I had now been no less than eight voyages in the Havre trade, without
intermission. So regular had my occupation become, that I began to think I
was a part of a liner myself. I liked the treatment, the food, the ships,
and the officers. Whenever we got home, I worked in the ship, at day's
work, until paid off; after which, no more was seen of Ned until it was
time to go on board to sail. When I got in, in the Normandy, it happened
as usual, though I took a short swing only. Mr. Everdy, our old mate in
the Erie, was working gangs of stevedores, riggers, &c., ashore; and when
I went and reported myself to him, as ready for work in the Normandy
again, he observed that her gang was full, but that, by going up-town next
morning, to the screw-dock, I should find an excellent job on board a
brig. The following day, accordingly, I took my dinner in a pail, and
started off for the dock, as directed. On my way, I fell in with an old
shipmate in the navy, a boatswain's-mate, of the name of Benson. This man
asked me where I was bound with my pail, and I told him. "What's the use,"
says he, "of dragging your soul out in these liners, when you have a
man-of-war under your lee!" Then he told me he meant to ship, and advised
me to do the same. I drank with him two or three times, and felt half
persuaded to enter; but, recollecting the brig, I left him, and pushed on
to the dock. When I got there, it was so late that the vessel had got off
the dock, and was already under way in the stream.
My day's work was now up, and I determined to make a full holiday of it.
As I went back, I fell in with Captain Mix, the officer with whom I had
first gone on the lakes, and my old first-lieutenant in the Delaware, and
had a bit of navy talk with him; after which I drifted along as far as the
rendezvous. The officer in charge was Mr. M'Kenny, my old first-lieutenant
in the Brandywine, and, before I quitted the house, my name was down,
again, for one of Uncle Sam's sailor-men. In this accidental manner have I
floated about the world, most of my life--not dreaming in the morning,
what would fetch me up before night.
When it was time to go off, I was ready, and was sent on board the Hudson,
which vessel Captain Mix then commanded. I have the consolation of knowing
that I never ran, or thought of running, from either of the eleven
men-of-war on board of which I have served, counting big and little,
service of days and service of years. I had so long a pull in the
receiving-ship, as to get heartily tired of her; and, when an opportunity
offered, I put my name down for the Constellation 38, which was then
fitting out for the West India station, in Norfolk. A draft of us was sent
round to that ship accordingly, and we found she had hauled off from the
yard, and was lying between the forts. When I got on board, I ascertained
that something like fifty of my old liners were in this very ship, some
common motive inducing them to take service in the navy, all at the same
time. As for myself, it happened just as I have related, though I always
liked the navy, and was ever ready to join a ship of war, for a
pleasant cruise.
Commodore Dallas's pennant was flying in the Constellation when I joined
her. A short time afterwards, the ship sailed for the West Indies. As
there was nothing material occurred in the cruise, it is unnecessary to
relate things in the order in which they took place. The ship went to
Havana, Trinidad, Curaçoa, Laguayra, Santa Cruz, Vera Cruz, Campeachy,
Tampico, Key West, &c. We lay more or less time at all these ports, and in
Santa Cruz we had a great ball on board. After passing several months in
this manner, we went to Pensacola. The St. Louis was with us most of this
time, though she did not sail from America in company. The next season the
whole squadron went to Vera Cruz in company, seven or eight sail of us in
all, giving the Mexicans some alarm, I believe.
But the Florida war gave us the most occupation. I was out in all sorts of
ways, on expeditions, and can say I never saw an Indian, except those who
came to give themselves up. I was in steamboats, cutters, launches, and on
shore, marching like a soldier, with a gun on my shoulder, and precious
duty it was for a sailor.
The St. Louis being short of hands, I was also drafted for a cruise in
her; going the rounds much as we had done in the frigate. This was a fine
ship, and was then commanded by Captain Rousseau, an officer much
respected and liked, by us all. Mr. Byrne, my old shipmate in the
Delaware, went out with us as first-lieutenant of the Constellation, but
he did not remain out the whole cruise.
Altogether I was out on the West India station three years, but got into
the hospital, for several months of the time, in consequence of a broken
bone. While in the hospital, the frigate made a cruise, leaving me ashore.
On her return, I was invalided home, in the Levant, Captain Paulding,
another solid, excellent officer. In a word, I was lucky in my officers,
generally; the treatment on board the frigate being just and good. The
duty in the Constellation was very hard, being a sort of soldier duty,
which may be very well for those that are trained to it, but makes bad
weather for us blue-jackets. Captain Mix, the officer with whom I went to
the lakes, was out on the station in command of the Concord, sloop of war,
and, for some time, was in charge of our ship, during the absence of
Commodore Dallas, in his own vessel. In this manner are old shipmates
often thrown together, after years of separation.
In the hospital I was rated as porter, Captain Bolton and Captain Latirner
being my commanding officers; the first being in charge of the yard, and
the second his next in rank. From these two gentlemen I received so many
favours, that it would be ungrateful in me not to mention them. Dr.
Terrill, the surgeon of the hospital, too, was also exceedingly kind to
me, during the time I was under his care.
As I had much leisure time in the hospital, I took charge of a garden, and
got to be somewhat of a gardener. It was said I had the best garden about
Pensacola, which is quite likely true, as I never saw but one other.
The most important thing, however, that occurred to me while in the
hospital, was a disposition that suddenly arose in my mind, to reflect on
my future state, and to look at religious things with serious eyes. Dr.
Terrill had some blacks in his service, who were in the habit of holding
little Methodist meetings, where they sang hymns, and conversed together
seriously. I never joined these people, being too white for that, down at
Pensacola, but I could overhear them from my own little room. A Roman
Catholic in the hospital had a prayer-book in English, which he lent to
me, and I got into the habit of reading a prayer in it, daily, as a sort
of worshipping of the Almighty. This was the first act of mine, that
approached private worship, since the day I left Mr. Marchinton's; if I
except the few hasty mental petitions put up in moments of danger.
After a time, I began to think it would never do for me, a Protestant born
and baptised, to be studying a Romish prayer-book; and I hunted up one
that was Protestant, and which had been written expressly for seamen. This
I took to my room, and used in place of the Romish book. Dr. Terrill had a
number of bibles under his charge, and I obtained one of these, also, and
I actually got into the practice of reading a chapter every night, as
well as of reading a prayer, also knocked off from drink, and ceased to
swear. My reading in the bible, now, was not for the stories, but
seriously to improve my mind and morals.
I must have been several months getting to be more and more in earnest on
the subject of morality, if not of vital religion, when I formed an
acquaintance with a new steward, who had just joined the hospital. This
man was ready enough to converse with me about the bible, but he turned
out to be a Deist, Notwithstanding my own disposition to think more
seriously of my true situation, I had many misgivings on the subject of
the Saviour's being the Son of God. It seemed improbable to me, and I was
falling into the danger which is so apt to beset the new beginner--that of
self-sufficiency, and the substituting of human wisdom for faith. The
steward was not slow in discovering this; and he produced some of Tom
Paine's works, by way of strengthening me in the unbelief. I now read Tom
Paine, instead of the bible, and soon had practical evidence of the bad
effects of his miserable system. I soon got stern-way on me in morals;
began to drink, as before, though seldom intoxicated, and grew indifferent
to my bible and prayer-book, as well as careless of the future. I began to
think that the things of this world were to be enjoyed, and he was the
wisest who made the most of his time.
I must confess, also, that the bad examples which I saw set by men
professing to be Christians, had a strong tendency to disgust me with
religion. The great mistake I made was, in supposing I had undergone any
real change of heart. Circumstances disposed me to reflect, and reflection
brought me to be serious, on subjects that I had hitherto treated with
levity; but the grace of God was still, in a great degree, withheld from
me, leaving me a prey to such arguments as those of the steward, and his
great prophet and master, Mr. Paine.
In the hospital, and that, too, at a place like Pensacola there was little
opportunity for me to break out into my old excesses; though I found
liquor, on one or two occasions, even there, and got myself into some
disgrace in consequence. On the whole, however, the discipline, my
situation, and my own resolution, kept me tolerably correct. It is the
restraint of a ship that alone prevents sailors from dying much sooner
than they do; for it is certain no man could hold out long who passed
three or four months every year in the sort of indulgencies into which I
myself have often run, after returning from long voyages. This is one
advantage of the navy; two or three days of riotous living being all a
fellow _can_ very well get in a three years' cruise. Any man who has ever
been in a vessel of war, particularly in old times, can see the effect
produced by the system, and regular living of a ship. When the crew first
came on board, the men were listless, almost lifeless, with recent
dissipation; some suffering with the "horrors," perhaps; but a few weeks
of regular living would bring them all round; and, by the end of the
cruise, most of the people would come into port, and be paid off, with
renovated constitutions. It is a little different, now, to be sure, as the
men ship for general service, and commonly serve a short apprenticeship in
a receiving vessel, before they are turned over to the sea-going craft.
This brings them on board the last in a little better condition than used
to be the case; but, even now, six months in a man-of-war is a new lease
for a seaman's life.
I say I got myself into disgrace in the hospital of Pensacola, in
consequence of my habit of drinking. The facts were as follows, for I have
no desire to conceal, or to parade before the world, my own delinquencies;
but, I confess them with the hope that the pictures they present, may have
some salutary influence on the conduct of others. The doctor, who was
steadily my friend, and often gave me excellent advice, went north, in
order to bring his wife to Pensacola. I was considered entitled to a
pension for the hurt which had brought me into the hospital, and the
doctor had promised to see something about it, while at Washington. This
was not done, in consequence of his not passing through Washington, as had
been expected. Now, nature has so formed me, that any disgust, or
disappointment, makes me reckless, and awakens a desire to revenge myself,
on myself, as I may say. It was this feeling which first carried me from
Halifax; it was this feeling that made me run from the Sterling; and which
has often changed and sometimes marred my prospects, as I have passed
through life. As soon as I learned that nothing had been said about my
pension, this same feeling came over me, and I became reckless. I had not
drawn my grog for months, and, indeed, had left off drinking entirely; but
I now determined to have my fill, at the first good opportunity. I meant
to make the officers sorry, by doing something that was very wrong, and
for which I should be sorry myself.
I kept the keys of the liquor of the hospital. The first thing was to find
a confederate, which I did in the person of a Baltimore chap, who entered
into my plan from pure love of liquor. I then got a stock of the wine, and
we went to work on it, in my room. The liquor was sherry, and it took nine
bottles of it to lay us both up. Even this did not make me beastly drunk,
but it made me desperate and impudent. I abused the doctor, and came very
near putting my foot into it, with Captain Latimer, who is an officer that
it will not do, always, to trifle with. Still, these gentlemen, with
Captain Bolton, had more consideration for me, than I had for myself, and
I escaped with only a good reprimand. It was owing to this frolic,
however, that I was invalided home--as they call it out there, no one
seeming to consider Pensacola as being in the United States.
When landed from the Levant, I was sent to the Navy Yard Hospital,
Brooklyn. After staying two or three days here, I determined to go to the
seat of government, and take a look at the great guns stationed there,
Uncle Sam and all. I was paid off from the Levant, accordingly, and
leaving the balance with the purser of the yard, I set off on my journey,
with fifty dollars in my pockets, which they tell me is about a member of
Congress' mileage, for the distance I had to go. Of course this was
enough, as a member of Congress would naturally take care and give himself
as much as he wanted.
When I got on board the South-Amboy boat, I found a party of Indians
there, going to head-quarters, like myself. The sight of these chaps set
up all my rigging, and I felt ripe for fun. I treated them to a breakfast
each, and gave them as much to drink as they could swallow. We all got
merry, and had our own coarse fun, in the usual thought less manner of
seamen. This was a bad beginning, and by the time we reached a tavern, I
was ready to anchor. Where this was, is more than I know; for I was not in
a state to keep a ship's reckoning. Whether any of my money was stolen or
not, I cannot say, but I know that some of my clothes were. Next day I got
to Philadelphia, where I had another frolic. After this, I went on to
Washington, keeping it up, the whole distance. I fell in with a soldier
chap, who was out of cash, and who was going to Washington to get a
pension, too; and so we lived in common. When we reached Washington, my
cash was diminished to three dollars and a half, and all was the
consequences of brandy and folly. I had actually spent forty-six dollars
and a half, in a journey that might have been made with ten, respectably!
I got my travelling companion to recommend a boarding-house, which he did.
I felt miserable from my excesses, and went to bed. In the morning, the
three dollars and a half were gone. I felt too ill to go to the Department
that day, but kept on drinking--eating nothing. Next day, my landlord took
the trouble to inquire into the state of my pocket, and I told him the
truth. This brought about a pretty free explanation between us, in which I
was given to understand that my time was up in that place. I afterwards
found out I had got into a regular soldier-house, and it was no wonder
they did not know how to treat an old salt.
Captain Mix had given me a letter to Commodore Chauncey, who was then
living, and one of the Commissioners. I felt pretty certain the old
gentleman would not let one of the Scourges founder at head-quarters, and
so I crawled up to the Department, and got admission to him. The commodore
seemed glad to see me; questioned me a good deal about the loss of the
schooner, and finally gave me directions how to proceed. I then discovered
that my pension ticket had actually reached Washington, but had been sent
back to Pensacola, to get some informality corrected. This would compel me
to remain some time at Washington. I felt unwell, and got back to my
boarding-house with these tidings. The gentleman who kept the house was
far from being satisfied with this, and he gave me a hint that at once put
the door between us. This was the first time I ever had a door shut upon
me, and I am thankful it happened at a soldier rendezvous. I gave the man
all my spare clothes in pawn, and walked away from his house.
I had undoubtedly brought on myself a fit of the "horrors," by my recent
excesses. As I went along the streets, I thought every one was sneering at
me; and, though burning with thirst, I felt ashamed to enter any house to
ask even for water. A black gave me the direction of the Navy Yard, and I
shaped my course for it, feeling more like lying down to die, than
anything else. When about half-way across the bit of vacant land between
the Capitol and the Yard, I sat down under a high picket-fence, and the
devil put it into my head, that it would be well to terminate sufferings
that seemed too hard to be borne, by hanging myself on that very fence. I
took the handkerchief from my neck, made a running bow-line, and got so
far as to be at work at a standing bow-line, to hitch over the top of one
of the poles of the fence.
I now stood up, and began to look for a proper picket to make fast to,
when, in gazing about, I caught sight of the mast-heads of the shipping at
the yard, and of the ensign under which I had so long served! These came
over me, as a light-house comes over a mariner in distress at sea, and I
thought there must be friends for me in that quarter. The sight gave me
courage and strength, and I determined no old shipmate should hear of a
blue-jacket's hanging himself on a picket, in a fit of the horrors.
Casting off the bowlines, I replaced the handkerchief on my neck, and made
the best of my way towards those blessed mast-heads, which, under God's
mercy, were the means of preventing me from committing suicide.
As I came up to the gate of the yard, the marine on post sung out to me,
"Halloo, Myers, where are you come from? You look as if you had been
dragged through h--, and beaten with a soot-bag!" This man, the first I
met at the Navy Yard, had been with me three years in the Delaware, and
knew me in spite of my miserable appearance. He advised me to go on board
the Fulton, then lying at the Yard, where he said I should find several
more old Delawares, who would take good care of me. I did as he directed,
and, on getting on board, I fell in with lots of acquaintances. Some
brought me tea, and some brought me grog. I told my yarn, and the chaps
around me laid a plan to get ashore on liberty that night, and razée the
house from which I had been turned away. But I persuaded them out of the
notion, and the landlord went clear.
Alter a while, I got a direction to a boarding-house near the Yard, and
went to it, with a message from my old shipmates that they would be
responsible for the pay. But to this the man would not listen; he took me
in on my own account, saying that no blue-jacket should be turned from
_his_ door, in distress. Here I staid and got a comfortable night's rest.
Next day I was a new man, holy-stoned the decks, and went a second time to
the Department.
All the gentlemen in the office showed a desire to serve and advise me.
The Pension Clerk gave me a letter to Mr. Boyle, the Chief Clerk, who gave
me another letter to Commodore Patterson, the commandant of the Navy-Yard.
It seems that government provides a boarding-house for us pensioners to
stay in, while at Washington, looking after our rights. This letter of Mr.
Boyle's got me a berth in that house, where I was supplied with
everything, even to washing and mending, for six weeks. Through the
purser, I drew a stock of money from the purser at New York, and now
began, again, to live soberly and respectably, considering all things.
The house in which I lived was a sort of half-hospital, and may have had
six or eight of us in it, altogether. Several of us were cripples from
wounds and hurts, and, among others, was one Reuben James, a thorough old
man-of-war's man, who had been in the service ever since he was a youth.
This man had the credit of saving Decatur's life before Tripoli; but he
owned to me that he was not the person who did it. He was in the fight,
and boarded with Decatur, but did not save his commander's life. He had
been often wounded, and had just had a leg amputated for an old wound,
received in the war of 1812, I believe. Liquor brought him to that.
The reader will remember that the night the Scourge went down I received a
severe blow from her jib-sheet blocks. A lump soon formed on the spot
where the injury had been inflicted, and it had continued to increase
until it was now as large as my fist, or even larger. I showed this lump
to James, one day, and he mentioned it to Dr. Foltz, the surgeon who
attended the house. The doctor took a look at my arm, and recommended an
operation, as the lump would continue to increase, and was already so
large as to be inconvenient. I cannot say that it hurt me any, though it
was an awkward sort of swab to be carrying on a fellow's shoulder. I had
no great relish for being carved, and think I should have refused to
submit to the operation, were it not for James, who told me he would not
be carrying Bunker Hill about on _his_ arm, and would show me his own
stump by way of encouragement. This man seemed to think an old sailor
ought to have a wooden leg, or something of the sort, after he had reached
a certain time of life. At all events, he persuaded me to let the doctor
go to work, and I am now glad I did, as everything turned out well. Doctor
Foltz operated, after I had been about a week under medicine, doing the
job as neatly as man could wish. He told me the lump he removed weighed a
pound and three quarters, and of course I was so much the lighter. I was
about a month, after this, under his care, when he pronounced me to be
sea-worthy again.
I now got things straight as regards my pension, for the hurt received on
board the Constellation. It was no great matter, only three dollars a
month, being one of the small pensions; and the clerks, when they came to
hear about the hurt, for which Dr. Foltz had operated, advised me to get
evidence and procure a pension for _that_. I saw the Secretary, Mr.
Paulding, on this subject, and the gentlemen were so kind as to overhaul
their papers, in order to ascertain who could be found as a witness. They
wrote to Captain Deacon, the officer who commanded the Growler; but he
knew nothing of me, as I never was on board his schooner. This gentleman,
however, wrote me a letter, himself, inviting me to come and see him,
which I had it not in my power to do. I understand he is now dead. Mr.
Trant had been dead many years, and, as for Mr. Bogardus, I never knew
what became of him. He was not in the line of promotion, and probably left
the navy at the peace. In overhauling the books, however, the
pension-clerk came across the name of Lemuel Bryant. This man received a
pension for the wound he got at Little York, and was one of those I had
hauled into the boat when the Scourge went down. He was then living at
Portland, in Maine, his native State. Mr. Paulding advised me to get his
certificate, for all hands in the Department seemed anxious I should not
go away without something better than the three dollars a month. I
promised to go on, and see Lemuel Bryant, and obtain his testimony.
Quitting Washington, I went to Alexandria and got on board a brig, called
the Isabella, bound to New York, at which port we arrived in due time.
Here I obtained the rest of my money, and kept myself pretty steady, more
on account of my wounds, I fear, than anything else. Still I drank too
much; and by way of putting a check on myself, I went to the Sailor's
Retreat, Staten Island, and of course got out of the reach of liquor. Here
I staid eight or ten days, until my wounds healed. While at the Retreat,
the last day I remained there indeed, which was a Sunday, the physician
came in, and told me that a clergyman of the Dutch Reformed Church, of the
name of Miller, was about to have service down stairs, and that I had
better go down and be present. To this request, not only civilly but
kindly made, I answered that I had seen enough of the acts of religious
men to satisfy me, and that I believed a story I was then reading in a
Magazine, would do me as much good as a sermon. The physician said a
little in the way of reproof and admonition, and left me. As soon as his
back was turned, some of my companions began to applaud the spirit I had
shown, and the answer I had given the doctor. But I was not satisfied with
myself. I had more secret respect for such things than I was willing to
own, and conscience upbraided me for the manner in which I had slighted so
well-meaning a request. Suddenly telling those around me that my mind was
changed, and that I _would_ go below and hear what was said, I put this
new resolution in effect immediately.
I had no recollection of the text from which Mr. Miller preached; it is
possible I did not attend to it, at the moment it was given out; but,
during the whole discourse, I fancied the clergyman was addressing himself
particularly to me, and that his eyes were never off me. That he touched
my conscience I know, for the effect produced by this sermon, though not
uninterruptedly lasting, is remembered to the present hour. I made many
excellent resolutions, and secretly resolved to reform, and to lead a
better life. My thoughts were occupied the whole night with what I had
heard, and my conscience was keenly active.
The next morning I quitted the Retreat, and saw no more of Mr. Miller, at
that time; but I carried away with me many resolutions that would have
been very admirable, had they only been adhered to. How short-lived they
were, and how completely I was the slave of a vicious habit, will be seen,
when I confess that I landed in New York a good deal the worse for having
treated some militia-men who were in the steamer, to nearly a dozen
glasses of hot-stuff, in crossing the bay. I had plenty of money, and a
sailor's disposition to get rid of it, carelessly, and what I thought
generously. It was Evacuation-Day, and severely cold, and the hot-stuff
pleased everybody, on such an occasion. Nor was this all. In passing
Whitehall slip, I saw the Ohio's first-cutter lying there, and it happened
that I not only knew the officer of the boat, who had been one of the
midshipmen of the Constellation, but that I knew most of its crew. I was
hailed, of course, and then I asked leave to treat the men. The permission
was obtained, and this second act of liberality reduced me to the
necessity of going into port, under a pilot's charge. Still I had not
absolutely forgotten the sermon, nor all my good resolutions.
At the boarding-house I found a Prussian, named Godfrey, a steady, sedate
man, and I agreed with him to go to Savannah, to engage in the
shad-fishery, for the winter, and to come north together in the spring. My
landlord was not only ill and poor, but he had many children to support,
and it is some proof that all my good resolutions were not forgotten, that
I was ready to go south before my money was gone, and willing it should do
some good, in the interval of my absence. A check for fifty dollars still
remained untouched, and I gave it to this man, with the understanding he
was to draw the money, use it for his own wants, and return it to me, if
he could, when I got back. The money was drawn, but the man died, and I
saw no more of it.
Godfrey and I were shipped in a vessel called the William Taylor, a
regular Savannah packet. It was our intention to quit her as soon as she
got in--by running, if necessary. We had a bad passage, and barely missed
shipwreck on Hatteras, saving the brig by getting a sudden view of the
light, in heavy, thick weather. We got round, under close-reefed topsails,
and that was all we did. After this, we had a quick run to Savannah.
Godfrey had been taken with the small-pox before we arrived, and was sent
to a hospital as soon as possible. In order to prevent running, I feigned
illness, too, and went to another. Here the captain paid me several
visits, but my conscience was too much hardened by the practices of
seamen, to let me hesitate about continuing to be ill. The brig was
obliged to sail without me, and the same day I got well, as suddenly as I
had fallen ill.
I was not long in making a bargain with a fisherman to aid in catching
shad. All this time, I lived at a sailor boarding-house, and was
surrounded by men who, like myself, had quitted the vessels in which they
had arrived. One night the captain of a ship, called the Hope, came to the
house to look for a crew. He was bound to Rotterdam, and his ship lay down
at the second bar, all ready for sea. After some talk, one man signed the
articles; then another, and another, and another, until his crew was
complete to one man. I was now called on to ship, and was ridiculed for
wishing to turn shad-man. My pride was touched, and I agreed to go,
leaving my fisherman in the lurch.
The Hope turned out to be a regular down-east craft, and I had been in so
many flyers and crack ships as to be saucy enough to laugh at the
economical outfit, and staid ways of the vessel. I went on board half
drunk, and made myself conspicuous for such sort of strictures from the
first hour. The captain treated me mildly, even kindly; but I stuck to my
remarks during most of the passage. I was a seaman, and did my duty; but
this satisfied me. I had taken a disgust to the ship; and though I had
never blasphemed since the hour of the accident in the way I did the day
the Susan and Mary was thrown on her beam-ends, I may be said to have
crossed the Atlantic in the Hope, grumbling and swearing at the ship.
Still, our living and our treatment were both good.
At Rotterdam, we got a little money, with liberty. When he last was up, I
asked for more, and the captain refused it. This brought on an explosion,
and I swore I would quit the ship. After a time, the captain consented, as
well as he could, leaving my wages on the cabin-table, where I found them,
and telling me I should repent of what I was then doing. Little did I then
think he would prove so true a prophet.