USS Cyane

“ Sir,– I have the satisfaction of stating, that this day, at 9 A.M., the Cyane [2] , made a signal for two strangers in the N.E., which were immediately given chase to; and owing to the very superior sailing of the Venerable, I was enabled to come up within gun-shot of them at the close of the day, leaving the Cyane far astern. ”

“ Mazatlan was dependent on the coasting trade for food, and the blockade reduced the town to a short allowance. Small schooners, however, managed to slip past in the shoal water alongshore, and the small boats of the Cyane had to look after them. On one occasion the Cyane was so far out from the beach that the Mexicans launched four big barges and put out to capture Harrison, who had three small boats with perhaps a third of the Mexican force in men. It was clear that Harrison could easily outrow the heavier boats of the Mexicans and escape, but instead of doing so he headed straight for them. ”

“ At the same time the "Cyane," the rearmost of the prizes, was dropping astern and to leeward. "If she keeps on in this way," he reasoned, "it will be impossible to save her without bringing the 'Constitution' into action, which will certainly result in her capture. If the 'Cyane' tacks, the 'Acasta' may go off in pursuit, but the prize will gain the anchorage at Port Praya before the enemy can catch her; that is probably her only chance. On the other hand, if the enemy fail to pursue her, she can escape." ”

“ Old men of the town, whose memories as children ran back beyond even the life of the ship, recalled having seen, in those busy, unforgotten days of 1814-15, many uniforms like to the quaint old dress which the admiral sometimes wore on occasions of ceremony; and there were some yet living who remembered the day when the news came that the mighty Constitution had added to her record the last and most brilliant of her victories in the capture of the frigates Cyane and Levant. ”

“ Captain Staines and his first Lieutenant being dangerously wounded in this conflict, the second Lieutenant also disabled, and the command of the Cyane having in consequence thereof devolved upon the Master, we presume that Rear-Admiral Martin was not acquainted with all the particulars of the action when he wrote his official letter respecting it. The fact is, that the Espoir and the Sicilian flotilla were too far astern to be of much service to the Cyane, whilst on the other hand the enemy’s frigate received considerable support from the corvette, as well as from the Neapolitan gun-boats. ”

“ Before the steamer sailed with the minister on board, a guard of fifty Americans was armed and left behind to protect the Transit Company's property at Puntas Arenas, a point of land opposite the town of San Juan. The boat which carried Minister Borland to the steamer was fired upon by the natives, but, as it appears, not with fatal results. Still the indignity offered to the representative of a great nation must be atoned for. The United States sloop-of-war Cyane was sent out as soon as the matter was reported at Washington. ”

“ The ships were together, and having each a position assigned, the Independence passed ahead, and standing boldly in, anchored abreast the Olas Altas beach, within half musket-shot of the shore. The Congress came to anchor in the old port, commanding the old road and garita, while the Cyane brought her guns to bear upon the eastern face of the town, from the new anchorage.
All remained quiet during the night on shore; the boats of the squadron were gotten in the water; batteries in fighting order; guns cast loose and trained ”

“ No sooner had this happened than the forts on the shore commenced firing upon the Americans, and the British vessels hoisted the English colors. The Constitution and the Levant were standing on the wind to the southward and eastward, with all three of the enemy in chase. The Cyane bore up to the north, and shaped her course towards the United States. The Levant, a much slower sailer than the Constitution, kept falling behind, and Stewart saw that it would be foolishness to attempt to close with a force so much superior. ”

“ John C. Frémont, reached Monterey, and he, with one hundred and fifty riflemen, was sent in the Cyane to take possession of San Diego. The British liner Collingwood, bearing Admiral Sir George F. Seymour on board, was in port at this time, but there is no reason to suppose that the admiral was there in any other capacity than that of a spectator. Anyway, the Collingwood soon sailed from the coast. ”

“ On the morning of the 17th of January, 1854, the Cyane, Captain Hollins, with Lieutenant Strain and his party on board, entered Caledonia Bay, where they were immediately visited by a number of Darien Indians, some of whom spoke broken English and Spanish, which they had acquired in their intercourse with the traders on the coast. They came on board fearlessly, were very intelligent and observant, and, though much below the ordinary stature, were strongly built and athletic. ”

“ Soon both the British ships were suffering dreadfully, and the leading ship, the sloop-of-war Levant, was forced to wear under a raking broadside from the Constitution, and ran off to leeward, unable to stand the fire. Having disposed of her, the Constitution now turned her attention to the other ship, the light frigate Cyane, and another raking broadside caused her to strike her colors. Stewart at once sent Lieutenant Ballard and a prize crew aboard of her, and after repairing the slight damages his ship had sustained, set off to look for the Levant. ”

“ Out of 115 officers and men, and sixteen boys, on board at the commencement of this long action, the Levant had 6 killed and 16 wounded: the Cyane, which ship had only 145 officers and men, and no less than twenty-six boys, sustained a loss of 6 slain and 13 wounded. That of the Constitution, as acknowledged by her commander, Captain Charles Stewart, was 4 killed and 11 (including 2 mortally) wounded. The Levant’s marines, it should be remarked, were young raw recruits, and although considered as men, would all have been rated boys in the American service. ”

“ 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 ”

“ He also speaks very highly of the conduct of Lieutenant James Hall, first of the Cyane, and of every officer and man under his command. * * * * * * Captain Staines has lost his left arm out of the socket, and is wounded also in the side, but he is in a fair way of recovery. Lieutenant Hall is likewise severely wounded in the thigh and arm, but there ia every reason to hope he will do well [16] .”
The loss and damages sustained by the Cyane, in this last action is thus described in the journal now before us:
“Two men killed; the Captain, 2 Lieutenants, 1 Midshipman, and 16 men wounded. ”

“ During this cruise the Constitution mounted fifty-two guns; and she had a complement of about four hundred and seventy officers and men, a few of whom were absent in a prize. The Cyane was a frigate-built ship, that properly rated twenty-four guns, although in Steele’s list she appeared as only a twenty. But she mounted twenty-two 32-pound carronades on her gun deck, and ten 18-pound carronades and two chase guns on her quarter deck and forecastle; making thirty-four guns in all. ”

“ She soon got alongside of them, and commenced the action, which was kept up with considerable vivacity on the part of the enemy, for about forty minutes, when the headmost ship bore away, and the sternmost struck her flag. The latter, which proved to be his Britannic Majesty’s ship Cyane, rated at twenty and mounting thirty-four guns, was taken possession of, and her consort was pursued without delay. She too, the Levant of twenty-one guns, was compelled to surrender, after exchanging broadsides. In these actions, the Constitution had three men killed and thirteen wounded. ”

“ Perry, white with anger, told the governor that the nation which he had the honor to serve was the equal of any monarchy on earth, and that unless he received an assurance that his salute would be returned gun for gun, he would fire no salute at all. That afternoon the Cyane sailed past the batteries, over which flew the Portuguese flag, in a silence which unmistakably spelled contempt. Though personally Perry was the most peaceable of men, as the representative of the United States in distant oceans he perpetually carried a chip on his shoulder and defied any one to knock it off. ”

“ Then for fifteen minutes the three ships hurled their iron balls as fast as the men could load and fire. By that time the smoke was so thick that they had to stop firing to find out where [148] the two fighting ships were. The Constitution now found herself opposite the Levant and poured a broadside into her hull. Then she sailed backward—a queer thing to do, but Captain Stewart knew how to move his ship stern foremost—and poured her iron hail into the Cyane. Next she pushed ahead again and pounded the Levant till that lively little craft turned and ran. ”

“ Interest was aroused to such extent that Congress assented to the proposal for purchasing the Georgia blacks and shipping them to Africa and an appropriation of one hundred thousand dollars was granted for the purpose. A brig was chartered by the government to carry away the negroes, furnished by the Colonization Society, and the United States ship Cyane ordered to accompany the expedition as an armed guard. The vessels departed from New York in February, 1820, and after a five weeks voyage landed eighty-six men, women and children on Sherbro Island. ”

“ This ship proves to be the Alcmene, a beautiful French frigate, of 44 guns, having a complement, at the commencement of the action, of 319 men, commanded by Captain Ducrest de Villeneuve, an officer of much merit, and who was wounded at the time of boarding.
“To his determined resistance, aided by the darkness of the night, the other frigate for the present owes her escape; but I have every hope that the Cyane will be enabled to observe her, until I have shifted the prisoners, and repaired the trifling injury done to the rigging, during the period of the enemy being on board. ”

“ She mounted eighteen 32-pound carronades; a shifting 18 on her top-gallant forecastle, and two chase guns; making twenty-one in all.
There were taken from the Cyane 168 prisoners, of whom 26 were wounded. The precise number of killed on board of her was never ascertained. Captain Stewart, probably judging from an examination of her muster-roll, computed it at twelve; while the English accounts differ, some putting the killed at only four, and others at six. Probably it was between the highest and lowest estimates. Her regular crew was about one hundred and eighty-five, all told ”

“ Gilded by the sun's rays, the waters to the west made a floor of bleared red. The fishing-boat had drifted nearly ten miles to the south. If she should drift two miles more she must float into the southeasterly current that flows under Contrary Head. The crew lay half-frozen on the deck. No one cared to go below. All was still around them, and silence was in their midst. At last a man lifted his head, and asked if any one could say what had become of Christian. No one knew. Old Quilleash thought he must have come by some mischief, and perhaps be captured or even dead. ”

“ He went to Pittsburg for supplies, and made a flying trip to Buffalo to join Chauncey in an attack upon Fort George at the mouth of the Niagara River. All the time, he managed to keep up a constant fire of letters to the Secretary of the Navy and to Chauncey, begging for more sailors. By summertime, he had five vessels ready for service, but no men to man them. The enemy blockaded him, and he dared not accept the challenge. In July he wrote to Chauncey: "The enemy's fleet of six sail are now off the bar of this harbor. What a golden opportunity if we had men!... ”

“ Leaving three brigs to blockade the Niagara, Chauncey sent the brig Jones cruising alongshore between Sackett’s Harbor and Oswego, and with his four ships went to Kingston and blockaded Sir James Yeo’s four ships that were in the port. The American force was “superior by about fifteen 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.” ”

“ None of those able to move understood either engineering or seamanship, so that they had luckily decided to remain at anchor in the hope of some ship picking up their flag of distress.
“There is just one thing I should like to understand,” said Cheyne to Joan, when later on that day a prize crew had been put aboard the L’Escaut and steam was being raised for the return to England, “and that is what happened to you on the night that we burgled Earlswood. You got back to your rooms, then left again with Sime and Blessington?” ”

“ By the light of Danny's fire it was but too easy to see from whence they came. Jammed between two huge protruding horns of rock a fishing-boat was laboring hard in the heavy sea, rearing with a creak on the great waves, and plunging down with a crash and groan on the sharp teeth of the shoal beneath her.
The men on deck could be seen hacking at the mast to lighten her, and cutting away the gunwale forward to ease her off the horns that held her like a vise. But every fresh wave behind drove her head deeper into the cleft. The men shouted in mingled rage and fear. ”