FITTING FOR SEA.--WAR DECLARED.--OUT ON A CRUISE.--MY FIRST
PRIZE.--OLD FRIENDS.
"We'll ship a crew for each of these craft," said I, "a small crew,
just enough for inland navigation, and we'll have three or four
carpenters in each crew in addition. First one of us and then the other
will get off up the North River; we're going to Albany, or anywhere
else, for cargoes for New York, and we're working for small wages
rather than lie idle. We'll use Haines and Herne to get our crews
together, but won't take them into our secret at all, as there's no
occasion to do so.
"When we're on the North River we can haul up here and there for want
of pilots or wind, or for any other reason that can be alleged, and
that will give time for the carpenters to do what work is required to
fit the clippers for their guns, and fix up quarters for the crew. An
agent of the owners will go to one of the foundries at Troy or Hudson,
or some other point,--perhaps he'd better go to two of them,--and
negotiate for the guns, which we are to bring down as freight. They
should have carriages and all equipments complete, with the exception
of the tackles, which we'll get in New York. We can take in most of our
stores up the river, and get so nearly ready that we can go to sea at
very short notice. All that will be needed will be to ship the balance
of the crew, and there won't be any lack of men when war breaks out."
David approved my plan, and so did the owners of the two schooners when
we called on them the next day. It was carried out in nearly all its
details during the latter part of the month of May and the first week
of June. The schooners dawdled along the North River under all sorts of
pretexts; on the 10th of June they had returned as far as the upper end
of Manhattan Island, and anchored on the flats at the farther side of
the great stream that forms the chief inland waterway of New York.
Haines was my third mate, while Herne filled the same position with
David. Our first and second mates were trusty men selected by the
owners; they understood the business we were about to a certain extent,
in fact, they were too intelligent not to suspect something; but they
could both "stow their jaws" when occasion offered, and certainly this
was an occasion. They had been told to mind their own business and say
nothing, and they carried out their orders to the letter.
David and I left our craft at their anchorage in charge of the mates,
and came in a sailboat to the city; we went straight to the office of
the owners, and were taken to the inner room immediately.
"Great things are happening," said the member of the firm to whom I
have already referred; "our agent at Washington says war is absolutely
certain within a fortnight. On the 1st of June, President Madison sent
a message to Congress in which he went over the difficulties with Great
Britain, pointing out the numerous insults and aggressions of that
power upon us, and clearly showed the necessity of war. The message was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, and on the 3d of June,
a majority of the Committee agreed upon a manifesto and reported it as
a basis of a declaration of war. The next day (June 4), a bill which
was drawn by Mr. Pinkney, the Attorney-General of the United States,
declaring war to exist between the two countries, and was presented to
the House of Representatives by Mr. Calhoun. Congress is now debating
the subject with closed doors, but it is known that there is a majority
in both Houses in favor of war, and the President will sign the bill as
soon as it is passed."
This was great, though not altogether unexpected, news, and I'm sure
that as David and I looked at each other there were expressions of
astonishment on our faces.
"We have relays of horses and riders between here and Washington," the
gentleman continued, "and will have the news of the declaration of war
as soon as any one can get it, and probably ahead of any one else. Our
agent at Washington is sufficiently near the President to obtain his
signature to your commissions immediately, so that you will not be
delayed in getting to sea, and going to work on the enemy's commerce."
Then he told us that a sloop loaded with all the supplies we wanted
to complete our outfit would meet us at our anchorage, and that the
men to fill out the crews were being engaged at one of the shipping
offices close at hand. One member of the firm remained constantly at
Paulus Hook, which is on the shore of New Jersey, opposite New York, to
receive messages from Washington, and as soon as it was known that a
state of war existed we would be notified.
Well, the bill declaring war passed the lower House of Congress by a
vote of seventy-nine to forty-nine. On the 17th it passed the Senate by
a vote of nineteen to thirteen, and on the same day it was signed by
the President. On the 19th of June Mr. Madison issued a proclamation
which formally declared war against Great Britain, the second war of
the United States for its independence.
The Revolution of 1776 began the struggle; but the object was
not accomplished till the War of 1812 had put an end to British
interference with our commerce, and the impressment of our citizens
into British service. Protests and complaints were without effect;
not only were adopted citizens of the United States taken to serve
on British ships or in the army, but many native-born Americans were
impressed to do duty under a flag which was not their own. Great
Britain claimed that no subject could become an alien; "once a Briton
always a Briton" was her motto. Our laws gave equal protection to the
native and the adopted citizen, and therefore we stood by the Briton
who chose to become a citizen with us, and had taken the necessary
steps in that direction.
Less than an hour after affixing his signature to the bill of Congress
declaring war with Great Britain, the President signed the commission
which allowed David Taylor and John Crane, commanding the Hyacinth and
the Marguerite, to prey upon British commerce. The commissions were
brought by the messengers that bore the news of the declaration of war,
and they were not long in reaching us after their arrival at Paulus
Hook.
All our stores were on board, and all our arms and powder. The guns
were in their places; the extra carpenters who had been retained on
board under pay, in order to prevent their telling what we were about,
were discharged and put ashore; and the complement of the crew was
taken on at the anchorage to which we dropped down off the Battery.
Everything was done so quickly that we were at sea before the news of
the declaration of war was generally known in New York.
I steered away to the eastward, while David took a southerly course.
Before we separated we made a small wager as to who should take the
first prize. He was in search of vessels plying between England and the
West Indies; while I wanted those whose course was to or from Halifax.
At daylight, on my third morning at sea, a sail was reported on the
starboard bow. I scanned her through my glass, concluded she was what I
wanted, and ordered all sail to be cracked on in her direction.
The stranger did not change her course at all. She was a full-rigged
ship, much larger than the Marguerite, and evidently a merchantman. We
hung out the American flag, but she did not respond to the courtesy;
it was manifest that her captain did not consider it worth his while
to display his colors to such an insignificant craft as an American
schooner.
We could out-sail and out-maneuver the stranger. By my orders we ranged
up abreast of her so as to have the weather gauge, and when within
hailing distance, I called out,--
"What ship is that?"
For fully a minute there was no answer, and then came the words,--
"What ship is that?"
This was a bit of impudence that angered and, at the same time, amused
me. I held my temper and responded,--
"The American privateer, Marguerite. Heave to, or I'll fire into you!"
There was no response, either by word or action. The ship held on her
course, and the Marguerite held to hers; but all the time she drew
nearer the stranger, till the vessels were not more than a hundred
yards apart. Then I ordered a blank shot to be fired across her bow; as
she did not stop at this warning, we fired a shotted gun in the same
direction.
Still she kept on; and then I gave orders in a loud voice to make ready
for a broadside.
This brought the captain of the stranger to his senses. The English
flag went fluttering to its place, the sails were hove aback, and a
hoarse voice hailed, and asked what we wanted.
"Send a boat on board!" was all the answer I chose to give. My men were
at their guns, everything was ready for action, and what was more,
the state of affairs on board the Marguerite was plainly discernible
from the decks of the stranger. Her captain had probably reached the
conclusion that any further discourtesy on his part would be followed
by an order to fire.
There was a light sea running, but it was not enough to make the
launching of a boat at all dangerous. In a quarter of an hour a boat
came from the strange vessel, bringing her first officer, who mounted
to our deck and was met by me at the gangway. With an air of offended
dignity, he announced that the ship was the Camperdown of London,
for Halifax, and then asked, with still more offended dignity in his
manner,--
"What is the meaning of this?"
"It means," I answered, "that the United States Government has declared
war against Great Britain, and the Camperdown is the prize of the
United States schooner Marguerite, a privateer commanded by Captain
John Crane."
"When was war declared?" he asked, his manner changing to one of
surprise, although it was by no means bereft of its haughtiness.
"On the 19th of June," I replied. "The Marguerite was ready for sea,
and sailed immediately. Come aft," I added in a more friendly tone,
"for I began to pity the fellow, and I will show you the announcement
of the declaration, and also my commission, to prove that you are not
being imposed upon."
He accompanied me to the cabin, and I showed him the papers that
convinced him of the actual state of war between the two countries. As
soon as he examined them he returned on board his ship, and the captain
of the Camperdown came to make a formal surrender of his vessel.
Resistance was useless, as she had only two small guns for signaling
purposes, to oppose to our seven large guns, and a crew ready for
battle, and considerably outnumbering hers.
"We have been driven out of our course by contrary winds," said the
captain, "or you would not have found us here."
"But I might have found you farther to the north," I replied, "as it
was my intention to run in that direction till I should be on the track
of vessels from England to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland."
Then, by way of consolation, I expressed my opinion that it was a great
hardship that a declaration of war carried with it the right to make
prizes of an enemy's ships on the sea the moment the declaration was
made.
"It seems to me," said I, "that it would be only fair and right that
there should be a limit of time to enable all who are afloat to reach a
safe harbor. But we must take law and custom as we find them, not as
we think they should be, and therefore the Camperdown is the prize of
the Marguerite."
The English captain acquiesced in my views; in fact, it was not easy
for him to do otherwise, and then we proceeded to the arrangement for
the transfer of the property from its former to its new holders.
The prize I had taken was a valuable one. The ship was nearly new, and
was named after the town in Holland where Admiral Duncan (afterwards
Viscount of Camperdown) gained his great victory over the Dutch in
1797. She had an assorted cargo of goods intended for the colonies, and
of the very kind that would be marketable in the United States; and in
addition to the goods, she had about thirty thousand dollars worth of
British gold and silver coin. I was very well satisfied with my prize,
and it is unnecessary to state that my crew was elated at our success,
though many of them were disappointed that we had gained our victory
without a fight.
"Never mind, my lads," said the mate, when he overheard some of the men
murmuring; "you'll get your stomachs full of fighting before the war is
over."
The captain of the Camperdown said he had twelve passengers on board,
including two British officers with their families and servants, and
two civilian passengers. It had been arranged that the crew would be
transferred to the Marguerite and detained in the hold as prisoners,
their place being taken by a prize-crew from the schooner to work
the Camperdown into New York. The officers of the ship would also be
prisoners, according to the rules of war, but what should be done with
the passengers?
"They will be more comfortable on board the ship," I suggested, "than
in our restricted quarters here. They can remain there on condition
that the gentlemen give their parole of honor not to take part in or
countenance any effort to retake the ship."
"I'm sure they will readily agree to that," replied the captain; "they
are gentlemen in every sense of the word, and nothing more need be said
on that point."
My second mate went with a prize-crew to take charge of the prize,
and as rapidly as it could be done the crew of the Camperdown was
transferred to the Marguerite and confined below. After the transfers
had been completed, I went on board the ship to see the passengers and
take the paroles, which they had sent word they would readily give on
condition of being allowed to remain on the ship.
As I stepped on the deck of the ship, I heard expressions of
astonishment in feminine tones; as I turned my attention in the
direction of the sounds, there was occasion for me to show
astonishment too. In the group of passengers near the entrance of the
after cabin was Captain Graham with his wife and two daughters.
Under the circumstances, they were just at that moment very glad to see
me; in fact, they were far more willing to be captives in my hands than
in those of a total stranger. We had a cordial greeting on both sides,
and I was introduced to their fellow-passengers.
"There will be no difficulty about your paroles," I said with a smile,
as soon as the formalities were over; "and I will see that your private
property is carefully respected." Then, after a little conversation
referring to their personal comfort on the way to New York, I went to
the cabin and wrote a letter to the owners of the Marguerite, telling
briefly how and where I had known the Graham family, and asking that
every possible courtesy be shown to them on my account.
I had no opportunity for a chat with Mrs. Graham and her daughters,
and it was much to my disappointment that I felt obliged to shorten my
stay on board. Mrs. Graham asked for Haines; and on learning that he
was my third mate on the Marguerite, she expressed such a desire to see
him that I hailed the schooner, and told him to come aboard the ship
immediately.
He came, and was as much surprised as I had been at meeting the Graham
family. He blushed as much as it was possible for a sun-browned face
like his to blush, and his manner was decidedly awkward. He remained
only a few moments, leaving the ship shortly before I did, and taking
with him the second mate of the Camperdown, who had been supervising
the transfer of the crew.
When it came my turn to go I had a hearty farewell from my old friends,
whom I especially commended to my second mate, and in their hearing
instructed him to see that they were well cared for during the voyage,
and promptly landed on reaching New York. Hardly had I cast off from
the ship before she filled away on her course for New York, bearing
proudly aloft the "Stars and Stripes," and below our national banner
the Red Cross of St. George.
My crew gave three cheers as the Camperdown sailed away; and then we
turned our attention to the horizon, which we scanned in search of
other possible prizes.
Nothing was in sight, and so I ordered the men to be drilled at the
guns. In fact, they had been drilled pretty constantly ever since they
came on board; there were enough man-o'-war's-men on board to give the
necessary instructions to the rest, and I was surprised and pleased at
the quickness with which they became proficient in their duties. At
the time we met the Camperdown, and the men were beaten to quarters,
they stood in their places like veterans; and I am confident they would
have given an excellent account of themselves if it had been necessary
to fight a battle.
Towards nightfall we sighted a sail on the larboard bow, and
made in its direction; but darkness came on before we had got
within signaling-distance. As well as we could make out she was a
fishing-schooner, and, if so, would be of no great value as a prize,
though of sufficient consequence to be taken and sent to port,
provided, of course, she was British in nationality.
The next morning the sail was nowhere to be seen. She had changed her
course in the night, and disappeared, but whether through any fear of
us or not we were unable to say.
Soon after breakfast Haines came aft, and reported to me that several
of the prisoners were ready to swear allegiance to the American flag,
and wanted to be allowed to go to work with the crew, instead of being
confined below. That they should prefer the deck to the hold was no
more than natural, and I told Haines to bring them aft and I would talk
with them.
"There are ten or twelve of them, sir," said Haines; "shall I bring
them all at once?"
"No," I answered; "you may bring four of them: they will be enough for
the present."
In due time Haines came with four of the prisoners. I had my suspicions
concerning them, but endeavored to appear utterly unsuspecting as I
questioned them.