Captures Made After the Signing of the Treaty of Peace--The
Privateers--Exploit of the _General Armstrong_--Its Far-Reaching Result.
The treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States was
signed December 24, 1814, at the city of Ghent, in Belgium. Had the
submarine telegraph been known at that time, or had we possessed our
ocean greyhounds, a good deal of blood-shed would have been saved, and
the most important victory of the whole war would not have been gained.
General Jackson won his famous triumph at New Orleans--still celebrated
in all parts of the country--January 8, 1815; the _President_ was
captured by a British fleet, January 15; Captain Stewart captured the
_Cyane_ and _Levant_, February 20; the _Hornet_ took the _Penguin_,
March 23, and the _Peacock_ captured the _Nautilus_, in a distant part
of the world, June 30. That was the last of hostilities between the two
countries, and let us pray that it will be the last for all time to
come.
In the account of the naval exploits of the War of 1812, I have confined
myself to those of the regular cruisers of the United States, but in no
other war in which we were engaged did the privateers play so prominent
a part. These vessels were usually schooners or brigs of 200 or 300
tons, with crews varying from 75 to 100 men. They left all of our
principal ports, many of the swiftest and most effective going from
Baltimore, but twenty-six were fitted out in New York alone in the
summer of 1812. Probably the whole number engaged was about six hundred.
Of the four hundred British prizes captured in the second year of the
war, four-fifths were taken by privateers. A favorite cruising ground
was the West Indies, but some of the vessels ventured across the ocean
and displayed a degree of boldness that recalled the days of Paul Jones.
Among the most famous were the _Reindeer_, _Avon_ and _Blakeley_, built
in a few weeks, near Boston, in 1814. They were so large and well
equipped that more than once they attacked and defeated British
warships.
Some of the privateers which left Charleston, Bristol and Plymouth were
nothing but pilot boats, carrying twenty or thirty men each, who gave
their attention to the West Indies. They were often obliged to deplete
their crews to that extent in order to man their prizes that barely
enough were left to manage their own ships. In those days all, of
course, were sailing vessels, and they carried nothing in the shape of
armor. Their guns were cannon, loading at the muzzle and firing solid
shot. The most effective of these was the "Long Tom," which was
generally mounted on a pivot forward, and used in firing upon a fleeing
vessel.
[Illustration: GENERAL ANDREW JACKSON.]
(_Afterward President of the United States_.)
The most famous achievement was that of the privateer _General
Armstrong_, which carried nine long guns, the largest being 24-pounders,
or "long nines." She sailed with a large crew, which was depleted to
ninety on account of the number in charge of the prizes captured. Her
commander was Captain Samuel C. Reid, born in Connecticut in 1783, and
died in 1861. It was he who designed the accepted pattern of the United
States flag, with its thirteen stripes and one star for each State. The
fifteen-striped flag, which it has been stated was carried through the
War of 1812, remained the pattern until 1818, when the change referred
to was made.
While engaged upon one of his successful cruises, Captain Reid put into
the harbor of Fayal, one of the Azores, to provision his ship. He was
thus employed when Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane, of England, reached the
same port and on the same errand. He had with him three vessels: the
flagship _Plantagenet_, 74 guns; the frigate _Rotan_, 38 guns, and the
brig _Carnation_, 18 guns. This powerful squadron was manned by 2,000
men, and was on the way to New Orleans with the purpose of occupying the
city.
When the British admiral discovered the American privateer within the
harbor, he placed his own vessels so as to prevent its escape. Captain
Reid did not think the enemy would attack him, since the harbor was
neutral, but the previous experience of his countrymen warned him that
it was not safe to count upon the British respecting the laws of war
when there was an opportunity to destroy one of the pests of the ocean.
He cleared his decks and made every preparation against attack, and it
was well he did so.
It was not long before he observed several boats, crowded with men,
leave the _Plantagenet_ and row toward him. This was on the 26th of
September. There being no doubt of their hostile purpose, Captain Reid
several times warned them off, but they paid no attention to him. He
then fired upon the boats, and a number of the crews were killed and
wounded. This was a sort of reception they had not counted upon, and the
boats turned about and hastily rowed back to the flagship.
"We have got to fight," said Captain Reid to his men; "they will attack
us again to-night, and things will be lively."
There was no thought of surrender on the part of the Americans, though,
as will be noted, they were threatened by a force more than twenty times
as numerous as their own. They sent their valuables ashore and disposed
of everything, as if not a man expected to emerge from the fight alive.
All were cool and confident, and the dauntless courage of the commander
inspired every one around him.
Night settled over the harbor, and by and by the sounds of oars showed
the enemy were approaching again. Through the gloom seven boats,
containing two hundred men, loomed into view, coming straight for the
_General Armstrong_. Each carried a carronade, with which they opened
fire on the privateer. The reply of the latter was so well directed and
effective that three of the boats were sunk and their crews left
struggling in the water. The cries that sounded across the harbor left
no doubt of the effect of the fire of the American.
The four remaining boats were not frightened off, but, rowing with might
and main, reached the side of the vessel and began clambering on board.
They were enraged, and as their heads rose above the gunwales they
shouted, "No quarter!"
"No quarter!" replied the Americans, discharging their pistols in their
faces and pressing them back into the water with their pikes. The
assailants displayed great bravery and made desperate efforts to board
the privateer; but the Americans needed not the incentive of the warning
that no quarter would be given to fight with all the vigor and skill at
their command. The struggle was a furious one, but in the end the
British were so decisively defeated that only two of the boats returned
to the ships. The others, filled with dead and wounded, drifted ashore.
[Illustration: BRITISH ATTACK ON SULLIVAN ISLAND.]
(_Our Last Naval Engagement with England_.)
In this brief but terrific struggle there were only two Americans killed
and seven wounded, while the enemy acknowledged a loss of thirty-four
killed and eighty-six wounded, the former including the leader of the
expedition.
Admiral Cochrane was so incensed by the rough treatment his men had
received that he determined to throw neutrality to the winds and destroy
the defiant privateer. Nothing more was attempted that evening, but in
the morning the _Carnation_ advanced to the attack of the _General
Armstrong_. This gave the latter a chance to bring its Long Tom into
play, and it was served with such unerring accuracy that not a shot
missed. Before the brig could come to close quarters she was so crippled
that she was obliged to withdraw.
The three ships now closed in. It would have been folly to fight them.
So Captain Reid scuttled his ship, lowered his boats and rowed ashore.
The enemy were disposed to follow him thither, but he and his men took
refuge in an old stone fortress and dared the Englishmen to do so. Upon
second thought they decided to leave the Americans to themselves.
This wonderful exploit was celebrated in song, one stanza of which ended
thus:
"From set of sun till rise of morn, through the long September night,
Ninety men against two thousand, and the ninety won the fight;
In the harbor of Fayal the Azore."
While the victory of itself was one of the most remarkable of which
there is any record, it resembled that of Perry on Lake Erie in its
far-reaching consequences. Admiral Cochrane found his ships so crippled
that he returned to England to refit. He then sailed for New Orleans,
which he reached a few days after it had been occupied by General
Jackson. But for the delay caused by his fight with Captain Reid he
would have shut out General Jackson from the city and prevented his
winning the most glorious land victory of the whole war.
LESSER WARS.