the mast. Strong and agile, with his natural aptitude and born courage,
it was not long before he began to show what he was made of. After his
fourth voyage he was promoted to the rank of first mate on board a
vessel trading between this country and Holland. During this voyage a
mutiny arose which Bainbridge and the captain put down, although there
were seven men against them. For this act, and in recognition of his
skill as a navigator and practical seaman, he was given command of this
same vessel at the early age of nineteen.
Bainbridge as a young man was not foolhardy, but he was of that stamp
that brooked no interference with his rights, and allowed no insult to
pass by unnoticed. While in command of the _Hope_, a little vessel of
about one hundred and forty tons’ burden, mounting four guns and having
a crew of eleven men, he refused to stop at the hail of an English
schooner; whereat the latter fired at him, and Bainbridge, probably to
the Englishman’s great astonishment, replied so briskly with his little
broadside that the commander of the schooner actually surrendered,
although his force consisted of eight guns and thirty men. Several were
killed and wounded, and his vessel so much injured in the rigging and
hull that he hailed Bainbridge, asking what the latter proposed doing
with him. This was in the year 1796. There was no war between this
country and England, and Bainbridge contented himself by calling the
following message through his trumpet: “I have no use for you. Go about
your business, and report to your masters if they want my ship they
must either send a greater force or a more skillful commander.”
A few days after this event, while on the homeward voyage, the _Hope_
was stopped by a heavily armed British frigate, and one of her crew,
an American, was taken out of her on the pretence of his being a
Scotchman. Bainbridge offered to make oath to the contrary, but
nevertheless the man was impressed. Within the same week Bainbridge
fell in with an English brig much larger than his own ship, and,
surprising her by rowing alongside with an armed boat’s crew, he
took from her one of the English sailors, leaving this message:
“Captain--may report that Captain William Bainbridge has taken one
of His Majesty’s subjects in retaliation for a seaman taken from the
American ship _Hope_ by Lieutenant Norton of the _Indefatigable_ razee
commanded by Sir Edward Pellew.”
A contemporary adds: “The captured seaman received good wages and was
discharged just as soon as he reached an American port, in no way
dissatisfied with the service into which he had thus been forced.”
Bainbridge’s action in these small affairs attracted the notice of the
Secretary of the Navy, and early in 1798 he was given the command of
the _Retaliation_, a small vessel lately taken from the French by the
elder Decatur. In the fall of the year the _Retaliation_, in company
with the _Norfolk_ and the _Montezuma_, two little vessels of about
the same size, sailed for the West Indies, the squadron being under
the command of Commodore Murray. Off the island of Guadeloupe, in the
month of November, three sail were discovered to the eastward that
were supposed to be English. At the same moment two other vessels were
sighted to the westward. Commodore Murray sailed for the latter in
company with the _Norfolk_, while Bainbridge was ordered to reconnoitre
the three sails first sighted. Unfortunately they proved to be French,
and, having the weather-gage, they closed with the _Retaliation_
and ordered her to strike. As both of them were frigates, one being
_L’Insurgent_ and the other the _Volontier_, there was nothing for the
young captain to do but to comply. The French commander, St. Laurent,
declined to take Bainbridge’s sword, gallantly observing that, as he
had no opportunity to fight, he should prefer that he would retain
it. At once both frigates set out in chase of the _Montezuma_ and
_Norfolk_; and _L’Insurgent_, out sailing the other Frenchman, was
almost within firing distance of the two American ships when St.
Laurent asked their force. 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. St. Laurent forgave Bainbridge the
ruse, and treated him with great consideration.
After being in prison for some time, owing to negotiations, Bainbridge
was sent to the United States in his own vessel, which was filled with
liberated American prisoners.
Upon his return to his country he was promoted to the rank of
master-commander, and put in command of the _Norfolk_, the ship he had
saved. For over a year he cruised in the West Indies, meeting with many
adventures, of which there is not space here to tell, and in 1800,
at the age of twenty-six, he was given the highest rank then in our
navy, that of captain, and appointed to the command of the _George
Washington_, with the duty, much against his grain, before him, of
carrying tribute to the Bey of Algiers. He fulfilled this mission; but
there was not an end of it, as he was forced by circumstances to place
his vessel at the disposal of the barbaric potentate, and to conduct
a mission for him--no less than carrying an ambassador and his suite,
numbering some two hundred persons, to Constantinople, the Bey wishing
to conciliate the government of the Sublime Porte.
Despite his remonstrances, Bainbridge was compelled to do this, or
the safety of every American in Algiers would have been in jeopardy,
in addition to which the Bey declared he would immediately make war
upon the United States. This disagreeable duty was performed, and the
_George Washington_ was the first vessel to fly the flag of the United
States under the walls of Constantinople. The stars and stripes had
never been seen there before; and as the name United States signified
nothing to the governor of the Porte, Bainbridge had to explain that he
came from the New World that Columbus had discovered.
On the 21st of January, 1801, Bainbridge was again in Algiers. He
declined, however, to anchor in the harbor, as it was evident that
the wily Bey was not to be trusted. Later in this year Bainbridge
was transferred from the command of the _George Washington_ to the
_Essex_, which was one of a squadron of four vessels, consisting of
the _President_, the _Philadelphia_, and the schooner _Enterprise_,
under the command of Commodore Richard Dale, whose object was to
protect American merchant ships from the depredation of the Tripolitan
corsairs. Bainbridge was employed convoying merchantmen through the
Strait of Gibraltar until the spring of 1802, when, his vessel being
in need of repairs, he was ordered home. At once he was appointed to
the command of the _Philadelphia_, to take up again the service he had
left. On the 26th of August, not far from the strait, Bainbridge fell
in with two suspicious sail--one a brig, and the other, apparently,
one of the hated corsairs. He hailed them, and found that the brig was
an American, and the other a Moorish vessel--the _Meshtoha_. Searching
the latter, he found the officers and the crew of the brig under the
hold, they having been captured nine days before. He retook the brig,
placed her crew once more on board of her, and made a prize of the
Tripolitan. This capture was a decided check to Moorish depredations.
On the 21st of October, while Bainbridge was cruising off the harbor
of Tripoli, sailing after one of the pirates, he unfortunately ran on
a ledge of rock that was not down on the map which he possessed. All
efforts to force the _Philadelphia_ off the reef were unsuccessful,
although everything was done to accomplish this; and after being
subjected for five hours to the fire of numerous gunboats, a council of
officers was called, and it was decided to surrender the ship as the
only means of preserving the lives of her people. After this followed
the long confinement, during which Bainbridge saw from his prison-cell
the attempts of the American fleet under Preble to rescue him, and the
destruction of the _Philadelphia_ at last.
Shortly before the peace was made he was allowed to visit Preble’s
fleet, under pledge of his word of honor to return, although the
Bashaw exacted that he should leave a hostage. He returned to his
confinement, unable to effect conclusions satisfactory to the Turk and
to Commodore Preble; but in 1805 the Tripolitans gave in, the prisoners
were exchanged after their nineteen months of painful captivity, and
Bainbridge returned to the United States, where he was greeted with the
warmest sympathy and exonerated for the loss of the _Philadelphia_ by a
Court of Inquiry. After making successful cruises in various commands,
Bainbridge, being in America at the time war was considered imminent
between this country and England, hastened to Washington and appeared
before the Cabinet, and, with Commodore Stewart, successfully urged the
rehabilitation of our little navy, that, owing to the mistaken policy
then in force, had been allowed to fall into sad decay. Delighted
at the result, he returned to Boston, where he took command of the
navy-yard at Charlestown, which position he held at the time of the
declaration of war against Great Britain in 1812.
But, to quote from the _American Naval Biography_, by John Frost, “it
is not to be supposed that one so adventurous as Bainbridge could be
satisfied to remain on shore comparatively inactive when danger and
glory were to be courted on the sea.” Applying for the command of a
frigate, the _Constellation_, 38, was placed at his service; but his
arrangements were not completed when Captain Hull arrived in Boston
harbor in the _Constitution_, after his victory over the _Guerrière_.
Owing to some private affairs that demanded his immediate attention,
Hull was obliged to resign his command, and Bainbridge, at his own
request, was transferred to “Old Ironsides.” The _Essex_ and the
_Hornet_ also were placed under his orders, the former under command
of Captain David Porter, and the latter under the brave Lawrence. On
October 26th, 1812, the _Hornet_ and the _Constitution_ sailed out to
sea, bound for the Cape Verd Islands. The _Essex_, then being in the
Delaware, was ordered to join them there; but circumstances prevented
her from carrying this out, although Porter did his best to find his
superior officer and report.
Thus we find, in the latter part of December, 1812, the old frigate
_Constitution_ cruising in southern waters off the coast of Brazil. 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.”
And, as if to emphasize this announcement, the _Constitution_ spread
her sails and sailed off to the southward, Bainbridge’s last message to
the watching Lawrence being, “May glory and success attend you!” But
Captain Green was prudent; the English vessel kept to the harbor with
her load of specie and her superior armament, and Bainbridge it was who
won “the glory and success.” Surely the _Constitution_ was launched on
a lucky day. About sixty hours after leaving the Island of San Salvador
behind her, the _Constitution_ was again clearing decks for action, and
the men were cheering as they jumped to the guns. The following account
is compiled from the _Constitution’s_ log and Commodore Bainbridge’s
diary:
It was the 29th of December; the vessel was in 13° S. latitude and 38°
W. longitude, about ten leagues distant from the coast of Brazil. It
was 9 A.M. when two strange sails were discovered on her weather bow.
At 10 the strange sails were discovered to be ships. One of them stood
in for the land; the other stood offshore towards the _Constitution_.
At 10 Commodore Bainbridge tacked ship to the northward and westward,
and stood for the sail approaching him. At 11 A.M. he tacked to the
southward and eastward, hauling up the mainsail and taking in the
royals. At 11.30 made the private signal for the day, which was not
answered; then the commodore set mainsail and royals, to entice the
strange sail off from the neutral ground, and separate her from the
sail in company, which, however, was not necessary, as the other, with
everything drawing, was making up the coast.
At 12 the American ensign and pendant were hoisted on board the
_Constitution_. At fifteen minutes past 12 the strange sail hoisted an
English ensign, and displayed a signal at her main-mast.
At a quarter-past one, the ship in sight proving to be an English
frigate, and being sufficiently distant from land, Commodore Bainbridge
ordered the mainsails and royals to be taken in, tacked ship, and
stood for the enemy, who soon bore down with an intention of raking
the _Constitution_, which the latter avoided by wearing. At 2 P.M.
the British ship was within half a mile of the _Constitution_, and to
windward. She now hauled down her colors, except a union-jack at the
mizzen-mast-head. This induced Commodore Bainbridge to order a gun to
be fired ahead of her, to make her show her colors, This was succeeded
by the whole of the _Constitution’s_ broadside. Immediately the enemy
hoisted colors, and at once returned the fire. A general action now
commenced with round and grape shot. But the British frigate kept at a
much greater distance than the commodore wished. He, however, could not
bring her to closer action without exposing his vessel to be several
times raked. Both vessels for some time manoeuvred to obtain a position
that would enable them to rake or avoid being raked, and it was evident
that the Englishman was cautious and well manned. In the early part
of the engagement the wheel of the _Constitution_ was shot away; but
so well was she handled from below that her movements were hardly
retarded. Commodore Bainbridge now determined to close with the British
vessel, notwithstanding in so doing he should expose his ship to be
several times raked. He ordered the fore and main sails to be set, and
luffed up close to the enemy in such manner that his jib-boom got foul
of the Englishman’s mizzen-rigging. About 3 o’clock the head of the
British vessel’s bowsprit and jib-boom were shot away, and in the space
of an hour her foremast went by the board; her main-topmast just above
the cap, her gaff and spanker-boom were shot away, and her main-mast
went nearly by the board.
About 4 o’clock, the fire of the British vessel being completely
silenced, and her colors in the main-rigging being down, she was
supposed to have struck. The courses of the _Constitution_ were now
hauled on board, to shoot ahead, in order to repair her rigging, which
was very much cut. The British vessel was left in bad condition;
but her flag was soon after discovered to be still flying. The
_Constitution_, however, hove to, to repair some of her damages. About
a quarter of an hour after, the main-mast of the British vessel went by
the board. At a quarter of five or thereabouts the _Constitution_ wore,
and stood for the British vessel, and got close to her athwart her
bows, in a very effectual position for raking, when she very prudently
struck her flag. Had she suffered the broadside to rake her, her
additional loss would have been extremely great, for she lay quite an
unmanageable wreck upon the water.
After the British frigate struck, the _Constitution_ wore, and reefed
topsails. One of the only two remaining boats out of eight was then
hoisted out, and Lieutenant Parker of the _Constitution_ was sent
to take possession of the frigate. She proved to be His Britannic
Majesty’s frigate _Java_, rating 38 but carrying 49 guns. She was
manned by upwards of four hundred men, and was commanded by Captain
Lambert, a very distinguished naval officer. He was mortally wounded.
The action continued, from the time the firing commenced till the time
it ceased, one hour and fifty-five minutes.
The _Java_ was on fire and leaking; nothing could have saved her or the
souls on board if the _Constitution_ had been disabled.
The _Constitution_ had 9 men killed and 25 wounded. The _Java_ had 60
killed and 101 certainly wounded; but by a letter written on board the
_Constitution_ by one of the officers of the _Java_, and accidentally
found, it is evident her loss must have been much greater. The unknown
writer states it to have been 60 killed and 170 wounded.
The _Java_ had her own full complement of men, and upwards of one
hundred supernumeraries for British ships in the East Indies. Her
force in number of men, at the commencement of the action, was
probably much greater than the officers of the _Constitution_ were
enabled to ascertain. Her officers were extremely cautious in giving
out the number of her crew, but by her quarter bill she had one man
more stationed at each gun than the _Constitution_. The _Java_ was an
important ship. She had been fitted out in the most complete manner to
carry Lieutenant-General Hislop and staff to Bombay, of which place he
had been appointed governor, and several naval officers for different
vessels in the East Indies. She had despatches for St. Helena, the Cape
of Good Hope, and for every British establishment in the Indian and
Chinese seas. She had in her hold copper for a 74 and for two brigs,
building at Bombay.
The great distance from the United States and the disabled state of the
_Java_ precluded any attempt being made to bring her to a home port.
The commodore therefore determined to burn her; she was set on fire,
and the _Constitution_ sailed away. Shortly after dark the British ship
blew up. The prisoners were all landed at San Salvador and paroled,
and, sad to tell, the commander of the _Java_, Captain Lambert, died
soon after he was put on shore. The British officers paroled were: 1
lieutenant-general, 1 major, and 1 captain of land service; in the
naval service, 1 post-captain, 1 master and commander, 5 lieutenants,
3 lieutenants of marines, 1 surgeon, 2 assistant surgeons, 1 purser,
15 midshipmen, 1 gunner, 1 boatswain, 1 master, 1 carpenter,
and 2 captain’s clerks; likewise, 323 petty officers, seamen,
andmarines--making altogether 361 men; besides 9 Portuguese seamen
liberated, and 8 passengers, private characters, who were permitted to
land without restraint.
Lieutenant Aylwin, of the _Constitution_, was severely wounded during
the action. When the boarders were called to repel boarders, he mounted
the quarter-deck hammock cloths, and, in the act of firing his pistol
at the enemy, he received a ball through his shoulder. Notwithstanding
the severity of his wound, he continued at his post until the enemy
struck. A few days afterwards, when an engagement was expected with a
ship, which afterwards proved to be the _Hornet_, he left his bed and
repaired to quarters, though laboring under a considerable debility,
and under the most excruciating pain. He died on the 28th of January,
at sea. The following is the official account that Commodore Bainbridge
made to the Secretary of the Navy. It is as concise and dramatic as all
the reports of our naval heroes were in those days, and as he wrote
Bainbridge was suffering from serious wounds and in danger of his life:
“I have the honor to inform you that on the 29th of December, at
2 P.M., in south latitude 13° 6´, west longitude 38°, and about
ten leagues distant from the coast of Brazil, I fell in with, and
captured, His Britannic Majesty’s frigate _Java_, of 49 guns, and
upwards of four hundred men, commanded by Captain Lambert, a very
distinguished officer. The action lasted one hour and fifty-five
minutes, in which time the enemy was completely dismantled, not
having a spar of any kind standing.
“The loss on board the _Constitution_ was 9 killed and 25 wounded.
The enemy had 60 killed and 101 wounded (among the latter, Captain
Lambert, mortally), but, by the enclosed letter, written on board
this ship by one of the officers of the _Java_, and accidentally
found, it is evident that the enemy’s wounded must have been much
greater than as above stated, and who must have died of their
wounds previous to their being removed. (The letter stated 60
killed and 170 wounded.)...
“Should I attempt to do justice, by representation, to the brave
and good conduct of my officers and crew, I should fail in the
attempt; therefore, suffice it to say that the whole of their
conduct was such as to meet my highest encomiums. I beg leave
to recommend the officers, particularly, to the notice of the
government, as, also, the unfortunate seamen who were wounded, and
the families of those brave men who fell in action.
“The great distance from our own coast, and the perfect wreck we
made of the enemy’s frigate, forbade every idea of attempting to
take her to the United States. I had, therefore, no alternative
but burning her, which I did on the 31st, after receiving all the
prisoners and their baggage, which was very hard work, only having
two boats left out of eight, and not one left on board the _Java_.
“On blowing up the frigate _Java_ I proceeded to St. Salvador,
where I landed all the prisoners on their parole, to return to
England, and there remain until regularly exchanged, and not to
serve in their professional capacities in any place or in any
manner whatsoever against the United States of America until their
exchange shall be effected.”
Upon the return of Commodore Bainbridge to the United States he was
everywhere received with the greatest joy. Congress voted $50,000 to
him and his crew, and ordered a gold medal to be struck for him and
silver ones for each of his officers. New York presented him with the
freedom of the city, and many banquets were given in his honor.
A pathetic and dramatic incident occurred when the wounded Captain
Lambert was being moved off the ship at San Salvador. He lay on
the deck suffering intense pain, when Bainbridge, supported by two
officers, approached. Bending down with great difficulty, he placed
Captain Lambert’s side-arms on the cot on which the latter lay, saying
that the sword of so brave a man should never be taken from him;
then the two wounded commanders grasped hands in mutual respect and
admiration. The correspondence between Lieutenant-General Hislop and
Commodore Bainbridge, after Lambert’s death, shows plainly the lofty
spirit that existed then between great-minded enemies.
VI
THE “COMET”--PRIVATEER
[January 14th, 1813]