The Captain, gently putting aside the two little ones who were hanging
lovingly about him, saw every one seated comfortably, and near enough
to hear all he might say, then resuming his own seat, began the account
they had asked for of the early doings of the embryo navy of their
common country.
"We had no navy at all when the Revolutionary War began," he said.
"Rhode Island, the smallest State in the Union, was the first of the
colonies to move in the matter of building and equipping a Continental
fleet. On October 3, 1775, its delegates laid before Congress the
instructions they had received to do what they could to have that work
begun.
"They met with great opposition there; but John Adams was very strongly
in its favour, and did for it all in his power.
"On the 5th of October, Washington was authorized to employ two armed
vessels to intercept British store-ships, bound for Quebec; on the
13th, two armed vessels, of ten and of fourteen guns, were voted; and
seventeen days later, two others of thirty-six guns. That was the
beginning of our navy; and it was very necessary we should have one to
protect our seaport towns and destroy the English ships sent against
us, also to make it more difficult and hazardous for them to bring over
new levies of troops to deprive us of our liberties, and from using
their vessels to destroy our merchantmen, and so put an end to our
commerce.
"Rhode Island had bold and skilful seamen, some of whom had had
something to do with British ships before the war began,--even as early
as 1772.
"In that year there was a British armed schooner called the 'Gaspee,'
in Narragansett Bay, sent there to enforce obnoxious British laws.
"Its officers behaved in so tyrannical a manner toward the Americans of
the neighbourhood that at length they felt it quite unbearable; and one
dark, stormy night in June, Capt. Abraham Whipple, a veteran sailor,
with some brother seamen, went down the bay in open whale-boats, set
the 'Gaspee' on fire, and burned her.
"The British Government of course wanted to punish them, but all
engaged in the work of destruction were so true to each other that it
was impossible to find out who they were; but three years later--in
1775, the year that the war began--the bay was blockaded by an English
frigate, and in some way her commander learned that Whipple had been
the leader of the men who destroyed the 'Gaspee.' He then wrote him a
note."
"You, Abraham Whipple, on the seventeenth of June 1772, burnt his
Majesty's vessel the 'Gaspee,' and I will hang you to the yard-arm."
"Whipple replied with a note."
_To Sir James Wallace_:
Sir,--Always catch a man before you hang him.
Abraham Whipple.
"Good!" laughed Max; "and I think he never did catch him,--did he,
Papa?"
"No, though he made every effort to do so, being greatly angered by the
impudent reply."
"But you don't blame Whipple for answering him in that way,--do you,
Papa?" queried Lulu.
"I can't say that I do," her father said with a slight smile. "And I
think the legislature of Rhode Island did a right and wise thing in
fitting out two armed vessels to drive Sir James and his frigate out of
Narragansett Bay, giving the command of them, and thus the honour of
firing the first gun in the naval service of the Revolution, to Captain
Whipple."
"Oh, that was splendid!" cried several young voices.
"That gave Washington a hint," continued the Captain, "and he
authorized the fitting out of several vessels as privateers, manning
them with these sailor-soldiers."
"What is a privateer, Papa?" asked Gracie.
"A vessel belonging to some private person, or to more than one,
sailing in time of war, with a license from Government to seize,
plunder, and destroy the vessels of the enemy, and any goods they may
carry, wherever found afloat."
"And how do they differ from transports, brother Levis?" asked Rosie.
"Transports are vessels used for the carrying of troops, stores, and
materials of war," he answered.
"Did they do their work well, Captain?" asked Evelyn.
"Some did, and some did not," he answered. "The most successful was
Capt. John Manly, who had been thirty years, or nearly that, on
the sea. He was a skilful fisherman of Marblehead, and Washington
commissioned him as captain.
"He was doubtless well acquainted with the qualifications of the
sailors of that part of the coast, and knew how to select a choice
crew, at all events he was very successful in annoying the enemy, and
soon had captured three ships as they entered Boston Harbour. One
of them was laden with just such things as were badly needed by the
Americans, then besieging Boston,--heavy guns, mortars, and intrenching
tools.
"Manly became a terror to the British, and they tried hard to catch
him."
"If they had, I suppose they'd have hung him," remarked Lulu, half
inquiringly.
"No doubt they would have been glad to do so," her father replied.
"They sent out an armed schooner from Halifax to take him; but he was
too wary and skilful a commander to be easily caught, and he went on
roaming along the seacoast of New England, taking prize after prize
from among the British ships."
"What was the name of his vessel, Papa?" asked Max.
"The 'Lee.' It was not long before Congress created a navy, and Manly
was appointed a captain in it. He did gallant service until he was
taken prisoner by Sir George Collier in the 'Rainbow.'"
"Did they hang him, Papa?" asked Gracie, with a look of distress.
"No; he was kept a prisoner, first on that vessel, then in Mill prison,
Halifax, exchanged after a while, then again taken prisoner while in
command of the 'Pomona,' held a prisoner at Barbadoes, but made his
escape and took command of the privateer 'Jason.' He was afterward
attacked by two privateers, ran in between them, giving both a
broadside at once and making them strike their colours.
"Later he was chased by a British seventy-four, and to escape capture
ran his ship aground on a sand-bar; afterward he succeeded in getting
her off, fired thirteen guns as a defiance, and made his escape."
"Please tell us some more, brother Levis," urged Walter, as the Captain
paused in his narrative; "we'd be glad to hear all the doings of our
navy."
"That would make a long story indeed, my boy," the Captain said with
a smile; "longer than could be told in one day or two. I will try to
relate some few more occurrences of particular interest; and I advise
you all to consult history on the subject after we get home. The coming
winter will be a good time for that.
"In October, 1775, as I have already said, Congress resolved that a
swift sailing-vessel, to carry ten carriage-guns and an appropriate
number of swivels, should be fitted out for a cruise of three months
for the purpose of intercepting British transports. They also formed
a Marine Committee consisting of seven members, and ordered another
vessel to be built,--the Marine Committee performing the duties now
falling to the share of our Secretary of the Navy.
"Later in that same year Congress ordered thirteen more vessels to be
built. They were the 'Washington,' 'Randolph,' 'Warren,' 'Hancock,'
'Raleigh,' each carrying thirty-two guns; the 'Effingham,' 'Delaware,'
'Boston,' 'Virginia,' 'Providence,' 'Montgomery,' 'Congress' and
'Trumble;' some of these were armed with twenty-eight, others with
twenty-four guns."
"They made Abraham Whipple captain of one,--didn't they, Papa?" asked
Max.
"Yes; Nicholas Biddle, Dudly Saltonstall and John B. Hopkins captains
of the others, and Esek Hopkins commander-in-chief. He was considered
as holding about the same rank in the navy that Washington did in the
army, and was styled indifferently admiral or commodore.
"Among the first lieutenants appointed was John Paul Jones, who became
a famous commander before the war was over,--a great naval hero. But
you have all heard of him I think."
"Oh, yes," said Rosie. "It was he who commanded the 'Bonhomme Richard'
in that hard-fought battle with the British ship 'Serapis.'"
"Yes," replied the Captain. "It was one of the most desperate conflicts
on record, and resulted in victory for Jones and the 'Bonhomme
Richard,' though she was so badly damaged,--'counters and quarters
driven in, all her lower-deck guns dismounted, on fire in two places,
and six or seven feet of water in the hold'--that she had to be
abandoned, and sank the next morning.
"Pearson the captain of the 'Serapis,' though defeated, had made so
gallant a fight that he was knighted by the king. When Jones heard of
it he said, 'He deserves it; and if I fall in with him again I'll make
a lord of him.'
"I think he--Pearson--was more gallant than polite or generous; for on
offering his sword to Jones after his surrender he said, 'I cannot,
sir, but feel much mortification at the idea of surrendering my sword
to a man who has fought me with a rope round his neck.'"
"Just like an Englishman!" exclaimed Max, hotly; "but what did Jones
say in reply, Papa?"
"He returned the sword, saying, 'You have fought gallantly, sir, and I
hope your king will give you a better ship.'"
"That was a gentlemanly reply," said Lulu, "and I hope Jones got the
credit he deserved for his splendid victory."
"Europe and America rang with his praises," said her father. "The
Empress of Russia gave him the ribbon of St. Ann, the King of Denmark
a pension, and the King of France a gold-mounted sword with the words
engraved upon its blade, 'Louis XVI., rewarder of the valiant assertor
of the freedom of the sea.' He also made him a Knight of the Order of
Merit.
"Nothing ever occurred afterward to dim his fame, and he is known in
history as the Chevalier John Paul Jones."
Just here a passing vessel attracted the attention of the captain and
the others, and it was not until some hours later that the conversation
in regard to the doings of the navy was resumed.