Holloway Halstead Frost

“ For two long hours the battle rages. Chads does well but he cannot do the impossible. Finally the Java must give in. Here is a fight in which there is honor enough for all, vanquished as well as victor. And Bainbridge, after such buffets of fate as few have received, at last has won his well-deserved victory. A third British frigate had been taken.
When “Old Ironsides” reached Boston a great reception awaited the commodore. There he marched through the streets, arm in arm with Rodgers and Hull—three commodores of whom any country might be proud. ”

“ Watchers on the frigate, if they had not been too sleepy, might have wondered at the hidden power which draws the little craft so steadily upon her prey. It is not 12 until she is almost alongside that they see the crowd of men on her decks. “Americanos!” yells the sentinel. But now it is too late. Another pull brings the Intrepid alongside. Then rises a confused din as her crew begin a wild scramble for the honor of being the first over the enemy’s side. Decatur trips on his scabbard. ”

“ Her crew, as we learned later, numbered thirty-six. Decatur also has one cannon, a long 24-pounder. He sails in close until he can see the white of their eyes. Then he fires. A hail of grapeshot sweeps the enemy’s deck. As the two ships crash together our boarders are away. For a few minutes the fight is furious. But American pikes and cutlasses are irresistible. When only five of their people remain unwounded the Moors cry for quarter. Here is a victory, decided, as the old saying goes, by push of pike. ”

“ A sad omen it must have seemed to the British captain. A new sea power had arrived!
That this was fully appreciated is shown by an article in the London Times. “It is not merely that an English frigate has been taken, after, what we are free to confess may be called a brave resistance, but that it has been taken by a new enemy, an enemy unaccustomed to such triumphs, 23 and likely to be rendered insolent and confident by them. He must be a weak politician who does not see how important the first triumph is in giving a tone and character to the war. ”

“ Out ring three good American cheers above the crackling roar of fire and the thunder of cannonade.
The flames now have mounted the frigate’s rigging turning night into day. The Intrepid is clearly disclosed to the enemy gunners. From every direction shot converge on the little ship. Out are run sixteen great sweeps. Strong men, willing galley slaves for an hour, double-bank their handles. Their long blades churn the waters into foam. Away she races through the shell splashes.
From an old painting Chase of the Constitution
From the painting by John W. Jarvis Edward Preble ”

“ But the war could not well end without a third victory by the Constitution. Now she was commanded by Charles Stewart, a worthy successor to Hull and Bainbridge. On February 20, 1815, north of Madeira, the American frigate came in contact with the British corvette Cyane, thirty-four guns, and the sloop Levant, twenty-one. Their fifty-five guns threw a slightly heavier weight of metal, but their armament consisted mostly of short-range carronades which could not be compared with the terrible long 24’s which filled the Constitution’s gun-deck ports. ”

“ In his haste Bainbridge had not even taken effective measures to destroy his own ship. She was floated and brought into the harbor of Tripoli. Her guns were fished out of the water and remounted. She was manned with a strong Tripolitan crew. Thus she contributed to the strength of 9 the defenses, and constituted a threat to every merchant vessel in the Mediterranean. Gloomy were the thoughts of poor Bainbridge as he viewed these developments from his prison window.
Preble was not the man to worry over past disasters. He was concerned with future successes. ”

“ So the Navy was given a final chance and Edward Preble the command. The backbone of his squadron were the fine frigates Constitution and Philadelphia. For inshore work there were the brigs Argus and Siren and the schooners Enterprise, Nautilus, and Vixen. It is true that seven ships constituted a small force to keep in good humor Morocco, Algiers, and Tunis and bring to a favorable conclusion the war with Tripoli. But the ships were all finely commanded, well officered, and manned with the best sailors 8 in the world. ”

“ He runs his gunboat alongside another enemy ship. Boarding is the order of the day. That is a good way for Americans, as well as Tripolitans, to fight. 15 Trippe springs into the enemy gunboat. Midshipman Henley and nine sailors follow. Then the ships drift apart. Here now is a situation. Trippe sees that, being too weak for defense, it is necessary to attack. He lunges at the enemy captain with his pike. The Tripolitan is a good swordsman, and his scimitar is sharp. ”

“ Each man must do all in his power for his country.’ The Stars and Stripes never floated more proudly than they did at that moment. All was silent beneath them, save the occasional order from an officer, or the low sound of the movement of our implements of war. Every man stood firm to his post. ”

“ The Constitution was rated as a 44-gun frigate but has carried as many as 55 guns at various times. The present arrangement closely follows that of her early days. The guns on the spar deck are 32-pounder carronades, short, light guns which threw heavy shots a short distance (300 to 400 yards) . On the gun deck are long 24-pounders, heavy guns with much greater range but less smashing power than the carronade. ”

“ The Constitution also has her losses. Bainbridge himself is severely wounded, but he still keeps the deck. Brave Aylwin, who already wears a wound stripe for the Guerriere battle, is again shot down. This will be the last fight for him. Well, he will live long enough to see a second 26 British frigate lower her battle flags. Over thirty others lie dead or wounded about the decks or under the surgeon’s knife in the cockpit. British frigates cannot be taken without losing men. ”

“ For a time the action is very closely fought. But, barring a lucky accident, the issue is really never in doubt. For Yankee gunners are incomparable and they have iron sides to protect them—twenty inches of stout oak beams. They cannot be beaten in such a ship. Slowly but surely our superiority in gunnery wears down the enemy. One after another the Java’s tall spars crash down. Heroic Lambert fights well but is killed. Lieutenant Chads, already wounded, takes command. Half his crew is killed or wounded. ”

“ And then the Guerriere’s foremasts and mainmasts plunged over her side. Twenty-five minutes had sufficed for Yankee gunners to dismast a British frigate.
Seeing that the fight was won, Hull hauled off to repair his rigging. He must be prepared for another enemy if one should appear. At 7:00 he returned to receive the surrender of Captain Dacres. The prize was so completely wrecked that there was no hope of bringing her into port. After her crew had been taken off, she was set on fire. From the Constitution’s quarter-deck Captain Dacres watched. ”

“ It gave impetus to naval operations and fired our captains with impatience to get to sea and bring the enemy under their guns. It encouraged swarms of privateers to cover the Seven Seas and attack the enemy’s vital trade routes.
Admiral Sir John Jervis is reported to have said to his flag captain as he sighted the Spanish fleet off Cape St. Vincent that a victory was very necessary to England at that moment. With equal justice Isaac Hull might have made a similar remark on sighting the Guerriere. ”

“ So he borrowed six gunboats, two bomb vessels, and ninety-six sailors from the King of Naples. Even with this reënforcement, Preble had but one thousand and sixty men to attack a strongly fortified town defended by twenty-five thousand soldiers and sailors. ”

“ They are lighter than the standard 24-pounder to reduce top weights. Total weight of broadside, 734 pounds. As shot were frequently underweight, this figure is not exact.
Her complement was 400 officers and men, but she usually cruised with about 50 men in excess. At sea the men were crowded closely together and there was much sickness. ”