Captain Heald

“ And Captain Heald, writing from Fort Dearborn in June, 1810, within a few days of his taking command there, announces that unless he can obtain a leave of absence to go to New England the coming autumn he will resign the service, and leave the command to another. It is a good place for a man with a family, who can be content to "live so remote from the civilized part of the world." ”

“ Heald had an uncle, the brave Captain William Wells, who had passed most of his life among the Miami Indians and been made one of their chiefs. He had heard at Fort Wayne of Hull's order to evacuate Fort Dearborn, and knowing of the hostility of the Pottawatomies, had made a rapid march across the country with a party of his Miamis to reinforce Heald and help him to hold and defend the fort. But he arrived just too late; the means of defence had already been destroyed, and there was no choice but to attempt the perilous march through the wilderness. ”

“ Heywood’s trial, had earnestly recommended him to embark again as a Midshipman without delay, and offered to take him under his own immediate patronage, in the Victory of 100 guns. This proposal, however, was declined by Commodore Pasley, who soon after placed him under the protection of the Hon. Captain Legge, then commanding the Niger frigate, with whom he served as Master’s Mate till the 23d Sept. following, when he was received on board the Queen Charlotte, a first rate, bearing the union flag hoisted by Earl Howe, as commander-in-chief of the Channel or grand fleet. ”

“ Heywood's own statement, that they were so kept, and that the brutal and unfeeling conduct which has been imputed to Captain Edwards is but too true.
It is an awful moment when a ship takes her last heel, just before going down. ”

“ Heywood and Mr. Young in the opposite berth; that coming on deck he saw the captain with his hands tied behind him, and four sentinels standing over him, two of which were Ellison and Burkitt, the prisoners; that he asked Mr. Christian what he meant to do, and was answered by his ordering him to hoist the boat out, and shook the bayonet, threatening him and damning him if he did not take care; that when he found the captain was to be sent out of the ship, he again went aft with the carpenter to ask for the long-boat ”

“ Among the prizes was the schooner Nautilus, the first vessel of war taken on either side. July 12. While the squadron was thus cruising off the coast, in the hope of meeting the American fleet under Rodgers, the Constitution, a forty-four, sailed from Annapolis on her way to New York. Her crew was newly shipped, a hundred men having joined her on the night before she sailed. The orders which Captain Hull, the commander, received from the Secretary of the Navy, exhibit the timidity and weakness of the Government. ”

“ Yet it can be proved from the minutes of the court-martial that Heywood on his trial defended himself by swearing that he was kept on board the Bounty by force, and that it was 'impossible he could ever willingly have done anything to injure Captain Bligh, who had always been a father to him.' As to Christian, it can be shown that this was the third voyage he had sailed with Captain Bligh. Would a man go three times with a commander such as Bligh has been described by his enemies? ”

“ Sir Hyde was lashed upon the deck to windward and I soon lashed myself alongside of him and told him the state of affairs below, saying that the ship did not make more water than might be expected in such infernal weather and that I was only afraid of a gun breaking loose. "I am not in the least afraid of that," said the captain. "I have commanded her for six years and have had many a gale of wind in her, so that her iron work, which always gives way first, is pretty well tried. ”

“ The unruffled sea seemed to heave in mockery of the anguish of those whose every thought was a prayer for wind, and slowly, like the unpitying approach of death, the hostile fleet kept closing on that helpless ship. One more hour like the last, would bring her under the guns of two frigates. Still, there was not a craven heart within those ribs of oak. Each man, as he looked sternly on his comrade, read in his face the determination to fight while a gun was left. Hull, chafing at his desperate position, resolved to close fiercely with the first vessel that approached ”

“ After escorting the outward bound East India fleet to a certain latitude, and communicating with Lord Strangford, the British Ambassador at Rio Janeiro, Captain Heywood resumed his station as senior officer in la Plata; and continued to afford the most effectual protection to the merchants residing on its banks till July 1813, when he returned to the Brazilian capital, and was appointed by Rear-Admiral Dixon, then commander-in-Chief on that station, to the Montagu of 74 guns, in which ship he soon after took his final departure for England. ”

“ At twelve, I shall be with you!"
"Perhaps you're right, Hilda," I answered, taking a seat beside her and throwing away my cigar. "This is one of the worst bits on the French coast that we're approaching. We're not far off Ushant. I wish the captain were on the bridge instead of this helter-skelter, self-conceited young fellow. He's too cock-sure. He knows so much about seamanship that he could take a ship through any rocks on his course, blindfold—in his own opinion. I always doubt a man who is so much at home in his subject that he never has to think about it. ”

“ The Master, and upon this occasion I may be allowed to quote from the Captain’s printed narrative, mentions Martin as one; which makes the number of armed men 19, none of whom, we may reasonably suppose, were ordered to be kept below. Indeed Mr. Hayward says that there were at the least 18 of them upon deck when he went into the boat; and if Thompson, the centinel over the arm-chest, be added to them, it exactly agrees with the number above named: there remains then 6, to whom Churchill’s order, ‘Keep them below,’ might apply, viz. Heywood, Stewart, Coleman, Norman, M‘Intosh, and Byrne. ”

“ The news soon spread, and the inhabitants with the governor gathered on the shore to see the battle. About midnight fourteen launches, (p. 272) filled with four hundred men, were seen to put off and steer straight for the privateer. Captain Reid, who, in the mean time, had cut his cable and moored close in shore, knew he could not save his vessel; but indignant at this violation of the laws of neutrality he determined the enemy should pay dear for the conquest, and the moment the boats came within range opened a tremendous fire upon them. ”

“ Your particular pal could always contrive to have an hour's yarn with you, and perhaps an interval for refreshment. They know what working at high pressure means now."
Hyde was more cautious on the return journey. He was well within the limit that he had set himself. An hour and forty minutes later, the car drew up outside the coast-guard station.
"Captain Syllenger presents his compliments, Mr. Hyde, and requests your company on board," said Sub-lieutenant Barry when the Capella's boat arrived to take off the midshipman. "Ton my word, you haven't been long. ”

“ The latter, with the United States and Macedonian, had been blockaded, as before stated, all summer at New London, where he had challenged Captain Hardy to meet him ship with ship, or to make a match between the United States and Macedonian, and the Endymion and Statira.
Although he took command in the summer, he did not go to sea till mid-winter, when with the Hornet, which had run the blockade at New London in November, the Peacock, and store ship Tom Bowline, he prepared for a long cruise to the East Indies. Jan. 14. ”

“ During the season of almost uninterrupted success on land and on our inland waters, we had but few vessels at sea, the greater part being blockaded, but those few nobly sustained the reputation won by the navy in the two previous years. The Guerriere 44, the Independence 74, and the Java 44, were launched during the summer, but remained in their docks till the close of the war. In the January previous Captain Morris, commanding the Adams, which had been cut down to a sloop of war, got to sea and took a few prizes. ”

“ But when at length a favorable position was obtained, the broadsides of the American was delivered with such awful effect, that Captain Manners saw at once his vessel would be a wreck unless he run her aboard; and setting his sails he drove full on the Wasp. As the vessels fell foul he (p. 168) called to his men to follow him, and endeavored to leap on the deck of his antagonist. But coolly, as on a parade, the crew of the latter steadily repulsed every attempt to board. ”

“ The schooner was thoroughly appointed, carrying twelve twelve-pound carronades, two long sixes, a brass four, a thirty-two pound carronade and eighty-eight men. She, therefore, had but fifteen men less than her antagonist, while she threw more than twice the weight of metal. But, notwithstanding this overwhelming superiority of force, and though a packet accompanied the schooner whose conduct in the engagement could not be foretold, Captain Diron hoisted American colors to the peak, and closed at once and fiercely with the enemy. ”

“ Captain Weatherall, who was the life and soul of his crew, was not found wanting on such an emergency. With the greatest coolness and intrepidity he gave orders to take in all the small sails, and awaited the coming down of the enemy. When everything was ready for the unequal conflict, he ordered all hands aft, and endeavoured to inspire us with the same ardour which animated himself. He reminded us that we had often fought and triumphed over vessels of much greater force than our own ”

“ I will bring you and the others to a right state of mind before I've done with you,' said the commander, shooting sharp glances in the direction of a number of seamen who were lounging on the forecastle and smoking, and looking at the land, and apparently filling their end of the little ship with their numbers.
'Can you give us any idea when the captain's coming off, sir?' said Hoey.
'He may be here to-day, or to-morrow, or next day. He'll not long tarry. I have hunted the docks for good purpose, and have gathered information which I shall communicate to the crew in proper time. ”

“ Agents.– Messrs. Goode and Clarke.
↑ See Suppl. Part II. p. 394. ↑ A Spanish brig, of five guns, loaded with salt pork; two others with cargoes of wine, fruit, and salt fish; and three in ballast. ↑ Captain Heywood joined the Comus in a debilitated state of health, and was not well at the time of the action. Her superior firing and manoeuvring, which amply compensated for her disparity of force, was in no small degree attributable to the previous diligence and exertions of Lieutenant Watts. Captain Heywood died at Milford, South Wales, in 1822. ”

“ We may as well state here that our information on this subject was obtained from Captain John Hewat, formerly in command of the steam gun-boat Rainbow,—belonging to Sir James Brooke, K.C.B., Rajah of Sarawak,—in which he had six years’ experience of pirate-hunting in the eastern seas, and now captain of one of Donald Currie and Company’s magnificent line of Cape steamers. Perhaps we ought to apologise for thus dragging the gallant captain into fiction, but we trust he will find that, in regard to his own particular doings, we have stuck pretty closely to fact. ”

“ Bligh, it may be recollected, mentions young Heywood only as one of those left in the ship; he does not charge him with taking any active part in the mutiny; there is every reason, indeed, to believe that Bligh did not, and indeed could not, see him on the deck on that occasion: in point of fact, he never was within thirty feet of Captain Bligh, and the booms were between them. ”

“ As he escorted Marian elegantly into the passenger coach, she ventured, between her exclamations of gratitude, to reprove him very gently.
"You have been too good to me, commodore. But when I think of the poor deserted Lucy! And the captain—what will he say?" 213
"He'll say a-plenty." The little commodore smiled serenely. "'Tis an unchivalrous set the steam-boat owners are, nowadays. If he were half as obligin' as the old captains used to be in the good days before the war, he'd be happy to wait over twenty-four hours, if need be, to serve a lady. But nowadays 'tis only time, time that counts. ”

“ Her conduct looked suspicious, and while the captain of the Tompkins was deliberating whether to engage or haul off, a sudden squall struck his vessel carrying her directly under the guns of the stranger, which to his amazement he discovered to be a frigate. He had English colors flying, but instead of endeavoring with them to deceive the enemy till he could claw off, he hauled them down, and setting three American ensigns, poured a broadside into the man-of-war. ”

“ Captain Heywood subsequently commanded the Trincomalee of 18 guns, Trident 64, Leopard 50, and Dedaigneuse frigate. His post commission was confirmed by the Admiralty April 5, 1803; and he remained on the East India station, chiefly employed on confidential detached services, till Jan. 1805, when he was obliged to resign his ship on account of a debilitated state of health, and the recent demise of his eldest brother rendering it necessary for him to attend the settlement of some important family affairs. ”

“ The captain went below, if going below it could be called, where half his body was exposed above the deck, and was heard muttering as to the utter impossibility of getting the engine to work in its present state. "And so," he said, stepping upon the deck, "as there's no wind, there's nothin for it but treeing her up."
"Goodness me!" said poor Weevel, who appeared to have made up his mind that some dreadful catastrophe was about to happen, and that "treeing her up" was only another term for "blowing her up." ”