“I am pretty much _hors de combat_ already. I have hardly men enough to
work a single gun and my ship is in a sinking condition.”
“I wish to know, sir,” demanded Read peremptorily, “whether I am to
consider you as a prisoner of war or as an enemy. I have no time for
further parley.”
Dacres paused, and then said, brokenly, “I believe now there is no
alternative. If I could fight longer I would with pleasure, but I--I must
surrender.”
When Dacres went up the side of the “Constitution” to surrender his sword
he was treated in the manner befitting his rank by a generous enemy.
Captain Hull assisted him to the deck, saying, anxiously,--
“Dacres, give me your hand; I know you are hurt.” And when the Englishman
extended his sword, hilt forward, in formal surrender, Hull said,
magnanimously,--
“No, no; I will not have the sword of a man who knows so well how to use
it. But”--and his eyes twinkled merrily--“but I’ll thank you for that
hat.” He had not forgotten the wager, if Dacres had.
The transferring of prisoners was at once begun, for it was seen that the
“Guerriere” was a hopeless hulk, not fit to take to port. When this was
all completed and every article of value taken from her, she was blown
up, and the “Constitution” sailed for Boston.
She arrived at an opportune time. For Detroit had been surrendered without
firing a shot in its defence, and the American arms on the Canadian
frontier had otherwise met with disastrous failure. The “Constitution,”
gaily dressed in flags, came up the harbor amid the booming of cannon and
the wildest of excitement among the people. A banquet was given to the
officers in Faneuil Hall, and from that time the American navy gained a
prestige at home it has never since lost. Congress voted a gold medal to
Captain Hull, silver ones to the officers, and fifty thousand dollars as
a bonus to the crew.
The statistics of the fight are as follows:
The “Constitution” had fifty-five guns, the “Guerriere” forty-nine,
sending shot weighing approximately seven hundred and six hundred
pounds respectively. The “Constitution’s” crew numbered four hundred and
sixty-eight; that of the “Guerriere” two hundred and sixty-three. The
“Constitution” lost seven killed and seven wounded, and the “Guerriere”
fifteen killed and sixty-three wounded. All authorities acknowledge
that, other things being equal, the discrepancy in metal and crews hardly
explains the difference in the condition of the vessels at the end of the
battle.