James Barnes

“ Nevertheless, this was the age of honor, of gallantry, of the stiff duelling code, when men bowed, passed compliments, and fought one another to the death with a parade of courtesy that has left trace today in the conduct of the intercourse between all naval powers. In the duels of the ships in the past that have stirred the naval world, America has records that are monuments to her seamen, and that must arouse the pride of every officer who sails in her great steel cruisers today. ”

“ For a year the Essex cruised up and down the coast of South America, extending her voyages far to the westward, to the various islands, which were visited then infrequently by traders and whaling vessels.
During this cruise she frightened British commerce entirely from these waters, and the strange spectacle of seeing one ship in control of a vast territory was presented to the eyes of the world. The British Admiralty were vexed and astounded beyond measure. Here one day and there the next, Porter appeared to be in command of a fleet instead of a single frigate. ”

“ In searching the history of our own country, when it stood together as a united nation, waging just war, we find England, our mother country, whose language we speak, arrayed against us. But, on account of this bond of birth and language, should we cease to tell about the deeds of those men who freed us from her grasp and oppressions, and made us what we are? ”

“ Hull came immediately from his cabin. He was a large, fat man, whose excitable temperament was held in strong control. His eye gleamed when he saw the distant speck of white. Immediately the Constitution’s course was altered, and with her light sails set she was running free, with kites all drawing, and the chase looming clearer and clearer each anxious minute of the time. At three o’clock it was plainly seen that she was a large ship, on the starboard tack, close-hauled on the wind, and under easy sail. ”

“ It is easy to imagine the feelings of Perry at this moment. The smaller vessels of his fleet had not come within firing distance; there was absolutely nothing for him to do on board the flagship except to lower his flag. Yet there was one forlorn hope that occurred to the young commander, and without hesitation he called away the only boat capable of floating; taking his flag, he quit the Lawrence, and rowed off for the Niagara. The most wonderful accounts of hair-breadth escapes could not equal that of Perry upon this occasion. ”

“ Our people thronged the sea-coast, and vessels made of American pine and live-oak were manned by American men. They had sought their calling by choice, and not by compulsion. They had not been driven from crowded cities because they could not live there. They had not been taken from peaceful homes and wives and children by press-gangs, as was the English custom, to slave on board the great vessels that Great Britain kept afloat by such means, and such alone. But of his own free-will the Yankee sailor sought the sea, and of his own free-will he served his country. ”

“ It will be noticed that the names of several vessels occur frequently, and we can see how the Constitution won for herself the proudest title ever given to a ship—“Old Ironsides”—and how the victories at sea united the American nation as one great family in rejoicing or in grief. To this day there will be found songs and watchwords in the forecastles of our steel cruisers that were started at this glorious period. “Remember the Essex!” “Don’t give up the ship!” “May we die on deck!” are sayings that have been handed down, and let us hope that they will live forever. ”

“ Captain Blakeley is a brave and discreet officer, as cool and collected in action as at table.”
In those old days of sailing, given the weather-gage and the breeze that suited her best qualities, a handy vessel could boldly sail into view of a powerful fleet of the enemy, and she could actually present the tableau of an agile wolf following at the heels of a very angry herd of bulls, any one of which could toss her into the air or grind her under foot. So spry a sailer was the Wasp that she could slip away from even a towering seventy-four, given her best weather. ”

“ Gloom was everywhere throughout the American vessel: staring them in the face were apparently inevitable capture and the frightful confinement in an English prison. Many of the crew had already been impressed and had served in the English navy, escaping from time to time, and the idea of being held as deserters—deserters to a country that was not theirs—gave cause for much unhappiness. At 1 P.M. the Cornwallis was so close that her commander began to fire by divisions, and once let go his entire broadside loaded with round and grape. ”

“ Every endeavor was now made to save life; the men who a few minutes before had been fighting one another pulled on the same rope together and manned the same boats. The Peacock’s guns were thrown overboard; such shot-holes as could be got at were plugged; but the water gained despite the furious men at the pumps and the bailing at the hatchways. The Peacock was doomed. The body of Captain Peake was carried into his cabin and covered with the flag he had died so bravely defending, to sink with her—“a shroud and sepulchre worthy so brave a sailor.” ”

“ The wind, which had started with a fresh breeze, grew stronger and stronger, and, the anchorage being hard ground, the Essex began to drag her anchors seaward. Suddenly her larboard cable parted, and she went, stern foremost, at a good rate of speed towards the harbor entrance. The adventure could be put off no longer. Trusting in the superior sailing of the Essex to be able to work to windward, Porter hoisted his topgallant-sails, braced around his yards, and came close upon the wind.
The British vessels, off to leeward, crowded on all sail. ”

“ The splendid gunnery of the Americans was apparent as the vessels neared. The rigging and spars of the Macedonian were riddled and cut, many of her guns were dismounted, and in a few minutes her mizzen-mast went by the board. Pitching to and fro, shrouded in the smoke which blew towards her from the enemy’s guns, the United States kept up her destructive fire. For an instant the smoke cleared away, and there hung the main-yard-arm of the English frigate in two pieces; her main-topmast was gone, her fore-topmast was tottering, and no colors were seen floating above her deck ”

“ Dulany Forrest, the midshipman whom Perry sent with the despatch to General Harrison, had a most remarkable escape. He was a brave lad who had faced death before; he had seen the splinters fly in the action between the Constitution and the Java. Forrest was standing close to Captain Perry when a grape-shot that had glanced from the side of a port struck the mast, and, again deflected, caught the midshipman in the chest. He fell, gasping, at Perry’s feet. ”

“ Great were the rejoicings at the British port when the two vessels sailed in, and our hearts cannot fail to be touched by the honors paid on this occasion by the British to the departed American hero.
His pall was borne by the oldest captains in the British service that were then in Halifax, and the naval officers crowded to yield the last honors to a man who had been so lately their foe. There is a sympathy between lofty souls that knows no distinction of clime or nation. ”

“ Her brave little consort, the Hornet, she had left blockading the Bonne Citoyenne, a British sloop of war, in the harbor of Bahia. Every day the Hornet dared the Englishman to leave her anchorage and meet her, broadside to broadside, in the open sea beyond the neutral limits and the protection of Brazilian guns. Writes Captain Lawrence of the Yankee sloop to Captain Green of the Bonne Citoyenne: “I pledge my honor that neither the Constitution nor any other American vessel shall interfere.” ”

“ For some time the Americans had been aloft getting down the topgallant yards, and at eleven o’clock the stranger brig shortened sail and shook out the Spanish flag. But this did not deceive the wary Yankee captain for half an instant. No one but an American or an Englishman would carry sail in that fashion or bring his ship up to an enemy like that, and the Wasp’s drummer beat to quarters. ”

“ He arrived safely in the harbor, and had been there but a short time, overhauling his spars and running-gear, when two sail came in from the westward; they were the Phoebe, under the command of Captain Hillyar, and the Cherub, sloop of war—both strongly armed and manned with picked crews—the very ships that had been sent out to look for the Essex.
No sooner had they come into sight of the long headland than they found the frigate they were so eager to meet, within a short distance of them. Then it was plain that they were not going to allow her to escape. ”

“ The Peacock was a faster sailer than the Hornet, as the latter sat deep in the water, and, owing to the weight of metal she carried, was slow in stays. But it was evident, by six o’clock in the evening, three hours after Warrington had signalled Biddle to beware of approaching nearer, that the big fellow had turned the tables and was evidently the pursuer, with the intention of running down the Hornet. Every minute the sails rose higher and higher above the horizon until the great hull was in plain view. ”

“ And, alas! he died a victim to that curious, strained sense of honor that kept men demanding explanations, and led them to shoot one another under God’s sky, surrounded by their friends, in a duel to the death. He was killed by Commodore Barron at Bladensburg, Maryland, on March 22d, 1820. Commodore Bainbridge was Decatur’s second, and he, with others, had made many ineffectual attempts to avert the unfortunate meeting. ”

“ The Africa, the ship of the line, and the two smaller vessels had fallen far behind. Slowly but surely the Belvidera drew ahead of the Guerrière, and at last she was almost off the Constitution’s bow when she tacked. Hull, to preserve his position and the advantage of being to windward, was obliged to follow suit. It must have been a wondrous sight at this moment to the unskilled eye; escape would have seemed impossible, for the American was apparently in the midst of the foe. ”

“ Porter had long flown a flag of his own with the motto, “Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights.”
But, as if not to be outdone, the British commander threw to the air his strips of bunting with a motto of his own: “God and Country. British Sailors’ Best Rights. Traitors Offend Both.” (It was a fallacy of the British that our ships were manned by deserters from the royal service.)
The sail-maker and his assistant were soon at work on board the American, and from the mizzen-mast of the Essex appeared the next morning:
“God, Our Country, and Liberty. Tyrants Offend Them.” ”

“ Wishing to get rid of his prisoners as soon as possible, Captain Blakeley overhauled a Portuguese brig, placed them on board of her, and sent them to England.
No doubt the Wasp was one of the finest sailing craft of her day. Her lines are spoken of as being remarkably fine; and one of her officers writes, in a private letter, as follows:
“The Wasp is a beautiful ship, and the finest sea boat, I believe, in the world. Our officers and crew are young and ambitious. They fight with more cheerfulness than they do any other duty. ”

“ Late in the afternoon Elliot had picked out his crews and manned the two boats, putting about fifty men in each; but he did not stir until one o’clock on the following morning, when in the pitch darkness he set out from the mouth of Buffalo Creek, with a long pull ahead. The wind was not strong enough to make good use of the sails, and the poor sailors were so weary that those who were not rowing lay sleeping, huddled together on their arms, and displaying great listlessness and little desire for fighting. At three o’clock Elliot was alongside the British vessels. ”

“ The General Armstrong was a fast-sailing, cleverly handled little vessel, and she sailed from the port of New York, her crew having been recruited there. It was a motley gathering, as a great many of the crews of these vessels were, being composed of the pick of the merchant service, a few down-east fishermen, and, not strange to relate, adventurers of every sort and description, who, however, proved themselves to be great fighters when under competent leadership. Her full complement was about ninety men. The brig’s armament was rather a peculiar one ”

“ There exists no Englishman today whose heart is not moved at the word “Trafalgar,” or whose feelings are not stirred by the sentence “England expects every man to do his duty.” The slight, one-armed figure of Admiral Nelson has been before the Briton’s eyes as boy and man, surrounded always with the glamour that will never cease to enshroud a nation’s hero. ”

“ The deception that Bainbridge practised, under the circumstances, was entirely pardonable; but in his reply he gave full swing to his imagination, and overstated the American armament by exactly doubling it, stating that the Americans were armed with 28-pounders and full of men. At once L’Insurgent was recalled from the chase, much to the chagrin of her captain, who stated that les Américains did not carry a gun heavier than six pounds, for he had been close enough to see them. ”

“ A few minutes after 3 P.M., a white flag at end of a boarding-pike was lifted above the bulwarks of the Hunter. At the sight of this the Chippeway and Little Belt crowded all sail and tried to escape, but in less than a quarter of an hour they were captured and brought back by the Trippe and the Scorpion, under the commands of Lieutenant Thomas Holdup and Sailing-master Stephen Champlin. With a ringing cheer the word went through the line that the British had surrendered. The sovereignty of Lake Erie belonged to America. ”

“ It is hard to point the finger at any one on the American side in this action and say that he did not do his duty. As Perry reached the side of the Niagara the wind died away until it was almost calm; the smaller vessels, the sloops and schooners—the Somers, the Scorpion, the Tigress, the Ohio, and the Porcupine—were seen to be well astern. Upon Perry setting foot on deck, Elliot congratulated him upon the way he had left his ship, and volunteered to bring up the boats to windward, if he could be spared. ”