disabled by shot, and his carronades were either treated the +same way or else rendered useless by excessive overcharging. Finally +but a single carronade was left in the starboard batteries, and on +firing it the naval-bolt broke, the gun flew off the carriage and +fell down the main hatch, leaving the Commodore without a single +gun to oppose to the few the _Confiance_ still presented. The battle +would have been lost had not Macdonough's foresight provided the +means of retrieving it. The anchor suspended astern of the _Saratoga_ +was let go, and the men hauled in on the hawser that led to the +starboard quarter, bringing the ship's stern up over the kedge. The +ship now rode by the kedge and by a line that had been bent to a +bight in the stream cable, and she was raked badly by the accurate +fire of the _Linnet_. By rousing on the line the ship was at length +got so far round that the aftermost gun of the port broadside bore +on the _Confiance_. The men had been sent forward to keep as much +out of harm's way as possible, and now some were at once called back +to man the piece, which then opened with effect. The next gun was +treated in the same manner; but the ship now hung and would go no +farther round. The hawser leading from the port quarter was then +got forward under the bows and passed aft to the starboard quarter, +and a minute afterward the ship's whole port battery opened with +fatal effect. The _Confiance_ meanwhile had also attempted to round. +Her springs, like those of the _Linnet_, were on the starboard side, +and so of course could not be shot away as the _Eagle's_ were; but, +as she had nothing but springs to rely on, her efforts did little +beyond forcing her forward, and she hung with her head to the wind. +She had lost over half of her crew, [Footnote: Midshipman Lee, in +his letter already quoted, says "not five men were left unhurt"; +this would of course include bruises, etc., as hurts.] most of her +guns on the engaged side were dismounted, and her stout masts had +been splintered till they looked like bundles of matches; her sails +had been torn to rags, and she was forced to strike, about two hours +after she had fired the first broadside. Without pausing a minute +the _Saratoga_ again hauled on her starboard hawser till her broadside +was sprung to bear on the _Linnet_, and the ship and brig began a +brisk fight, which the _Eagle_ from her position could take no part +in, while the _Ticonderoga_ was just finishing up the British galleys. +The shattered and disabled state of the _Linnet's_ masts, sails, +and yards precluded the most distant hope of Capt. Pring's effecting +his escape by cutting his cable; but he kept up a most gallant fight +with his greatly superior foe, in hopes that some of the gun-boats +would come and tow him off, and despatched a lieutenant to the +_Confiance_ to ascertain her state. The lieutenant returned with +news of Capt. Downie's death, while the British gun-boats had been +driven half a mile off; and, after having maintained the fight +single-handed for fifteen minutes, until, from the number of shot +between wind and water, the water had risen a foot above her lower +deck, the plucky little brig hauled down her colors, and the fight +ended, a little over two hours and a half after the first gun had +been fired. Not one of the larger vessels had a mast that would bear +canvas, and the prizes were in a sinking condition. The British +galleys drifted to leeward, none with their colors up; but as the +_Saratoga's_ boarding-officer passed along the deck of the _Confiance_ +he accidentally ran against a lock-string of one of her starboard +guns, [Footnote: A sufficient commentary, by the way, on James' +assertion that the guns of the _Confiance_ had to be fired by matches, +as the gun-locks did not fit!] and it went off. This was apparently +understood as a signal by the galleys, and they moved slowly off, +pulling but a very few sweeps, and not one of them hoisting an ensign. + +On both sides the ships had been cut up in the most extraordinary +manner; the _Saratoga_ had 55 shot-holes in her hull, and the +_Confiance_ 105 in hers, and the _Eagle_ and _Linnet_ had suffered +in proportion. The number of killed and wounded can not be exactly +stated; it was probably about 200 on the American side, and over +300 on the British. [Footnote: Macdonough returned his loss as follows: + + Killed. Wounded. +_Saratoga_. 28 29 +_Eagle_. 13 20 +_Ticonderoga_ 6 6 +_Preble_. 2 +_Boxer_. 3 1 +_Centipede_. 1 +_Wilmer_. 1 + +A total of 52 killed and 58 wounded; but the latter head apparently +only included those who had to go to the hospital. Probably about +90 additional were more or less slightly wounded. Captain Pring, +in his letter of Sept. 12th, says the _Confiance_ had 41 killed and +40 wounded; the _Linnet_, 10 killed and 14 wounded; the _Chubb_, +6 killed and 16 wounded; the _Finch_, 2 wounded: in all, 57 killed +and 72 wounded. But he adds "that no opportunity has offered to +muster * * * this is the whole as yet ascertained to be killed or +wounded." The Americans took out 180 dead and wounded from the +_Confiance_, 50 from the _Linnet_, and 40 from the _Chubb_ and +_Finch_; in all, 270. James ("Naval Occurrences," p. 412) says the +_Confiance_ had 83 wounded. As Captain Pring wrote his letter in +Plattsburg Bay the day after the action, he of course could not give +the loss aboard the British gun-boats; so James at once assumed that +they suffered none. As well as could be found out they had between +50 and 100 killed and wounded. The total British loss was between +300 and 400, as nearly as can be ascertained. For this action, as +already shown, James is of no use whatever. Compare his statements, +for example, with those of Midshipman Lee, in the "Naval Chronicle." +The comparative loss, as a means of testing the competitive prowess +of the combatants, is not of much consequence in this case, as the +weaker party in point of force conquered.] + +Captain Macdonough at once returned the British officers their swords. +Captain Pring writes: "I have much satisfaction in making you acquainted +with the humane treatment the wounded have received from Commodore +Macdonough; they were immediately removed to his own hospital on +Crab Island, and furnished with every requisite. His generous and +polite attention to myself, the officers, and men, will ever hereafter +be gratefully remembered." The effects of the victory were immediate +and of the highest importance. Sir George Prevost and his army at +once fled in great haste and confusion back to Canada, leaving our +northern frontier clear for the remainder of the war; while the victory +had a very great effect on the negotiations for peace. + +In this battle the crews on both sides behaved with equal bravery, +and left nothing to be desired in this respect; but from their rawness +they of course showed far less skill than the crews of most of the +American and some of the British ocean cruisers, such as the +_Constitution_, _United States_, or _Shannon_, the _Hornet_, _Wasp_, +or _Reindeer_, Lieut. Cassin handled the _Ticonderoga_, and Captain +Pring the _Linnet_, with the utmost gallantry and skill, and, after +Macdonough, they divide the honors of the day. But Macdonough in +this battle won a higher fame than any other commander of the war, +British or American. He had a decidedly superior force to contend +against, the officers and men of the two sides being about on a par +in every respect; and it was solely owing to his foresight and resource +that we won the victory. He forced the British to engage at a +disadvantage by his excellent choice of position; and he prepared +beforehand for every possible contingency. His personal prowess had +already been shown at the cost of the rovers of Tripoli, and in this +action he helped fight the guns as ably as the best sailor. His skill, +seamanship, quick eye, readiness of resource, and indomitable pluck, +are beyond all praise. Down to the time of the Civil War he is the +greatest figure in our naval history. A thoroughly religious man, +he was as generous and humane as he was skilful and brave; one of +the greatest of our sea-captains, he has left a stainless name +behind him. + + BRITISH LOSS. + + Name. Tons. Guns. Remarks. +Brig, 100 10 Burnt by Lieut. Gregory. +_Magnet_, 187 12 " by her crew. +_Black Snake_, 30 1 Captured. +Gun-boat, 50 2 " + " 50 3 " +_Confiance_, 1,200 37 " +_Linnet_, 350 16 " +_Chubb_, 112 11 " +_Finch_, 110 11 " + _____ ___ + 9 vessels 2,189 103 + + AMERICAN LOSS. + + Name. Tons. Guns. Remarks. +_Growler_, 81 7 Captured. +Boat, 50 2 " +_Tigress_, 96 1 " +_Scorpion_, 86 2 " +_Ohio_, 94 1 " +_Somers_, 98 2 " + ___ __ + 6 vessels, 505 15 + + + + +Chapter IX + + +1815 + +CONCLUDING OPERATIONS + +_President_ captured by Captain Hayes' squadron--Successful cutting-out +expeditions of the Americans--Privateer brig _Chasseur_ captures +St. Lawrence schooner--_Constitution_ captures_ Cyane_ and +_Levant_--Escapes from a British squadron--The _Hornet_ captures the +_Penguin_, and escapes from a 74--The _Peacock_ and the +_Nautilus_--Summary--Remarks on the war--Tables of comparative +loss, etc.--Compared with results of Anglo-French struggle. + +The treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain was +signed at Ghent, Dec. 24, 1814, and ratified at Washington, Feb. 18, +1815. But during these first two months of 1815, and until the news +reached the cruisers on the ocean, the warfare went on with much +the same characteristics as before. The blockading squadrons continued +standing on and off before the ports containing war-ships with the +same unwearying vigilance; but the ice and cold prevented any attempts +at harrying the coast except from the few frigates scattered along +the shores of the Carolinas and Georgia. There was no longer any +formidable British fleet in the Chesapeake or Delaware, while at +New Orleans the only available naval force of the Americans consisted +of a few small row-boats, with which they harassed the rear of the +retreating British. The _Constitution_, Capt. Stewart, was already +at sea, having put out from Boston on the 17th of December, while +the blockading squadron (composed of the same three frigates she +subsequently encountered) was temporarily absent. + +The _Hornet_, Capt. Biddle, had left the port of New London, running +in heavy weather through the blockading squadron, and had gone into +New York, where the _President_, Commodore Decatur, and _Peacock_, +Capt. Warrington, with the _Tom Bowline_ brig were already assembled, +intending to start on a cruise for the East Indies. The blockading +squadron off the port consisted of the 56-gun razee _Majestic_, Capt. +Hayes, 24-pounder frigate _Endymion_, Capt. Hope, 18-pounder frigate +_Pomone_, Capt. Lumly, and 18-pounder frigate _Tenedos_, Capt. Parker. +[Footnote: Letter of Rear-Admiral Hotham, Jan 23, 1815.] On the +14th of January a severe snow-storm came on and blew the squadron +off the coast. Next day it moderated, and the ships stood off to +the northwest to get into the track which they supposed the Americans +would take if they attempted to put out in the storm. Singularly +enough, at the instant of arriving at the intended point, an hour +before daylight on the 15th, Sandy Hook bearing W.N.W. 15 leagues, +a ship was made out, on the Majestic's weather-bow, standing S.E. +[Footnote: Letter of Capt. Hayes, Jan. 17, 1815.] This ship was +the unlucky _President_. On the evening of the 14th she had left +her consorts at anchor, and put out to sea in the gale. But by a +mistake of the pilots who were to place boats to beacon the passage +the frigate struck on the bar, where she beat heavily for an hour +and a half, [Footnote: Letter of Commodore Decatur, Jan. 18, 1815.] +springing her masts and becoming very much hogged and twisted. +[Footnote: Report of Court-martial, Alex. Murray presiding. April +20, 1815.] Owing to the severity of her injuries the _President_ +would have put back to port, but was prevented by the westerly gale. +[Footnote: Decatur's letter, Jan. 18th.] Accordingly Decatur steered +at first along Long Island, then shaped his course to the S.E., and +in the dark ran into the British squadron, which, but for his unfortunate +accident, he would thus have escaped. At daylight, the _President_, +which had hauled up and passed to the northward of her opponents, +[Footnote: Decatur's letter. Jan. 18th.] found herself with the +_Majestic_ and _Endymion_ astern, the _Pomona_ on the port and the +_Tenedos_ on the starboard quarter. [Footnote: James, vi, 529.] +The chase now became very interesting. [Footnote: Letter of Capt. +Hayes.] During the early part of the day, while the wind was still +strong, the _Majestic_ led the _Endymion_ and fired occasionally +at the _President_, but without effect. [Footnote: Letter of Commodore +Decatur.] The _Pomona_ gained faster than the others, but by Capt. +Hayes' orders was signalled to go in chase of the _Tenedos_, whose +character the captain could not make out [Footnote: James, vi, 529.]; +and this delayed her several hours in the chase. [Footnote: Log of +_Pomona_, published at Bermuda, Jan. 29th, and quoted in full in +the "Naval Chronicle," xxxiii. 370.] In the afternoon, the wind +coming out light and baffling, the _Endymion_ left the _Majestic_ +behind, [Footnote: Letter of Captain Hayes.] and, owing to the +_President's_ disabled state and the amount of water she made in +consequence of the injuries received while on the bar, gained rapidly +on her, [Footnote: Letter of Decatur.] although she lightened ship +and did everything else that was possible to improve her sailing. +[Footnote: Letter of Decatur.] But a shift of wind helped the +_Endymion_, [Footnote: Cooper, ii, 466.] and the latter was able +at about 2.30, to begin skirmishing with her bow-chasers, answered +by the stern-chasers of the _President_. [Footnote: Log of _Pomona_.] +At 5.30 the _Endymion_ began close action, [Footnote: Letter of Capt. +Hayes.] within half point-blank shot on the _President's_ starboard +quarter, [Footnote: James, vi, 530.] where not a gun of the latter +could bear. [Footnote: Letter of Decatur.] The _President_ continued +in the same course, steering east by north, the wind being northwest, +expecting the _Endymion_ soon to come up abeam; but the latter warily +kept her position by yawing, so as not to close. [Footnote: Letter +of Decatur.] So things continued for half an hour during which the +_President_ suffered more than during all the remainder of the combat. +[Footnote: Cooper, 470.] At 6.00 the _President_ kept off, heading +to the south, and the two adversaries ran abreast, the Americans +using the starboard and the British the port batteries. [Footnote: +Log of _Pomone_.] Decatur tried to close with his antagonist, but +whenever he hauled nearer to the latter she hauled off [Footnote: +Report of Court-martial.] and being the swiftest ship could of course +evade him; so he was reduced to the necessity of trying to throw +her out of the combat [Footnote: Letter of Commodore Decatur.] by +dismantling her. He was completely successful in this, and after +two hours' fighting the _Endymion's_ sails were all cut from her +yards [Footnote: Letter of Capt. Hayes.] and she dropped astern, +the last shot being fired from the _President_. [Footnote: Log of +_Pomone_.] The _Endymion_ was now completely silent, [Footnote: Log +of _Pomone_.] and Commodore Decatur did not board her merely because +her consorts were too close astern [Footnote: Report of Court-martial.]; +accordingly the _President_ hauled up again to try her chances at +running, having even her royal studding-sails set, [Footnote: James, +vi, 538.] and exposed her stern to the broadside of the _Endymion_, +[Footnote: Letter of Commodore Decatur.] but the latter did not fire +a single gun. [Footnote: Log of the _Pomone_.] Three hours afterward, +at 11, [Footnote: Letter of Capt. Hayes.] the _Pomone_ caught up +with the _President_, and luffing to port gave her the starboard +broadside [Footnote: Log of the _Pomone_.]; the _Tenedos_ being two +cables' length's distance astern, taking up a raking position. +[Footnote: Decatur's letter.] The _Pomone_ poured in another broadside, +within musket shot, [Footnote: Log of _Pomone_.] when the _President_ +surrendered and was taken possession of by Capt. Parker of the +_Tenedos_. [Footnote: James, vi, 531.] A considerable number of the +_President's_ people were killed by these two last broadsides. +[Footnote: Letter of Commodore Decatur, March 6, 1815; deposition +of Chaplain Henry Robinson before Admiralty Court at St. Georges, +Bermuda, Jan. 1815.] The _Endymion_ was at this time out of sight +astern. [Footnote: Letter of Decatur, Jan. 18th.] She did not come +up, according to one account, for an hour and three quarters, +[Footnote: Log of _Pomone_.] and according to another, for three +hours [Footnote: Letter of Decatur, Mar. 6th.]; and as she was a +faster ship than the _President_, this means that she was at least +two hours motionless repairing damages. Commodore Decatur delivered +his sword to Capt. Hayes of the _Majestic_, who returned it, stating +in his letter that both sides had fought with great gallantry. +[Footnote: Letter of Capt. Hayes.] The _President_ having been taken +by an entire squadron, [Footnote: Admiral Hotham's letter, Jan. 23rd.] +the prize-money was divided equally among the ships. [Footnote: +Bermuda "Royal Gazette," March 8, 1815.] The _President's_ crew all +told consisted of 450 men, [Footnote: Depositions of Lieut. Gallagher +and the other officers.] none of whom were British. [Footnote: +Deposition of Commodore Decatur.] She had thus a hundred more men +than her antagonist and threw about 100 pounds more shot at a broadside; +but these advantages were more than counterbalanced by the injuries +received on the bar, and by the fact that her powder was so bad that +while some of the British shot went through both her sides, such a +thing did not once happen to the _Endymion_, [Footnote: Bermuda +"Royal Gazette," Jan. 6, 1818.] when fairly hulled. The _President_ +lost 24 killed and 55 wounded [Footnote: Decatur's letter.]; the +_Endymion_, 11 killed and 14 wounded. [Footnote: Letter of Capt. +Hope, Jan. 15, 1815.] Two days afterward, on their way to the Bermudas, +a violent easterly gale came on, during which both ships were dismasted, +and the _Endymion_ in addition had to throw over all her spar-deck +guns.[Footnote: James, vi, 534.] + +[Illustration: The capture of the _President_: an engraving +published in London in 1815 from a painting done under the +supervision of an officer in the _Endymion_. From left to right: +HMS _Majestic_, USS _President_, HMS _Pomone_, HMS _Endymion_, +HMS _Tenedos_. (Courtesy Beverley R. Robinson Collection, U.S. +Naval Academy Museum)] + +As can been seen, almost every sentence of this account is taken +(very nearly word for word) from the various official reports, relying +especially on the log of the British frigate _Pomone_. I have been +thus careful to have every point of the narrative established by +unimpeachable reference: first, because there have been quite a number +of British historians who have treated the conflict as if it were +a victory and not a defeat for the _Endymion_: and in the second +place, because I regret to say that I do not think that the facts +bear out the assertions, on the part of most American authors, that +Commodore Decatur "covered himself with glory" and showed the "utmost +heroism." As regards the first point, Captain Hope himself, in his +singularly short official letter, does little beyond detail his own +loss, and makes no claim to having vanquished his opponent. Almost +all the talk about its being a "victory" comes from James; and in +recounting this, as well as all the other battles, nearly every +subsequent British historian simply gives James' statements over +again, occasionally amplifying, but more often altering or omitting, +the vituperation. The point at issue is simply this: could a frigate +which, according to James himself, went out of action with every +sail set, take another frigate which for two hours, according to +the log of the _Pomone_, lay motionless and unmanageable on the waters, +without a sail? To prove that it could not, of course needs some +not over-scrupulous manipulation of the facts. The intention with +which James sets about his work can be gathered from the triumphant +conclusion he comes to, that Decatur's name has been "sunk quite +as low as that of Bainbridge or Porter," which, comparing small +things to great, is somewhat like saying that Napoleon's defeat by +Wellington and Blucher "sunk" him to the level of Hannibal. For the +account of the American crew and loss, James relies on the statements +made in the Bermuda papers, of whose subsequent forced retraction +he takes no notice, and of course largely overestimates both. On +the same authority he states that the _President's_ fire was "silenced," +Commodore Decatur stating the exact reverse. The point is fortunately +settled by the log of the _Pomone_, which distinctly says that the +last shot was fired by the _President_. His last resort is to state +that the loss of the _President_ was fourfold (in reality threefold) +that of the _Endymion_. Now we have seen that the _President_ lost +"a considerable number" of men from the fire of the _Pomone_. Estimating +these at only nineteen, we have a loss of sixty caused by the _Endymion_, +and as most of this was caused during the first half hour, when the +_President_ was not firing, it follows that while the two vessels +were both fighting, broadside and broadside, the loss inflicted was +about equal; or, the _President_, aiming at her adversary's rigging, +succeeded in completely disabling her, and incidentally killed 25 +men, while the _Endymion_ did not hurt the _President's_ rigging +at all, and, aiming at her hull, where, of course, the slaughter +ought to have been far greater than when the fire was directed aloft, +only killed about the same number of men. Had there been no other +vessels in chase, Commodore Decatur, his adversary having been thus +rendered perfectly helpless, could have simply taken any position +he chose and compelled the latter to strike, without suffering any +material additional loss himself. As in such a case he would neither +have endured the unanswered fire of the _Endymion_ on his quarter +for the first half hour, nor the subsequent broadsides of the _Pornone_, +the _President's_ loss would probably have been no greater than that +of the _Constitution_ in taking the _Java_. It is difficult to see +how any outsider with an ounce of common-sense and fairmindedness +can help awarding the palm to Decatur, as regards the action with +the _Endymion_. But I regret to say that I must agree with James +that he acted rather tamely, certainly not heroically, in striking +to the _Pomone_. There was, of course, not much chance of success +in doing battle with two fresh frigates; but then they only mounted +eighteen-pounders, and, judging from the slight results of the +cannonading from the _Endymion_ and the two first (usually the most +fatal) broadsides of the _Pomone_, it would have been rather a long +time before they would have caused much damage. Meanwhile the +_President_ was pretty nearly as well off as ever as far as fighting +and sailing went. A lucky shot might have disabled one of her +opponents, and then the other would, in all probability, have undergone +the same fate as the _Endymion_. At least it was well worth trying, +and though Decatur could not be said to be disgraced, yet it is +excusable to wish that Porter or Perry had been in his place. It +is not very pleasant to criticise the actions of an American whose +name is better known than that of almost any other single-ship captain +of his time; but if a man is as much to be praised for doing fairly, +or even badly, as for doing excellently, then there is no use in +bestowing praise at all. + +This is perhaps as good a place as any other to notice one or two +of James' most common misstatements; they really would not need +refutation were it not that they have been reechoed, as usual, by +almost every British historian of the war for the last 60 years. +In the first place, James puts the number of the _President's_ men +at 475; she had 450. An exactly parallel reduction must often be +made when he speaks of the force of an American ship. Then he says +there were many British among them, which is denied under oath by +the American officers; this holds good also for the other American +frigates. He says there were but 4 boys; there were nearly 30; and +on p. 120 he says the youngest was 14, whereas we incidentally learn +from the "Life of Decatur" that several were under 12. A favorite +accusation is that the American midshipmen were chiefly masters and +mates of merchant-men; but this was hardly ever the case. Many of +the midshipmen of the war afterward became celebrated commanders, +and most of these (a notable instance being Farragut, the greatest +admiral since Nelson) were entirely too young in 1812 to have had +vessels under them, and, moreover, came largely from the so-called +"best families." + +Again, in the first two frigate actions of 1812, the proportion of +killed to wounded happened to be unusually large on board the American +frigates; accordingly James states (p. 146) that the returns of the +wounded had been garbled, under-estimated, and made "subservient +to the views of the commanders and their government." To support +his position that Capt. Hull, who reported 7 killed and 7 wounded, +had not given the list of the latter in full, he says that "an equal +number of killed and wounded, as given in the American account, hardly +ever occurs, except in cases of explosion"; and yet, on p. 519, he +gives the loss of the British _Hermes_ as 25 killed and 24 wounded, +disregarding the incongruity involved. On p. 169, in noticing the +loss of the _United States_, 5 killed and 7 wounded, he says that +"the slightly wounded, as in all other American cases, are omitted." +This is untrue, and the proportion on the _United States_, 5 to 7, +is just about the same as that given by James himself on the +_Endymion_, 11 to 14, and _Nautilus_, 6 to 8. In supporting his theory, +James brings up all the instances where the American wounded bore +a larger proportion to their dead than on board the British ships, +but passes over the actions with the _Reindeer_, _Epervier_, _Penguin_, +_Endymion_, and _Boxer_, where the reverse was the case. One of James' +most common methods of attempting to throw discredit on the much +vilified "Yankees" is by quoting newspaper accounts of their wounded. +Thus he says (p. 562) of the _Hornet_, that several of her men told +some of the _Penguin's_ sailors that she lost 10 men killed, 16 +wounded, etc. Utterly false rumors of this kind were as often indulged +in by the Americans as the British. After the capture of the +_President_ articles occasionally appeared in the papers to the effect +that some American sailor had counted "23 dead" on board the _Endymion_, +that "more than 50" of her men were wounded, etc. Such statements +were as commonly made and with as little foundation by one side as +by the other, and it is absurd for a historian to take any notice +of them. James does no worse than many of our own writers of the +same date; but while their writings have passed into oblivion, his +work is still often accepted as a standard. This must be my apology +for devoting so much time to it. The severest criticism to which it +can possibly be subjected is to compare it with the truth. Whenever +dealing with purely American affairs, James' history is as utterly +untrustworthy as its contemporary, "Niles' Register," is in matters +purely British, while both are invaluable in dealing with things +relating strictly to their own nation; they supplement each other. + +On Jan. 8th General Packenham was defeated and killed by General +Jackson at New Orleans, the Louisiana and the seamen of the _Carolina_ +having their full share in the glory of the day, and Captain Henly +being among the very few American wounded. On the same day +Sailing-master Johnson, with 28 men in two boats, cut out the +British-armed transport brig _Cyprus_, containing provisions and +munitions of war, and manned by ten men. [Footnote: Letter of +Sailing-master Johnson, Jan. 9, 1815.] On the 18th the British +abandoned the enterprise and retreated to their ships; and Mr. Thomas +Shields, a purser, formerly a sea-officer, set off to harass them +while embarking. At sunset on the 20th he left with five boats and +a gig, manned in all with 53 men, and having under him Sailing-master +Daily and Master's Mate Boyd. [Footnote: Letter of Thomas Shields +to Com. Patterson, Jan. 25, 1815.] At ten o'clock P.M. a large barge, +containing 14 seamen and 40 officers and men of the 14th Light Dragoons, +was surprised and carried by boarding after a slight struggle. The +prisoners outnumbering their captors, the latter returned to shore, +left them in a place of safety, and again started at 2 A.M. on the +morning of the 22d. Numerous transports and barges of the enemy could +be seen, observing very little order and apparently taking no +precautions against attack, which they probably did not apprehend. +One of the American boats captured a transport and five men; another, +containing Mr. Shields himself and eight men, carried by boarding, +after a short resistance, a schooner carrying ten men. The flotilla +then re-united and captured in succession, with no resistance, five +barges containing 70 men. By this time the alarm had spread and they +were attacked by six boats, but these were repelled with some loss. +Seven of the prisoners (who were now half as many again as their +captors) succeeded in escaping in the smallest prize. Mr. Shields +returned with the others, 78 in number. During the entire expedition +he had lost but three men, wounded; he had taken 132 prisoners, and +destroyed eight craft whose aggregate tonnage about equalled that +of the five gun-vessels taken on Lake Borgne. + +On Jan. 30, 1815, information was received by Captain Dent, commanding +at North Edisto, Ga., that a party of British officers and men, in +four boats belonging to H.M.S. _Hebrus_, Capt. Palmer, were watering +at one of the adjacent islands. [Footnote: Letter of Lawrence Kearney +of Jan. 30, 1815 (see in the Archives at Washington, "Captains' +Letters," vol. 42, No. 100).] Lieut. Lawrence Kearney, with three +barges containing about 75 men, at once proceeded outside to cut +them off, when the militia drove them away. The frigate was at anchor +out of gunshot, but as soon as she perceived the barges began firing +guns as signals. The British on shore left in such a hurry that they +deserted their launch, which, containing a 12-pound boat carronade +and six swivels, was taken by the Americans. The other boats--two +cutters, and a large tender mounting one long nine and carrying 30 +men--made for the frigate; but Lieut. Kearney laid the tender aboard +and captured her after a sharp brush. The cutters were only saved +by the fire of the _Hebrus_, which was very well directed--one of +her shot taking off the head of a man close by Lieut. Kearney. The +frigate got under way and intercepted Kearney's return, but the +Lieutenant then made for South Edisto, whither he carried his prize +in triumph. This was one of the most daring exploits of the war, +and was achieved at very small cost. On Feb. 14th a similar feat +was performed. Lieutenant Kearney had manned the captured launch +with 25 men and the 12-pound carronade. News was received of another +harrying expedition undertaken by the British, and Captain Dent, +with seven boats, put out to attack them, but was unable to cross +the reef. Meanwhile Kearney's barge had gotten outside, and attacked +the schooner _Brant_, a tender to H. M. S. _Severn_, mounting an +18-pounder, and with a crew of two midshipmen, and twenty-one marines +and seamen. A running fight began, the _Brant_ evidently fearing +that the other boats might get across the reef and join in the attack; +suddenly she ran aground on a sand-bank, which accident totally +demoralized her crew. Eight of them escaped in her boat, to the +frigate; the remaining fifteen, after firing a few shot, surrendered +and were taken possession of. [Footnote: Letter of Captain Dent, +Feb. 16th (in "Captains' Letters," vol. 42, No. 130). Most American +authors, headed by Cooper, give this exploit a more vivid coloring +by increasing the crew of the _Brant_ to forty men, omitting to +mention that she was hard and fast aground, and making no allusion +to the presence of the five other American boats which undoubtedly +caused the _Brant's_ flight in the first place.] + +I have had occasion from time to time to speak of cutting-out +expeditions, successful and otherwise, undertaken by British boats +against American privateers; and twice a small British national +cutter was captured by an overwhelmingly superior American opponent +of this class. We now, for the only time, come across an engagement +between a privateer and a regular cruiser of approximately equal +force. These privateers came from many different ports and varied +greatly in size. Baltimore produced the largest number; but New York, +Philadelphia, Boston, and Salem, were not far behind; and Charleston, +Bristol, and Plymouth, supplied some that were very famous. Many +were merely small pilot-boats with a crew of 20 to 40 men, intended +only to harry the West Indian trade. Others were large, powerful +craft, unequalled for speed by any vessels of their size, which +penetrated to the remotest corners of the ocean, from Man to the +Spice Islands. When a privateer started she was overloaded with men, +to enable her to man her prizes; a successful cruise would reduce +her crew to a fifth of its original size. The favorite rig was that +of a schooner, but there were many brigs and brigantines. Each was +generally armed with a long 24 or 32 on a pivot, and a number of +light guns in broadside, either long 9's or short 18's or 12's. Some +had no pivot gun, others had nothing else. The largest of them carried +17 guns (a pivotal 32 and 16 long 12's in broadside) with a crew +of 150. Such a vessel ought to have been a match, at her own distance, +for a British brig-sloop, but we never hear of any such engagements, +and there were several instances where privateers gave up, without +firing a shot, to a force superior, it is true, but not enough so +to justify the absolute tameness of the surrender. [Footnote: As +when the _Epervter_, some little time before her own capture, took +without resistance the _Alfred_, of Salem, mounting 16 long nines +and having 108 men aboard.] One explanation of this was that they +were cruising as private ventures, and their object was purely to +capture merchant-men with as little risk as possible to themselves. +Another reason was that they formed a kind of sea-militia, and, like +their compeers on land, some _could_ fight as well as any regulars, +while most would _not_ fight at all, especially if there was need +of concerted action between two or three. The American papers of +the day are full of "glorious victories" gained by privateers over +packets and Indiamen; the British papers are almost as full of instances +where the packets and Indiamen "heroically repulsed" the privateers. +As neither side ever chronicles a defeat, and as the narration is +apt to be decidedly figurative in character, there is very little +hope of getting at the truth of such meetings; so I have confined +myself to the mention of those cases where privateers, of either +side, came into armed collision with regular cruisers. We are then +sure to find some authentic account. + +The privateer brig _Chasseur_, of Baltimore, Captain Thomas Boyle, +carried 16 long 12's, and had, when she left port, 115 men aboard. +She made 18 prizes on her last voyage, and her crew was thus reduced +to less than 80 men; she was then chased by the _Barossa_ frigate, +and threw overboard 10 of her long 12's. Afterward eight 9-pound +carronades were taken from a prize, to partially supply the places +of the lost guns; but as she had no shot of the calibre of these +carronades each of the latter was loaded with one 4-pound and one +6-pound ball, giving her a broadside of 76 lbs. On the 26th of +February, two leagues from Havana, the _Chasseur_ fell in with the +British schooner _St. Lawrence_, Lieut. H. C. Gordon, mounting twelve +12-pound carronades, and one long 9; her broadside was thus 81 lbs., +and she had between 60 and 80 men aboard. [Footnote: Letter of Captain +Thomas Boyle, of March 2, 1815 (see Niles and Coggeshall); he says +the schooner had two more carronades; I have taken the number given +by James (p. 539). Captain Boyle says the _St. Lawrence_ had onboard +89 men and several more, including a number of soldiers and marines +and gentlemen of the navy, as passengers; James says her crew amounted +to 51 "exclusive of some passengers," which I suppose must mean at +least nine men. So the forces were pretty equal; the _Chasseur_ may +have had 20 men more or 10 men less than her antagonist, and she +threw from 5 to 21 lbs. less weight of shot.] The _Chasseur_ mistook +the _St. Lawrence_ for a merchant-man and closed with her. The mistake +was discovered too late to escape, even had such been Captain Boyle's +intention, and a brief but bloody action ensued. At 1.26 P.M., the +_St. Lawrence_ fired the first broadside, within pistol shot, to +which the _Chasseur_ replied with her great guns and musketry. The +brig then tried to close, so as to board; but having too much way +on, shot ahead under the lee of the schooner, which put her helm +up to wear under the _Chasseur's_ stern. Boyle, however, followed +his antagonist's manoeuvre, and the two vessels ran along side by +side, the _St. Lawrence_ drawing ahead, while the firing was very +heavy. Then Captain Boyle put his helm a starboard and ran his foe +aboard, when in the act of boarding, her colors were struck at 1.41 +P.M., 15 minutes after the first shot. Of the _Chasseur's_ crew 5 +were killed and 8 wounded, including Captain Boyle slightly. Of the +_St. Lawrence's_ crew 6 were killed and 17 (according to James 18) +wounded. This was a very creditable action. The _St. Lawrence_ had +herself been an American privateer, called the _Atlas_, and was of +241 tons, or just 36 less than the _Chasseur_. The latter could thus +fairly claim that her victory was gained over a regular cruiser of +about her own force. Captain Southcombe of the _Lottery_, Captain +Reid of the _General Armstrong_, Captain Ordronaux of the _Neufchatel_, +and Captain Boyle of the _Chasseur_, deserve as much credit as any +regularly commissioned sea-officers. But it is a mistake to consider +these cases as representing the _average_; an ordinary privateer +was, naturally enough, no match for a British regular cruiser of +equal force. The privateers were of incalculable benefit to us, and +inflicted enormous damage on the foe; but in fighting they suffered +under the same disadvantages as other irregular forces; they were +utterly unreliable. A really brilliant victory would be followed +by a most extraordinary defeat. + +[Illustration: Captain Charles Stewart: a study painted by Thomas +Sully in 1817 for use as the model for the bust of Stewart on the +Congressional Gold Medal awarded to him for the capture of the _Cyane_ +and _Levant_. (Courtesy U.S. Naval Academy Museum)] + +[Illustration: _Constitution_ vs. _Cyane_ and _Levant_: an engraving +published in the U.S. Military Magazine for December 1840 of a painting +by Thomas Birch. From left to right: _Levant_, _Constitution_, _Cyane_. +(Courtesy Beverley R. Robinson Collection, U.S. Naval Academy Museum)] + +After the _Constitution_ had escaped from Boston, as I have described, +she ran to the Bermudas, cruised in their vicinity a short while, +thence to Madeira, to the Bay of Biscay, and finally off Portugal, +cruising for some time in sight of the Rock of Lisbon. Captain +Stewart then ran off southwest, and on Feb. 20th, Madeira bearing +W. S. W. 60 leagues, [Footnote: Letter of Captain Stewart to the +Secretary of the Navy, May 20, 1815.] the day being cloudy, with +a light easterly breeze, [Footnote: Log of _Constitution_, Feb. 20, +1815.] at 1 P.M. a sail was made two points on the port bow; and +at 2 P.M., Captain Stewart, hauling up in chase, discovered another +sail. The first of these was the frigate-built ship corvette _Cyane_, +Captain Gordon Thomas Falcon, and the second was the ship sloop +_Levant_, Captain the Honorable George Douglass. [Footnote: "Naval +Chronicle," xxxiii, 466.] Both were standing close hauled on the +starboard tack, the sloop about 10 miles to leeward of the corvette. +At 4 P.M. the latter began making signals to her consort that the +strange sail was an enemy, and then made all sail before the wind +to join the sloop. The _Constitution_ bore up in chase, setting her +top-mast, top-gallant, and royal studding-sails. In half an hour +she carried away her main royal mast, but immediately got another +prepared, and at 5 o'clock began firing at the corvette with the +two port-bow guns; as the shot fell short the firing soon ceased. +At 5.30 the _Cyane_ got within hail of the _Levant_, and the latter's +gallant commander expressed to Captain Gordon his intention of engaging +the American frigate. The two ships accordingly hauled up their courses +and stood on the starboard tack; but immediately afterward their +respective captains concluded to try to delay the action till dark, +so as to get the advantage of manoeuvring. [Footnote: "Naval Chronicle," +xxxiii, 466.] Accordingly they again set all sail and hauled close +to the wind to endeavor to weather their opponent; but finding the +latter coming down too fast for them to succeed they again stripped +to fighting canvas and formed on the starboard tack in head and stern +line, the _Levant_ about a cable's length in front of her consort. +The American now had them completely under her guns and showed her +ensign, to which challenge the British ships replied by setting their +colors. At 6.10 the _Constitution_ ranged up to windward of the _Cyane_ +and _Levant_, the former on her port quarter, the latter on her port +bow, both being distant about 250 yards from her [Footnote: Testimony +sworn to by Lieutenant W. B. Shubrick and Lieutenant of Marines +Archibald Henderson before Thomas Welsh. Jr., Justice of the Peace, +Suffolk St., Boston, July 20, 1815. The depositions were taken in +consequence of a report started by some of the British journals that +the action began at a distance of 1/4 of a mile. All the American +depositions were that all three ships began firing at once, when +equidistant from each other about 250 yards, the marines being engaged +almost the whole time.]--so close that the American marines were +constantly engaged almost from the beginning of the action. The fight +began at once, and continued with great spirit for a quarter of an +hour, the vessels all firing broadsides. It was now moonlight, and +an immense column of smoke formed under the lee of the _Constitution_, +shrouding from sight her foes; and, as the fire of the latter had +almost ceased, Captain Stewart also ordered his men to stop, so as +to find out the positions of the ships. In about three minutes the +smoke cleared, disclosing to the Americans the _Levant_ dead to leeward +on the port beam, and the _Cyane_ luffing up for their port quarter. +Giving a broadside to the sloop, Stewart braced aback his main and +mizzen top-sails, with top-gallant sails set, shook all forward, +and backed rapidly astern, under cover of the smoke, abreast the +corvette, forcing the latter to fill again to avoid being raked. +The firing was spirited for a few minutes, when the _Cyane's_ almost +died away. The _Levant_ bore up to wear round and assist her consort, +but the _Constitution_ filled her top-sails, and, shooting ahead, +gave her two stern rakes, when she at once made all sail to get out +of the combat. The _Cyane_ was now discovered wearing, when the +_Constitution_ herself at once wore and gave her in turn a stern +rake, the former luffing to and firing her port broadside into the +starboard bow of the frigate. Then, as the latter ranged up on her +port quarter, she struck, at 6.50, just forty minutes after the +beginning of the action. She was at once taken possession of, and +Lieut. Hoffman, second of the _Constitution_, was put in command. +Having manned the prize, Captain Stewart, at 8 o'clock, filled away +after her consort. The latter, however, had only gone out of the +combat to refit. Captain Douglass had no idea of retreat, and no +sooner had he rove new braces than he hauled up to the wind, and +came very gallantly back to find out his friend's condition. At 8.50 +he met the _Constitution_, and, failing to weather her, the frigate +and sloop passed each other on opposite tacks, exchanging broadsides. +Finding her antagonist too heavy, the _Levant_ then crowded all sail +to escape, but was soon overtaken by the _Constitution_, and at about +9.30 the latter opened with her starboard bow-chasers, and soon +afterward the British captain hauled down his colors. Mr. Ballard, +first of the _Constitution_, was afterward put in command of the +prize. By one o'clock the ships were all in order again. + +The _Constitution_ had been hulled eleven times, more often than +in either of her previous actions, but her loss was mainly due to +the grape and musketry of the foe in the beginning of the fight. +[Footnote: Deposition of her officers as before cited.] The British +certainly fired better than usual, especially considering the fact +that there was much manoeuvering, and that it was a night action. +The Americans lost 3 men killed, 3 mortally, and 9 severely and +slightly, wounded. The corvette, out of her crew of 180, had 12 men +killed and 26 wounded, several mortally; the sloop, out of 140, had +7 killed and 16 wounded. The _Constitution_ had started on her cruise +very full-handed, with over 470 men, but several being absent on a +prize, she went into battle with about 450. [Footnote: 410 officers +and seamen, and 41 marines, by her muster-roll of Feb. 19th. (The +muster-rolls are preserved in the Treasury Department at Washington.)] +The prizes had suffered a good deal in their hulls and rigging, and +had received some severe wounds in their masts and principal spars. +The _Cyane_ carried on her main-deck twenty-two 32-pound carronades, +and on her spar-deck two long 12's, and ten 18-pounder carronades. +The _Levant_ carried, all on one deck, eighteen 32-pound carronades +and two long 9's, together with a shifting 12-pounder. Thus, their +broadside weight of metal was 763 pounds, with a total of 320 men, +of whom 61 fell, against the _Constitution's_ 704 pounds and 450 +men, of whom 15 were lost; or, nominally, the relative force was +100 to 91, and the relative loss 100 to 24. But the British guns +were almost exclusively carronades which, as already pointed out +in the case of the Essex and in the battle off Plattsburg, are no +match for long guns. Moreover, the scantling of the smaller ships +was, of course, by no means as stout as that of the frigate, so that +the disparity of force was much greater than the figures would indicate, +although not enough to account for the difference in loss. Both the +British ships were ably handled, their fire was well directed, and +the _Levant_ in especial was very gallantly fought. + +[Illustration of the action between the _Constitution_ and the +_Cyane_ and the _Levant_ from 6.05 to 6.40.] + +As regards the _Constitution_, "her manoeuvring was as brilliant +as any recorded in naval annals," and it would have been simply +impossible to surpass the consummate skill with which she was +handled in the smoke, always keeping her antagonists to leeward, +and, while raking both of them, not being once raked herself. The +firing was excellent, considering the short time the ships were +actually engaged, and the fact that it was at night. Altogether the +fight reflected the greatest credit on her, and also on her adversaries. +[Footnote: There is no British official account of the action. James +states that the entire British force was only 302 men of whom 12 +were killed and 29 wounded. This is probably not based on any authority. +Captain Stewart received on board 301 prisoners, of whom 42 were +wounded, several mortally. Curiously enough James also underestimates +the American loss, making it only 12. He also says that many attempts +were made by the Americans to induce the captured British to desert, +while the _Constitution's_ officers deny this under oath, before +Justice Welsh, as already quoted, and state that, on the contrary, +many of the prisoners offered to enlist on the frigate, but were +all refused permission--as "the loss of the _Chesapeake_ had taught +us the danger of having renegades aboard." This denial, by the way, +holds good for all the similar statements made by James as regards the +_Guerrièrre_, _Macedonian_, etc. He also states that a British +court-martial found various counts against the Americans for harsh +treatment, but all of these were specifically denied by the American +officers, under oath, as already quoted. + +I have relied chiefly on Captain Stewart's narratives; but partly +(as to time, etc.) on the British account in the "Naval Chronicle."] + +The merits of this action can perhaps be better appreciated by comparing +it with a similar one that took place a few years before between a +British sloop and corvette on the one side, and a French frigate on +the other, and which is given in full by both James and Troude. Although +these authors differ somewhat in the account of it, both agree that +the Frenchman, the _Nereide_, of 44 guns, on Feb. 14, 1810, fought +a long and indecisive battle with the _Rainbow_ of 26 and _Avon_ of +18 guns, the British sloops being fought separately, in succession. +The relative force was almost exactly as in the _Constitution's_ +fight. Each side claimed that the other fled. But this much is sure: +the _Constitution_ engaging the _Cyane_ and _Levant_ together, captured +both; while the _Nereide_, engaging the _Rainbow_ and _Avon_ separately, +captured neither. + +The three ships now proceeded to the Cape de Verds, and on March 10th +anchored in the harbor of Porto Praya, Island of San Jago. Here a +merchant-brig was taken as a cartel, and a hundred of the prisoners +were landed to help fit her for sea. The next day the weather was +thick and foggy, with fresh breezes. [Footnote: Log of _Constitution_, +March 11, 1815.] The first and second lieutenants, with a good part +of the people, were aboard the two prizes. At five minutes past twelve, +while Mr. Shubrick, the senior remaining lieutenant, was on the +quarter-deck, the canvas of a large vessel suddenly loomed up through +the haze, her hull being completely hidden by the fog-bank. Her +character could not be made out; but she was sailing close-hauled, +and evidently making for the roads. Mr. Shubrick at once went down +and reported the stranger to Captain Stewart, when that officer coolly +remarked that it was probably a British frigate or an Indiaman, and +directed the lieutenant to return on deck, call all hands, and get +ready to go out and attack her. [Footnote: Cooper, ii, 459.] At that +moment the canvas of two other ships was discovered rising out of +the fog astern of the vessel first seen. It was now evident that +all three were heavy frigates. [Footnote: Letter of Lieutenant Hoffman, +April 10, 1815.] In fact, they were the _Newcastle_, 50, Captain +Lord George Stewart; _Leander_, 50, Captain Sir Ralph Collier, K.C.B., +and _Acasta_, 40, Captain Robert Kerr, standing into Porto Praya, +close-hauled on the starboard tack, the wind being light northeast +by north. [Footnote: Marshall's "Naval Biography," ii, 535.] Captain +Stewart at once saw that his opponents were far too heavy for a fair +fight, and, knowing that the neutrality of the port would not be +the slightest protection to him, he at once signalled to the prizes +to follow, cut his cable, and, in less than ten minutes from the +time the first frigate was seen, was standing out of the roads, followed +by Hoffmann and Ballard. Certainly a more satisfactory proof of the +excellent training of both officers and men could hardly be given +than the rapidity, skill, and perfect order with which every thing +was done. Any indecision on the part of the officers or bungling +on the part of the men would have lost every thing. The prisoners +on shore had manned a battery and delivered a furious but ill-directed +fire at their retreating conquerors. The frigate, sloop, and corvette, +stood out of the harbor in the order indicated, on the port tack, +passing close under the east point, and a gunshot to windward of +the British squadron, according to the American, or about a league, +according to the British, accounts. The Americans made out the force +of the strangers correctly, and their own force was equally clearly +discerned by the _Acasta_; but both the _Newcastle_ and _Leander_ +mistook the _Cyane_ and _Levant_ for frigates, a mistake similar +to that once made by Commodore Rodgers. The _Constitution_ now crossed +her top-gallant yards and set the foresail, main-sail, spanker, flying +jib, and top-gallant sails; and the British ships, tacking, made +all sail in pursuit. The _Newcastle_ was on the _Constitution's_ +lee quarter and directly ahead of the _Leander_, while the _Acasta_ +was on the weather-quarter of the _Newcastle_. All six ships were +on the port tack. The _Constitution_ cut adrift the boats towing +astern, and her log notes that at 12.50 she found she was sailing +about as fast as the ships on her lee quarter, but that the _Acasta_ +was luffing into her wake and dropping astern. The log of the _Acasta_ +says, "We had gained on the sloops, but the frigate had gained on +us." At 1.10 the _Cyane_ had fallen so far astern and to leeward +that Captain Stewart signalled to Lieutenant Hoffman to tack, lest +he should be cut off if he did not. Accordingly the lieutenant put +about and ran off toward the northwest, no notice being taken of +him by the enemy beyond an ineffectual broadside from the sternmost +frigate. At 2.35 he was out of sight of all the ships and shaped +his course for America, which he reached on April 10th. [Footnote: +Letter of Lieutenant Hoffman, April 10, 1815.] At 1.45 the _Newcastle_ +opened on the _Constitution_ firing by divisions, but the shot all +fell short, according to the American statements, about 200 yards, +while the British accounts (as given in Marshall's "Naval Biography") +make the distance much greater; at any rate the vessels were so near +that from the _Constitution_ the officers of the _Newcastle_ could +be seen standing on the hammock nettings. But, very strangely, both +the 50-gun ships apparently still mistook the _Levant_, though a +low, flush-decked sloop like the _Hornet_, for the "_President_, +_Congress_, or _Macedonian_," Captain Collier believing that the +_Constitution_ had sailed with two other frigates in company. [Footnote: +Marshal, ii, 533. ] By three o'clock the _Levant_ had lagged so as +to be in the same position from which the _Cyane_ had just been rescued; +accordingly Captain Stewart signalled to her to tack, which she did, +and immediately afterward all three British ships tacked in pursuit. +Before they did so, it must be remembered the _Acasta_ had weathered +on the _Constitution_, though left considerably astern, while the +_Newcastle_ and _Leander_ had about kept their positions on her lee +or starboard quarter; so that if any ship had been detached after +the _Levant_ it should have been the _Leander_, which had least chance +of overtaking the American frigate. The latter was by no means as +heavily armed as either of the two 50's, and but little heavier than +the _Acasta_; moreover, she was shorthanded, having manned her two +prizes. The _Acasta_, at any rate, had made out the force of the +_Levant_, and, even had she been a frigate, it was certainly carrying +prudence to an extreme to make more than one ship tack after her. +Had the _Newcastle_ and _Acasta_ kept on after the _Constitution_ +there was a fair chance of overtaking her, for the _Acasta_ had +weathered on her, and the chase could not bear up for fear of being +cut off by the _Newcastle_. At any rate the pursuit should not have +been given up so early. Marshall says there was a mistake in the +signalling. The British captains certainly bungled the affair; even +James says (p. 558): "It is the most blundering piece of business +recorded in these six volumes." As for Stewart and his men, they +deserve the highest credit for the cool judgment and prompt, skilful +seamanship they had displayed. The _Constitution_, having shaken +off her pursuers, sailed to Maranham, where she landed her prisoners. +At Porto Rico she learned of the peace, and forthwith made sail for +New York, reaching it about the middle of May. + +As soon as he saw Captain Stewart's signal, Lieutenant Ballard had +tacked, and at once made for the anchorage at Porto Prayo, which he +reached, though pursued by all his foes, and anchored within 150 +yards of a heavy battery. [Footnote: Letter of Lieutenant Ballard. +May 2, 1815.] The wisdom of Captain Stewart's course in not trusting +to the neutrality of the port, now became evident. The _Acasta_ opened +upon the sloop as soon as the latter had anchored, at 4.30. [Footnote: +_Newcastle's_ log, as given by Marshall and James.] The _Newcastle_, +as soon as she arrived, also opened, and so did the _Leander_, while +the British prisoners on shore fired the guns of the battery. Having +borne this combined cannonade for 15 minutes, [Footnote: Ballard's +letter.] the colors of the _Levant_ were hauled down. The unskilful +firing of the British ships certainly did not redeem the blunders +previously made by Sir George Collier, for the three heavy frigates +during 15 minutes' broadside practice in smooth water against a +stationary and unresisting foe, did her but little damage, and did +not kill a man. The chief effect of the fire was to damage the houses +of the Portuguese town. [Footnote: James, vi, 551. ] + +After the capture of the _President_, the _Peacock_, Captain Warrington, +the _Hornet_, Captain Biddle, and _Tom Bowline_, brig, still remained +in New York harbor. On the 22d of January a strong northwesterly +gale began to blow, and the American vessels, according to their +custom, at once prepared to take advantage of the heavy weather and +run by the blockaders. They passed the bar by daylight, under storm +canvas, the British frigates lying to in the southeast being plainly +visible. They were ignorant of the fate of the _President_, and +proceeded toward Tristan d'Acunha, which was the appointed rendezvous. +A few days out the _Hornet_ parted company from the two others; these +last reached Tristan d'Acunha about March 18th, but were driven off +again by a gale. The _Hornet_ reached the island on the 23d, and +at half-past ten in the morning, the wind being fresh S.S.W., when +about to anchor off the north point, a sail was made in the southeast, +steering west. [Footnote: Letter from Captain Biddle to Commodore +Decatur, Mar. 25, 1815.] This was the British brig-sloop _Penguin_, +Captain James Dickenson. She was a new vessel, having left port for +the first time in September, 1814. While at the Cape of Good Hope +she had received from Vice-Admiral Tyler 12 marines from the _Medway_, +74, increasing her complement to 132; and was then despatched on +special service against a heavy American privateer, the _Young Wasp_, +which had been causing great havoc among the homeward-bound Indiamen. + +[Illustration: Master Commandant James Biddle: a contemporary portrait +by Jacob Eichholz painted after Biddle's promotion to captain (Courtesy +U.S. Naval Academy Museum)] + +[Illustration: _Hornet_ vs. _Penguin_: a lithograph published in +Liverpool, circa 1816. (Courtesy Beverley R. Robinson Collection, +U.S. Naval Academy Museum)] + +[Illustration of the action between _PENGUIN_ and _HORNET_ from +1.40 to 2.02.] + +When the strange sail was first seen Captain Biddle was just letting +go his top-sail sheets; he at once sheeted them home, and the stranger +being almost instantly shut out by the land, made all sail to the +west, and again caught sight of her. Captain Dickenson now, for the +first time, saw the American sloop, and at once bore up for her. The +position of the two vessels was exactly the reverse of the _Wasp_ +and _Frolic_, the Englishman being to windward. The _Hornet_ hove +to, to let her antagonist close; then she filled her maintop-sail +and continued to yaw, wearing occasionally to prevent herself from +being raked. At forty minutes past one the _Penguin_, being within +musket-shot, hauled to the wind on the starboard tack, hoisted a +St. George's ensign and fired a gun. The _Hornet_ luffed up on the +same tack, hoisting American colors, and the action began with heavy +broadsides. The vessels ran along thus for 15 minutes, gradually +coming closer together, and Captain Dickenson put his helm aweather, +to run his adversary aboard. At this moment the brave young officer +received a mortal wound, and the command devolved on the first +lieutenant, Mr. McDonald, who endeavored very gallantly to carry +out his commander's intention, and at 1.56 the _Penguin's_ bowsprit +came in between the _Hornet's_ main- and mizzen-rigging on the +starboard side. The American seamen had been called away, and were +at their posts to repel boarders, but as the British made no attempt +to come on, the cutlass men began to clamber into the rigging to go +aboard the brig. Captain Biddle very coolly stopped them, "it being +evident from the beginning that our fire was greatly superior both +in quickness and effect." There was a heavy sea running, and as the +_Hornet_ forged ahead, the _Penguin's_ bowsprit carried away her +mizzen shrouds, stern davits, and spanker boom; and the brig then +hung on her starboard quarter, where only small arms could be used +on either side. An English officer now called out something which +Biddle understood, whether correctly or not is disputed, to be the +word of surrender; accordingly he directed his marines to cease firing, +and jumped on the taffrail. At that minute two of the marines on +the _Penguin's_ forecastle, not 30 feet distant, fired at him, one +of the balls inflicting a rather severe wound in his neck. A discharge +of musketry from the _Hornet_ at once killed both the marines, and +at that moment the ship drew ahead. As the vessels separated the +_Penguin's_ foremast went overboard, the bowsprit breaking short +off. The _Hornet_ at once wore, to present a fresh broadside, while +the _Penguin's_ disabled condition prevented her following suit, +and having lost a third of her men killed and wounded (14 of the +former and 28 of the latter), her hull being riddled through and +through, her foremast gone, main-mast tottering, and most of the +guns on the engaged side dismounted, she struck her colors at two +minutes past two, twenty-two minutes after the first gun was fired. +Of the _Hornet's_ 150 men, 8 were absent in a prize. By actual +measurement she was two feet longer and slightly narrower than her +antagonist. Her loss was chiefly caused by musketry, amounting to +1 marine killed, 1 seaman mortally, Lieutenant Conner very severely, +and Captain Biddle and seven seamen slightly, wounded. Not a round +shot struck the hull, nor was a mast or spar materially injured, +but the rigging and sails were a good deal cut, especially about +the fore and main top-gallant masts. The _Hornet's_ crew had been +suffering much from sickness, and 9 of the men were unable to be at +quarters, thus reducing the vessels to an exact equality. Counting +in these men, and excluding the 8 absent in a prize, we get as + +COMPARATIVE FORCE. + No. Weight + Tonnage. Guns. Metal. Crew. Loss. +_Hornet_ 480 10 279 142[1] 11 +_Penguin_ 477 10 274 132 42 + +[Footnote 1: This number of men is probably too great; I have not +personally examined the _Hornet's_ muster-roll for that period. +Lieutenant Emmons in his "History," gives her 132 men; but perhaps +he did not include the nine sick, which would make his statement +about the same as mine. In response to my inquiries, I received a +very kind letter from the Treasury Department (Fourth Auditor's +office), which stated that the muster-roll of the _Hornet_ on this +voyage showed "101 officers and crew (marines excepted)." Adding +the 20 marines would make but 121 in all. I think there must be +some mistake in this, and so have considered the _Hornet's_ crew +as consisting originally of 150 men, the same as on her cruises +in 1812. + +The _Penguin_ was in reality slightly larger than the _Hornet_, +judging from the comparisons made in Biddle's letter (for the original +of which see in the Naval Archives, "Captains' Letters," vol. 42, No. +112). He says that the _Penguin_, though two feet shorter on deck +than the _Hornet_, had a greater length of keel, a slightly greater +breadth of beam, stouter sides, and higher bulwarks, with swivels +on the capstan and tops, and that she fought both her "long 12's" +on the same side. I have followed James, however, as regards this; +he says her long guns were 6-pounders, and that but one was fought +on a side.] + +Or, the force being practically equal, the _Hornet_ inflicted fourfold +the loss and tenfold the damage she suffered. Hardly any action of +the war reflected greater credit on the United States marine than +this; for the cool, skilful seamanship and excellent gunnery that +enabled the Americans to destroy an antagonist of equal force in +such an exceedingly short time. The British displayed equal bravery, +but were certainly very much behind their antagonists in the other +qualities which go to make up a first-rate man-of-warsman. Even James +says he "cannot offer the trifling disparity of force in this action +as an excuse for the _Penguin's_ capture. The chief cause is * * * +the immense disparity between the two vessels in * * * the effectiveness +of their crews." [Footnote: After the action but one official account, +that of Captain Biddle, was published; none of the letters of the +defeated British commanders were published after 1813. As regards +this action, every British writer has followed James, who begins +his account thus: "Had the vessel in sight to windward been rigged +with three masts instead of two, and had she proved to be a British +cruiser, Captain Biddle would have marked her down in his log as a +'frigate,' and have made off with all the canvas he could possibly +spread. Had the ship overtaken the _Hornet_ and been in reality a +trifle superior in force, Captain Biddle, we have no doubt, would +have exhausted his eloquence in lauding the blessings of peace before +he tried a struggle for the honors of war." After this preface (which +should be read in connection with the _Hornet's_ unaccepted challenge +to the _Bonne Citoyenne_, a ship "a trifle superior in force") it +can be considered certain that James will both extenuate and also +set down a good deal in malice. One instance of this has already +been given in speaking of the _President's_ capture. Again, he says, +"the _Hornet_ received several round shot in her hull," which she +did--a month after this action, from the _Cornwallis_, 74; James +knew perfectly well that not one of the _Penguin's_ shot hit the +_Hornet's_ hull. The quotations I have given are quite enough to +prove that nothing he says about the action is worth attending to. +The funniest part of his account is where he makes Captain Biddle +get drunk, lose his "native cunning," and corroborate his (James') +statements. He does not even hint at the authority for this.] + +The _Penguin_ was so cut up by shot that she had to be destroyed. +After the stores, etc., had been taken out of her, she was thoroughly +examined (Captain Biddle, from curiosity, taking her measurements +in comparison with those of the _Hornet_). Her destruction was +hastened on account of a strange sail heaving in sight; but the latter +proved to be the _Peacock_, with the _Tom Bowline_ in company. The +latter was now turned to account by being sent in to Rio de Janeiro +as a cartel with the prisoners. The _Peacock_ and _Hornet_ remained +about the island till April 13th, and then, giving up all hopes of +seeing the _President_, and rightly supposing she had been captured, +started out for the East Indies. On the 27th of the month, in lat. +38°30' S. and long. 33° E.,[Footnote: Letter of Captain Biddle, June +10th, and extracts from her log.] the _Peacock_ signalled a stranger +in the S.E., and both sloops crowded sail in chase. The next morning +they came down with the wind aft from the northwest, the studding-sails +set on both sides. The new 22-gun sloops were not only better +war-vessels, but faster ones too, than any other ships of their rate; +and the _Peacock_ by afternoon was two leagues ahead of the _Hornet_, +At 2 P.M. the former was observed to manifest some hesitation about +approaching the stranger, which instead of avoiding had rather hauled +up toward them. All on board the _Hornet_ thought her an Indiaman, +and "the men began to wonder what they would do with the silks," +when, a few minutes before four, the _Peacock_ signalled that it +was a line-of-battle ship, which reversed the parts with a vengeance. +Warrington's swift ship was soon out of danger, while Biddle hauled +close to the wind on the port tack, with the _Cornwallis_, 74, bearing +the flag of Admiral Sir George Burleton, K.C.B., [Footnote: James, +vi, 564.] in hot pursuit, two leagues on his lee quarter. The 74 +gained rapidly on the _Hornet_, although she stopped to pick up a +marine who had fallen overboard. Finding he had to deal with a most +weatherly craft, as well as a swift sailer, Captain Biddle, at 9 P.M., +began to lighten the _Hornet_ of the mass of stores taken from the +_Penguin_. The _Cornwallis_ gained still, however, and at 2 A.M. on +the 29th was ahead of the _Hornet's_ lee or starboard beam, when the +sloop put about and ran off toward the west. Daylight showed the +74 still astern and to leeward, but having gained so much as to be +within gunshot, and shortly afterward she opened fire, her shot +passing over the Hornet. The latter had recourse anew to the lightening +process. She had already hove overboard the sheet-anchor, several +heavy spare spars, and a large quantity of shot and ballast; the +remaining anchors and cables, more shot, six guns, and the launch +now followed suit, and, thus relieved, the _Hornet_ passed temporarily +out of danger; but the breeze shifted gradually round to the east, +and the liner came looming up till at noon she was within a mile, +a shorter range than that at which the _United States_ crippled and +cut up the _Macedonian_; and had the _Cornwallis'_ fire been half +as well aimed as that of the _States_, it would have been the last +of the _Hornet_. But the 74's guns were very unskilfully served, +and the shot passed for the most part away over the chase, but three +getting home. Captain Biddle and his crew had no hope of ultimate +escape, but no one thought of giving up. All the remaining spare +spars and boats, all the guns but one, the shot, and in fact every +thing that could be got at, below or on deck, was thrown overboard. +This increased the way of the _Hornet_, while the _Cornwallis_ lost +ground by hauling off to give broadsides, which were as ineffectual +as the fire from the chase-guns had been. The _Hornet_ now had gained +a little, and managed to hold her own, and shortly afterward the +pluck and skill of her crew [Footnote: It is perhaps worth noting +that the accounts incidentally mention the fact that almost the entire +crew consisted of native Americans, of whom _quite a number had served +as impressed seamen on board British war-ships_. James multiplies +these threefold and sets them down as British.] were rewarded. The +shift in the wind had been very much against them, but now it veered +back again so as to bring them to windward; and every minute, as it +blew fresher and fresher, their chances increased. By dark the +_Cornwallis_ was well astern, and during the night the wind kept +freshening, blowing in squalls, which just suited the _Hornet_, and +when day broke the liner was hull down astern. Then, on the morning +of the 30th, after nearly 48 hours' chase, she abandoned the pursuit. +The _Hornet_ was now of course no use as a cruiser, and made sail +for New York, which she reached on June 9th. This chase requires +almost the same comments as the last chase of the _Constitution_. +In both cases the American captains and their crews deserve the very +highest praise for plucky, skilful seamanship; but exactly as Stewart's +coolness and promptitude might not have saved the _Constitution_ +had it not been for the blunders made by his antagonists, so the +_Hornet_ would have assuredly been taken, in spite of Biddle's +stubbornness and resource, if the _Cornwallis_ had not shown such +unskilful gunnery, which was all the more discreditable since she +carried an admiral's flag. + +The _Peacock_ was thus the only one left of the squadron originally +prepared for the East Indies; however, she kept on, went round the +Cape of Good Hope, and cruised across the Indian Ocean, capturing +4 great Indiamen, very valuable prizes, manned by 291 men. Then she +entered the Straits of Sunda, and on the 30th of June, off the fort +of Anjier fell in with the East India Company's cruiser _Nautilus_, +Lieut. Boyce, a brig of 180 (American measurement over 200) tons, +with a crew of 80 men, and 14 guns, 4 long 9's and ten 18-pound +carronades. [Footnote: "History of the Indian Navy," by Charles +Rathbone Low (late lieutenant of the Indian Navy), London, 1877, +p. 285.] Captain Warrington did not know of the peace; one of the +boats of the _Nautilus_, however, with her purser, Mr. Bartlett, +boarded him. Captain Warrington declares the latter made no mention +of the peace, while Mr. Bartlett swears that he did before he was +sent below. As the _Peacock_ approached, Lieut. Boyce hailed to ask +if she knew peace had been declared. Captain Warrington, according +to his letter, regarded this as a ruse to enable the brig to escape +under the guns of the fort, and commanded the lieutenant to haul +down his colors, which the latter refused to do, and very gallantly +prepared for a struggle with a foe of more than twice his strength. +According to Captain Warrington, one, or, by the deposition of Mr. +Bartlett, [Footnote: As quoted by Low.] two broadsides were then +interchanged, and the brig surrendered, having lost 7 men, including +her first lieutenant, killed and mortally wounded, and 8 severely +or slightly wounded. Two of her guns and the sheet-anchor were disabled, +the bends on the starboard side completely shivered from aft to the +forechains, the bulwarks from the chess-tree aft much torn, and the +rigging cut to pieces. [Footnote: Letter of Lieut. Boyce to Company's +Marine Board, as quoted by Low.] The _Peacock_ did not suffer the +slightest loss or damage. Regarding the affair purely as a conflict +between vessels of nations at war with each other, the criticism +made by Lord Howard Douglass on the action between the _President_ +and _Little Belt_ applies here perfectly. "If a vessel meet an enemy +of even greatly superior force, it is due to the honor of her flag +to try the effect of a few rounds; but unless in this gallant attempt +she leave marks of her skill upon the larger body, while she, the +smaller body, is hit at every discharge, she does but salute her +enemy's triumph and discredit her own gunnery." [Footnote: "Naval +Gunnery," p. 3.] There could not have been a more satisfactory +exhibition of skill than that given by Captain Warrington; but I +regret to say that it is difficult to believe he acted with proper +humanity. It seems impossible that Mr. Bartlett did not mention that +peace had been signed; and when the opposing force was so much less +than his own it would have been safe at least to defer the order +"haul down your flag" for a short time, while he could have kept +the brig within half pistol-shot, until he could have inquired into +the truth of the report. Throughout this work I have wherever possible +avoided all references to the various accusations and recriminations +of some of the captains about "unfairness," "cruelty," etc., as in +most cases it is impossible to get at the truth, the accounts flatly +contradicting one another. In this case, however, there certainly +seems some ground for the rather fervent denunciations of Captain +Warrington indulged in by Lieut. Low. But it is well to remember that +a very similar affair, with the parties reversed, had taken place +but a few months before on the coast of America. This was on Feb. +22d, after the boats of the _Erebus_, 20, and _Primrose_, 18, under +Captains Bartholomew and Phillot, had been beaten off with a loss +of 30 men (including both captains wounded), in an expedition up +St. Mary's River, Ga. The two captains and their vessels then joined +Admiral Cockburn at Cumberland Island, and on the 25th of February +were informed officially of the existence of peace. Three weeks +afterward the American gunboat, No. 168, Mr. Hurlburt, sailed from +Tybee Bar, Ga., bearing despatches for the British admiral. [Footnote: +Letter from Com. Campbell to Sec. of Navy, Mar. 29, 1815. including +one from Sailing-master John H. Hurlburt of Mar. 18, 1815, preserved +in the Naval Archives, in vol. 43, No. 125, of "Captains' Letters." +See also "Niles' Register," viii, 104, 118, etc.] On the same day +in the afternoon she fell in with the _Erebus_, Captain Bartholomew. +Peace having been declared, and having been known to exist for over +three weeks, no effort was made to avoid the British vessel; but +when the gunboat neared the latter she was suddenly hailed and told +to heave to. Mr. Hurlburt answered that he had dispatches for Admiral +Cockburn, to which Captain Bartholomew responded, with many oaths, +that he did not care, he would sink her if she did not send a boat +aboard. When Mr. Hurlburt attempted to answer some muskets were +discharged at him, and he was told to strike. He refused, and the +_Erebus_ immediately opened fire from her great guns; the gunboat +had gotten so far round that her pivot-gun would not bear properly, +but it was discharged across the bows of the _Erebus_, and then Mr. +Hurlburt struck his colors. Although he had lain right under the +foe's broadside, he had suffered no loss or damage except a few ropes +cut, and some shot-holes in the sails. Afterward Captain Bartholomew +apologized, and let the gunboat proceed. + +This attack was quite as wanton and unprovoked as Warrington's, and +Bartholomew's foe was relatively to himself even less powerful; +moreover, while the _Peacock's_ crew showed great skill in handling +their guns, the crew of the _Erebus_ most emphatically did not. The +intent in both cases was equally bad, only the British captain lacked +the ability to carry his out. + +Summary. + +The concluding operations of the war call for much the same comments +as those of the preceding years. The balance of praise certainly +inclines toward the Americans. Captain John Hayes' squadron showed +great hardihood, perseverance and judgment, which were rewarded by +the capture of the _President_; and Decatur's surrender seems decidedly +tame. But as regards the action between the _President_ and _Endymion_ +(taking into account the fact that the former fought almost under +the guns of an overwhelming force, and was therefore obliged to expose +herself far more than she otherwise would have), it showed nearly +as great superiority on the side of the Americans as the frigate +actions of 1812 did--in fact, probably quite as much as in the case +of the _Java_. Similarly, while the _Cyane_ and _Levant_ did well, +the _Constitution_ did better; and Sir George Collier's ships certainly +did not distinguish themselves when in chase of _Old Ironsides_. So +with the _Hornet_ in her two encounters; no one can question the +pluck with which the _Penguin_ was fought, but her gunnery was as +bad as that of the _Cornwallis_ subsequently proved. And though the +skirmish between the _Peacock_ and _Nautilus_ is not one to which +an American cares to look back, yet, regarding it purely from a +fighting stand-point, there is no question which crew was the best +trained and most skilful. + + LIST OF SHIPS BUILT IN 1815. + + Name. Rate. Where Built. Cost. +_Washington_ 74 Portsmouth $235,861.00 +_Independence_ 74 Boston 421,810.41 +_Franklin_ 74 Philadelphia 438,149.40 +_Guerrière_ 44 " 306,158.56 +_Java_ 44 Baltimore 232,767.38 +_Fulton_ 30 New York 320,000.00 +_Torpedo_ " + +These ships first put to sea in this year. For the first time in +her history the United States possessed line-of-battle ships; and +for the first time in all history, the steam frigate appeared on +the navy list of a nation. The _Fulton_, with her clumsy central +wheel, concealed from shot by the double hull, with such thick scantling +that none but heavy guns could harm her, and relying for offensive +weapons not on a broadside of thirty guns of small calibre, but on +two pivotal 100-pounder columbiads, or, perhaps, if necessary, on +blows from her hog snout,--the _Fulton_ was the true prototype of +the modern steam ironclad, with its few heavy guns and ram. Almost +as significant is the presence of the _Torpedo_. I have not chronicled +the several efforts made by the Americans to destroy British vessels +with torpedoes; some very nearly succeeded, and although they failed +it must not be supposed that they did no good. On the contrary, they +made the British in many cases very cautious about venturing into +good anchorage (especially in Long Island Sound and the Chesapeake), +and by the mere terror of their name prevented more than one harrying +expedition. The _Fulton_ was not got into condition to be fought +until just as the war ended; had it continued a few months, it is +more than probable that the deeds of the _Merrimac_ and the havoc +wrought by the Confederate torpedoes would have been forestalled by +nearly half a century. As it was, neither of these engines of war +attracted much attention. For ten or fifteen years the _Fulton_ was +the only war-vessel of her kind in existence, and then her name +disappears from our lists. The torpedoes had been tried in the +Revolutionary War, but their failure prevented much notice from being +taken of them, and, besides, at that time there was a strong feeling +that it was dishonorable to blow a ship up with a powder-can concealed +_under_ the water, though highly laudable to burn her by means of +a fire-raft floating _on_ the water--a nice distinction in naval +ethics that has since disappeared. [Footnote: James fairly foams at +the mouth at the mere mention of torpedoes.] + + AMERICAN VESSELS DESTROYED, ETC. + + By Ocean Cruisers. +Name. Guns. Tonnage. Remarks. +_President_ 52 1,576 captured by squadron. + --- ----- + 52 guns 1,576 tons. + + + BRITISH VESSELS DESTROYED, ETC. + + a.--By Privateers. +Name. Guns. Tonnage. Remarks. +_Chasseur_ 12 240 by privateer _St. Lawrence_. + + b.--By Ocean Cruisers +_Cyane_ 34 659 by _Constitution_. +_Levant_ 20 500 retaken. +_Penguin_ 19 477 by _Hornet_. + --- ----- + 85 guns 1,876 tons. + 20 500 (subtracting _Levant_). + 65 guns, 1,376 tons. + +In summing up the results of the struggle on the ocean it is to be +noticed that very little was attempted, and nothing done, by the +American Navy that could _materially_ affect the result of the war. +Commodore Rodgers' expedition after the Jamaica Plate fleet failed; +both the efforts to get a small squadron into the East Indian waters +also miscarried; and otherwise the whole history of the struggle on +the ocean is, as regards the Americans, only the record of individual +cruises and fights. The material results were not very great, at +least in their effect on Great Britain, whose enormous navy did not +feel in the slightest degree the loss of a few frigates and sloops. +But morally the result was of inestimable benefit to the United States. +The victories kept up the spirits of the people, cast down by the +defeats on land; practically decided in favor of the Americans the +chief question in dispute--Great Britain's right of search and +impressment--and gave the navy, and thereby the country, a world-wide +reputation. I doubt if ever before a nation gained so much honor +by a few single-ship duels. For there can be no question which side +came out of the war with the greatest credit. The damage inflicted +by each on the other was not very unequal in amount, but the balance +was certainly in favor of the United States, as can be seen by the +following tables, for the details of which reference can be made to +the various years: + + AMERICAN LOSS. BRITISH LOSS. + + Caused: Tonnage. Guns. Tonnage.[1] Guns. +By Ocean Cruisers 5,984 278 8,451 351 +On the Lakes 727 37 4,159 212 +By the Army 3,007 116 500 22 +By Privateers -- -- 402 20 + ------ ---- ------ ---- + Total, 9,718 431 13,512 605 + +[Footnote 1: The tonnage can only be given approximately, as that +of the vessels on Lake Champlain is not exactly known, although we +know about what the two fleets tonned relatively to one another.] + +In addition we lost 4 revenue-cutters, mounting 24 guns, and, in +the aggregate, of 387 tons, and also, 25 gun-boats, with 71 guns, +and, in the aggregate, of nearly 2,000 tons. This would swell our +loss to 12,105 tons, and 526 guns; [Footnote: This differs greatly +from the figures given by James in his "Naval Occurrences" (App. ccxv). +He makes the American loss 14,844 tons, and 660 guns. His list includes, +for example, the "_Growler_ and _Hamilton_, upset in carrying sail +to avoid Sir James' fleet"; it would be quite reasonable to put down +the loss of the _Royal George_ to the credit of the French. Then he +mentions the _Julia_ and _Growler_, which were recaptured; the _Asp_, +which was also recaptured; the "_New York_, 46, destroyed at Washington," +which was _not_ destroyed or harmed in any way, and which, moreover, +was a condemned hulk; the "_Boston_, 42 (in reality 32), destroyed +at Washington," which had been a condemned hulk for ten years, and +had no guns or anything else in her, and was as much a loss to our +navy as the fishing up and burning of an old wreck would have been; +and 8 gun-boats whose destruction was either mythical, or else which +were not national vessels. By deducting all these we reduce James' +total by 120 guns, and 2,600 tons; and a few more alterations (such +as excluding the swivels in the _President's_ tops, which he counts, +etc.), brings his number down to that given above--and also affords +a good idea of the value to be attached to his figures and tables. +The British loss he gives at but 530 guns and 10,273 tons. He omits +the 24-gun ship burnt by Chauncy at York, although including the +frigate and corvette burnt by Ross at Washington; if the former is +excluded the two latter should be, which would make the balance still +more in favor of the Americans. He omits the guns of the _Gloucester_, +because they had been taken out of her and placed in battery on the +shore, bur he includes those of the _Adams_, which had been served +in precisely the same way. He omits all reference to the British +14-gun schooner burnt on Ontario, and to all 3 and 4-gun sloops and +schooners captured there, although including the corresponding American +vessels. The reason that he so much underestimates the tonnage, +especially on the lakes, I have elsewhere discussed. His tables of +the relative loss in men are even more erroneous, exaggerating that +of the Americans, and greatly underestimating that of the British; +but I have not tabulated this on account of the impossibility of +getting fair estimates of the killed and wounded in the cutting-out +expeditions, and the difficulty of enumerating the prisoners taken +in descents, etc. Roughly, about 2,700 Americans and 3,800 British +were captured; the comparative loss in killed and wounded stood much +more in our favor. + +I have excluded from the British loss the brigs _Detroit_ and +_Caledonia_, and schooner _Nancy_ (aggregating 10 guns and about +500 tons), destroyed on the upper lakes, because I hardly know whether +they could be considered national vessels; the schooner _Highflyer_, +of 8 guns, 40 men, and 209 tons, taken by Rodgers, because she seems +to have been merely a tender; and the _Dominica_, 15, of 77 men, and +270 tons, because her captor, the privateer _Decatur_, though nominally +an American, was really a French vessel. Of course both tables are +only approximately exact; but at any rate the balance of damage and +loss was over 4 to 3 in our favor.] but the loss of the revenue-cutters +and gun-boats can fairly be considered to be counterbalanced by the +capture or destruction of the various British Royal Packets (all +armed with from 2 to 10 guns), tenders, barges, etc., which would +be in the aggregate of at least as great tonnage and gun force, and +with more numerous crews. + +But the comparative material loss gives no idea of the comparative +honor gained. The British navy, numbering at the onset a thousand +cruisers, had accomplished less than the American, which numbered +but a dozen. Moreover, most of the loss suffered by the former was +in single fight, while this had been but twice the case with the +Americans, who had generally been overwhelmed by numbers. The +_President_ and _Essex_ were both captured by more than double their +force simply because they were disabled before the fight began, +otherwise they would certainly have escaped. With the exceptions +of the _Chesapeake_ and _Argus_ (both of which were taken fairly, +because their antagonists, though of only equal force, were better +fighters), the remaining loss of the Americans was due to the small +cruisers stumbling from time to time across the path of some one +of the innumerable British heavy vessels. Had Congressional forethought +been sufficiently great to have allowed a few line-of-battle ships +to have been in readiness some time previous to the war, results +of weight might have been accomplished. But the only activity ever +exhibited by Congress in materially increasing the navy previous to +the war, had been in partially carrying out President Jefferson's +ideas of having an enormous force of very worthless gun-boats--a +scheme whose wisdom was about on a par with some of that statesman's +political and military theories. + +Of the twelve [Footnote: Not counting the last action of the +_Constitution_, the _President's_ action, or the capture of the _Essex_, +on account of the difficulty of fairly estimating the amount of credit +due to each side. In both the first actions, however, the American +ships seem to have been rather more ably fought than their antagonists, +and, taking into account the overwhelming disadvantages under which +the _Essex_ labored, her defence displayed more desperate bravery +than did that of any other ship during the war.] single-ship actions, +two (those of the _Argus_ and _Chesapeake_) undoubtedly redounded +most to the credit of the British, in two (that of the _Wasp_ with +the _Reindeer_, and that of the _Enterprise_ with the _Boxer_), the +honors were nearly even, and in the other eight the superiority of +the Americans was very manifest. In three actions (those with the +_Penguin_, _Frolic_, and _Shannon_) the combatants were about equal +in strength, the Americans having slightly the advantage; in all +the others but two, the victors combined superiority of force with +superiority of skill. In but two cases, those of the _Argus_ and +_Epervier_, could any lack of courage be imputed to the vanquished. +The second year alone showed to the advantage of the British; the +various encounters otherwise were as creditable to the Americans +at the end as at the beginning of the war. This is worth attending +to, because many authors speak as if the successes of the Americans +were confined to the first year. It is true that no frigate was taken +after the first year, but this was partly because the strictness +of the blockade kept the American frigates more in port, while the +sloops put out to sea at pleasure, and partly because after that +year the British 18-pounder frigates either cruised in couples, or, +when single, invariably refused, by order of the Board of Admiralty, +an encounter with a 24-pounder; and though much of the American success +was unquestionably to be attributed to more men and heavier guns, +yet much of it was not. The war itself gives us two instances in +which defeat was owing solely, it may be said, to inferiority of +force, courage and skill being equal. The _Wasp_ was far heavier +than the _Reindeer_, and, there being nothing to choose between them +in any thing else, the damage done was about proportionate to this +difference. It follows, as a matter of course, that the very much +greater disproportion in loss in the cases of the _Avon_, _Epervier_, +etc., where the disproportion in force was much less (they mounting +32's instead of 24's, and the victors being all of the same class), +is only to be explained by the inferiority in skill on the part of +the vanquished. These remarks apply just as much to the _Argus_. +The _Reindeer_, with her 24's, would have been almost exactly on a +par with her, and yet would have taken her with even greater ease +than the _Peacock_ did with her 32's. In other words, the only effect +of our superiority in metal, men, and tonnage was to increase somewhat +the disparity in loss. Had the _Congress_ and _Constellation_, instead +of the _United States_ and _Constitution_, encountered the _Macedonian_ +and _Java_, the difference in execution would have been less than +it was, but the result would have been unchanged, and would have +been precisely such as ensued when the _Wasp_ met the _Frolic_, or +the _Hornet_ the _Penguin_. On the other hand, had the _Shannon_ met +the _Constitution_ there would have been a repetition of the fight +between the _Wasp_ and _Reindeer_; for it is but fair to remember +that great as is the honor that Broke deserves, it is no more than +that due to Manners. + +The Republic of the United States owed a great deal to the excellent +make and armament of its ships, but it owed still more to the men +who were in them. The massive timbers and heavy guns of _Old Ironsides_ +would have availed but little had it not been for her able commanders +and crews. Of all the excellent single-ship captains, British or +American, produced by the war, the palm should be awarded to Hull. +[Footnote: See "Naval Tactics," by Commander J. H. Ward, and "Life +of Commodore Tatnall," by Charles C. Jones, Jr.] The deed of no other +man (excepting Macdonough) equalled his escape from Broke's five +ships, or surpassed his half-hour's conflict with the _Guerrière_. +After him, almost all the American captains deserve high praise--Decatur, +Jones, Blakely, Biddle, Bainbridge, Lawrence, Burrows, Allen, Warrington, +Stewart, Porter. It is no small glory to a country to have had such +men upholding the honor of its flag. On a par with the best of them +are Broke, Manners, and also Byron and Blythe. It must be but a +poor-spirited American whose veins do not tingle with pride when +he reads of the cruises and fights of the sea-captains, and their +grim prowess, which kept the old Yankee flag floating over the waters +of the Atlantic for three years, in the teeth of the mightiest naval +power the world has ever seen; but it is equally impossible not to +admire Broke's chivalric challenge and successful fight, or the +heroic death of the captain of the _Reindeer_. + +Nor can the war ever be fairly understood by any one who does not +bear in mind that the combatants were men of the same stock, who +far more nearly resembled each other than either resembled any other +nation. I honestly believe that the American sailor offered rather +better material for a man-of-warsman than the British, because the +freer institutions of his country (as compared with the Britain of +the drunken Prince Regent and his dotard father--a very different +land from the present free England) and the peculiar exigencies of +his life tended to make him more intelligent and self-reliant; but +the difference, when there was any, was very small, and disappeared +entirely when his opponents had been drilled for any length of time +by men like Broke or Manners. The advantage consisted in the fact +that our _average_ commander was equal to the best, and higher than +the average, of the opposing captains; and this held good throughout +the various grades of the officers. The American officers knew they +had redoubtable foes to contend with, and made every preparation +accordingly. Owing their rank to their own exertions, trained by +practical experience and with large liberty of action, they made +every effort to have their crews in the most perfect state of skill +and discipline. In Commodore Tatnall's biography (p. 15) it is +mentioned that the blockaded _Constellation_ had her men well trained +at the guns and at target practice, though still lying in the river, +so as to be at once able to meet a foe when she put out to sea. The +British captain, often owing his command to his social standing or +to favoritism, hampered by red tape, [Footnote: For instance, James +mentions that they were forbidden to use more than so many shot in +practice, and that Capt. Broke utterly disregarded this command.] +and accustomed by 20 years' almost uninterrupted success to regard +the British arms as invincible, was apt to laugh at all manoeuvring, +[Footnote: Lord Howard Douglass, "Naval Gunnery," states this in +various places.--"Accustomed to contemn all manoeuvring."] and scorned +to prepare too carefully for a fight, trusting to the old British +"pluck and luck" to carry him through. So, gradually he forgot how +to manoeuvre or to prepare. The _Java_ had been at sea six weeks +before she was captured, yet during that time the entire exercise +of her crew at the guns had been confined to the discharge of six +broadsides of blank cartridges (James, vi, 184); the _Constitution_, +like the _Java_, had shipped an entirely new and raw crew previous +to her first cruise, and was at sea but five weeks before she met +the _Guerrière_, and yet her men had been trained to perfection. +This is a sufficient comment on the comparative merits of Captain +Hull and Captain Lambert. The American prepared himself in every +possible way; the Briton tried to cope with courage alone against +courage united to skill. His bad gunnery had not been felt in +contending with European foes [Footnote: Lord Howard Douglass; he +seems to think that in 1812 the British had fallen off absolutely, +though not relatively to their European foes.] as unskilful as +himself. Says Lord Howard Douglass (p. 3): "We entered with too +much confidence into a war with a marine much more expert than any +of our European enemies * * * there was inferiority of gunnery as +well as of force," etc. Admiral Codrington, commenting on the +_Epervier's_ loss, says, as before quoted, that, owing to his being +chosen purely for merit, the American captain was an overmatch for +the British, unless "he encountered our best officers on equal terms." + +The best criticism on the war is that given by Capitaine Jurien de +la Gravière. [Footnote: "Guerres Maritimes," ii, p. 269, 272, 274 +(Paris, 1847).] After speaking of the heavier metal and greater number +of men of the American ships, he continues: "And yet only an enormous +superiority in the precision and rapidity of their fire can explain +the difference in the losses sustained by the combatants.* * * Nor +was the skill of their gunners the only cause to which the Americans +owed their success. Their ships were faster; the crews, composed +of chosen men, manoeuvred with uniformity and precision; their captains +had that practical knowledge which is only to be acquired by long +experience of the sea; and it is not to be wondered at that the +_Constitution_, when chased during three days by a squadron of five +English frigates, succeeded in escaping, by surpassing them in +manoeuvring, and by availing herself of every ingenious resource +and skilful expedient that maritime science could suggest. * * * +To a marine exalted by success, but rendered negligent by the very +habit of victory, the Congress only opposed the best of vessels and +most formidable of armaments. * * *" [Footnote: The praise should +be given to the individual captains and _not_ to Congress, however; +and none of the American ships had picked crews. During the war the +_Shannon_ had the only crew which could with any fairness be termed +"picked," for her men had been together seven years, and all of her +"boys" must have been well-grown young men, much older than the boys +on her antagonist.] + +It is interesting to compare the results of this inter-Anglian warfare, +waged between the Insular and the Continental English, with the results +of the contest that the former were at the same time carrying on +with their Gallo-Roman neighbors across the channel. For this purpose +I shall rely on Troude's "Batailles Navales," which would certainly +not give the English more than their due. His account of the comparative +force in each case can be supplemented by the corresponding one given +in James. Under drawn battles I include all such as were indecisive, +in so far that neither combatant was captured; in almost every case +each captain claimed that the other ran away. + +During the year 1812 to 1815 inclusive, there were eight actions +between French and English ships of approximately equal force. In +three of these the English were victorious. + +In 1812 the _Victorious_, 74, captured the _Rivoli_, 74. + + COMPARATIVE FORCE. + Broadsides, Metal, lbs. + + Troude. James. +_Victorious_ 1,014 1,060 +_Rivoli_ 1,010 1,085 + +In 1814 the _Tagus_ captured the _Ceres_ and the _Hebrus_ captured +the _Etoile_. + + Broadsides, Metal, lbs. + + Troude. James. +_Tagus_ 444 467 +_Ceres_ 428 463 + +_Hebrus_ 467 467 +_Etoile_ 428 463 + +The _Ceres_, when she surrendered, had but one man wounded, although +she had suffered a good deal aloft. The fight between the 74's was +murderous to an almost unexampled degree, 125 English and 400 French +falling. The _Hebrus_ lost 40 and the _Etoile_ 120 men. + +Five actions were "drawn." + +In 1812 the _Swallow_ fought the _Renard_ and _Garland_. The former +threw 262, the latter 290 lbs. of shot at a broadside. + +In 1815 the _Pilot_, throwing 262 lbs., fought a draw with the +_Egerie_ throwing 260. + +In 1814 two frigates of the force of the _Tagus_ fought a draw with +two frigates of the force of the _Ceres_; and the _Eurotas_, with +24-pounders failed to capture the _Chlorinde_, which had only +18-pounders. In 1815 the _Amelia_ fought a draw with the _Arethuse_, +the ships throwing respectively 549 and 463 lbs., according to the +English, or 572 and 410 lbs., according to the French accounts. In +spite of being superior in force the English ship lost 141 men, and +the French but 105. This was a bloodier fight than even that of the +_Chesapeake_ with the _Shannon_; but the gunnery was, nevertheless, +much worse than that shown by the two combatants in the famous duel +off Boston harbor, one battle lasting four hours and the other 15 +minutes. + +There were a number of other engagements where the British were +successful but where it is difficult to compare the forces. Twice +a 74 captured or destroyed two frigates, and a razee performed a +similar feat. An 18-gun brig, the _Weasel_, fought two 16-gun brigs +till one of them blew up. + +The loss of the two navies at each other's hands during the four +years was:-- + + English Ships. French Ships. + 1 16-gun brig 3 line-of-battle ships + 1 12-gun brig 11 frigates + 1 10-gun cutter 2 26-gun flûtes + 2 16-gun brigs + 1 10-gun brig + many gun-boats, etc. + +Or one navy lost three vessels, mounting 38 guns, and the other 19 +vessels, mounting 830 guns. + +During the same time the English lost to the Danes one 14-gun brig, +and destroyed in return a frigate of 46 guns, a 6-gun schooner, a +4-gun cutter, two galliots and several gun-brigs. + +In the above lists it is to be noticed how many of the engagements +were indecisive, owing chiefly to the poor gunnery of the combatants. +The fact that both the _Eurotas_ and the _Amelia_, though more +powerfully armed and manned than the _Hebrus_, yet failed to capture +the sister ships of the frigate taken by the latter, shows that heavy +metal and a numerous crew are not the only elements necessary for +success; indeed the _Eurotas_ and _Amelia_ were as superior in force +to their antagonists as the _Constitution_ was to the _Java_. + +But the chief point to be noticed is the overwhelming difference +in the damage the two navies caused each other. This difference was, +roughly, as five to one against the Danes, and as fifty to one against +the French; while it was as four to three in favor of the American. +These figures give some idea of the effectiveness of the various +navies. At any rate they show that we had found out what the European +nations had for many years in vain striven to discover--a way to +do more damage than we received in a naval contest with England. + + + +Chapter X + + +1815 + +THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS + +_The war on land generally disastrous--British send great expedition +against New Orleans--Jackson prepares for the defence of the city--Night +attack on the British advance guard--Artillery duels--Great battle +of January 8, 1815--Slaughtering repulse of the main attack--Rout +of the Americans on the right bank of the river--Final retreat of +the British--Observations on the character of the troops and +commanders engaged._ + +While our navy had been successful, the war on land had been for +us full of humiliation. The United States then formed but a loosely +knit confederacy, the sparse population scattered over a great expanse +of land. Ever since the Federalist party had gone out of power in +1800, the nation's ability to maintain order at home and enforce +respect abroad had steadily dwindled; and the twelve years' nerveless +reign of the Doctrinaire Democracy had left us impotent for attack +and almost as feeble for defence. Jefferson, though a man whose views +and theories had a profound influence upon our national life, was +perhaps the most incapable Executive that ever filled the presidential +chair; being almost purely a visionary, he was utterly unable to +grapple with the slightest actual danger, and, not even excepting +his successor, Madison, it would be difficult to imagine a man less +fit to guide the state with honor and safety through the stormy times +that marked the opening of the present century. Without the prudence +to avoid war or the forethought to prepare for it, the Administration +drifted helplessly into a conflict in which only the navy prepared +by the Federalists twelve years before, and weakened rather than +strengthened during the intervening time, saved us from complete +and shameful defeat. True to its theories, the House of Virginia +made no preparations, and thought the war could be fought by "the +nation in arms"; the exponents of this particular idea, the militiamen, +a partially armed mob, ran like sheep whenever brought into the field. +The regulars were not much better. After two years of warfare, Scott +records in his autobiography that there were but two books of tactics +(one written in French) in the entire army on the Niagara frontier; +and officers and men were on such a dead level of ignorance that +he had to spend a month drilling all of the former, divided into +squads, in the school of the soldier and school of the company. +[Footnote: "Memoirs of Lieutenant-General Scott," written by himself +(2 vols., New York, 1864), i, p. 115.] It is small wonder that such +troops were utterly unable to meet the English. Until near the end, +the generals were as bad as the armies they commanded, and the +administration of the War Department continued to be a triumph of +imbecility to the very last. [Footnote: Monroe's biographer (see +"James Monroe," by Daniel C. Gilman, Boston, 1883, p. 123) thinks +he made a good Secretary of War. I think he was as much a failure +as his predecessors, and a harsher criticism could not be passed +on him. Like the other statesmen of his school, he was mighty in +word and weak in action; bold to plan but weak to perform. As an +instance, contrast his fiery letters to Jackson with the fact that +he never gave him a particle of practical help.] With the exception +of the brilliant and successful charge of the Kentucky mounted infantry +at the battle of the Thames, the only bright spot in the war in the +North was the campaign on the Niagara frontier during the summer of +1814; and even here, the chief battle, that of Lundy's Lane, though +reflecting as much honor on the Americans as on the British, was +for the former a defeat, and not a victory, as most of our writers +seem to suppose. + +But the war had a dual aspect. It was partly a contest between the +two branches of the English race, and partly a last attempt on the +part of the Indian tribes to check the advance of the most rapidly +growing one of these same two branches; and this last portion of +the struggle, though attracting comparatively little attention, was +really much the most far-reaching in its effect upon history. The +triumph of the British would have distinctly meant the giving a new +lease of life to the Indian nationalities, the hemming in, for a time, +of the United States, and the stoppage, perhaps for many years, of +the march of English civilization across the continent. The English +of Britain were doing all they could to put off the day when their +race would reach to a worldwide supremacy. + +There was much fighting along our Western frontier with various Indian +tribes; and it was especially fierce in the campaign that a backwoods +general of Tennessee, named Andrew Jackson, carried on against the +powerful confederacy of the Creeks, a nation that was thrust in like +a wedge between the United States proper and their dependency, the +newly acquired French province of Louisiana. After several slaughtering +fights, the most noted being the battle of the Horse-shoe Bend, the +power of the Creeks was broken for ever; and afterward, as there +was much question over the proper boundaries of what was then the +Latin land of Florida, Jackson marched south, attacked the Spaniards +and drove them from Pensacola. Meanwhile the British, having made +a successful and ravaging summer campaign through Virginia and +Maryland, situated in the heart of the country, organized the most +formidable expedition of the war for a winter campaign against the +outlying land of Louisiana, whose defender Jackson of necessity became. +Thus, in the course of events, it came about that Louisiana was the +theatre on which the final and most dramatic act of the war was played. + +Amid the gloomy, semi-tropical swamps that cover the quaking delta +thrust out into the blue waters of the Mexican Gulf by the strong +torrent of the mighty Mississippi, stood the fair, French city of +New Orleans. Its lot had been strange and varied. Won and lost, once +and again, in conflict with the subjects of the Catholic king, there +was a strong Spanish tinge in the French blood that coursed so freely +through the veins of its citizens; joined by purchase to the great +Federal Republic, it yet shared no feeling with the latter, save +that of hatred to the common foe. And now an hour of sore need had +come upon the city; for against it came the red English, lords of +fight by sea and land. A great fleet of war vessels--ships of the +line--frigates and sloops--under Admiral Cochrane, was on the way +to New Orleans, convoying a still larger fleet of troop ships, with +aboard them some ten thousand fighting men, chiefly the fierce and +hardy veterans of the Peninsular War, [Footnote: "The British infantry +embarked at Bordeaux, some for America, some for England." ("History +of the War in the Peninsula," by Major-General Sir W. F. P. Napier, +K. C. B. New Edition. New York, 1882, vol. v, p. 200.) For discussion +of numbers, see farther on.] who had been trained for seven years +in the stern school of the Iron Duke, and who were now led by one +of the bravest and ablest of all Wellington's brave and able +lieutenants, Sir Edward Packenham. + +On the 8th of December 1814, the foremost vessels, with among their +number the great two-decker _Tonnant_, carrying the admiral's flag, +anchored off the Chandeleur Islands [Footnote: See, ante, p. 343.]; +and as the current of the Mississippi was too strong to be easily +breasted, the English leaders determined to bring their men by boats +through the bayous, and disembark them on the bank of the river ten +miles below the wealthy city at whose capture they were aiming. There +was but one thing to prevent the success of this plan, and that was +the presence in the bayous of five American gun-boats, manned by +a hundred and eighty men, and commanded by Lieutenant Comdg. Catesby +Jones, a very shrewd fighter. So against him was sent Captain Nicholas +Lockyer with forty-five barges, and nearly a thousand sailors and +marines, men who had grown gray during a quarter of a century of +unbroken ocean warfare. The gun-boats were moored in a head-and-stern +line, near the Rigolets, with their boarding-nettings triced up, +and every thing ready to do desperate battle; but the British rowed +up with strong, swift strokes, through a murderous fire of great +guns and musketry; the vessels were grappled amid fierce resistance; +the boarding-nettings were slashed through and cut away; with furious +fighting the decks were gained; and one by one, at push of pike and +cutlass stroke the gun-boats were carried in spite of their stubborn +defenders; but not till more than one barge had been sunk, while the +assailants had lost a hundred men, and the assailed about half as many. + +There was now nothing to hinder the landing of the troops; and as the +scattered transports arrived, the soldiers were disembarked, and ferried +through the sluggish water of the bayous on small flat-bottomed craft; +and finally, Dec. 23d, the advance guard, two thousand strong, under +General Keane, emerged at the mouth of the canal Villeré, and camped on +the bank of the river, [Footnote: Letter of Major-General John Keane, +Dec. 26, 1814.] but nine miles below New Orleans, which now seemed a +certain prize, almost within their grasp. + +Yet, although a mighty and cruel foe was at their very gates, nothing +save fierce defiance reigned in the fiery creole hearts of the Crescent +City. For a master-spirit was in their midst. Andrew Jackson, having +utterly broken and destroyed the most powerful Indian confederacy +that had ever menaced the Southwest, and having driven the haughty +Spaniards from Pensacola, was now bending all the energies of his +rugged intellect and indomitable will to the one object of defending +New Orleans. No man could have been better fitted for the task. He +had hereditary wrongs to avenge on the British, and he hated them +with an implacable fury that was absolutely devoid of fear. Born +and brought up among the lawless characters of the frontier, and +knowing well how to deal with them, he was able to establish and +preserve the strictest martial law in the city without in the least +quelling the spirit of the citizens. To a restless and untiring energy +he united sleepless vigilance and genuine military genius. Prompt +to attack whenever the chance offered itself, seizing with ready +grasp the slightest vantage-ground, and never giving up a foot of +earth that he could keep, he yet had the patience to play a defensive +game when it so suited him, and with consummate skill he always +followed out the scheme of warfare that was best adapted to this +wild soldiery. In after-years he did to his country some good and +more evil; but no true American can think of his deeds at New Orleans +without profound and unmixed thankfulness. + +He had not reached the city till December 2d, and had therefore but +three weeks in which to prepare the defence. The Federal Government, +throughout the campaign, did absolutely nothing for the defence of +Louisiana; neither provisions nor munitions of war of any sort were +sent to it, nor were any measures taken for its aid. [Footnote: +"Historical Memoir of the War in West Florida and Louisiana" (by +Major A. Lacarriex Latour, translated from the French by H. P. Nugent, +Philadelphia, 1816), p. 66.] The inhabitants had been in a state of +extreme despondency up to the time that Jackson arrived, for they +had no one to direct them, and they were weakened by factional +divisions [Footnote: Latour, 53.]; but after his coming there was +nothing but the utmost enthusiasm displayed, so great was the confidence +he inspired, and so firm his hand in keeping down all opposition. +Under his direction earthworks were thrown up to defend all the +important positions, the whole population working night and day at +them; all the available artillery was mounted, and every ounce of +war material that the city contained was seized; martial law was +proclaimed; and all general business was suspended, every thing +being rendered subordinate to the one grand object of defence. + +Jackson's forces were small. There were two war vessels in the river. +One was the little schooner _Carolina_, manned by regular seamen, +largely New Englanders. The other was the newly built ship _Louisiana_, +a powerful corvette; she had of course no regular crew, and her officers +were straining every nerve to get one from the varied ranks of the +maritime population of New Orleans; long-limbed and hard-visaged Yankees, +Portuguese and Norwegian seamen from foreign merchantmen, dark-skinned +Spaniards from the West Indies, swarthy Frenchmen who had served under +the bold privateersman Lafitte,--all alike were taken, and all alike +by unflagging exertions were got into shape for battle. [Footnote: +Letter of Commodore Daniel G. Patterson, Dec. 20, 1814.] There were +two regiments of regulars, numbering together about eight hundred +men, raw and not very well disciplined, but who were now drilled +with great care and regularity. In addition to this Jackson raised +somewhat over a thousand militiamen among the citizens. There were +some Americans among them, but they were mostly French Creoles, +[Footnote: Latour, 110.] and one band had in its formation something +that was curiously pathetic. It was composed of free men of color, +[Footnote: Latour, 111.] who had gathered to defend the land which +kept the men of their race in slavery; who were to shed their blood +for the Flag that symbolized to their kind not freedom but bondage; +who were to die bravely as freemen, only that their brethren might +live on ignobly as slaves. Surely there was never a stranger instance +than this of the irony of fate. + +But if Jackson had been forced to rely only on these troops New Orleans +could not have been saved. His chief hope lay in the volunteers of +Tennessee, who, under their Generals, Coffee and Carroll, were pushing +their toilsome and weary way toward the city. Every effort was made +to hurry their march through the almost impassable roads, and at last, +in the very nick of time, on the 23d of December, the day of which +the British troops reached the river bank, the vanguard of the +Tennesseeans marched into New Orleans. Gaunt of form and grim of +face; with their powder-horns slung over their buckskin shirts; carrying +their long rifles on their shoulders and their heavy hunting-knives +stuck in their belts; with their coon-skin caps and fringed leggings; +thus came the grizzly warriors of the backwoods, the heroes of the +Horse-Shoe Bend, the victors over Spaniard and Indian, eager to pit +themselves against the trained regulars of Britain, and to throw +down the gage of battle to the world-renowned infantry of the island +English. Accustomed to the most lawless freedom, and to giving free +reign to the violence of their passions, defiant of discipline and +impatient of the slightest restraint, caring little for God and nothing +for man, they were soldiers who, under an ordinary commander, would +have been fully as dangerous to themselves and their leaders as to +their foes. But Andrew Jackson was of all men the one best fitted +to manage such troops. Even their fierce natures quailed before the +ungovernable fury of a spirit greater than their own; and their sullen, +stubborn wills were bent as last before his unyielding temper and +iron hand. Moreover, he was one of themselves; he typified their +passions and prejudices, their faults and their virtues; he shared +their hardships as if he had been a common private, and, in turn, +he always made them partakers of his triumphs. They admired his +personal prowess with pistol and rifle, his unswerving loyalty to +his friends, and the relentless and unceasing war that he waged alike +on the foes of himself and his country. As a result they loved and +feared him as few generals have ever been loved or feared; they obeyed +him unhesitatingly; they followed his lead without flinching or murmuring, +and they ever made good on the field of battle the promise their +courage held out to his judgment. + +It was noon of December 23d when General Keane, with nineteen hundred +men, halted and pitched his camp on the east bank of the Mississippi; +and in the evening enough additional troops arrived to swell his force +to over twenty-three hundred soldiers. [Footnote: James ("Military +Occurrences of the Late War," by Wm. James, London, 1818), vol. ii, +p. 362, says 2,050 rank and file; the English returns, as already +explained, unlike the French and American, never included officers, +sergeants, drummers, artillerymen, or engineers, but only "sabres and +bayonets" (Napier, iv, 252). At the end of Napier's fourth volume +is given the "morning state" of Wellington's forces on April 10, 1814. +This shows 56,030 rank and file and 7,431 officers, sergeants, and +trumpeters or drummers; or, in other words, to get at the real British +force in action, even supposing there are no artillerymen or engineers +present, 13 percent, must be added to the given number, which includes +only rank and file. Making this addition, Keane had 2,310 men. The +Americans greatly overestimated his force, Latour making it 4,980.] +Keane's encampment was in a long plain, rather thinly covered with +fields and farmhouses, about a mile in breadth, and bounded on one +side by the river, on the other by gloomy and impenetrable cypress +swamps; and there was no obstacle interposed between the British +camp and the city it menaced. + +At two in the afternoon word was brought to Jackson that the foe had +reached the river bank, and without a moment's delay the old backwoods +fighter prepared to strike a rough first blow. At once, and as if +by magic, the city started from her state of rest into one of fierce +excitement and eager preparation. The alarm-guns were fired; in every +quarter the war-drums were beaten; while, amid the din and clamor, +all the regulars and marines, the best of the creole militia, and +the vanguard of the Tennesseeans, under Coffee,--forming a total of +a little more than two thousand men, [Footnote: General Jackson, in +his official letter, says only 1,500; but Latour. in a detailed +statement, makes it 2,024; exclusive of 107 Mississippi dragoons +who marched with the column, but being on horseback had to stay behind, +and took no part in the action. Keane thought he had been attacked +by 5,000 men.]--were assembled in great haste, and the gray of the +winter twilight saw them, with Old Hickory at their head, marching +steadily along the river bank toward the camp of their foes. Patterson, +meanwhile, in the schooner _Carolina_, dropped down with the current +to try the effect of a flank attack. + +Meanwhile the British had spent the afternoon in leisurely arranging +their camp, in posting the pickets, and in foraging among the farm-houses. +There was no fear of attack, and as the day ended huge campfires were +lit, at which the hungry soldiers cooked their suppers undisturbed. +One division of the troops had bivouacked on the high levee that kept +the waters from flooding the land near by; and about half past seven +in the evening their attention was drawn to a large schooner which +had dropped noiselessly down, in the gathering dusk, and had come to +anchor a short distance offshore, the force of the stream swinging her +broadside to the camp. [Footnote: I have taken my account of the night +action chiefly from the work of an English soldier who took part in +it; Ensign (afterward Chaplain-General) H. R. Gleig's "Narrative of +the Campaigns of the British Army at Washington, Baltimore, and New +Orleans." (New edition, Philadelphia, 1821, pp. 286-300.) ] The soldiers +crowded down to the water's edge, and, as the schooner returned no +answer to their hails, a couple of musket-shots were fired at her. +As if in answer to this challenge, the men on shore heard plainly the +harsh voice of her commander, as he sung out, "Now then, give it to +them for the honor of America"; and at once a storm of grape hurtled +into their ranks. Wild confusion followed. The only field-pieces with +Keane were two light 3-pounders, not able to cope with the _Carolina's_ +artillery; the rocket guns were brought up, but were speedily silenced; +musketry proved quite as ineffectual; and in a very few minutes the +troops were driven helter-skelter off the levee, and were forced to +shelter themselves behind it, not without having suffered severe loss. +[Footnote: General Keane, in his letter, writes that the British suffered +but a single casualty; Gleig, who was present, says (p. 288): "The +deadly shower of grape swept down numbers in the camp."] The night +was now as black as pitch; the embers of the deserted camp-fires, +beaten about and scattered by the schooner's shot, burned with a +dull red glow; and at short intervals the darkness was momentarily +lit up by the flashes of the _Carolina's_ guns. Crouched behind the +levee, the British soldiers lay motionless, listening in painful +silence to the pattering of the grape among the huts, and to the +moans and shrieks of the wounded who lay beside them. Things continued +thus till toward nine o'clock, when a straggling fire from the pickets +gave warning of the approach of a more formidable foe. The American +land-forces had reached the outer lines of the British camp, and the +increasing din of the musketry, with ringing through it the whip-like +crack of the Tennesseean rifles, called out the whole British army +to the shock of a desperate and uncertain strife. The young moon had +by this time struggled through the clouds, and cast on the battle-field +a dim, unearthly light that but partly relieved the intense darkness. +All order was speedily lost. Each officer, American or British, as fast +as he could gather a few soldiers round him, attacked the nearest +group of foes; the smoke and gloom would soon end the struggle, when, +if unhurt, he would rally what men he could and plunge once more into +the fight. The battle soon assumed the character of a multitude of +individual combats, dying out almost as soon as they began, because +of the difficulty of telling friend from foe, and beginning with +ever-increasing fury as soon as they had ended. The clatter of the +firearms, the clashing of steel, the rallying cries and loud commands +of the officers, the defiant shouts of the men, joined to the yells +and groans of those who fell, all combined to produce so terrible a +noise and tumult that it maddened the coolest brains. From one side +or the other bands of men would penetrate into the heart of the enemy's +lines, and would there be captured, or would cut their way out with +the prisoners they had taken. There was never a fairer field for the +fiercest personal prowess, for in the darkness the firearms were of +little service, and the fighting was hand to hand. Many a sword, till +then but a glittering toy, was that night crusted with blood. The +British soldiers and the American regulars made fierce play with +their bayonets, and the Tennesseeans, with their long hunting-knives. +Man to man, in the grimmest hate, they fought and died, some by bullet +and some by bayonet-thrust or stroke of sword. More than one in his +death agony slew the foe at whose hand he himself had received the +mortal wound; and their bodies stiffened as they lay, locked in the +death grip. Again the clouds came over the moon; a thick fog crept +up from the river, wrapping from sight the ghastly havoc of the +battlefield; and long before midnight the fighting stopped perforce, +for the fog and the smoke and the gloom were such that no one could +see a yard away. By degrees each side drew off. [Footnote: Keane +writes: "The enemy thought it prudent to retire, and did not again +dare to advance. It was now 12 o'clock, and the firing ceased on +both sides"; and Jackson: "We should have succeeded... in capturing +the enemy, had not a thick fog, which arose about (?) o'clock, +occasioned some confusion.... I contented myself with lying on the +field that night." Jackson certainly failed to capture the British; +but equally certainly damaged them so as to arrest their march till +he was in condition to meet and check them. ] In sullen silence +Jackson marched his men up the river, while the wearied British +returned to their camp. The former had lost over two hundred, +[Footnote: 24 killed, 115 wounded, 74 missing.] the latter nearly +three hundred [Footnote: 46 killed, 167 wounded, 64 missing. I take +the official return for each side, as authority for the respective +force and loss.] men; for the darkness and confusion that added to +the horror, lessened the slaughter of the battle. + +Jackson drew back about three miles, where he halted and threw up +a long line of breastworks, reaching from the river to the morass; +he left a body of mounted riflemen to watch the British. All the +English troops reached the field on the day after the fight; but +the rough handling that the foremost had received made them cautious +about advancing. Moreover, the left division was kept behind the +levee all day by the _Carolina_, which opened upon them whenever +they tried to get away; nor was it till dark that they made their +escape out of range of her cannon. Christmas-day opened drearily +enough for the invaders. Although they were well inland, the schooner, +by greatly elevating her guns, could sometimes reach them, and she +annoyed them all through the day [Footnote: "While sitting at table, +a loud shriek was heard.... A shot had taken effect on the body of +an unfortunate soldier... who was fairly cut in two at the lower +portion of the belly!" (Gleig, p. 306.) ]; and as the Americans had +cut the levee in their front, it at one time seemed likely that they +would be drowned out. However, matters now took a turn for the better. +The river was so low that the cutting of the levee instead of flooding +the plain [Footnote: Latour, 113.] merely filled the shrunken bayous, +and rendered it easy for the British to bring up their heavy guns; +and on the same day their trusted leader, Sir Edward Packenham, arrived +to take command in person, and his presence gave new life to the +whole army. A battery was thrown up during the two succeeding nights +on the brink of the river opposite to where the _Carolina_ lay; and +at dawn a heavy cannonade of red-hot shot and shell was opened upon +her from eleven guns and a mortar. [Footnote: Gleig, 307. The Americans +thought the battery consisted of 5 18- and 12-pounders; Gleig says 9 +field-pieces (9--and 6-pounders), 2 howitzers, and a mortar.] She +responded briskly, but very soon caught fire and blew up, to the +vengeful joy of the troops whose bane she had been for the past few +days. Her destruction removed the last obstacle to the immediate +advance of the army; but that night her place was partly taken +by the mounted riflemen, who rode down to the British lines, shot +the sentries, engaged the out-posts, and kept the whole camp in a +constant state of alarm. [Footnote: Gleig, 310.] In the morning Sir +Edward Packenham put his army in motion, and marched on New Orleans. +When he had gone nearly three miles he suddenly, and to his great +surprise, stumbled on the American army. Jackson's men had worked +like beavers, and his breastworks were already defended by over three +thousand fighting men, [Footnote: 3,282 men in all, according to +the Adjutant-General's return for Dec. 28, 1814.] and by half a dozen +guns, and moreover were flanked by the corvette _Louisiana_, anchored +in the stream. No sooner had the heads of the British columns appeared +than they were driven back by the fire of the American batteries; +the field-pieces, mortars, and rocket guns were then brought up, +and a sharp artillery duel took place. The motley crew of the +_Louisiana_ handled their long ship guns with particular effect; +the British rockets proved of but little service [Footnote: Latour, +121.]; and after a stiff fight, in which they had two field-pieces +and a light mortar dismounted, [Footnote: Gleig, 314. The official +returns show a loss of 18 Americans and 58 British, the latter suffering +much less than Jackson supposed. Lossing, in his "Field Book of the +War of 1812," not only greatly overestimates the British loss, but +speaks as if this was a serious attack, which it was not. Packenham's +army, while marching, unexpectedly came upon the American intrenchment, +and recoiled at once, after seeing that his field-pieces were unable +to contend with the American artillery.] the British artillerymen +fell back on the infantry. Then Packenham drew off his whole army +out of cannon shot, and pitched his camp facing the intrenched lines +of the Americans. For the next three days the British battalions +lay quietly in front of their foe, like wolves who have brought to +bay a gray boar, and crouch just out of reach of his tusks, waiting +a chance to close in. + +Packenham, having once tried the strength of Jackson's position, +made up his mind to breach his works and silence his guns with a +regular battering train. Heavy cannon were brought up from the ships, +and a battery was established on the bank to keep in check the +_Louisiana_. Then, on the night of the last day of the year, strong +parties of workmen were sent forward, who, shielded by the darkness, +speedily threw up stout earthworks, and mounted therein fourteen +heavy guns, [Footnote: 10 long 18s and 4 24-pound carronades (James, +ii, 368). Gleig says (p. 318), "6 batteries, mounting 30 pieces of +heavy cannon." This must include the "brigade of field-pieces" of +which James speaks. 9 of these, 9--and 6-pounders, and 2 howitzers, +had been used in the attack on the _Carolina_; and there were also +2 field-mortars and 2 3-pounders present; and there must have been +1 other field-piece with the army, to make up the 30 of which Gleig +speaks.] to face the thirteen [Footnote: viz.: 1 long 32, 3 long 24s, +1 long 18, 3 long 12s, 3 long 6s, a 6-inch howitzer, and a small +carronade (Latour, 147); and on the same day Patterson had in his +water-battery 1 long 24 and 2 long 12s (see his letter of Jan. 2d), +making a total of 16 American guns.] mounted in Jackson's lines, +which were but three hundred yards distant. + +New Year's day dawned very misty. As soon as the haze cleared off +the British artillerymen opened with a perfect hail of balls, +accompanied by a cloud of rockets and mortar shells. The Americans +were taken by surprise, but promptly returned the fire, with equal +fury and greater skill. Their guns were admirably handled; some by +the cool New England seamen lately forming the crew of the _Carolina_, +others by the fierce creole privateersmen of Lafitte, and still others +by trained artillerymen of the regular army. They were all old hands, +who in their time had done their fair share of fighting, and were +not to be flurried by any attack, however unexpected. The British +cannoneers plied their guns like fiends, and fast and thick fell their +shot; more slowly but with surer aim, their opponents answered them. +[Footnote: The British historian, Alison, says ("History of Europe," +by Sir Archibald Alison, 9th edition, Edinburgh and London, 1852, vol. +xii. p. 141): "It was soon found that the enemy's guns were so superior +in weight and number, that nothing was to be expected from that species +of attack." As shown above, at this time Jackson had on both sides of +the river 16 guns; the British, according to both James and Gleig, +between 20 and 30. Jackson's long guns were 1 32, 4 24s, 1 18, 5 12s, +and 3 6s, throwing in all 224 pounds; Packenham had 10 long 18s. 2 +long 3s, and from 6 to 10 long 9s and 6s, thus throwing between 228 +and 258 pounds of shot; while Jackson had but 1 howitzer and 1 carronade +to oppose 4 carronades, 2 howitzers, 2 mortars, and a dozen rocket guns; +so in both number and weight of guns the British were greatly superior.] +The cotton bales used in the American embrasures caught fire, and blew +up two powder caissons; while the sugar hogsheads of which the British +batteries were partly composed were speedily shattered and splintered +in all directions. Though the British champions fought with unflagging +courage and untiring energy, and though they had long been versed +in war, yet they seemed to lack the judgment to see and correct their +faults, and most of their shot went too high. [Footnote: In strong +contrast to Alison, Admiral Codrington, an eye-witness, states the +true reason of the British failure: ("Memoir of Admiral Sir Edward +Codrington," by Lady Bourchier, London, 1873, vol. i, p. 334.) "On +the 1st we had our batteries ready, by severe labor, in situation, +from which the artillery people were, as a matter of course, to destroy +and silence the opposing batteries, and give opportunity for a +well-arranged storm. But, instead, not a gun of the enemy appeared +to suffer, and our own firing too high was not discovered till" too +late. "Such a failure in this boasted arm was not to be expected, +and I think it a blot on the artillery escutcheon."] On the other +hand, the old sea-dogs and trained regulars who held the field against +them, not only fought their guns well and skilfully from the beginning, +but all through the action kept coolly correcting their faults and +making more sure their aim. Still, the fight was stiff and well +contested. Two of the American guns were disabled and 34 of their +men were killed or wounded. But one by one the British cannon were +silenced or dismounted, and by noon their gunners had all been driven +away, with the loss of 78 of their number. + +The _Louisiana_ herself took no part in this action. Patterson had +previously landed some of her guns on the opposite bank of the river, +placing them in a small redoubt. To match these the British also +threw up some works and placed in them heavy guns, and all through +New Year's day a brisk cannonade was kept up across the river between +the two water-batteries, but with very little damage to either side. + +For a week after this failure the army of the invaders lay motionless +facing the Americans. In the morning and evening the defiant, rolling +challenge of the English drums came throbbing up through the gloomy +cypress swamps to where the grim riflemen of Tennessee were lying +behind their log breastworks, and both day and night the stillness +was at short intervals broken by the sullen boom of the great guns +which, under Jackson's orders, kept up a never-ending fire on the +leaguering camp of his foes. [Footnote: Gleig, 322.] Nor could the +wearied British even sleep undisturbed; all through the hours of +darkness the outposts were engaged in a most harassing bush warfare +by the backwoodsmen, who shot the sentries, drove in the pickets, +and allowed none of those who were on guard a moment's safety or +freedom from alarm. [Footnote: Gleig, 323.] + +But Packenham was all the while steadily preparing for his last and +greatest stroke. He had determined to make an assault in force as +soon as the expected reinforcements came up; nor, in the light of +his past experience in conflict with foes of far greater military +repute than those now before him, was this a rash resolve. He had +seen the greatest of Napoleon's marshals, each in turn, defeated +once and again, and driven in headlong flight over the Pyrenees by +the Duke of Wellington; now he had under him the flower of the troops +who had won those victories; was it to be supposed for a moment that +such soldiers [Footnote: Speaking of Soult's overthrow a few months +previous to this battle, Napier says (v, 209): "He was opposed to +one of the greatest generals of the world, at the head of unconquerable +troops. For what Alexander's Macedonians were at Arbela, Hannibal's +Africans at Cannae, Caesar's Romans at Pharsalia, Napoleon's Guards +at Austerlitz--such were Wellington's British soldiers at this +period.... Six years of uninterrupted success had engrafted on their +natural strength and fierceness a confidence that made them invincible."] +who, in a dozen battles, had conquered the armies and captured the +forts of the mighty French emperor, would shrink at last from a mud +wall guarded by rough backwoodsmen? That there would be loss of life +in such an assault was certain; but was loss of life to daunt men +who had seen the horrible slaughter through which the stormers moved +on to victory at Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajos, and San Sebastian? At the +battle of Toulouse an English army, of which Packenham's troops then +formed part, had driven Soult from a stronger position than was now +to be assailed, though he held it with a veteran infantry. Of a surety, +the dashing general who had delivered the decisive blow on the stricken +field of Salamanca, [Footnote: It was about 5 o'clock when Packenham +fell upon Thomieres.... From the chief to the lowest soldier, all +[of the French] felt that they were lost, and in an instant Packenham, +the most frank and gallant of men, commenced the battle. The British +columns formed lines as they marched, and the French gunners, standing +up manfully for the honor of their country, sent showers of grape +into the advancing masses, while a crowd of light troops poured in +a fire of musketry, under cover of which the main body endeavored +to display a front. But, bearing onwards through the skirmishers +with the might of a giant, Packenham broke the half-formed lines +into fragments, and sent the whole in confusion upon the advancing +supports... Packenham, bearing onwards with conquering violence,... +formed one formidable line two miles in advance of where Packenham +had first attacked; and that impetuous officer, with unmitigated +strength, still pressed forward, spreading terror and disorder on +the enemy's left. (Napier, iv, 57, 58. 59.)] who had taken part in +the rout of the ablest generals and steadiest soldiers of Continental +Europe, was not the man to flinch from a motley array of volunteers, +militia, and raw regulars, led by a grizzled old bush-fighter, whose +name had never been heard of outside of his own swamps, and there +only as the savage destroyer of some scarcely more savage Indian +tribes. Moreover, Packenham was planning a flank attack. Under his +orders a canal was being dug from the head of the bayou up which +the British had come, across the plain to the Mississippi. This was +to permit the passage of a number of ships' boats, on which one +division was to be ferried to the opposite bank of the river, where +it was to move up, and, by capturing the breastworks and water-battery +on the west side, flank Jackson's main position on the east side. +[Footnote: "A particular feature in the assault was our cutting a +canal into the Mississippi... to convey a force to the right bank, +which... might surprise the enemy's batteries on that side. I do +not know how far this measure was relied on by the general, but, +as he ordered and made his assault at daylight, I imagine he did +not place much dependence upon it." (Codrington, i, 335.) ] When +this canal was nearly finished the expected reinforcements, two +thousand strong, under General Lambert, arrived, and by the evening +of the 7th all was ready for the attack, which was to be made at +daybreak on the following morning. Packenham had under him nearly +10,000 [Footnote: James (ii, 373) says the British "rank and file" +amounted to 8,153 men, including 1,200 seamen and marines. The only +other place where he speaks of the latter is in recounting the attack +on the right bank, when he says "about 200" were with Thornton, while +both the admirals, Cochrane and Codrington, make the number 300; so +he probably underestimates their number throughout, and at least 300 +can be added, making 1,500 sailors and marines, and a total of 8,453. +This number is corroborated by Major McDougal. the officer who received +Sir Edward's body in his arms when was killed; he says (as quoted +in the "Memoirs of British Generals Distinguished During the Peninsular +War," by John William Cole, London. 1856, vol. ii, p. 364) that after +the battle and the loss of 2,036 men, "we had still an effective +force of 6,400," making a total before the attack of 8,436 rank and +file. Calling it 8,450, and adding (see ante, note 10) 13.3 per cent, +for the officers, sergeants, and trumpeters, we get about 9,600 men.] +fighting men; 1,500 of these, under Colonel Thornton were to cross +the river and make the attack on the west bank. Packenham himself +was to superintend the main assault, on the east bank, which was to +be made by the British right under General Gibbs, while the left +moved forward under General Keane, and General Lambert commanded +the reserve.[Footnote: Letter of Major-General John Lambert to Earl +Bathurst, Jan. 10, 1815.] Jackson's [Footnote: 4,698 on the east bank, +according to the official report of Adjutant-General Robert Butler, +for the morning of January 8th. The details are as follow: + +At batteries..................................................... 154 +Command of Col. Ross (671 regulars and 742 Louisiana militia)... 1413 +Command of General Carroll (Tennesseeans, and somewhat under 500 +Kentuckians).................................................... 1562 +General Coffee's command (Tennesseeans, and about 250 Louisiana +militia)........................................................ 813 +Major Hind's dragoons........................................... 230 +Col. Slaughter's command........................................ 526 + _____ +Total, 4,698 + +These figures tally almost exactly with those given by Major Latour, +except that he omits all reference to Col. Slaughter's command, thus +reducing the number to about 4,100. Nor can I anywhere find any allusion +to Slaughter's command as taking part in the battle; and it is possible +that these troops were the 500 Kentuckians ordered across the river +by Jackson; in which case his whole force but slightly exceeded 5,000 men. + +On the west bank there were 546 Louisiana militia--260 of the First +regiment, 176 of the Second, and 110 of the Sixth. Jackson had ordered +500 Kentucky troops to be sent to reinforce them; only 400 started, +of whom but 180 had arms. Seventy more received arms from the Naval +Arsenal; and thus a total of 250 armed men were added to the 546 +already on the west bank.] position was held by a total of 5,500 men. +[Footnote: Two thousand Kentucky militia had arrived, but in wretched +plight; only 500 had arms, though pieces were found for about 250 more; +and thus Jackson's army received an addition of 750 very badly +disciplined soldiers. + +"Hardly one third of the Kentucky troops, so long expected, are armed, +and the arms they have are not fit for use." (Letter of Gen. Jackson +to the Secretary of War, Jan. 3d.) Having kept a constant watch on +the British, Jackson had rightly concluded that they would make the +main attack on the east bank, and had, accordingly, kept the bulk of +his force on that side. His works consisted simply of a mud breastwork, +with a ditch in front of it, which stretched in a straight line from +the river on his right across the plain, and some distance into the +morass that sheltered his left. There was a small, unfinished redoubt +in front of the breastworks on the river bank. Thirteen pieces of +artillery were mounted on the works. [Footnote: Almost all British +writers underestimate their own force and enormously magnify that +of the Americans. Alison, for example, quadruples Jackson's _relative_ +strength, writing: "About 6,000 combatants were on the British side; +a slender force to attack double their number, intrenched to the +teeth in works bristling with bayonets and loaded with heavy artillery." +Instead of double, he should have said half; the bayonets only +"bristled" metaphorically, as less than a quarter of the Americans +were armed with them; and the British breaching batteries had a heavier +"load" of artillery than did the American lines. Gleig says that "to +come nearer the truth" he "will choose a middle course, and suppose +their whole force to be about 25,000 men," (p. 325). Gleig, by the +way, in speaking of the battle itself, mentions one most startling +evolution of the Americans, namely, that "without so much as lifting +their faces above the ramparts, they swung their firelocks by one +arm over the wall and discharged them" at the British. If any one +will try to perform this feat, with a long, heavy rifle held in one +hand, and with his head hid behind a wall, so as not to see the object +aimed at, he will get a good idea of the likelihood of any man in +his senses attempting it.] On the right was posted the Seventh regular +infantry, 430 strong; then came 740 Louisiana militia (both French +Creoles and men of color, and comprising 30 New Orleans riflemen, +who were Americans), and 240 regulars of the Forty-fourth regiment; +while the rest of the line was formed by nearly 500 Kentuckians and +over 1,600 Tennesseeans, under Carroll and Coffee, with 250 creole +militia in the morass on the extreme left, to guard the head of a +bayou. In the rear were 230 dragoons, chiefly from Mississippi, and +some other troops in reserve; making in all 4,700 men on the east +bank. The works on the west bank were farther down stream, and were +very much weaker. Commodore Patterson had thrown up a water-battery +of nine guns, three long 24's and six long 12's, pointing across +the river, and intended to take in flank any foe attacking Jackson. +This battery was protected by some strong earthworks, mounting three +field-pieces, which were thrown up just below it, and stretched from +the river about 200 yards into the plain. The line of defence was +extended by a ditch for about a quarter of a mile farther, when it +ended, and from there to the morass, half a mile distant, there were +no defensive works at all. General Morgan, a very poor militia officer, +[Footnote: He committed every possible fault, except showing lack of +courage. He placed his works at a very broad instead of a narrow part +of the plain, against the advice of Latour, who had Jackson's approval +(Latour, 167). He continued his earthworks but a very short distance +inland, making them exceedingly strong in front, and absolutely +defenceless on account of their flanks being unprotected. He did not +mount the lighter guns of the water-battery on his lines, as he ought +to have done. Having a force of 800 men, too weak anyhow, he promptly +divided it; and, finally, in the fight itself, he stationed a small +number of absolutely raw troops in a thin line on the open, with +their flank in the air; while a much larger number of older troops +were kept to defend a much shorter line, behind a strong breastwork, +with their flanks covered.] was in command, with a force of 550 +Louisiana militia, some of them poorly armed; and on the night before +the engagement he was reinforced by 250 Kentuckians, poorly armed, +undisciplined, and worn out with fatigue. [Footnote: Latour, 170.] + +All through the night of the 7th a strange, murmurous clangor arose +from the British camp, and was borne on the moist air to the lines +of their slumbering foes. The blows of pickaxe and spade as the ground +was thrown up into batteries by gangs of workmen, the rumble of the +artillery as it was placed in position, the measured tread of the +battalions as they shifted their places or marched off under +Thornton,--all these and the thousand other sounds of warlike +preparation were softened and blended by the distance into one +continuous humming murmur, which struck on the ears of the American +sentries with ominous foreboding for the morrow. By midnight Jackson +had risen and was getting every thing in readiness to hurl back the +blow that he rightly judged was soon to fall on his front. Before +the dawn broke his soldiery was all on the alert. The bronzed and +brawny seamen were grouped in clusters around the great guns. The +creole soldiers came of a race whose habit it has ever been to take +all phases of life joyously; but that morning their gayety was tempered +by a dark undercurrent of fierce anxiety. They had more at stake +than any other men on the field. They were fighting for their homes; +they were fighting for their wives and their daughters. They well +knew that the men they were to face were very brave in battle and +very cruel in victory [Footnote: To prove this, it is only needful +to quote from the words of the Duke of Wellington himself; referring, +it must be remembered, to their conduct in a friendly, not a hostile +country. "It is impossible to describe to you the irregularities and +outrages committed by the troops. They are never out of sight of their +officers, I might almost say, out of sight of the commanding officers +of the regiments that outrages are not committed... There is not an +outrage of any description which has not been committed on a people +who have uniformly received them as friends." "I really believe that +more plunder and outrages have been committed by this army than by +any other that ever was in the field." "A detachment seldom marches... +that a murder, or a highway robbery, or some act of outrage is not +committed by the British soldiers composing it. They have killed +eight people since the army returned to Portugal." "They really forget +every thing when plunder or wine is within reach."]; they well knew +the fell destruction and nameless woe that awaited their city should +the English take it at the sword's point. They feared not for themselves; +but in the hearts of the bravest and most careless there lurked a +dull terror of what that day might bring upon those they loved. +[Footnote: That these fears were just can be seen by the following +quotations, from the works of a British officer, General Napier, +who was an eye-witness of what he describes. It must be remembered +that Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajos, and San Sebastian were friendly towns, +only the garrisons being hostile. "Now commenced that wild and +desperate wickedness which tarnished the lustre of the soldiers' +heroism. All, indeed, were not alike, for hundreds risked and many +lost their lives in striving to stop the violence; but the madness +generally prevailed, and as the worst men were leaders here, all +the dreadful passions of human nature were displayed. Shameless +rapacity, brutal intemperance, savage lust, cruelty and murder, +shrieks and piteous lamentations, groans, shouts, imprecations, the +hissing of fires bursting from the houses, the crashing of doors and +windows, the reports of muskets used in violence, resounded for two +days and nights in the streets of Badajos. On the third, when the +city was sacked, when the soldiers were exhausted by their own +excesses, the tumult rather subsided than was quelled." (Vol. iii, +377). And again: "This storm seemed to be a signal from hell for +the perpetration of villainy which would have shamed the most ferocious +barbarians of antiquity. At Rodrigo intoxication and plunder had +been the principal object; at Badajos lust and murder were joined +to rapine and drunkenness; but at San Sebastian the direst, the most +revolting cruelty was added to the catalogue of crimes--one atrocity, +of which a girl of seventeen was the victim, staggers the mind by +its enormous, incredible, indescribable barbarity... a Portuguese +adjutant, who endeavored to prevent some wickedness, was put to death +in the market-place, not with sudden violence from a single ruffian, +but deliberately, by a number of English soldiers.... and the disorder +continued until the flames, following the steps of the plunderer, +put an end to his ferocity by destroying the whole town." Packenham +himself would have certainly done all in his power to prevent excesses, +and has been foully slandered by many early American writers. Alluding +to these, Napier remarks, somewhat caustically: "Pre-eminently +distinguished for detestion of inhumanity and outrage, he has been, +with astounding falsehood, represented as instigating his troops to +the most infamous excesses; but from a people holding millions of +their fellow-beings in the most horrible slavery, while they prate +and vaunt of liberty until all men turn in loathing from the sickening +folly, what can be expected?" (Vol. v, p. 31.) Napier possessed to +a very eminent degree the virtue of being plain-spoken. Elsewhere +(iii, 450), after giving a most admirably fair and just account of +the origin of the Anglo-American war, he alludes, with a good deal +of justice, to the Americans of 1812, as "a people who (notwithstanding +the curse of black slavery which clings to them, adding the most +horrible ferocity to the peculiar baseness of their mercantile spirit, +and rendering their republican vanity ridiculous) do, in their general +government, uphold civil institutions which have startled the crazy +despotisms of Europe."] The Tennesseeans were troubled by no such +misgivings. In saturnine, confident silence they lolled behind their +mud walls, or, leaning on their long rifles, peered out into the +gray fog with savage, reckless eyes. So, hour after hour, the two +armies stood facing each other in the darkness, waiting for the light +of day. + +At last the sun rose, and as its beams struggled through the morning +mist they glinted on the sharp steel bayonets of the English, where +their scarlet ranks were drawn up in battle array, but four hundred +yards from the American breastworks. There stood the matchless infantry +of the island king, in the pride of their strength and the splendor +of their martial glory; and as the haze cleared away they moved +forward, in stern silence, broken only by the angry, snarling notes +of the brazen bugles. At once the American artillery leaped into +furious life; and, ready and quick, the more numerous cannon of the +invaders responded from their hot, feverish lips. Unshaken amid +the tumult of that iron storm the heavy red column moved steadily +on toward the left of the American line, where the Tennesseeans +were standing in motionless, grim expectancy. Three fourths of the +open space was crossed, and the eager soldiers broke into a run. +Then a fire of hell smote the British column. From the breastwork +in front of them the white smoke curled thick into the air, as rank +after rank the wild marksmen of the backwoods rose and fired, aiming +low and sure. As stubble is withered by flame, so withered the British +column under that deadly fire; and, aghast at the slaughter, the +reeling files staggered and gave back. Packenham, fit captain for +his valorous host, rode to the front, and the troops, rallying round +him, sprang forward with ringing cheers. But once again the pealing +rifle-blast beat in their faces; and the life of their dauntless +leader went out before its scorching and fiery breath. With him +fell the other general who was with the column, and all of the men +who were leading it on; and, as a last resource, Keane brought up +his stalwart Highlanders; but in vain the stubborn mountaineers rushed +on, only to die as their comrades had died before them, with +unconquerable courage, facing the foe, to the last. Keane himself +was struck down; and the shattered wrecks of the British column, +quailing before certain destruction, turned and sought refuge beyond +reach of the leaden death that overwhelmed their comrades. Nor did +it fare better with the weaker force that was to assail the right +of the American line. This was led by the dashing Colonel Rennie, +who, when the confusion caused by the main attack was at its height, +rushed forward with impetuous bravery along the river bank. With +such headlong fury did he make the assault, that the rush of his +troops took the outlying redoubt, whose defenders, regulars and +artillerymen, fought to the last with their bayonets and clubbed +muskets, and were butchered to a man. Without delay Rennie flung +his men at the breastworks behind, and, gallantly leading them, +sword in hand, he, and all around him, fell, riddled through and +through by the balls of the riflemen. Brave though they were, the +British soldiers could not stand against the singing, leaden hail, +for if they stood it was but to die. So in rout and wild dismay they +fled back along the river bank, to the main army. For some time +afterward the British artillery kept up its fire, but was gradually +silenced; the repulse was entire and complete along the whole line; +nor did the cheering news of success brought from the west bank give +any hope to the British commanders, stunned by their crushing overthrow. +[Footnote: According to their official returns the British loss was +2,036; the American accounts, of course, make it much greater. Latour +is the only trustworthy American contemporary historian of this war, +and even he at times absurdly exaggerates the British force and loss. +Most of the other American "histories" of that period were the most +preposterously bombastic works that ever saw print. But as regards +this battle, none of them are as bad as even such British historians +as Alison; the exact reverse being the case in many other battles, +notably Lake Erie. The devices each author adopts to lessen the +seeming force of his side are generally of much the same character. +For instance, Latour says that 800 of Jackson's men were employed +on works at the rear, on guard duty, etc., and deducts them; James, +for precisely similar reasons, deducts 853 men: by such means one +reduces Jackson's total force to 4,000, and the other gives Packenham +but 7,300. Only 2,000 Americans were actually engaged on the east banks.] + +Meanwhile Colonel Thornton's attack on the opposite side had been +successful, but had been delayed beyond the originally intended hour. +The sides of the canal by which the boats were to be brought through +to the Mississippi caved in, and choked the passage, [Footnote: +Codrington, i, 386.] so that only enough got through to take over +a half of Thornton's force. With these, seven hundred in number, +[Footnote: James says 298 soldiers and about 200 sailors; but Admiral +Cochrane in his letter (Jan. 18th) says 600 men, half sailors; and +Admiral Codrington also (p. 335) gives this number, 300 being +sailors: adding 13 1/3 per cent. for the officers, sergeants, and +trumpeters, we get 680 men.] he crossed, but as he did not allow +for the current, it carried him down about two miles below the proper +landing-place. Meanwhile General Morgan, having under him eight +hundred militia [Footnote: 796. (Latour, 164-172.)] whom it was of +the utmost importance to have kept together, promptly divided them +and sent three hundred of the rawest and most poorly armed down to +meet the enemy in the open. The inevitable result was their immediate +rout and dispersion; about one hundred got back to Morgan's lines. +He then had six hundred men, all militia, to oppose to seven hundred +regulars. So he stationed the four hundred best disciplined men to +defend the two hundred yards of strong breastworks, mounting three +guns, which covered his left; while the two hundred worst disciplined +were placed to guard six hundred yards of open ground on his right, +with their flank resting in air, and entirely unprotected. [Footnote: +Report of Court of Inquiry, Maj.-Gen. Wm. Carroll presiding.] This +truly phenomenal arrangement ensured beforehand the certain defeat +of his troops, no matter how well they fought; but, as it turned +out, they hardly fought at all. Thornton, pushing up the river, first +attacked the breastwork in front, but was checked by a hot fire; +deploying his men he then sent a strong force to march round and +take Morgan on his exposed right flank. [Footnote: Letter of Col. +W. Thornton, Jan. 8. 1815.] There, the already demoralized Kentucky +militia, extended in thin order across an open space, outnumbered, +and taken in flank by regular troops, were stampeded at once, and +after firing a single volley they took to their heels. [Footnote: +Letter of Commodore Patterson, Jan. 13, 1815.] This exposed the flank +of the better disciplined creoles, who were also put to flight; but +they kept some order and were soon rallied. [Footnote: Alison outdoes +himself in recounting this feat. Having reduced the British force +to 340 men, he says they captured the redoubt, "though defended by +22 guns and 1,700 men." Of course, it was physically impossible +for the water-battery to take part in the defence; so there were +but 3 guns, and by halving the force on one side and trebling it +on the other, he makes the relative strength of the Americans just +sixfold what it was,--and is faithfully followed by other British +writers.] In bitter rage Patterson spiked the guns of his water-battery +and marched off with his sailors, unmolested. The American loss had +been slight, and that of their opponents not heavy, though among +their dangerously wounded was Colonel Thornton. + +This success, though a brilliant one, and a disgrace to the American +arms, had no effect on the battle. Jackson at once sent over +reinforcements under the famous French general, Humbert, and +preparations were forthwith made to retake the lost position. But +it was already abandoned, and the force that had captured it had +been recalled by Lambert, when he found that the place could not +be held without additional troops.[Footnote: The British Col. Dickson, +who had been sent over to inspect, reported that 2,000 men would be +needed to hold the battery; so Lambert ordered the British to retire. +(Lambert's letter, Jan. 10th.)] The total British loss on both sides +of the river amounted to over two thousand men, the vast majority +of whom had fallen in the attack on the Tennesseeans, and most of +the remainder in the attack made by Colonel Rennie. The Americans +had lost but seventy men, of whom but thirteen fell in the main +attack. On the east bank, neither the creole militia nor the +Forty-fourth regiment had taken any part in the combat. + +The English had thrown for high stakes and had lost every thing, +and they knew it. There was nothing to hope for left. Nearly a +fourth of their fighting men had fallen; and among the officers the +proportion was far larger. Of their four generals, Packenham was +dead, Gibbs dying, Keane disabled, and only Lambert left. Their +leader, the ablest officers, and all the flower of their bravest +men were lying, stark and dead, on the bloody plain before them; +and their bodies were doomed to crumble into mouldering dust on the +green fields where they had fought and had fallen. It was useless +to make another trial. They had learned to their bitter cost, that +no troops, however steady, could advance over open ground against +such a fire as came from Jackson's lines. Their artillerymen had +three times tried conclusions with the American gunners, and each +time they had been forced to acknowledge themselves worsted. They +would never have another chance to repeat their flank attack, for +Jackson had greatly strengthened and enlarged the works on the west +bank, and had seen that they were fully manned and ably commanded. +Moreover, no sooner had the assault failed, than the Americans +again began their old harassing warfare. The heaviest cannon, both +from the breastwork and the water-battery, played on the British +camp, both night and day, giving the army no rest, and the mounted +riflemen kept up a trifling, but incessant and annoying, skirmishing +with their pickets and outposts. + +The British could not advance, and it was worse than useless for +them to stay where they were, for though they, from time to time, +were reinforced, yet Jackson's forces augmented faster than theirs, +and every day lessened the numerical inequality between the two +armies. There was but one thing left to do, and that was to retreat. +They had no fear of being attacked in turn. The British soldiers were +made of too good stuff to be in the least cowed or cast down even +by such a slaughtering defeat as that they had just suffered, and +nothing would have given them keener pleasure than to have had +a fair chance at their adversaries in the open; but this chance was +just what Jackson had no idea of giving them. His own army, though +in part as good as an army could be, consisted also in part of +untrained militia, while not a quarter of his men had bayonets; and +the wary old chief, for all his hardihood, had far too much wit to +hazard such a force in fight with a superior number of seasoned +veterans, thoroughly equipped, unless on his own ground and in his +own manner. So he contented himself with keeping a sharp watch on +Lambert; and on the night of January 18th the latter deserted his +position, and made a very skilful and rapid retreat, leaving eighty +wounded men and fourteen pieces of cannon behind him. [Footnote: +Letter of General Jackson, Jan. 19th, and of General Lambert, Jan. +28th.] A few stragglers were captured on land, and, while the troops +were embarking, a number of barges, with over a hundred prisoners, +were cut out by some American seamen in row-boats; but the bulk of +the army reached the transports unmolested. At the same time, a +squadron of vessels, which had been unsuccessfully bombarding Fort +Saint Philip for a week or two, and had been finally driven off when +the fort got a mortar large enough to reach them with, also returned; +and the whole fleet set sail for Mobile. The object was to capture +Fort Bowyer, which contained less than four hundred men, and, though +formidable on its sea-front, [Footnote: "Towards the sea its +fortifications are respectable enough; but on the land side it is +little better than a block-house. The ramparts being composed of +sand not more than three feet in thickness, and faced with plank, +are barely cannon-proof; while a sand hill, rising within pistol-shot +of the ditch, completely commands it. Within, again, it is as much +wanting in accommodation as it is in strength. There are no bomb-proof +barracks, nor any hole or arch under which men might find protection +from shells; indeed, so deficient is it in common-lodging rooms, +that great part of the garrison sleep in tents ... With the reduction +of this trifling work all hostilities ended." (Gleig, 357.) + +General Jackson impliedly censures the garrison for surrendering so +quickly; but in such a fort it was absolutely impossible to act +otherwise, and not the slightest stain rests upon the fort's defenders.] +was incapable of defence when regularly attacked on its land side. +The British landed, February 8th, some 1,500 men, broke ground, and +made approaches; for four days the work went on amid a continual +fire, which killed or wounded 11 Americans and 31 British; by that +time the battering guns were in position and the fort capitulated, +February 12th, the garrison marching out with the honors of war. +Immediately afterward the news of peace arrived and all hostilities +terminated. + +In spite of the last trifling success, the campaign had been to the +British both bloody and disastrous. It did not affect the results +of the war; and the decisive battle itself was a perfectly useless +shedding of blood, for peace had been declared before it was fought. +Nevertheless, it was not only glorious but profitable to the United +States. Louisiana was saved from being severely ravaged, and New +Orleans from possible destruction; and after our humiliating defeats +in trying to repel the invasions of Virginia and Maryland, the +signal victory of New Orleans was really almost a necessity for the +preservation of the national honor. This campaign was the great +event of the war, and in it was fought the most important battle as +regards numbers that took place during the entire struggle; and the +fact that we were victorious, not only saved our self-respect at home, +but also gave us prestige abroad which we should otherwise have +totally lacked. It could not be said to entirely balance the numerous +defeats that we had elsewhere suffered on land--defeats which had so +far only been offset by Harrison's victory in 1813 and the campaign +in Lower Canada in 1814--but it at any rate went a long way +toward making the score even. + +Jackson is certainly by all odds the most prominent figure that +appeared during this war, and stands head and shoulders above any +other commander, American or British, that it produced. It will be +difficult, in all history, to show a parallel to the feat that he +performed. In three weeks' fighting, with a force largely composed +of militia, he utterly defeated and drove away an army twice the +size of his own, composed of veteran troops, and led by one of the +ablest of European generals. During the whole campaign he only erred +once, and that was in putting General Morgan, a very incompetent +officer, in command of the forces on the west bank. He suited his +movements admirably to the various exigencies that arose. The +promptness and skill with which he attacked, as soon as he knew +of the near approach of the British, undoubtedly saved the city; +for their vanguard was so roughly handled that, instead of being +able to advance at once, they were forced to delay three days, during +which time Jackson entrenched himself in a position from which he +was never driven. But after this attack the offensive would have +been not only hazardous, but useless, and accordingly Jackson, +adopting the mode of warfare which best suited the ground he was +on and the troops he had under him, forced the enemy always to fight +him where he was strongest, and confined himself strictly to the +pure defensive--a system condemned by most European authorities, +[Footnote: Thus Napier says (vol. v, p. 25): "Soult fared as most +generals will who seek by extensive lines to supply the want of +numbers or of hardiness in the troops. Against rude commanders and +undisciplined soldiers, lines may avail; seldom against accomplished +commanders, never when the assailants are the better soldiers." And +again (p. 150), "Offensive operations must be the basis of a good +defensive system."] but which has at times succeeded to admiration +in America, as witness Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Kenesaw Mountain, +and Franklin. Moreover, it must be remembered that Jackson's success +was in no wise owing either to chance or to the errors of his +adversary. [Footnote: The reverse has been stated again and again +with very great injustice, not only by British, but even by American +writers (as e.g., Prof. W. G. Sumner, in his "Andrew Jackson as a +Public Man," Boston, 1882). The climax of absurdity is reached by +Major McDougal, who says (as quoted by Cole in his "Memoirs of +British Generals," ii, p. 364): "Sir Edward Packenham fell, not +after an utter and disastrous defeat, but at the very moment when +the arms of victory were extended towards him"; and by James, who +says (ii, 388): "The premature fall of a British general saved an +American city." These assertions are just on a par with those made +by American writers, that only the fall of Lawrence prevented the +_Chesapeake_ from capturing the _Shannon_. + +British writers have always attributed the defeat largely to the +fact that the 44th regiment, which was to have led the attack with +fascines and ladders, did not act well. I doubt if this had any +effect on the result. Some few of the men with ladders did reach +the ditch, but were shot down at once, and their fate would have +been shared by any others who had been with them; the bulk of the +column was never able to advance through the fire up to the breastwork, +and all the ladders and fascines in Christendom would not have helped +it. There will always be innumerable excuses offered for any defeat; +but on this occasion the truth is simply that the British regulars +found they could not advance in the open against a fire more deadly +than they had ever before encountered.] As far as fortune favored +either side, it was that of the British [Footnote: E.g.: The +unexpected frost made the swamps firm for them to advance through; +the river being so low when the levee was cut, the bayous were filled, +instead of the British being drowned out; the Carolina was only +blown up because the wind happened to fail her; bad weather delayed +the advance of arms and reinforcements, etc., etc.]; and Packenham +left nothing undone to accomplish his aim, and made no movements +that his experience in European war did not justify his making. There +is not the slightest reason for supposing that any other British +general would have accomplished more or have fared better than he +did. [Footnote: "He was the next man to look to after Lord Wellington" +(Codrington, i, 339).] Of course Jackson owed much to the nature +of the ground on which he fought; but the opportunities it afforded +would have been useless in the hands of any general less ready, +hardy, and skilful than Old Hickory. + +A word as to the troops themselves. The British infantry was at that +time the best in Europe, the French coming next. Packenham's soldiers +had formed part of Wellington's magnificent peninsular army, and +they lost nothing of their honor at New Orleans. Their conduct +throughout was admirable. Their steadiness in the night battle, +their patience through the various hardships they had to undergo, +their stubborn courage in action, and the undaunted front they showed +in time of disaster (for at the very end they were to the full as +ready and eager to fight as at the beginning), all showed that their +soldierly qualities were of the highest order. As much cannot be +said of the British artillery, which, though very bravely fought +was clearly by no means as skilfully handled as was the case with +the American guns. The courage of the British officers of all arms +is mournfully attested by the sadly large proportion they bore to +the total on the lists of the killed and wounded. + +An even greater meed of praise is due to the American soldiers, for +it must not be forgotten that they were raw troops opposed to veterans; +and indeed, nothing but Jackson's tireless care in drilling them +could have brought them into shape at all. The regulars were just +as good as the British, and no better. The Kentucky militia, who +had only been 48 hours with the army and were badly armed and +totally undisciplined, proved as useless as their brethren of New +York and Virginia, at Queenstown Heights and Bladensburg, had +previously shown themselves to be. They would not stand in the open +at all, and even behind a breastwork had to be mixed with better +men. The Louisiana militia, fighting in defence of their homes, and +well trained, behaved excellently, and behind breastworks were as +formidable as the regulars. The Tennesseeans, good men to start with, +and already well trained in actual warfare under Jackson, were in +their own way unsurpassable as soldiers. In the open field the +British regulars, owing to their greater skill in manoeuvring, and +to their having bayonets, with which the Tennesseeans were unprovided, +could in all likelihood have beaten them; but in rough or broken +ground the skill of the Tennesseeans, both as marksmen and woodsmen, +would probably have given them the advantage; while the extreme +deadliness of their fire made it far more dangerous to attempt to +storm a breastwork guarded by these forest riflemen than it would +have been to attack the same work guarded by an equal number of the +best regular troops of Europe. The American soldiers deserve great +credit for doing so well; but greater credit still belongs to Andrew +Jackson, who, with his cool head and quick eye, his stout heart and +strong hand, stands out in history as the ablest general the United +States produced, from the outbreak of the Revolution down to the +beginning of the Great Rebellion. + + + +Appendix A + + +TONNAGE OF THE BRITISH +AND AMERICAN MEN-OF-WAR +IN 1812-15 + +According to Act of Congress (quoted in "Niles' Register," iv, 64), +the way of measuring double-decked or war-vessels was as follows: + +"Measure from fore-part of main stem to after-part of stern port, +above the upper deck; take the breadth thereof at broadest part +above the main wales, one half of which breadth shall be accounted +the depth. Deduct from the length three fifths of such breadth, +multiply the remainder by the breadth and the product by the depth; +divide by 95; quotient is tonnage." + +(_i.e._, if length = x, and breadth = y; + + (x - 3/5 y) X y X 1/2 y +Tonnage = ----------------------- .) + 95 + +Niles states that the British mode, as taken from Steele's "Shipmaster's +Assistant," was this: Drop plumb-line over stem of ship and measure +distance between such line and the after part of the stern port at +the load water-mark; then measure from top of said plumb-line in +parallel direction with the water to perpendicular point immediately +over the load water-mark of the fore part of main stem; subtract +from such admeasurement the above distance; the remainder is ship's +extreme length, from which deduct 3 inches for every foot of the +load-draught of water for the rake abaft, and also three fifths of +the ship's breadth for the rake forward; remainder is length of keel +for tonnage. Breadth shall be taken from outside to outside of the +plank in broadest part of the ship either above or below the main +wales, exclusive of all manner of sheathing or doubling. Depth is +to be considered as one half the length. Tonnage will then be the +length into the depth into breadth, divided by 94. + +Tonnage was thus estimated in a purely arbitrary manner, with no +regard to actual capacity or displacement; and, moreover, what is +of more importance, the British method differed from the American +so much that a ship measured in the latter way would be nominally +about 15 per cent. larger than if measured by British rules. This +is the exact reverse of the statement made by the British naval +historian, James. His mistake is pardonable, for great confusion +existed on the subject at that time, even the officers not knowing +the tonnage of their own ships. When the _President_ was captured, +her officers stated that she measured about 1,400 tons; in reality +she tonned 1,576, American measure. Still more singular was the +testimony of the officers of the _Argus_, who thought her to be of +about 350 tons, while she was of 298, by American, or 244, by British +measurement. These errors were the more excusable as they occurred +also in higher quarters. The earliest notice we have about the three +44-gun frigates of the _Constitution's_ class, is in the letter of +Secretary of the Navy, Benjamin Stoddart, on Dec. 24, 1798, [Footnote: +"American State Papers," xiv, 57.] where they are expressly said to +be of 1,576 tons; and this tonnage is given them in every navy list +that mentions it for 40 years afterward; yet Secretary Paul Hamilton +in one of his letters incidentally alludes to them as of 1,444 tons. +Later, I think about the year 1838, the method of measuring was changed, +and their tonnage was put down as 1,607. James takes the American +tonnage from Secretary Hamilton's letter as 1,444, and states (vol. +vi, p. 5), that this is equivalent to 1,533 tons, English. But in +reality, by American measurement, the tonnage was 1,576; so that +even according to James' own figures the British way of measurement +made the frigate 43 tons smaller than the American way did; actually +the difference was nearer 290 tons. James' statements as to the size +of our various ships would seem to have been largely mere guesswork, +as he sometimes makes them smaller and sometimes larger than they +were according to the official navy lists. Thus, the _Constitution_, +_President_, and _United States_, each of 1,576, he puts down as of +1,533; the _Wasp_, of 450, as of 434; the _Hornet_, of 480, as of 460; +and the _Chesapeake_, of 1,244, as of 1,135 tons. On the other hand +the _Enterprise_, of 165 tons, he states to be of 245; the _Argus_ +of 298, he considers to be of 316, and the _Peacock_, _Frolic_, etc., +of 509 each, as of 539. He thus certainly adopts different standards +of measurement, not only for the American as distinguished from the +British vessels, but even among the various American vessels themselves. +And there are other difficulties to be encountered; not only were +there different ways of casting tonnage from given measurements, +but also there were different ways of getting what purported to be +the same measurement. A ship, that, according to the British method +of measurement was of a certain length, would, according to the +American method, be about 5 per cent. longer; and so if two vessels +were the same size, the American would have the greatest nominal +tonnage. For example, James in his "Naval Occurrences" (p. 467) gives +the length of the _Cyane's_ main deck as 118 feet 2 inches. This +same _Cyane_ was carefully surveyed and measured, under orders from +the United States navy department, by Lieut. B. F. Hoffman, and in +his published report [Footnote: "American State Papers," xiv, p. +417.] he gives, among the other dimensions: "Length of spar-deck, +124 feet 9 inches," and "length of gun-deck 123 feet 3 inches." With +such a difference in the way of taking measurements, as well as of +computing tonnage from the measurements when taken, it is not surprising +that according to the American method the _Cyane_ should have ranked +as of about 659 tons, instead of 539. As James takes no account of +any of these differences I hardly know how to treat his statements +of comparative tonnage. Thus he makes the _Hornet_ 460 tons, and +the _Peacock_ and _Penguin_, which she at different times captured, +about 388 each. As it happens both Captain Lawrence and Captain Biddle, +who commanded the _Hornet_ in her two successful actions, had their +prizes measured. The _Peacock_ sank so rapidly that Lawrence could +not get very accurate measurements of her; he states her to be four +feet shorter and half a foot broader than the _Hornet_. The British +naval historian, Brenton (vol. v, p. 111), also states that they +were of about the same tonnage. But we have more satisfactory evidence +from Captain Biddle. He stayed by his prize nearly two days, and +had her thoroughly examined in every way; and his testimony is, of +course, final. He reports that the _Penguin_ was by actual measurement +two feet shorter, and somewhat broader than the _Hornet_, and with +thicker scantling. She tonned 477, compared to the _Hornet's_ 480--a +difference of about one half of one per cent. This testimony is +corroborated by that of the naval inspectors who examined the +_Epervier_ after she was captured by the _Peacock_. Those two vessels +were respectively of 477 and 509 tons, and as such they ranked on +the navy lists. The American _Peacock_ and her sister ships were +very much longer than the brig sloops of the _Epervier's_ class, +but were no broader, the latter being very tubby. All the English +sloops were broader in proportion than the American ones were; thus +the _Levant_, which was to have mounted the same number of guns as +the _Peacock_, had much more beam, and was of greater tonnage, +although of rather less length. The _Macedonian_, when captured, +ranked on our lists as of 1,325 tons, [Footnote: See the work of +Lieutenant Emmons, who had access to all the official records.] the +_United States_ as of 1,576; and they thus continued until, as I +have said before, the method of measurement was changed, when the +former ranked as of 1,341, and the latter as of 1,607 tons. James, +however, makes them respectively, 1,081, and 1,533. Now to get the +comparative force he ought to have adopted the first set of measurements +given, or else have made them 1,081 and 1,286. Out of the twelve +single-ship actions of the war, four were fought with 38-gun frigates +like the _Macedonian_, and seven with 18-gun brig sloops of the +_Epervier's_ class; and as the _Macedonian_ and _Epervier_ were both +regularly rated in our navy, we get a very exact idea of our antagonists +in those eleven cases. The twelfth was the fight between the +_Enterprise_ and the _Boxer_, in which the latter was captured; the +_Enterprise_ was apparently a little smaller than her foe, but had +two more guns, which she carried in her bridle ports. + +As my purpose in giving the tonnage is to get it comparatively, and +not absolutely, I have given it throughout for both sides as estimated +by the American method of that day. The tonnage of the vessels on +the lakes has been already noticed. + + + +Appendix B + + +PREVIOUS HISTORY OF +UNITED STATES NAVY + +Very few students of naval history will deny that in 1812 the average +American ship was superior to the average British ship of the same +strength; and that the latter was in turn superior to the average +French ship. The explanation given by the victor is in each case +the same; the American writer ascribes the success of his nation +to "the aptitude of the American character for the sea," and the +Briton similarly writes that "the English are inherently better suited +for the sea than the French." Race characteristics may have had some +little effect between the last pair of combatants (although only +a little), and it is _possible_ that they somewhat affected the +outcome of the Anglo-American struggle, but they did not form the +main cause. This can best be proved by examining the combats of +two preceding periods, in which the English, French, and Americans +were at war with one another. + +During the years 1798-1800, the United States carried on a desultory +conflict with France, then at war with England. Our navy was just +built, and was rated in the most extraordinary manner; the _Chesapeake_, +carrying 18-pounders, was called a 44; and the _Constellation_ which +carried 24's, a 36, while the _Washington_, rating 24, was really +much heavier than the _Boston_, rating 28. On Feb. 9, 1799, after +an hour's conflict, the _Constellation_ captured the French frigate +_Insurgente_; the Americans lost 3, the French 70 men, killed and +wounded. The _Constitution_ carried but 38 guns; 28 long 24's, on +the main-deck, and 10 long 12's on the quarter-deck, with a crew +of 309 men. According to Troude (iii, 169), _l'lnsurgente_ carried +26 long 12's, 10 long 6's, and 4 36-pound carronades; the Americans +report her number of men as nearly four hundred. Thus in actual +[Footnote: French shot was really very much heavier than the nominally +corresponding English shot, as the following table, taken from Captain +T. L. Simmon's work on "Heavy Ordnance" (London, 1837, p. 62) will show: + +Nominal French Weight Actual Weight of Same Shot in + of Shot. English Pounds. + 36 lbs. 43 lbs 4 oz. + 24 " 28 " 8 3/4" + 18 " 21 " 4 1/2" + 12 " 14 " 7 " +] (not nominal) weight of shot the _Constitution_ was superior by +about 80 pounds, and was inferior in crew by from 50 to 100 men. +This would make the vessels apparently nearly equal in force; but +of course the long 24's of the Constellation made it impossible that +_l'lnsurgente_, armed only with long 12's, should contend with her. +As already said, a superiority in number of men makes very little +difference, provided each vessel has ample to handle the guns, repair +damages, work the sails, etc. Troude goes more into details than +any other French historian; but I think his details are generally +wrong. In this case he gives the _Constellation_ 12's, instead of +the 24's she really carried; and also supplies her with 10 32-pound +carronades--of which species of ordnance there was then not one piece +in our navy. The first carronades we ever had were those carried +by the same frigate on her next voyage. She had completely changed +her armament, having 28 long 18's on the main-deck, ten 24-pound +carronades on the quarter-deck; and, I believe, 6 long 12's on the +forecastle, with a crew of 310 men. Thus armed, she encountered and +fought a drawn battle with _la Vengeance_. Troude (vol. iii, pp. +201, and 216) describes the armament of the latter as 26 long 18's, +10 long 8's, and 4 36-pound carronades. On board of her was an +American prisoner, James Howe, who swore she had 52 guns, and 400 +men (see Cooper, i, 306). The French and American accounts thus +radically disagree. The point is settled definitely by the report +of the British captain Milne, who, in the _Seine_ frigate, captured +_la Vengeance_ in the same year, and then reported her armament as +being 28 long 18's, 16 long 12's, and 8 36-pound carronades, with +326 men. As the American and British accounts, written entirely +independently of one another, tally almost exactly, it is evident +that Troude was very greatly mistaken. He blunders very much over +the _Constellation's_ armament. + +Thus in this action the American frigate fought a draw with an +antagonist, nearly as much superior to herself as an American 44 +was to a British 38. In November, 1800, the "28-gun frigate," +_Boston_, of 530 tons, 200 men, carrying 24 long 9's on the main-deck, +and on the spar-deck 8 long 6's (or possibly 12-pound carronades) +captured, after two hours action, the French corvette _Berceau_, +of 24 guns, long 8's; the _Boston_ was about the same size as her +foe, with the same number of men, and superior in metal about as +ten to nine. She lost 15, and the _Berceau_ 40 men. Troude (iii, +p. 219) gives the _Berceau_ 30 guns, 22 long 8's, and 8 12-pound +carronades. If this is true she was in reality of equal force with +the _Boston_. But I question if Troude really knew anything about +the combatants; he gives the _Boston_ (of the same size and build +as the _Cyane_) 48 guns--a number impossible for her to carry. He +continually makes the grossest errors; in this same (the third) +volume, for example, he arms a British 50-gun-ship with 72 cannon, +giving her a broadside fifty per cent. heavier than it should be +(p. 141); and, still worse, states the ordinary complement of a +British 32-gun frigate to be 384 men, instead of about 220 (p. 417). +He is by no means as trustworthy as James, though less rancorous. + +The United States schooner _Experiment_, of 12 guns, long 6's, and +70 men, captured the French man-of-war three-masted-schooner _La +Diane_, of 14 guns (either 4- or 6-pounders), with a crew of 60 men, +and 30 passengers; and the _Enterprise_, the sister vessel of the +_Experiment_, captured numerous strong privateers. One of them, a +much heavier vessel than her captor, made a most obstinate fight. +She was the _Flambeau_ brig of fourteen 8-pounders and 100 men, of +whom half were killed or wounded. The _Enterprise_ had 3 killed and +7 wounded. + +Comparing these different actions, it is evident that the Americans +were superior to the French in fighting capacity during the years +1799 and 1800. During the same two years there had been numerous +single contests between vessels of Britain and France, ending almost +invariably in favor of the former, which I mention first in each +couple. The 12-pounder frigate _Daedalus_ captured the 12-pounder +frigate _Prudente_, of equal force. The British 18-pounder frigate +_Sybille_ captured the frigate _Forte_, armed with 52 guns, 30 of +them long 24's on the main-deck; she was formidably armed and as +heavy as the _Constitution_. The _Sybille_ lost 22 and the _Forte_ +145 men killed and wounded. The 18-pounder frigate _Clyde_, with +the loss of 5 men, captured the 12-pounder frigate _Vestale_, which +lost 32. The cutter _Courser_, of twelve 4-pounders and 40 men, +captured the privateer _Guerrière_, of fourteen 4-pounders and 44 +men. The cutter _Viper_, of fourteen 4-pounders and 48 men, captured +the privateer _Suret_, of fourteen 4-pounders and 57 men. The 16-gun +ship-sloop, _Peterel_, with 89 men, engaged the _Cerf_, 14, _Lejoille_, +6, and _Ligurienne_, 16, with in all 240 men, and captured the +_Ligunenne_. The 30-gun corvette _Dart_ captured by surprise the +38-gun frigate _Desirée_. The _Gypsey_, of ten 4-pounders and 82 +men, captured the _Quidproquo_, of 8 guns, 4- and 8-pounders, and +98 men. The schooner _Milbrook_ of sixteen 18-pounder carronades +and 47 men, fought a draw with the privateer _Bellone_, of 24 long +8's and six 36-pound carronades. Finally, six months after the +_Vengeance_ had escaped from the _Constellation_ (or beaten her off, +as the French say) she was captured by the British frigate _Seine_, +which threw a broadside about 30 pounds more than the American did +in her action, and had some 29 men less aboard. So that her commander, +Captain Milne, with the same force as Commodore Truxtun, of the +_Constellation_, accomplished what the latter failed to do. + +Reviewing all these actions, it seems pretty clear that, while the +Americans were then undoubtedly much superior to the French, they +were still, at least slightly, inferior to the British. + +From 1777 to 1782 the state of things was very different. The single +combats were too numerous for me to mention them here; and besides +it would be impossible to get at the truth without going to a great +deal of trouble--the accounts given by Cooper, Sohomberg, and Troude +differing so widely that they can often hardly be recognized as +treating of the same events. But it is certain that the British were +very much superior to the Americans. Some of the American ships +behaved most disgracefully, deserting their consorts and fleeing +from much smaller foes. Generally the American ship was captured +when opposed by an equal force--although there were some brilliant +exceptions to this. With the French things were more equal; their +frigates were sunk or captured time and again, but nearly as often +they sunk or captured their antagonists. Some of the most gallant +fights on record are recounted of French frigates of this period; +in 1781 the _Minerve_, 32, resisted the _Courageous_, 74, till she +had lost 73 men and had actually inflicted a loss of 17 men on her +gigantic antagonist, and the previous year the _Bellepoule_, 32, +had performed a similar feat with the _Nonsuch_, 64, while the +_Capricieuse_, 32, had fought for five hours before surrendering +to the _Prudente_ and _Licorne_, each of force equal to herself. +She lost 100 men, inflicting a loss of 55 upon her two antagonists. +Such instances make us feel rather ashamed when we compare them with +the fight in which the British ship _Glasgow_, 20, beat off an +American squadron of 5 ships, including two of equal force to herself, +or with the time when the _Ariadne_, 20, and _Ceres_, 14, attacked +and captured without resistance the _Alfred_, 20, the latter ship +being deserted in the most outrageously cowardly manner by her consort +the _Raleigh_, 32. At that period the average American ship was +certainly by no means equal to the average French ship of the same +force, and the latter in turn was a little, but only a little, inferior +to the average British ship of equal strength. + +Thus in 1782 the British stood first in nautical prowess, separated +but by a very narrow interval from the French, while the Americans +made a bad third. In 1789 the British still stood first, while the +Americans had made a great stride forward, coming close on their +heels, and the French had fallen far behind into the third place. +In 1812 the relative positions of the British and French were +unchanged, but the Americans had taken another very decided step +in advance, and stood nearly as far ahead of the British as the +latter were ahead of the French. + +The explanation of these changes is not difficult. In 1782 the American +war vessels were in reality privateers; the crews were unpracticed, +the officers untrained, and they had none of the traditions and +discipline of a regular service. At the same time the French marine +was at its highest point; it was commanded by officers of ability +and experience, promoted largely for merit, and with crews thoroughly +trained, especially in gunnery, by a long course of service on the +sea. In courage, and in skill in the management of guns, musketry, +etc., they were the full equals of their English antagonists; their +slight _average_ inferiority in seamanship may, it is possible, be +fairly put down to the difference in race. (It seems certain that, +when serving in a neutral vessel, for example, the Englishmen aboard +are apt to make better sailors than the Frenchmen.) In 1799 the +revolution had deprived the French of all their best officers, had +let the character of the marine run down, and the discipline of the +service become utterly disorganized; this exposed them to frightful +reverses, and these in turn prevented the character of the service +from recovering its former tone. Meanwhile the Americans had established +for the first time a regular navy, and, as there was excellent material +to work with, it at once came up close to the English; constant and +arduous service, fine discipline, promotion for merit, and the most +unflagging attention to practical seamanship and gunnery had in 1812 +raised it far above even the high English standard. During all these +three periods the English marine, it must be remembered, did not fall +off, but at least kept its position; the French, on the contrary, +_did_ fall off, while the American navy advanced by great strides +to the first place. + + + +Appendix C + + +After my work was in press I for the first time came across Prof. +J. Russell Soley's "Naval Campaign of 1812," in the "Proceedings +of the United States Naval Institute," for October 20, 1881. It is +apparently the precursor of a more extended history. Had I known +that such a writer as Professor Soley was engaged on a work of this +kind I certainly should not have attempted it myself. + +In several points our accounts differ. In the action with the +_Guerrière_ his diagram differs from mine chiefly in his making the +_Constitution_ steer in a more direct line, while I have represented +her as shifting her course several times in order to avoid being +raked, bringing the wind first on her port and then on her +starboard-quarter. My account of the number of the crew of the +_Guerrière_ is taken from the _Constitution's_ muster-book (in the +Treasury Department at Washington), which contains the names of all +the British prisoners received aboard the _Constitution_ after the +fight. The various writers used "larboard" and "starboard" with +such perfect indifference, in speaking of the closing and the loss +of the _Guerrière's_ mizzen-mast, that I hardly knew which account +to adopt; it finally seemed to me that the only way to reconcile +the conflicting statements was by making the mast act as a rudder, +first to keep the ship off the wind until it was dead aft and then +to bring her up into it. If this was the case, it deadened her speed, +and prevented Dacres from keeping his ship yardarm and yardarm with +the foe, though he tried to steady his course with the helm; but, +in this view, it rather delayed Hull's raking than helped him. If +Professor Soley's account is right, I hardly know what to make of +the statement in one of the American accounts that the _Constitution_ +"luffed across the enemy's bow," and of Cooper's statement (in +_Putnam's Magazine_) that the _Guerrière's_ bowsprit pressed against +the _Constitution's_ "lee or port quarter." + +In the action of the _Wasp_ with the _Frolic_, I have adopted James' +statement of the latter's force; Professor Soley follows Captain +Jones' letter, which gives the brig three additional guns and 18 +pounds more metal in broadside. My reason for following James was +that his account of the _Frolic's_ force agrees with the regular +armament of her class. Captain Jones gives her _two_ carronades on +the topgallant forecastle, which must certainly be a mistake; he +makes her chase-guns long 12's, but all the other British brigs +carried 6's; he also gives her another gun in broadside, which he +calls a 12-pounder, and Lieutenant Biddle (in a letter to his father) +a 32-pound carronade. His last gun should perhaps be counted in; +I excluded it because the two American officials differed in their +account of it, because I did not know through what port it could +be fought, and because James asserted that it was dismounted and +lashed to the forecastle. The _Wasp_ left port with 138 men; subtracting +the pilot and two men who were drowned, makes 135 the number on board +during the action. As the battle was fought, I doubt if the loss of +the brig's main-yard had much effect on the result; had it been her +object to keep on the wind, or had the loss of her after-sails enabled +her antagonist to cross her stern (as in the case of the _Argus_ +and _Pelican_), the accident could fairly be said to have had a decided +effect upon the contest. But as a short time after the fight began +the vessels were running nearly free, and as the _Wasp_ herself was +greatly injured aloft at the time, and made no effort to cross her +foe's stern, it is difficult to see that it made much difference. +The brig's head-sails were all right, and, as she was not close-hauled, +the cause of her not being kept more under command was probably purely +due to the slaughter on her decks. + +Professor Soley represents the combat of the _States_ and _Macedonian_ +as a plain yardarm and yardarm action after the first forty minutes. +I have followed the English authorities and make it a running fight +throughout. If Professor Soley is right, the enormous disparity in +loss was due mainly to the infinitely greater accuracy of the American +fire; according to my diagram the chief cause was the incompetency +of the _Macedonian's_ commander. In one event the difference was +mainly in the gunnery of the crews, in the other, it was mainly in +the tactical skill of the captains. The question is merely as to +how soon Carden, in his headlong, foolishly rash approach, was enabled +to close with Decatur. I have represented the closing as taking place +later than Professor Soley has done; very possibly I am wrong. Could +my work now be rewritten I think I should adopt his diagram of the +action of the _Macedonian_. + +But in the action with the _Java_ it seems to me that he is mistaken. +He has here followed the British accounts; but they are contradicted +by the American authorities, and besides have a very improbable look. +When the _Constitution_ came round for the second time, on the port +tack, James declares the _Java_ passed directly across her stern, +almost touching, but that the British crew, overcome by astonishment +or awe, did not fire a shot; and that shortly afterward the manoeuvre +was repeated. When this incident is said to have occurred the _Java's_ +crew had been hard at work fighting the guns for half an hour, and +they continued for an hour and a half afterward; it is impossible +to believe that they would have foreborne to fire more than one gun +when in such a superb position for inflicting damage. Even had the +men been struck with temporary lunacy the officers alone would have +fired some of the guns. Moreover, if the courses of the vessels were +such as indicated on Professor Soley's diagram the _Java_ would herself +have been previously exposed to a terrible raking fire, which was +not the case. So the alleged manoeuvres have, _per se_, a decidedly +apocryphal look; and besides they are flatly contradicted by the +American accounts which state distinctly that the _Java_ remained +to windward in every portion of the fight. On this same tack Professor +Soley represents the _Java_ as forereaching on the _Constitution_; +I have reversed this. At this time the _Java_ had been much cut up +in her rigging and aloft generally, while the _Constitution_ had +set much additional sail, and in consequence the latter forged ahead +and wore in the smoke unperceived. When the ships came foul Professor +Soley has drawn the _Constitution_ in a position in which she would +receive a most destructive stern rake from her antagonist's whole +broadside. The positions could not have been as there represented. +The _Java's_ bowsprit came foul in the _Constitution's_ mizzen rigging +and as the latter forged ahead she pulled the former gradually round +till when they separated the ships were in a head and stern line. +Commodore Bainbridge, as he particularly says, at once "kept away +to avoid being raked," while the loss of the head-sails aboard the +_Java_ would cause the latter to come up in the wind, and the two +ships would again be running parallel, with the American to leeward. +I have already discussed fully the reasons for rejecting in this +instance the British report of their own force and loss. This was +the last defeat that the British officially reported; the admiralty +were smarting with the sting of successive disasters and anxious +at all costs to put the best possible face on affairs (as witness +Mr. Croker's response to Lord Dundonald's speech in the House). There +is every reason for believing that in this case the reports were +garbled; exactly as at a later date the official correspondence +preceding the terrible disasters at Cabul was tampered with before +being put before the public (see McCarthy's "History of our Own Times"). + +It is difficult to draw a diagram of the action between the _Hornet_ +and _Peacock,_ although it was so short, the accounts contradicting +one another as to which ship was to windward and which on the "larboard +tack;" and I do not know if I have correctly represented the position +of the combatants at the close of the engagement. Lieutenant Conner +reported the number of men aboard the _Hornet_ fit for duty as 135; +Lawrence says she had 8 absent in a prize and 7 too sick to be at +quarters. This would make an original complement of 150, and tallies +exactly with the number of men left on the _Hornet_ after the action +was over, as mentioned by Lawrence in his account of the total number +of souls aboard. The log-book of the _Hornet_ just before starting +on her cruise, states her entire complement as 158; but 4 of these +were sick and left behind. There is still a discrepancy of 4 men, +but during the course of the cruise nothing would be more likely +than that four men should be gotten rid of, either by sickness, +desertion, or dismissal. At any rate the discrepancy is very trivial. +In her last cruise, as I have elsewhere said, I have probably +overestimated the number of the _Hornet's_ crew; this seems especially +likely when it is remembered that toward the close of the war our +vessels left port with fewer supernumeraries aboard than earlier +in the contest. If such is the case, the _Hornet_ and _Penguin_ were +of almost exactly equal force. + +My own comments upon the causes of our success, upon the various +historians of the war, etc., are so similar to those of Professor +Soley, that I almost feel as if I had been guilty of plagiarism; +yet I never saw his writings till half an hour ago. But in commenting +on the actions of 1812, I think the Professor has laid too much stress +on the difference in "dash" between the combatants. The _Wasp_ bore +down with perfect confidence to engage an equal foe; and the _Hornet_ +could not tell till the _Peacock_ opened fire that the latter was +inferior in force, and moreover fought in sight of another hostile +vessel. In the action with the _Guerrière_ it was Hull and not Dacres +who acted boldly, the Englishman delaying the combat and trying to +keep it at long range for some time. In this fight it must be remembered +that neither foe knew the exact force of the other until the close +work began; then, it is true, Dacres fought most bravely. So with +the _Macedonian;_ James particularly says that she did not know the +force of her foe, and was confident of victory. The _Java,_ however, +must have known that she was to engage a superior force. In neither +of the first two frigate actions did the Americans have a chance +to display any courage in the actual fighting, the victory was won +with such ease. But in each case they entered as bravely, although +by no means as rashly or foolishly, into the fight as their antagonists +did. It must always be remembered that until this time it was by +no means proved that 24-pounders were better guns than 18's to put +on frigates; exactly as at a little later date it was vigorously +contended that 42-pounders were no more effective guns for two-deckers +than 32-pounders were. Till 1812 there had been no experience to +justify the theory that the 24-pounder was the better gun. So that +in the first five actions it cannot be said that the British showed +any especial courage in _beginning_ the fight; it was more properly +to be called ignorance. After the fight was once begun they certainly +acted very bravely, and, in particular, the desperate nature of the +_Frolic's_ defence has never been surpassed. + +But admitting this is a very different thing from admitting that +the British fought more bravely than their foes; the combatants were +about on a par in this respect. The Americans, it seems to me, were +always to the full as ready to engage as their antagonists were; +on each side there were few over-cautious men, such as Commodore +Rodgers and Sir George Collier, the opposing captains on Lake +Ontario, the commander of the _Bonne Citoyenne_, and perhaps +Commodore Decatur, but as a rule either side jumped at the chance +of a fight. The difference in tactics was one of skill and common +sense, not one of timidity. The _United States_ did not "avoid close +action" from over-caution, but simply to take advantage of her +opponent's rashness. Hull's approach was as bold as it was skilful; +had the opponent to leeward been the _Endymion_, instead of the +_Guerrière_, her 24-pounders would not have saved her from the fate +that overtook the latter. Throughout the war I think that the Americans +were as bold in beginning action, and as stubborn in continuing it, +as were their foes--although no more so. Neither side can claim any +superiority on the average, though each can in individual cases, +as regards courage. Foolhardiness does not imply bravery. A +prize-fighter who refused to use his guard would be looked upon as +exceptionally brainless, not as exceptionally brave; yet such a case +is almost exactly parallel to that of the captain of the _Macedonian_. + + + +Appendix D + + +In the "Historical Register of the United States" (Edited by T. H. +Palmer, Philadelphia, 1814), vol. 1 p. 105 (State Papers), is a letter +from Lieut. L. H. Babbitt to Master-commandant Wm. U. Crane, both +of the _Nautilus_, dated Sept. 13, 1812, in which he says that of +the six men imprisoned by the British on suspicion of being of English +birth, four were native-born Americans, and two naturalized citizens. +He also gives a list of six men who deserted, and entered on the +_Shannon_, of whom two were American born--the birthplaces of the +four others not being given. Adding these last, we still have but +six men as the number of British aboard the _Nautilus_, It is thus +seen that the crack frigate _Shannon_ had American deserters aboard +her--although these probably formed a merely trifling faction of +her crew, as did the British deserters aboard the crack frigate +_Constitution._ + +On p. 108, is a letter of Dec. 17, 1812, from Geo. S. Wise, purser +of the _Wasp_, stating that twelve of that ship's crew had been +detained "under the pretence of their being British subjects"; so +that nine per cent. of her crew may have been British--or the +proportion may have been very much smaller. + +On p. 117, is a letter of Jan. 14, 1813, from Commodore J. Rodgers, +in which he states that he encloses the muster-rolls of H. B. M. +ships, _Moselle_ and _Sappho_, taken out of the captured packet +_Swallow_; and that these muster-rolls show that in August 1812, +one eighth of the crews of the _Moselle_ and _Sappho_, was composed +of Americans. + +These various letters thus support strongly the conclusions reached +on a former page as to the proportion of British deserters on American +vessels. + +In "A Biographical Memoir of the late Commodore Joshua Barney, from +Autographical Notes and Journals" (Edited by Mary Barney, Boston, +1832), on pages 263, and 315, are descriptions of the flotilla destroyed +in the Patuxent. It consisted of one gun-boat, carrying a long 24; +one cutter, carrying a long 18, a columbiad 18, and four 9-pound +carronades, and thirteen row barges, each carrying a long 18 or 12 +in the bow, with a 32-pound or 18-pound carronade in the stern. On +p. 256, Barney's force in St. Leonard's creek, is described as +consisting of one sloop, two gun-boats, and thirteen barges, with +in all somewhat over 500 men; and it is claimed that the flotilla +drove away the blockading frigates, entirely unaided; the infantry +force on shore rendering no assistance. The work is of some value, +as showing that James had more than doubled the size, and almost +doubled the strength, of Barney's various gun-boats. + +It may be mentioned that on p. 108, Commodore Barney describes the +Dutch-American frigate _South Carolina_, which carried a crew of +550 men, and was armed with 28 long 42's on the maindeck, and 12 +long 12's on the spardeck. She was far heavier than any of our +44-gun frigates of 1812, and an overmatch for anything under the +rank of a 74. This gives further emphasis to what I have already +stated--that the distinguishing feature of the war of 1812, is _not_ +the introduction of the heavy frigate, for heavy frigates had been +in use among various nations for thirty years previously, but the +fact that for the first time the heavy frigate was used to the best +possible advantage. + + + +Appendix E + + +In the last edition of James' "Naval History of Great Britain," +published in London, in 1886, by Richard Bentley & Son, there is +an appendix by Mr. H. T. Powell, devoted to the war of 1812, mainly +to my account thereof. + +Mr. Powell begins by stating with naïf solemnity that "most British +readers will be surprised to learn that, notwithstanding the infinite +pains taken by William James to render his history a monument of +accuracy, and notwithstanding the exposure he brought upon contemporary +misstatements, yet to this day the Americans still dispute his facts." +It is difficult to discuss seriously any question with a man capable +of writing down in good faith such a sentence as the above. James +(unlike Brenton and Cooper) knew perfectly well how to be accurate; +but if Mr. Powell will read the comments on his accounts which I +have appended to the description of almost every battle, he will +see that James stands convicted beyond possibility of doubt, not +merely of occasional inaccuracies or errors, but of the systematic, +malicious, and continuous practice of every known form of wilful +misstatement, from the suppression of the truth and the suggestion +of the false to the lie direct. To a man of his character the +temptation was irresistible; for when he came to our naval war, he +had to appear as the champion of the beaten side, and to explain +away defeat instead of chronicling victory. The contemporary American +writers were quite as boastful and untruthful. No honorable American +should at this day endorse their statements; and similarly, no +reputable Englishman should permit his name to be associated in any +way with James' book without explicitly disclaiming all share in, +or sympathy with, its scurrilous mendacity. + +Mr. Powell's efforts to controvert my statements can be disposed +of in short order. He first endeavors to prove that James was right +about the tonnage of the ships; but all that he does is to show that +his author gave for the English frigates and sloops the correct +tonnage by English and French rules. This I never for a moment +disputed. What I said was that the _comparative_ tonnage of the +various pairs of combatants as given by James was all wrong; and +this Mr. Powell does not even discuss. James applied one system +correctly to the English vessels; but he applied quite another to +the American (especially on the lakes). Mr. Powell actually quotes +Admiral Chads as a witness, because he says that his father considered +James' account of the _Java's_ fight accurate; if he wishes such +testimony, I can produce many relatives of the Perrys, Porters, and +Rodgers of 1812, who insist that I have done much less than justice +to the American side. He says I passed over silently James' schedule +of dimensions of the frigates and sloops. This is a mistake; I showed +by the testimony of Captains Biddle and Warrington and Lieutenant +Hoffman that his _comparative_ measurements (the absolute measurements +being of no consequence) for the American and British sloops are +all wrong; and the same holds true of the frigates. + +Mr. Powell deals with the weight of shot exactly as he does with +the tonnage--that is, he seeks to show what the _absolute_ weight +of the British shot was; but he does not touch upon the point at +issue, the _comparative_ weight of the British and American shot. + +When he comes to the lake actions, Mr. Powell is driven to conclude +that what I aver must be accurate, because he thinks the _Confiance_ +was the size of the _General Pike_ (instead of half as large again; +she mounted 30 guns in battery on her main deck, as against the +_Pike's_ 26, and stood to the latter as the _Constellation_ did to +the _Essex_), and because an American writer (very properly) expresses +dissatisfaction with Commodore Chauncy! What Mr. Powell thinks this +last statement tends to prove would be difficult to say. In the body +of my work I go into the minute details of the strength of the +combatants in the lake action; I clearly show that James was guilty +of gross and wilful falsification of the truth; and no material +statement I make can be successfully controverted. + +So much for Mr. Powell. But a much higher authority, Mr. Frank Chiswell, +has recently published some articles which tend to show that my +conclusions as to the tonnage of the sea vessels (not as to the lake +vessels, which are taken from different sources) are open to question. +In the appendix to my first edition I myself showed that it was quite +impossible to reconcile all the different statements; that the most +that could be done was to take one method and apply it all through, +admitting that even in this way it would be impossible to make all +the cases square with one another. + +Mr. Chiswell states that "the American tonnage measurements, properly +taken, never could give results for frigates varying largely from the +English tonnage." But a statement like this is idle; for the answer +to the "never could" is that they _did_. If Mr. Chiswell will turn +to James' "Naval Occurrences," he will find the _Chesapeake_ set down +as 1,135 tons, and the _Macedonian_ as of 1,081; but in the American +Navy lists, which are those I followed, the _Chesapeake_ is put down +as of 1,244 tons. A simple application of the rule of three shows +that even if I accepted James' figures, I would be obliged to consider +the _Macedonian_ as of about 1,185 tons, to make her correspond with +the system I had adopted for the American ships. + +But this is not all. James gives the length of the _Macedonian_ as +154 ft. 6 in. In the Navy Department at Washington are two plans +of the _Macedonian_. One is dated 1817, and gives her length as +157 ft. 3 in. This difference in measurement would make a difference +of 20 odd tons; so that by the American mode she must certainly +have been over 1,200 tons, instead of under 1,100, as by the British +rules. The second plan in the Navy Department, much more elaborate +than the first, is dated 1829, and gives the length as 164 ft.; it +is probably this that Emmons and the United States Navy lists have +followed--as I did myself in calling the tonnage of the _Macedonian_ +1,325. Since finding the plan of 1817, however, I think it possible +that the other refers to the second vessel of the name, which was +built in 1832. If this is true, then the _Macedonian_ (as well as +the _Guerrière_ and _Java_) should be put down as about 120 tons +less than the measurements given by Emmons and adopted by me; but +even if this is so, she must be considered as tonning over 1,200, +using the method I have applied to the _Chesapeake_. Therefore, +adopting the same system that I apply to the American 38-gun frigates, +the British 38-gun frigates were of over 1,200, not under 1,100, tons. + +As for the _Cyane_, James makes her but 118 ft. and 2 in. long, while +the American _Peacock_ he puts at 119 ft. 5 in. But Lieut. Hoffman's +official report makes the former 123 ft. 3 in., and the plans in the +State Department at Washington make the latter 117 ft. 11 in. in +length. I care nothing for the different methods of measuring different +vessels; what I wish to get at is the comparative measurement, and +this stands as above. The comparative tonnage is thus the very reverse +of that indicated by James' figures. + +Finally, as to the brigs, James makes them some ten feet shorter +than the American ship-sloops. In the Washington archives I can +find no plan on record of the measurements of the captured +_Epervier_; but in the Navy Department, volume 10, of the "Letters +of Master Commandants, 1814," under date of May 12th, is the statement +of the Surveyor of the Port of Charleston that she measured 467 tons +(in another place it is given as 477). James makes her 388; but as +he makes the American _Wasp_ 434, whereas she stands on our list +as of 450, the application of the same rule as with the frigates +gives us, even taking his own figures, 400 as her tonnage, when measured +as our ships were. But the measurements of the Surveyor of the Port +who examined the _Epervier_ are corroborated by the statements of +Captain Biddle, who captured her sister brig, the _Penguin_. Biddle +reported that the latter was two feet shorter and a little broader +than his own ship, the _Hornet_, which was of 480 tons. This would +correspond almost exactly with the Surveyor's estimate. + +It still seems impossible to reconcile all these conflicting statements; +but I am inclined to think that, on the whole, in the sea (not the +lake) vessels I have put the British tonnage too high. On the scale +I have adopted for the American 44-gun and 38-gun frigates and 18-gun +sloops like the Hornet and _Wasp_, the British 38-gun frigates ought +to be put down as of a little over 1,200, and the British 18-gun +sloops as of between 400 and 450, tons. In other words, of the twelve +single-ship actions of the war five, those of the _Chesapeake_ and +_Shannon_, _Enterprise_ and _Boxer_, _Wasp_ and _Frolic_, _Hornet_ +and _Peacock_, _Hornet_ and _Penguin_, were between vessels of nearly +equal size; in six the American was the superior about in the proportion +of five to four (rather more in the case of the frigates, rather +less in the case of the brigs); and in one, that of the _Argus_ and +_Pelican_, the British sloop was the bigger, in a somewhat similar ratio. + +This correction would be in favor of the British. But in a more +important particular I think I have done injustice to the Americans. +I should have allowed for the short weight of American metal on the +lakes, taking off seven per cent, from the nominal broadsides of +Perry and Macdonough; for the American ordnance was of exactly the +same quality as that on the ocean vessels, while the British was +brought over from England, and must have shown the same superiority +that obtained on the sea-going ships. + +Moreover, I am now inclined to believe that both the _Guerrière_ +and the _Java_, which were originally French ships, still carried +French 18's on their main-deck, and that, therefore, about 20 pounds +should be added to the broadside weight of metal of each. The American +accounts stated this to be the case in both instances; but I paid +no heed to them until my attention was called to the fact that the +English had captured enormous quantities of French cannon and shot +and certainly used the captured ordnance on some of their ships. + +In writing my history I have had to deal with a mass of confused +and contradictory testimony, which it has sometimes been quite +impossible to reconcile, the difficulty being greatly enhanced by +the calculated mendacity of James and some others of the earlier +writers, both American and British. Often I have had simply to balance +probabilities, and choose between two sets of figures, aware that, +whichever I chose, much could be said against the choice. It has, +therefore, been quite impossible to avoid errors; but I am confident +they have been as much in favor of the British as the Americans; +and in all important points my statements are substantially accurate. + +I do not believe that my final conclusions on the different fights +can be disputed. James asserts that the American ships were officered +by cunning cowards, and manned to the extent of half their force in +point of effectiveness by renegade British. I show that the percentage +of non-American seamen aboard the American ships was probably but +little greater than the percentage of non-British seamen aboard the +British ships; and as for the charges of cowardice, there were but +two instances in which it could be fairly urged against a beaten +crew--that of the British _Epervier_ and that of the American _Argus_ +(for the cases of Sir George Collier, Commodore Rodgers, Chauncy, +Yeo, the commander of the _Bonne Citoyenne_, etc., etc., cannot be +considered as coming under this head). James states that there was +usually a great superiority of force on the side of the Americans; +this is true; but I show that it was not nearly as great as he makes +it, and that in dealing with the lake flotillas his figures are +absolutely false, to the extent of even reversing the relative strength +of the combatants on Lake Champlain, where the Americans won, although +with an inferior force. In the one noteworthy British victory, that +of the _Shannon_, all British authors fail to make any allowance for +the vital fact that the _Shannon's_ crew had been drilled for seven +years, whereas the _Chesapeake_ had an absolutely new crew, and had +been out of port just eight hours; yet such a difference in length +of drill is more important than disparity in weight of metal. + +As a whole, it must be said that both sides showed equal courage +and resolution; that the Americans usually possessed the advantage +in material force; and that they also showed a decided superiority +in fighting skill, notably in marksmanship. + + + +INDEX + + + _Abeille_ + Aboukir + _Acasta_ + _Adams_ + Adams, Chaplain + Adams, Lieutenant + Adonis + _Aeolus_ + _Aetna_ + _Africa_ + _Alacrity_ + _Albion_ + _Alert_ + _Alexandria_ + _Alfred_ + Alison, Mr. + _Allen_ + Allen, Lieutenant William Henry + _Alligator_ + Almy, Sailing-master Thomas C. + Alwyn, John C. + _Ambuscade_ + _Amelia_ + _American_ + American Revolution + _American State Papers_ + Angus, Commander S. + Annapolis, Maryland + Appling, Major + _Arab_ + Arbuthnot, Captain James + _Arethuse_ + _Argo_ + _Argus_ + _Ariadne_ + _Ariel_ + _Armada_ + _Armide_ + Armstrong, Lieutenant + Arundel, Sailing-master + _Asp_ + Aspinwall, Lieutenant + _Atalanta_ + _Atlas_ + Austria + _Avenger_ + _Avon_ + _Aylwin_ + Ayscough, Sir George + Azores + + Babbit, Lieutenant L.H. + Badajos + _Badere Zaffer_ + Bainbridge, Master Commandant + Baker, Captain + _Ballahou_ + _Ballard_ + Ballard, Captain + Baltic Sea + Baltimore, Maryland + Barbadoes + Barclay, Captain R.H. + Barney, Captain Joshua + Barnwell, Sailing-master + _Barossa_ + Barras, Admiral + Barrie, Sir Robert + Barry, Captain + Bartholomew, Captain + Bartlett, Mr. + Bassett, Sailing-master R. + Bastard, Captain John + Bay of Fundy + Bayne, Adjutant General E. + _Bayonnaise_ + Beale, George, Jr. + Bell, Lieutenant + _Bellepoule_ + _Bellone_ + _Belvidera_ + Bentham, Captain George + _Berceau_ + _Beresford_ + Beresford, Captain John Poer + Bermuda + Biddle, Captain + Biddle, Lieutenant + Bignall, Lieutenant G. + Bingham, Captain + Black Rock + _Black Snake_ + Bladensburg, Maryland + Blake, Mr. + Blakely, Captain Johnston + Bland, Francis + blockading + Blucher, Mr. + Blyth, Captain Samuel + Boerstler, Colonel + _Bonne Citoyenne_ + _Boston_ + Boston, Massachusetts + _Boxer_ + Boyce, Lieutenant + Boyd, General + Boyd, Master's Mate + Boyle, Captain Thomas + Brailesford, Midshipman + Braimer, Captain + _Brant_ + Breckenbridge, Lieutenant + Brenton, Edward P. + Brine, Captain + Brock, General + Broke, Admiral Philip Vere + Brooks, Lieutenant + Broom, Lieutenant James + Brown, Captain Thomas + Brown, General + Brown, Lieutenant + Bruce, Lieutenant + Buchan, Lieutenant Edward + Budd, Lieutenant Charles + Budd, Lieutenant George + Buffalo, New York + Bulger, Lieutenant + Bulloch, Captain James D. + Bunker Hill, + Burleton, Admiral Sir George + Burlington, Vermont + _Burrows_ + Burrows, Lieutenant William + Bush, Lieutenant William S. + Byng, Captain Henry D. + Byron, Captain Richard + + Cabul, Mr. + Calder, Sir Robert + _Caledonia_ + Call, William + Campbell, Lieutenant + Campbell, Master's Mate J. + Camperdown + Canada + Cape of Good Hope + Cape Race + _Capricieuse_ + Carden, Captain John Surnam + _Carnation_ + _Carolina_ + Carroll, General + _Carron_ + Carter, Sailing-master + Cassin, Captain + _Castilian_ + Cathcart, Captain + _Centipe_ + _Ceres_ + _Cerf_ + Chads, Lieutenant Henry D. + _Chameleon_ + Champlin, Sailing-master Stephen + Chandeleur Islands + Chandler, General + Charleston, South Carolina + _Charwell_ + Chauncy, Commodore + Chauncy, Lieutenant Wolcott + _Chausseur_ + _Cherub_ + _Chesapeake_ + Chesapeake Bay + Chicago, Illinois + _Childers_ + _Chippeway_ + Chippeway + Chiswell, Frank + _Chlorinde_ + Chrystler's Farm + _Chubb_ + Civil War + Claxton, Lieutenant + Clement, Sailing-master George + _Cleopatra_ + _Clyde_ + Cochrane, Admiral Sir Alexander + Cockburn, Rear Admiral + Codrington, Lord Edward + Coffee, General + Collier, Sir George + Collier, Sir Ralph + _Columbia_ + _Comus_ + _Confiance_ + _Congress_ + Congress + Conklin, Lieutenant A.H.M. + Conkling, Lieutenant + Conner, Lieutenant + Connor, Lieutenant D. + _Conquest_ + _Constellation_ + _Constitution_ + _Contest_ + Cooper, J. Fenimore + Copenhagen + Cornick, Lieutenant H.D. + _Cornwallis_ + Coshnahan, Midshipman + Coswell, Lieutenant J.G. + _Courageous_ + _Courier-National_ + _Courser_ + Cox, W.S. + Cox, Lieutenant + Crab Island + Crane, Lieutenant + Crane, Master Commandant William V + Craney Island + Crawford, Minister + Creerie, Lieutenant John + Croghan, Colonel + Croker, Mr. + Cuba + Cumberland Island + Cummings, Midshipman J.C. + _Curlew_ + Curry, Lieutenant Rodger C. + _Cyane_ + _Cyprus_ + + Dacres, Captain James R. + _Daedalus_ + Daily, Sailing-master + _Dant_ + Davies, Lieutenant David + Dearborn, General + Decatur, Stephen + Deforest, Midshipman + de Grasse, Comte + de la Gravière, Admiral Jurien + Delaware Bay + Denmark + Dent, Captain + De Ruyter + _Desiree_ + _Despatch_ + De Suffrein + _Detroit_ + Detroit, Michigan + _Devastation_ + _Diadem_ + Dickenson, Captain James + _Dictator_ + _Didon_ + Dixon, Sailing-master + Dobbs, Captain + Doggerbank + _Dolphin_ + _Dover_ + Douglass, Captain George + Douglass, Lord Howard + Downie, Captain George. + Downes, Lieutenant + Downs, Lieutenant + _Dragon_ + _Drummond_ + Drummond, General + Dudley, Midshipman + Dundonald, Lord + Durham, Admiral + + _Eagle_ + _Earl of Moira_ + Earle, Commodore + East Indies + Eckford, Henry + Edwards, Lieutenant + _Egyptienne_ + Elliott, Lieutenant + Ellis, Captain + Emmons, Lieutenant George E. + _Endymion_ + English Channel + _Enterprise_ + _Epervier_ + Epworth, Captain + _Erebus_ + _Erie_ + _Espiegle_ + _Essex_ + _Essex Junior_ + _Etoile_ + _Eurotas_ + _Euryalus_ + _Eurydice_ + Evans, Amos A. + Everard, Captain Thomas + _Experiment_ + + _Fair American_ + _Fairy_ + Falcon, Captain Gordon Thomas + Falkiner, Lieutenant + False Duck Island + Farragut, Admiral David Glasgow + Ferris, Sailing-master John D. + _Finch_ + Finch, Lieutenant Bolton + Finnis, Captain + _Firefly_ + Fischer, Lieutenant Colonel + _Flambeau_ + _Florida_ + Florida + Floyd, Captain Robett + Forrest, Lieutenant + Fort Bowyer + Fort Erie + Fort George + Fort McHenry + Fort Mackinaw + Fort Meigs + Fort St. Philip + Fort Stephenson + Fort Washington + _Forte_ + _Fortune of War_ + Forty Mile Creek + 14th Light Dragoons + France + _Franklin_ + _Fredrickscoarn_ + Frenchtown + French Revolution + _Frolic_ + _Fulton_ + Funk, John Messer + _Funon_ + + Gaines, General + _Galatea_ + Gamble, Lieutenant Peter + _Gamo_ + Garden, Captain S.J. + _Garland_ + Garland, Lieutenant + _General Armstrong_ + _General Pike_ + Georgia + _Georgiana_ + Ghent + Gibbs, General + _Glasgow_ + _Gloire_ + _Gloucester_ + Gordon, Captain James A. + Gordon, Lieutenant H.C. + _Governor Tompkins_ + Grand Banks + Graves, Sir Thomas + Greene, Captain Pill Barnaby + _Greenwich_ + Gregory, Lieutenant Francis A. + Griffeth, Rear Admiral + _Growler_ + Guérin, Leon + _Guerres Maritimes_ + _Guerrière_ + _Guemere_ + Gunboat #5 + Gunboat #23 + Gunboat #156 + Gunboat #162 + Gunboat #163 + Gunboat #168 + _Gypsy_ + + _Hamilton_ + Hamilton, Secretary Paul + Hampton, General Wade + Hampton Roads + Hanahett, Captain + Hardy, Captain + Hardy, Sir Thomas + Harrison, General + Hart, Midshipman + _Havannah_ + Hawkins, Captain Richard + Hayes, Captain John + Head, Captain Michael + _Hebrus_ + _Hector_ + Henderson, Captain + Henly, Captain J.D. + Henly, Captain Robert + _Hermes_ + Hicks, Lieutenant William + _Highflyer_ + Hilyar, Captain James + Hinn, Mr. + Hislop, Lieutenant General + _History of the British Navy_ + _History of the U.S. Navy_ + Hoffman, Lieutenant B.F. + Holdup, Lieutenant + Hollaway, Captain + Holmes, Captain + Honduras + Hood, Sir Samuel + Hope, Captain Henry + Hope, Lieutenant David + _Hornet_ + Horseshoe Bend + Howe, James + Hughes, Sit Edward + Hull, General Isaac + Humbert, General + Humble, James + Hunt, William H. + _Hunter_ + Hurlburt, Mr. + Hutchinson, Lieutenant William + + _Icarus_ + impressment + _Indefatigable_ + _Independence_ + Indian Ocean + Indians + Inglis, Lieutenant George + Ingram, Lieutenant William + _Insurgente_ + Irvine, Lieutenant + Isle-au-noix + Italy + Izard, General + + Jackson, General Andrew + Jamaica Plate + James, William + _Jasseur_ + _Java_ + _Jefferson_ + Jefferson, Thomas + _John Adams_ + John, Lieutenant Colonel + Johnson, Lieutenant Robert + Johnson, Sailing-master + Johnston, Sailing-master + _Jones_ + Jones, Captain Jacob + Jones, Lieutenant Thomas Catesby + _Julia_ + _Junon_ + + Keane, General + Kearney. Captain Palmer + Kent, Lieutenant Bartholomew + Kentucky + Kerr, Captain Robert + King, Captain + King, Lieutenant + Kingston + Klaeson, Captain + + LaColle Mill + _La Diane_ + _Lady Gore_ + _Lady Murray_ + _Lady of the Lake_ + _Lady Prevost_ + Lafitte + Lake Borgne + Lake Champlain + Lake Erie + Lake Huron + Lake Ontario + Lamb, Midshipman + Lambert, Captain + Lambert, General + Landon, Captain H. + _Landrail_ + Lang, Jack + Laugharne, T.L.O. + _Lawrence_ + Lawrence, Captain + _Leander_ + _Lejoille_ + _Leopard_ + Les Petites Coquilles + _Levant_ + _Linnet_ + _Little Belt_ + Lockyer, Captain + _Loire_ + _London Naval Chronicle_ + Long Island Sound + Losack, Captain Woodley + _Lottery_ + _Louisiana_ + Low. Lieutenant + _Ludlow_ + Ludlow, Lieutenant A. + Lumly, Captain + Lundy's Lane + _Lynx_ + + McCall, Lieutenant Edward + McClintock, Midshipman + McClure, General + McCreery, Lieutenant David + McDonald, Lieutenant + Macdonough, Commodore + _Macedonia_ + McGhie, Lieutenant James + McGowan, Midshipman + McKay, Charles + McKeever, Lieutenant Isaac + McKnight, Lieutenant Decatur + Macomb, General + McPherson, Lieutenant + _Madison_ + Madison, James + _Magnet_ + Maine + Maitland, Captain + _Majestic_ + _Manly_ + Manners, Captain William + Maples, Captain John F + Marblehead, Massachusetts + _Mars_ + Marshall, Lieutenant John + _Martin_ + _Mary_ + Maryland + Matterface, Lieutenant William + _Meduse_ + _Medway_ + _Melville_ + _Menelaus_ + Mensing, Commander Adolf + _Merrimac_ + _Meteor_ + Mexico + _Milan_ + _Milbrook_ + Miller, Captain + Mills, Colonel + Milne, Captain + Mindham, William + _Minerva_ + _Minerve_ + Mississippi River + Mitchell, Colonel + Mix, Sailing-master + Mobile Point + _Mohawk_ + Moltke + Monk, Sailing-master James + _Montagu_ + _Montgomery_ + _Montreal_ + Montresor, Captain + Morgan, General + Morgan, Major + Morris, Captain Charles + _Moselle_ + Muir, Captain + Mulcaster, Captain William Howe, + Murray, Colonel J. + + _Nancy_ + Nantucket + Napoleon + _Narcissus_ + _Nautilus_ + _Naval Chronicle_ + _Naval Gunnery_ + _Naval History of Great Britain_ + _Naval History of the United States_ + _Naval Occurrences_ + Navy Department + _Nayaden_ + Nazer, Lieutenant Kelly + Neale, Lieutenant + Nelson, Lord + _Nereide_ + _Nereyda_ + _Netly_ + _Nettle_ + _Neufchatel_ + New Hampshire + New Jersey + New Orleans + _New York_ + New York + Newark + _Newcastle_ + Newfoundland + _Niagara_ + Niagara + Nicholson, Lieutenant N.J. + _Nile's Register_ + _Nocton_ + _Nonsuch_ + Norman, Lieutenant Charles R. + North Point + _Norwich_ + _Nymphe_ + + O'Brien, Mr. + O'Connor, Captain + Odenheimer, Lieutenant + Ogdensburg + _Ohio_ + Oliver, Captain R.D. + _Oneida_ + _Ontario_ + Ordronaux, Captain + _Orpheus_ + Osgood, Lieutenant + Oswego + + Packenham, General Edward + Packet, Lieutenant John H. + Paine, Sailing-master Thomas + _Palunure_ + Palmer, Captain + Parker, Captain + Parker, George + Parker, Lieutenant + Parker, Sir Peter + _Pasley_ + Patterson, Captain + Patuxent River + Paulding, Admiral + Paulding, Midshipman Hiram + _Peacock_ + _Peacock_ (British) + Peake, William + Pechell, Captain + _Pelican_ + Pendleton, Thomas M. + _Penguin_ + _Perry_ + Perry, Captain Oliver H. + _Pert_ + _Peterel_ + Pettigrew, Lieutenant + Pettipauge + _Philadelphia_ + Phillot, Captain + _Phoebe_ + _Phoenix_ + _Pictou_ + _Piedmontaise_ + Pigot, Captain + _Pike_ + Pike, Brigadier General + _Pilot_ + _Pique_ + _Plantagenet_ + Plattsburg + _Poictiers_ + Polkinghorne, Lieutenant James + _Pomona_ + _Pomone_ + Popham, Captain + _Porcupine_ + Porter, Captain David + Porto Praya + Porto Rico + Portsmouth, New Hampshire + Portugal + Potomac River + Powell, H.T. + Pratt, Lieutenant + _Preble_ + _President_ + Presque Isle + Prevost, Sir George, + _Primrose_ + _Prince Regent_ + _Princess Charlotte_ + Pring, Captain Daniel + privateers + Proctor, Colonel + _Prometheus_ + _Prosperous_ + _Prudente_ + _Psyche_ + + Quasi-War (1799-1800) + _Queen Charlotte_ + Queenstown + _Quidproquo_ + + _Racer_ + Radchffe, Lieutenant + Raderhurst, Lieutenant + _Rainbow_ + _Raleigh_ + _Ramillies_ + _Rattlesnake_ + Rattray, Captain James + _Raven_ + Rawle, Lieutenant Richard + Read, George Campbell + Reade, Colonel + Ready, Lieutenant Henry + Red House + Reid, Captain Samuel C. + _Reindeer_ + Rennie, Colonel + Renshaw, Lieutenant Commander, + _Resolution_ + Riall, General + _Rifleman_ + Ripley, Mr. + _Rivoli_ + Roach, Lieutenant Isaac + Roberts, Captain + Robinson, Batty + Rodgers, Commodore John, + Rodney + Rolette, Lieutenant + Ross, General + _Rota_ + Rouvier, Charles + _Royal George_ + Russia + Sackett's Harbor + _St. Lawrence_ + St. Lawrence + Salamanca + Samwell, Midshipman + _San Domingo_ + _San Florenzo_ + San Salvador + San Sebastian + Sanders, Captain + Sandy Creek + Sandy Hook, New Jersey + _Sappho_ + _Saranac_ + _Saratoga_ + Saunders, Lieutenant + Sawyer, Vice Admiral + _Schooner_ + Scott, Colonel + Scott, General + Scott, Robert + _Scorpion_ + _Scourge_ + _Sea Horse_ + _Seine_ + _Seneca_ + _Seringapatam_ + _Severn_ + _Shannon_ + Sheafe, Major General + _Shelburne_ + Sherbroke, Lieutenant General + Sherriff, Captain + Shields, Thomas + Shubrick, Lieutenant J.T. + Sigourney, Mr. + _Simco_ + Simmons, Captain T.F. + Sisson, Sailing-master + Sinclair, Captain Arthur + Smith, Lieutenant Sydney + Smith, Midshipman + Sohomberg, + Solcy, J. Russell, + _Somers,_ + Somerville, Captain Philip + Sorel River + _Soult_ + _South Carolina_ + _Southampton_ + Southcombe, Captain + Spain + _Spark_ + _Speedy_ + Spilsbury, Captain, + _Spitfire_ + Speddes, Lieutenant Robert + Squaw Island + _Star_ + _Statira_ + Stephens, John + Stewart, Captain George + Stoddart, Benjamin + Stokes, Lieutenant Thomas + Stone, Major-General + Stuart, Lord + _Superb_ + _Superior_ + _Suret_ + _Surveyor_ + _Swallow_ + _Sybille_ + _Sydney Smith_ + Sykes, Lieutenant + _Sylph_ + _Syren_ + + _Tagus_ + Tarbell, Captain + _Tartarus_ + Tattnall. Lieutenant + Taylor, Captain John + Taylor, Major-General + Tecumseh + _Tenedos_ + Tennessee + _Terror_ + _Thalia_ + Thames River + _Thorn_ + Thornton, Colone + _Ticonderoga_ + _Tigress_ + _Tigris_ + _Tom Bowline_ + _Tompkins_ + tonnage, + _Tonnant_ + _Torch_ + Toronto (see York) + _Torpedo_ + Toulouse + Townsend, Captain Lord James + Towson, Captain N. + Trafalgar + Trant. Sailing-master + Travis. William S. + _Trent_ + Tripoli + _Trippe_ + Tromp + Troude + Truxtun, Commodore + Tucker, Captain Thomas Tudor + Tucker, General + Turkey + Turner, Lieutenant Daniel + Tyler, Vice Admiral + + Ulrick, Sailing-master George + _United States_ + Upton. Captain + + Valparaiso + Van Horne, Colonel + Van Rensselaer. General + Vashon. Captain + Vaughan, Sailing-master + _Vengeance_ + Vermont + _Vestale_ + _Victorious_ + _Victory_ + Villeneuve. M. + Vincent. General + _Viper_ + _Virgin_ + Virginia + _Vixen_ + _Volcano_ + + Wadsworth, Colonel + Wales. Captain + War Department + Ward, Commander J.H. + Wareham + Warren, Admiral Sir John. + Warrington, Master Commandant Lewis. + _Washington_ + Washington, D.C. + _Wasp_ + Waters, Midshipman Kervin + Watson, Lieutenant + Watt, Lieutenant + Watts, George + _Weasel_ + Wellington, Duke of + Wells, Lieutenant Henry + West Indies + Westphal, Lieutenant Philip + Whinyates, Captain Thomas + Wilkes, Commodore + Wilkinson, General + _William_ + Williams, Lieutenant Alexander D. + _Wilmer_ + Wilmer, Lieutenant + Winchester + Winder, General + Wintle, Lieutenant + Wise, George S. + _Wolfe_ + Wood, Lieutenant Peter V. + _Woodbridge_ + Woolsey, Captain M.T. + Worsely, Lieutenant + Worth, Lieutenant Frederick A. + Wragg, Midshipman + Wright, Lieutenant + + Yarnall, Lieutenant + Yeo, Sir James Lucas + York (Toronto) + York Bay + _Young Wasp_ + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Naval War of 1812, by Theodore Roosevelt + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NAVAL WAR OF 1812 *** + +This file should be named 9104-8.txt or 9104-8.zip + +Produced by Mark Hamann, Ed Thoele and Online Distributed Proofreaders + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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