yielded to them was great, and it must be recorded that they did
everything in their power to make it comfortable for the wounded,
and that their treatment of the officers was courteous and kindly. For
twenty-four hours after the action it fell a dead calm, and the crews
of the squadron were kept occupied in repairing the crippled ships. As
if to enforce the idea that the _Endymion_ had not surrendered, Decatur
was placed on board of her, a cabin prisoner.
[Illustration: THE “PRESIDENT” ENDEAVORING TO ESCAPE]
On the 17th a tremendous gale came from the eastward, which played
havoc with the late combatants, the _President’s_ masts going by the
board, and the _Endymion_ losing her bowsprit, fore and main mast, and
mizzen-topmast, being compelled to throw overboard all her upper-deck
guns. It had been impossible for Decatur to ascertain the exact number
of the killed and wounded, but he speaks of his great sorrow at the
loss of three of his most trusted lieutenants--Babbit, Howell, and
Hamilton, the last being the son of the late Secretary of the Navy.
It was he who had had the honor of conveying the news of the capture
of the _Macedonian_ to Washington, and who had appeared, as we have
recorded, at the ball given by Dolly Madison wrapped in the colors of
the captured ship.
Decatur and his officers were given the freedom of the island of
Bermuda, and crowds swarmed to visit the captured _President_ as she
lay decked with British flags in the harbor.
Captain Hays of the _Majestic_, to whom Decatur had surrendered his
sword, returned it at once, and proved to be a friend who was worth the
gaining.
Upon the investigation of the action Decatur was honorably exonerated,
and Alexander Murray, the President of the Court of Inquiry, expressed
himself in the following words:
“We consider the management of the _President_ from the time the
chase commenced until her surrender as the highest evidence of the
experience, skill, and resources of her commander, and of the ability
and seamanship of her officers and crew. We fear that we cannot express
in a manner that will do justice to our feelings our admiration of the
conduct of Commodore Decatur and of all under his command.... In this
unequal conflict the enemy gained a ship, but the victory was ours.”
Referring to the press comments at the time, a very interesting
circumstance occurred, which may prove to be well worth the reading,
especially as showing that contemporaneous press notices taking only
one view of a question are untrustworthy recorders of history. A
Bermuda paper, the _Royal Gazette_, published on the 2d of April a
scurrilous and unwarrantable attack, false in its every statement,
that impugned the character of Decatur and cast a slur on the name of
each one of his officers. The article, in giving the reports of the
capture, stated that the _President_ had _struck_ to the _Endymion_,
and that after she had done so Commodore Decatur concealed sixty-eight
men in the hold of the _President_ for the purpose of rising on the
prize crew and recapturing her. On the appearance of this account
Captain Hope of the _Endymion_ immediately sent an officer to Commodore
Decatur, disclaiming any participation in the article, and the governor
of the island demanded of the editor of the _Royal Gazette_ that he
should immediately retract the statement. This the editor, much against
his will, did, but inserted a foot-note in large print stating that
the retraction was inserted “merely as an act of generosity and a
palliative for the irritated feelings of prisoners of war.” He asserted
that what he had said at first was correct, and declared that the
deception he had referred to was planned and authorized by Commodore
Decatur. It is of interest to quote an extract from an official letter
sent by the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda to the editor of
the _Royal Gazette_ upon the appearance of this second article.
The governor’s secretary writes for his chief as follows:
“_The Editor of the Royal Gazette_:
“Your publication of Thursday imposes it upon His Excellency the
Governor, as a duty to himself, to Captain Hope, and to the British
nation, and in common justice to Commodore Decatur, who is not
present to defend himself from the aspersions that you have cast
upon him, not to admit of such a document standing uncontradicted
in a paper published under the immediate authority of His Majesty’s
government. His Excellency is thoroughly aware of the great
importance of preserving to the utmost extent perfect freedom of
discussion and the fullest liberty of the press in every part of
the British dominions. Undoubtedly, therefore, nothing could be
further from his intentions than the most distant desire to compel
a British editor to retract a statement founded on truth; but when
a statement is founded on falsehood, His Excellency conceives it
to be incumbent on him equally, in duty to the British public and
in support of the true character of the British press, to demand
that that falsehood, whether directed against friend or foe, should
be instantly retracted, or that the paper which thinks fit to
disgrace its columns by persevering in error should no longer be
distinguished by royal protection.”
Some weeks later, in an issue of March 2d, the following extract
attracts attention in a Bermuda journal:
“On Wednesday evening last Mr. Randolph, of the United States
Navy, late of the _President_ frigate, in company with some other
officers of the ship, attacked the editor of the _Royal Gazette_
in a most violent and unprovoked manner with a stick, while he
was walking unarmed. The timely arrival of some British officers
prevented his proceeding to further acts of violence, and, the
guard shortly after coming up, the officer decamped, and the next
morning, we understand, he was hoisted into a boat at the crane
from the Market Wharf and absconded. An honorable way, truly, for
an officer to quit a place where he had been treated with civility
and politeness.”
However, it will not do to leave the subject without quoting from a
letter which the Mr. Randolph referred to wrote over his own signature
and sent to the editors of the _Commercial Advertiser_, after his
return to New York, in which he observes, after reference to the
Bermuda _Royal Gazette_, the affair of the stick, and the “acts of
violence,” as follows:
“As soon as I read the scurrilous remarks in the _Royal Gazette_
of the fifteenth ult., in relation to the capture of the late U.
S. frigate _President_, I walked to the King’s Square with the
determination to chastise the editor. I soon fell in with him, and
executed my purpose in the most ample and satisfactory manner.
There was no American officer in the company except Midshipman
Emmett, and Mr. Ward, the editor, was accompanied by Lieutenant
Sammon, of the Royal Navy, but by neither of these officers was I
interrupted or assisted in the operation.
“Having previously obtained my passports, and being advised that
the editor of the _Royal Gazette_ was taking measures to employ the
civil authority against me, I left the island the next day for the
United States.
“I am, Gentlemen, etc., etc.,”
“R. B. RANDOLPH, Midshipman,
“Late of the U. S. frigate _President_”
Upon Decatur’s return to the United States he was treated as a hero,
and received the usual ovation given to victors when they return to
their native land. The _President_ was spoken of by her captors as a
model of naval architecture, and her method of construction recommended
to British ship-builders.
XVII
THE “CONSTITUTION,” THE “CYANE,” AND THE “LEVANT”
[February 20th, 1815]
[Illustration: MEDAL PRESENTED BY CONGRESS TO CAPTAIN CHARLES STEWART]
Charles Stewart was a Philadelphian. He was born on the 28th day of
July, 1778, shortly after the evacuation of the city by the British.
His mother was left a widow when he was but two years old. Overcoming
many hardships, Mrs. Stewart managed to support herself and her large
family of eight children during the troublous times of the Revolution.
At the age of thirteen Charles entered the merchant service as a
cabin-boy, and speedily began to show that he had in him the material
for making an officer.
At the age of twenty he was in command of a vessel in the Indian trade,
but shortly after he attained this rank he accepted a commission as
lieutenant in the navy of the United States. Stewart’s able handling
of the little schooner _Experiment_, of 12 guns, on several occasions
brought him to the attention of the country, and his conduct in
the Mediterranean won for him the praise of his superiors and the
admiration of the service. He was a fine-looking, energetic man, who
possessed a manner that is said to have been most fascinating; but,
like all of his school, he was above everything else a fighting man.
In the fall of the year 1814, after the repulse of the British at
Norfolk, Captain Stewart, who at the beginning of the war had been in
command of the 36-gun frigate _Constellation_, was given the post then
most desired above all others in our navy--that of commander of “Old
Ironsides.”
After undergoing some repairs in the navy-yard, the _Constitution_,
with a veteran crew, sailed from the port of Boston and proceeded
southward. For some time she hung about the Bermudas, waiting in vain
for an encounter; thence she sailed away for the coasts of Surinam,
Berbice, and Demerara; cruised to windward of the island of Barbadoes,
St. Vincent, Martinique, off St. Kitt’s, St. Eustatius, Porto Rico, and
Santa Cruz, and succeeded in capturing and destroying the _Picton_, of
16 guns; a merchant ship of 10 guns; the brig _Catherine_, 10 guns; and
an armed schooner, the _Phoenix_. But no foe was seen that was worthy
of her mettle, and it appeared that bad luck was in the breezes.
At this time the _Constitution_ must have presented a peculiar
appearance while under way; her sails were the same she had carried in
her cruises under Hull and Bainbridge, and the shot-holes made by the
_Guerrière_ and the _Java_ were plain to view, like the honorable scars
of a veteran. Patched and thread bare, her canvas was in no condition
to stand a blow or to hold the wind. In those days the _Constitution_
was a marked vessel in many senses. In view of the reputation she had
earned, there were no frigates of her class that appeared to seek her
out, and it was not considered a disgrace to avoid a meeting with
“the dangerous nondescript,” as the British press had labelled her.
If the fact was once ascertained what vessel it was that carried that
high freeboard and those brown patched sails, His Majesty’s commanders
generally showed a tenderness that their reputations would hardly lead
one to expect. In the Mona Passage, for instance, Captain Stewart
chased, but failed to come up with, the British frigate _La Pique_, and
on two separate occasions he tried to entice the enemy to meet him by
unfurling at first sight the enormous flag that also distinguished the
_Constitution_ above the other frigates in our service, but all to no
purpose; and in March Stewart determined to return to the United States
in order to refit completely. But he was not to reach home without an
adventure.
Probably no vessel in the world had so many narrow escapes from capture
as had the _Constitution_; only masterly seamanship had kept her from
being taken.
From 1813 to the close of the war the English frigates generally
cruised in pairs; and off the New England coast, on her return voyage,
the _Constitution_ ran across the _Junon_ and _La Nymphe_, each of
50 guns. She managed to outsail them by a narrow margin, and arrived
safely at Marblehead in the latter part of April. She rested in
Massachusetts Bay for seven months, completely refitting under the eye
of Captain Stewart himself; and in December she again proceeded to
sea, and was then, beyond doubt, the best equipped and best ordered
vessel of her class that ever answered helm.
Stewart shaped his course for his favorite cruising-ground, the high
seas to the eastward of the Bermudas, and on the 24th of the month he
captured the English brig _Lord Nelson_, and took the ship _Susan_ with
a valuable cargo, sending the latter to New York. Then he bore away
east, with the intention of reaching the waters in the neighborhood of
the Madeira Islands.
The morning of the 20th of February began with light breezes from the
east and cloudy weather. At 1 P.M. a sail was discovered two points off
the larboard and three leagues or more away. The _Constitution_ bore
up at once, and made all sail in chase. In half an hour the stranger
was seen to be a ship, and in a few minutes another vessel was made
out ahead; both were close-hauled, and about ten miles apart. At four
o’clock it was seen that the weather-most ship was signalling her
consort, who immediately shortened sail and waited for her.
For an hour the three vessels sailed on. The two strangers, that were
closing on each other gradually, displayed no flags; and although at
too great a distance to reach the nearer vessel, Stewart commenced
to fire with his bow guns, in the hope that they would display their
colors; but to no purpose. It was not doubted, however, that they were
English, and the _Constitution_ cleared for action. Soon they passed
within hail of one another, and, hauling by the wind on the starboard
tack, showed that they were prepared to fight.
Now commenced the usual struggle for the advantage of the weather-gage;
but, finding that the _Constitution_ could outpoint them, the British
vessels gave up the attempt, and, forming in line about half a cable’s
length apart, awaited her on-coming, shortening sail, and evidently
preparing some concerted method of attack. At six Stewart shook out
his tremendous flag, and the British ensigns climbed up in answer;
at the same moment both vessels gave three rousing cheers. But in
grim silence the _Constitution_ bore down upon them, ranged up on the
starboard side of the sternmost, and let go her broadside at a distance
of only three hundred yards. The English replied with spirit, and the
cannonading became furious. There being little wind, a great bank of
sulphurous smoke, impenetrable as any fog, settled over the water on
the _Constitution’s_ lee, and completely hid her antagonists. For
three minutes the _Constitution_ ceased her fire altogether (the enemy
having slackened also), and then Stewart descried the topmasts of the
leader stretching above the rolling clouds abreast of him. He fired his
broadside, and again the smoke swallowed her from sight, just as it
was seen that the ship astern had luffed to take up a raking position
on the larboard quarter. The superior seamanship of the American tars
and the quality of the vessel they manned could not be shown better
than by the manoeuvre which followed. Stewart braced aback his main
and mizzen topsails, and immediately the _Constitution_ gathered
sternway and slid backwards through the smoke. What must have been the
astonishment of Captain Gordon Falcon, the British commander, when he
saw alongside of him the enemy that he had hoped, a few minutes before,
to take at such a disadvantage! The foremost vessel, that had received
the previous broadside of the _Constitution_, kept pegging away at a
spectre in the sulphurous cloud.
[Illustration: THE “CONSTITUTION” TAKING THE “CYANE”]
At thirty-five minutes past six the enemy’s fire again slackened, and
the headmost ship was discovered bearing up. Now the _Constitution_
reversed her tactics, shot ahead, crossed the first vessel’s stern
and raked her fearfully, sailed about the stern most and raked her
also; then, ranging up within hail on the larboard quarter, she
prepared for another broadside, when the last ship fired a lee gun
and remained silent. At ten minutes of seven Stewart lowered his boat
and took possession of His Majesty’s ship _Cyane_, mounting 34 guns,
commanded by Captain Gordon Falcon. The moon had risen by this time;
the smoke had cleared away, and it was seen that the other ship was
trying her best to get away to a place of safety. Seeing this, at
once the _Constitution_ spread all sail in chase, and gallantly the
smaller vessel, finding escape impossible, stood back close-hauled to
meet her. They crossed on opposite tacks, and the _Constitution_ wore
immediately under the enemy’s stern and raked her with a broadside.
Again the Englishman spread all sail, and endeavored to escape by
running free. The _Constitution_ broke out her lighter sail in chase,
firing well-directed shots from her starboard bowchaser. At ten, seeing
she could not escape, the English vessel fired a gun, struck her
colors, and yielded.
She proved to be His Majesty’s ship the _Levant_, mounting 21 guns,
Captain George Douglass.
Before midnight Stewart had manned both his prizes, repaired his
rigging, shifted his sails, and had his vessel in as good condition as
before the encounter.
The _Cyane_ was a ship that had made a reputation for herself in the
war with France. She was one of the crack sloops of war in the English
service. Only a year before she had engaged a French 44-gun frigate,
and kept her at bay until help came in the shape of a seventy-four. Her
commander was so crestfallen at having to surrender that when he came
aboard a prisoner he hardly recognized Stewart’s courteous greetings
and compliments.
Down in the cabin of the _Constitution_ a little scene was enacted
that must have been dramatic. Captain Douglass and Captain Falcon were
treated as honored guests by Captain Stewart, and over their wine
at dinner the day after the capture the two Englishmen indulged in
a dispute, each placing the responsibility for the defeat upon the
other’s shoulders.
Stewart listened without comment for some minutes, and then rising,
gravely said, “Gentlemen, there is only one way that I see to decide
this question--to put you both on your ships again, give you back your
crews, and try it over.”
Either the humor or the force of this remark must have struck each one
of his late antagonists, for they ceased their bickering at once.
An anecdote is related showing the spirit of the men on board the
_Constitution_ at the time. As she forged down upon the waiting English
vessels grog was issued, as was customary, to the crews standing at the
guns. An old quartermaster, noting with anger the eagerness of the men
to claim a double share, as there were two vessels to fight, walked
down the deck and kicked over two buckets of the spirits into the
scuppers, exclaiming, “Shame, messmates; we need no Dutch courage on
board this ship!”
This little incident, while it might not have dampened the crew’s
ardor, may have accounted for the lack of cheers.
It is to be noticed that the weight of shot fired by the British
vessels was heavier than the _Constitution’s_ by ninety pounds.
In the action with the _Guerrière_ the _Constitution_ had been hulled
three times, and in that with the _Java_ four times. In this engagement
thirteen shots reached her hull.
Only one of the prizes was destined to reach the United States--the
_Cyane_--and the reason for this makes a separate story in itself.
After the action the vessels set sail for the island St. Jago, and
entered the harbor of Porto Praya, having previously touched at one of
the Cape Verd Islands.
On the 12th of March, as they lay at anchor under the guns of the
neutral battery, three ships were discovered in the offing. Soon they
were made out to be frigates, and the _Constitution_ gave signal to
get under way. 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.
He signalled Lieutenant Ballard, the prize commander of the _Levant_,
to make back to the harbor; she came about, made the entrance safely,
and anchored in so close to the shore as to run her jib boom over the
Portuguese battery; and the latter, as if to show her “neutrality” to
the satisfaction of the English, cowardly fired upon her as she lay
there, and, despite the fact that Ballard did not reply, but hauled
down his flag, the _Acasta_ and the _Newcastle_, two of the pursuers,
came in and also fired at her a number of times. But, as if in poetic
justice for the action of the Portuguese, they did more harm to the
town than to the ship.
When the officer from the British squadron came on board the _Levant_,
he advanced briskly to the quarter-deck, and, with no attempt to
conceal his eagerness, exclaimed to Lieutenant Ballard, who there
awaited him:
“Sir, I believe I have the honor of taking the sword of Captain
Blakeley, commander of the American sloop of war the _Wasp_.”
“No, sir,” was the reply; “if you have an excess of pride in this case,
you have the honor of receiving the sword of Captain Ballard, prize
commander of His British Majesty’s ship the _Levant_.”
It was evident from the crestfallen appearance of the Britisher that he
had expected a different reply. To receive the sword of Blakeley would
have been a feather in his cap.
A strange state of things existed on board the _Constitution_ as she
sailed off to the west. She had on board no fewer than 240 prisoners,
and the number of English officers who were unwilling guests was double
that of her own. As this was the last cruise of the grand old ship in
the second war with Great Britain, a short _résumé_ of her career will
be of interest:
Exclusive of the merchant vessels that had been sent back to the
United States, in her actions with armed vessels of the English navy
she had taken 154 guns, made upwards of 900 prisoners, killed or
wounded 298 of the enemy, and the value of the property captured could
not be estimated at less than one and a half millions of dollars.
The strange discrepancy which existed between the loss of life on
board of her and her antagonists is to be noted. In her action with
the _Cyane_ and the _Levant_ she lost 3 killed and 13 wounded, while
the killed and wounded on board her opponents, so far as could be
ascertained, were 77.
Another interesting fact is that she has been in commission within
the last twelve years, and only a few years ago she again breasted
the waves, and was towed from the capes of the Delaware to her final
resting-place in Massachusetts Bay.
XVIII
THE “HORNET” AND THE “PENGUIN”
[March 23d, 1815]
[Illustration: MEDAL PRESENTED BY CONGRESS TO CAPTAIN JAMES BIDDLE]
Lieutenant James Biddle had distinguished himself in the Mediterranean
in the war with the Barbary pirates, having been one of the officers
captured with Captain Bainbridge on board the _Philadelphia_, and
being, with Bainbridge, held prisoner during those historic months of
captivity in Tripoli. Biddle was a young man of much determination, and
his career as a junior officer was full of adventure and the successful
overcoming of hardships. On the outbreak of the war of 1812 he sought
every opportunity to be in the thick of it, neglecting no chance to
distinguish himself or to add lustre to his name.
In the action between the _Wasp_ and His British Majesty’s sloop of
war the _Frolic_, Biddle proved himself to have the proper spirit of a
leader, and both he and Captain Jones were honored by Congress and the
country after their short sojourn in an English prison; for it must be
remembered that the _Wasp_ and her prize were taken, within a few hours
after their engagement, by a British seventy-four, the _Poictiers_.