WAR WITH UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO WAR IN SYRIA--FROM A.D. 1811 TO
A.D. 1840.
Much indignation had long been felt by the people of the United States
in consequence of Great Britain claiming the right of searching neutral
vessels for deserters from our ships. There existed, also, among them
another cause of annoyance. It was this, that while the rest of the
world were at war, the Americans had enjoyed the advantage of being the
carriers for other powers, and that Napoleon, in the hope of crippling
England, had declared all neutral vessels that had touched at any of her
home or colonial ports liable to confiscation, thus virtually putting a
stop to the commerce of the United States. Instead of complaining of
France, the Americans put the blame on England, and hoped by going to
war with her to regain the carrying trade they had lost. England had,
besides, given great provocation as far back as the year 1807, when a
small squadron of British ships was stationed off the American coast.
Several men having deserted from the different ships, some of them were
received on board the United States frigate _Chesapeake_. Hearing of
the occurrence, the admiral at Halifax despatched the 50-gun frigate
_Leopard_, commanded by Captain Humphries, with orders to the captains
of any of the ships should they fall in with the _Chesapeake_ without
the limits of the United States to insist on searching her for
deserters. Having delivered her despatches, the _Leopard_ was lying
with the rest of the squadron, when the _Chesapeake_, which was at
anchor in Hampton Roads, put to sea on her way to the Mediterranean. On
this, the _Leopard_ received orders from the British commodore, to make
sail in chase of her. Captain Humphries, shortly afterwards, falling in
with the _Chesapeake_, hailed to say that he had a message from the
British commander-in-chief. To this the American commodore, Barron,
replied, "Send it on board--I will heave to." On the arrival of the
_Leopard's_ lieutenant on board the _Chesapeake_, Commodore Barron
declared that he had no such men on board as were described. On the
lieutenant's return, Captain Humphries again hailed the _Chesapeake_,
and receiving unsatisfactory answers, observing also indications of
intended resistance on board the American frigate, he ordered a shot to
be fired across her forefoot. At intervals of two minutes he fired
others, but evasive answers only being returned, and it being evident
that the object of Commodore Barron was only to gain time, the _Leopard_
opened her fire in earnest. After she had discharged three broadsides
at the American frigate the latter hauled down her colours, having only
returned a few guns. On this a lieutenant from the _Chesapeake_ came on
board the _Leopard_ with a verbal message from Commodore Barron
signifying that he considered his ship to be the _Leopard's_ prize.
Without undertaking to receive her as such, Captain Humphries sent two
of his lieutenants, with several petty officers and men, on board the
_Chesapeake_ to search for the deserters, and the crew being mustered,
one of them, who was dragged out of the coal-hole, Jenkin Ratford, was
recognised as a deserter from the _Halifax_. Three others were found,
who had deserted from the _Melampus_, and about twelve more from various
British ships of war. The first four, however, alone were carried on
board the _Leopard_, when Commodore Barron again offered to deliver up
his frigate as a prize; to this Captain Humphries replied that, having
fulfilled his instructions, he had nothing more to desire, but must
proceed to his destination. He, however, expressed his regret at having
been compelled to attack him, and offered all the assistance in his
power. The _Chesapeake_ had indeed suffered severely from the
broadsides of the _Leopard_, twenty-two shot being lodged in her hull,
while her masts and rigging were greatly damaged. She had lost three
seamen killed, while the commodore, one midshipman, and sixteen seamen
and marines were wounded. Though nearly a hundred tons larger than the
_Leopard_, and carrying a greater weight of shot, while her crew
numbered fifty men more, she was almost unprepared for battle, so that
no imputation could be cast on Commodore Barron for not continuing the
engagement.
On arriving at Halifax the unfortunate Jenkin Ratford was found guilty
of mutiny and desertion, and was hanged at the foreyard-arm of the ship
from which he had deserted. The other men, though found guilty of
desertion, were pardoned.
This untoward event was the cause of protracted diplomatic negotiations.
Every apology was offered to the United States; and England gave up all
claim to the right of searching men-of-war of other nations for
deserters. About three years afterwards the British frigate _Guerrier_
impressed out of an American merchant-vessel a man named Deguyo, said to
be a citizen of the United States, and shortly afterwards two other
native Americans in the belief that they all three were English
subjects. At this time the 44-gun frigate _President_, belonging to the
United States, lay moored in the Chesapeake. On receiving directions
from his government, Commodore Rogers, who took the command, put to sea
in search of the _Guerrier_ on the 12th of May, 1811. Soon after noon
of the 16th, from the mast-head of the _President_, a ship was descried
standing towards her under a press of sail, which Commodore Rogers at
once concluded was the frigate _Guerrier_. The stranger was, however,
the British ship-sloop _Little Belt_, mounting 18 32-pounder carronades,
and 2 long nines, with a crew of 120 men and boys, commanded by Captain
Bingham, who at the same time made out the _President_. Captain
Bingham, finding her signals unanswered, felt assured that the stranger
was an American frigate, and continued his course round Cape Hatteras.
By the time the evening was closing in, the _President_ was up to her
Captain Bingham hailed, asking, "What ship is that?" Commodore Rogers
merely repeated the question. At that instant a gun was fired from the
_President_, as was afterwards alleged, by chance. On this the _Little
Belt_ fired, and a furious action commenced, which lasted upwards of
half-an-hour, with a short intermission. The after-sail of the _Little
Belt_ being shot away, and her rigging much damaged, she fell off, so
that, being unable to bring her guns to bear on her antagonist, she
ceased firing. Commodore Rogers again hailed, when he received answer
that the vessel he had attacked was a British ship of war, but, owing to
the freshness of the breeze, he did not hear her name. During this
short engagement her masts and yards were badly wounded, and her rigging
cut to pieces, while her hull was severely injured. She had lost a
midshipman and 10 men killed or mortally wounded, and 21 wounded; while
the _President_ had only one boy wounded, and her rigging and masts but
slightly injured. The _President_ now hove to to leeward during the
night, while the _Little Belt_ was employed in stopping her leaks and
repairing damages. Next morning the first lieutenant of the _President_
came on board, expressing Commodore Rogers' regret at the unfortunate
affair, and stating that had he known the size of the British ship he
would not have fired into her. Captain Bingham inquired why he had
fired at all; on which the lieutenant replied that the _Little Belt_ had
fired first. Captain Bingham denied this, and the subject was long a
matter of dispute--though there can be no doubt that one of the
_President's_ guns went off, possibly by chance, and that Captain
Bingham lost no time in replying to it. That Captain Bingham's conduct
was considered most gallant was proved by his being immediately promoted
to post-rank.
The following year the United States unhappily declared war against
Great Britain. The American government had previously laid an embargo
upon all their national ships and vessels during a space of ninety days,
so that when war broke out on the 18th of June a large number of
fast-sailing-vessels of all sizes were ready to issue forth as
privateers; while Commodore Rogers, in command of the squadron,
consisting of the _President_, _United States_, and _Congress_ frigates,
and two brigs of war, sailed in hopes of capturing a fleet of above 100
homeward-bound Jamaica men, known to be off the coast, under the convoy
of a single frigate and brig. Fortunately for the merchant-vessels,
Commodore Rogers discovered the British frigate _Belvidera_, of 36 guns,
18-pounders, commanded by Captain Byron, standing towards him. Captain
Byron, having ascertained the character of the American squadron, tacked
and made sail, not so much to escape as to lead the enemy to a distance
from their expected prey. By consummate seamanship and gallantry, he
kept them employed, carrying on a spirited action with his two long
18-pounders run through his stern-ports, and the two 32-pounder
carronades on his quarter-deck, greatly galling the _President_, and
afterwards the _Congress_, when that frigate got near enough to open her
fire. So successfully did he manoeuvre, that after leading his pursuers
a long chase, he escaped from them and got into Halifax. The
_Belvidera_ lost altogether 3 killed and 22 wounded. The _President_,
which was cut up in her rigging, lost 2 midshipmen and a marine killed,
and 22 officers and men wounded; while the Jamaica convoy reached
England in safety.
The war between England and her former dependencies had now commenced in
earnest. Since their independence, the United States had taken pains to
construct an efficient, though small navy. Aware that it would be
useless to attempt building line-of-battle ships to compete with the
fleets of Europe, they had turned their attention to the construction of
frigates, to act as ocean cruisers, of a size and armament capable of
contending successfully with any possessed by England, or indeed any
other maritime power. The result proved the wisdom and forethought of
their naval authorities. Their most famed frigates were the
_Constitution_, the _United States_, and _President_. The other two
were of the same size and force as the latter vessel. The _President_
measured 1533 tons: her sides and bulwarks were thicker, and her spars
and rigging stouter than those of a British 74-gun ship, while she
sailed admirably. She was pierced for 56 guns, but only mounted 52, of
which 32 were long 24-pounders, and 20 42-pounders, her complement being
480 men. The other two mounted 54 guns, and the _Constitution_ carried
32 instead of 42-pounder carronades.
On the 18th the _Constitution_, Captain Hull, then cruising off the Gulf
of Saint Lawrence, having heard from an American privateer that a
British ship of war was at a short distance to the southward,
immediately made sail in that direction. The ship of which Captain Hull
had heard was the British frigate _Guerrier_, commanded by Captain
Dacres, an officer of known talent and gallantry. She carried 48 guns,
including 30 long 18-pounders on the main-deck, 16 carronades,
32-pounders, and 2 long nines on her quarter-deck and forecastle. She
measured under 1100 tons, and though her regular complement was 300 men
and boys, she was nearly 40 men short. Seeing the _Constitution_
approaching, at 4:30 p.m. on the 19th the _Guerrier_ laid her
main-topsail to the mast, to enable her the more quickly to close. She
then hoisted an English ensign at the peak, another at the
mizzen-topgallant mast-head, and the Union Jack at the fore, and at 4:50
opened her starboard broadside at the _Constitution_. The American
frigate being admirably manoeuvred, her heavy shot in a short time began
to tell with destructive effect on the English frigate. The
_Guerrier's_ mizzen-mast was soon carried away, as it fell, knocking a
large hole in the counter, and by dragging in the water, brought the
ship up in the wind--thus enabling the _Constitution_ to place herself
on the _Guerrier's_ larboard bow, in which position she opened a
destructive fire of great guns and small-arms on the British frigate,
who could only return it with her bow-guns. The riflemen in the
_Constitution's_ tops continued firing all the time with unerring aim.
Captain Dacres was severely wounded, as were several of his officers.
At length the _Guerrier's_ foremast and mizzen-mast were carried over
the side, leaving a defenceless wreck, rolling her main-deck guns in the
water. From the rotten state of her breachings, many of her guns broke
loose, but still Captain Dacres, having cleared away the wreck of his
masts, continued the action, till the _Constitution_, having rove new
braces, took up a position within pistol-shot of the _Guerrier's_
starboard-quarter. Finding his ship utterly unmanageable, to prevent
further sacrifice of life, Captain Dacres at 6:45 hauled down the Union
Jack from the stump of the mizzen-mast, the only stick he had standing.
The _Guerrier_ in this desperate action lost 15 men killed and 63
wounded, 6 of the latter mortally; while the _Constitution_, out of her
468 men and boys, lost 7 killed and about double that number more or
less wounded. Though the Americans might well be gratified at the
result of the action, the English had no cause to be ashamed at the loss
of the _Guerrier_ to a ship the weight of whose broadside was nearly
one-half heavier than that of her own, especially when a considerable
number of the _Constitution's_ crew were English seamen, and all had
been carefully trained.
On the 25th of October the _Macedonian_, a frigate of the same size as
the _Guerrier_, was captured by the _United States_, a frigate in all
respects similar to the _Constitution_. Commodore Decatur, commanding
the _United States_, used every effort to induce the crew of the
captured frigate to enter the American service, though, to the credit of
British seamen, the band alone, who were foreigners, and three or four
others, said to be Americans, yielded to his persuasions.
The third British frigate, also of the size and force of the two
preceding ones, captured by the Americans was the _Java_, taken by the
_Constitution_, on the 29th of September. The _Java_ was originally the
French frigate _Renommee_, and had been commissioned at Portsmouth by
Captain Lambert to carry out Lieutenant-General John Hislop, the
governor of Bombay. Her crew, hurriedly got together, were inefficient
in the extreme. They consisted of 60 raw Irishmen, 50 mutinous fellows
sent from on board the _Coquette_, a body of 50 marines, several of whom
were recruits, while the prison-ships and press-gangs furnished a large
portion of the remainder. Exclusive of the petty officers, the best of
the crew consisted of eight seamen, who were allowed to volunteer from
the _Rodney_, indeed, scarcely fifty of the whole ship's company had
ever been in action, while the ship herself was hurriedly fitted out,
lumbered up with stores, and scarcely in a condition to put to sea.
Meeting with a succession of heavy gales, it was not till the 28th
December that Captain Lambert had an opportunity of exercising his men
at firing the guns, when the _Java_ fired six broadsides with blank
cartridges, the first the greater number of his crew had ever
discharged. While steering for Saint Salvador to obtain water, early
the following morning, the _Java_ sighted the _Constitution_, and made
sail in chase. Standing to the wind, which was very fresh, the _Java_
rapidly gained on her, and at length the two ships being within
half-a-mile of each other, the _Constitution_ fired her larboard
broadside, which the _Java_ waited to return till she got considerably
nearer, when she fired her broadside, every shot of which took effect.
The untrained British crew lost soon after this an opportunity of raking
their powerful antagonist. Most gallantly Captain Lambert fought his
ship, and his rigging being cut to pieces and masts injured, with
several officers and men killed and wounded, he determined to board his
antagonist as affording the best chance of success. His bowsprit,
however, catching the starboard mizzen-rigging of the _Constitution_,
his ship was brought up to the wind, and he lost the opportunity both of
raking her or boarding. While in this position, Captain Lambert fell
mortally wounded, when the command devolved on Lieutenant Henry Chads.
The _Constitution_ getting clear, had now the _Java_ at her mercy.
Still, animated by their officers, her crew, bad as they were, worked
energetically at their guns, and seeing the _Constitution_ standing off
to repair damages, cheered under the belief that she was taking to
flight. After the action had lasted rather more than three hours, the
_Constitution_ placing herself so as to rake the dismasted _Java_,
Lieutenant Chads ordered the colours to be lowered from the stump of the
mizzen-mast, and the frigate was taken possession of by the victor. The
whole of the _Java's_ boats, and all except one of the _Constitution's_,
were knocked to pieces. The operation of conveying the prisoners on
board the American frigate occupied a considerable time. As soon as it
was accomplished, the _Java_, being much shattered was set on fire.
Though the Americans behaved civilly to the British officers, the crew
complained bitterly of being handcuffed and otherwise severely treated.
The _Java_ had her captain, 3 masters' mates, 2 midshipmen, and I
supernumerary clerk killed, and 17 seamen and marines, and 102 officers
and men wounded, among whom was her gallant first lieutenant.
Several brig-sloops and other small craft were also captured during the
war by the Americans, who had every reason to be proud of the gallantry
displayed by their seamen. Success, however, did not always attend on
the "star-spangled banner," and, as was natural, the captains of the
British 38-gun frigates were eager to fall in with one of the famed
American forty-fours. Among others, Captain Philip Vere Broke,
commanding the _Shannon_ frigate, resolved, if possible, to show what a
well-disciplined crew could do. He had from the time he had been
appointed to her, several years before, diligently exercised his crew in
gunnery, so that those who knew him and his ship's company felt
confident of his success. The following lines, written soon after the
commencement of the war, prove this:--
"And as the war they did provoke,
We'll pay them with our cannon;
The first to do it will be Broke,
In the gallant ship the _Shannon_."