THE BUILDING OF THE ESSEX
(1799)
Twentieth century battleships are built at a cost of six or seven
millions of dollars with the likelihood of becoming obsolete before
they fire a gun in action. It is a task of years to construct one of
these mighty fabrics, short-lived as they are in service, and crammed
with intricate machinery whose efficiency under stress of war is
largely experimental.
One hundred and ten years ago there was launched from a Salem shipyard
a wooden sailing frigate called the _Essex_. She was the fastest and
handsomest vessel of the United States navy and a dozen years after
she first flew the flag of her country she won immortal renown under
Captain David Porter. There is hardly a full-rigged sailing ship afloat
to-day as small as the _Essex_, and in tonnage many modern three-masted
coasting schooners can equal or surpass her. Yet her name is one of the
most illustrious in the list of a navy which bears also those of the
_Constitution_, the _Hartford_, the _Kearsarge_ and the _Olympia_.
It was the maritime war with France at the end of the eighteenth
century which caused the building of the _Essex_. When American
commerce was being harried unto death by the frigates and privateersmen
of “the Terrible Republic” as our sailors called France, our shadow
of a navy was wholly helpless to resist, or to protect its nation’s
shipping. At length, in 1797, Congress authorized the construction
of the three famous frigates, _Constitution_, _Constellation_ and
_United States_, to fight for American seamen’s rights. The temper
and conditions of that time were reflected in an address to Congress
delivered by President John Adams on November 23, 1797, in which he
said:
“The commerce of the United States is essential, if not to their
existence, at least to their comfort, growth and prosperity. The
genius, character and habits of our people are highly commercial. Their
cities have been formed and exist upon commerce; our agriculture,
fisheries, arts and manufactures are connected with and dependent
upon it. In short, commerce has made this country what it is, and
it cannot be destroyed or neglected without involving the people in
poverty or distress. Great numbers are directly and solely supported
by navigation. The faith of society is pledged for the preservation of
the rights of commercial and seafaring, no less than other citizens.
Under this view of our affairs I should hold myself guilty of neglect
of duty if I forebore to recommend that we should make every exertion
to protect our commerce and to place our country in a suitable posture
of defence as the only sure means of preserving both.”
The material progress of this country has veered so far from seafaring
activities that such doctrine as this sounds as archaic as a Puritan
edict for bearing arms to church as a protection against hostile
savages. One great German or English liner entering the port of New
York registers a tonnage equaling that of the whole fleet of ships in
the foreign trade of Salem in her golden age of adventurous discovery.
Yet the liner has not an American among her crew of five hundred men,
and not one dollar of American money is invested in her huge hull. She
is a matter of the most complete indifference to the American people,
who have ceased to care under what flags their commerce is borne over
seas.
On the other hand, the shipping of Salem and other ports was a factor
vital to national welfare a century ago. But when John Adams preached
the necessity of resorting to arms to protect it, the country was too
poor to create a navy adequate for defense. Forthwith the merchants
whose ships were being destroyed in squadrons by French piracy offered
to contribute their private funds to build a fleet of frigates that
should reinforce the few naval vessels in commission or authorized.
It was a rally for the common good, a patriotic movement in which the
spirit of ’76 flamed anew. The principles that moved the American
people were voiced by James McHenry, Secretary of War in 1789, in a
letter to the Chairman of the Committee of the House of Representatives
for the Protection of Commerce:
“France derives several important advantages from the system she is
pursuing toward the United States. Besides the sweets of plunder
obtained by her privateers she keeps in them a nursery of seamen to be
drawn upon in conjunctures by the navy. She unfits by the same means
the United States for energetic measures and thereby prepares us for
the last degree of humiliation and subjection.
“To forbear under such circumstances from taking naval and military
measures to secure our trade, defend our territories in case of
invasion, and to prevent or suppress domestic insurrection, would be to
offer up the United States a certain prey to France ... and exhibit to
the world a sad spectacle of national degradation and imbecility.”
[Illustration: The frigate _Essex_, from the only painting made during
her career at sea]
In June of the following year, Congress passed an act “to accept not
exceeding twelve vessels on the credit of the United States, and to
cause evidences of debt to be given therefor, allowing an interest
thereon not exceeding six per cent.” It was in accordance with this
measure, which confessed that the United States was too poor to build
a million dollars’ worth of wooden ships of war from its treasury,
that subscription lists were opened at Newbury, Salem, Boston,
New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Norfolk, the citizens of each
of these seaports making ready to contribute a frigate as a loan to
the government. Even the infant city of Cincinnati subscribed toward
equipping a galley for the defense of the Mississippi against the
French.
At Salem, Elias Hasket Derby and William Gray, the two foremost
shipping merchants of the town, led the subscription list with the
sum of ten thousand dollars each, and in a few weeks $74,700 had been
raised in contributions as small as fifty dollars.
_The Salem Gazette_ of October 26, 1798, contained this item: “At
a meeting in the Courthouse in this town Tuesday evening last, of
those gentlemen who have subscribed to build a ship for the service
of the United States, it was voted unanimously to build a Frigate of
thirty-two guns and to loan the same to the Government; and William
Gray, jr., John Norris and Jacob Ashton, Esqr., Captain Benjamin Hodges
and Captain Ichabod Nichols were chosen a committee to carry the same
into immediate effect.” Captain Joseph Waters was appointed General
Agent, and Enos Briggs, a shipbuilder of Salem, was selected as master
builder.
The Master Builder inserted this advertisement in the Essex _Gazette_:
“THE SALEM FRIGATE
“TAKE NOTICE.
“To Sons of Freedom! All true lovers of Liberty of your Country. Step
forth and give your assistance in building the frigate to oppose
French insolence and piracy. Let every man in possession of a white
oak tree be ambitious to be foremost in hurrying down the timber to
Salem where the noble structure is to be fabricated to maintain your
rights upon the seas and make the name of America respected among the
nations of the world. Your largest and longest trees are wanted, and
the arms of them for knees and rising timber. Four trees are wanted
for the keel, which altogether will measure 146 feet in length, and
hew 16 inches square. Please to call on the subscriber who wants to
make contracts for large or small quantities as may suit best and will
pay the ready cash.
“ENOS BRIGGS.
“Salem, November 23, 1798.”
So enthusiastic was the response to the call for material that Master
Builder Enos Briggs was obliged to have this advertisement printed:
“THE SALEM FRIGATE
“Through the medium of the _Gazette_ the subscriber pays his
acknowledgements to the good people of the county of Essex for their
spirited exertions in bringing down the trees of the forest for
building the Frigate. In the short space of four weeks the complement
of timber has been furnished. Those who have contributed to their
country’s defence are invited to come forward and receive the reward
of their patriotism. They are informed that with permission of a kind
Providence, who hath hitherto favored the undertaking,
Next September is the time
When we’ll launch her from the strand
And our cannon load and prime
With tribute due to Talleyrand.
“ENOS BRIGGS.
“Salem, Jan. 1, 1799.”
The great timbers for the ship’s hull were cut in the “wood lots” of
Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and other nearby towns of Essex county and
hauled through the snowy streets of Salem on sleds drawn by slow-moving
oxen, while the people cheered them as they passed. The keel of the
frigate was laid on the 13th of April, 1799, and she was launched five
months and seventeen days later, on the 30th of September, Master
Builder Briggs saving his reputation as a prophet by the narrowest
possible margin.
The _Essex_ was a Salem ship from keel to truck. Her cordage was made
in three rope walks. Captain Jonathan Haraden, the most famous Salem
privateersman of the Revolution, made the rigging for the mainmast at
his factory in Brown Street. Joseph Vincent fitted out the foremast
and Thomas Briggs the mizzenmast in their rigging lofts at the foot of
the Common. When the huge hemp cables were ready to be carried to the
frigate, the workmen who had made them conveyed them to the shipyard
on their shoulders, the procession led by a fife and drum. Her sails
were cut from duck woven for the purpose at Daniel Rust’s factory in
Broad Street, and her iron work was forged by the Salem shipsmiths.
Six months before she slid into the harbor her white oak timbers were
standing in the woodlands of Massachusetts.
The glorious event of her launching inspired the editor of the Salem
_Gazette_ to this flight of eulogy:
“And Adams said: ‘Let there be a navy and there was a navy.’ To build a
navy was the advice of our venerable sage. How far it had been adhered
to is demonstrated by almost every town in the United States that is
capable of floating a galley or a gunboat.
“Salem has not been backward in this laudable design. Impressed with a
sense of the importance of a navy, the patriotic citizens of this town
put out a subscription and thereby obtained an equivalent for building
a vessel of force. Among the foremost in this good work were Messrs.
Derby and Gray, who set the example by subscribing ten thousand dollars
each. But alas, the former is no more—we trust his good deeds follow
him.
“Such was the patriotic zeal with which our citizens were inspired,
that in the short space of six months they contracted for the materials
and equipment of a frigate of thirty-two guns, and had her complete for
launching. The chief part of her timber was standing but six months
ago, and in a moment as it were, ‘every grove descended’ and put in
force the patriotic intentions of those at whose expense she was built.
“Yesterday the Stars and Stripes were unfurled on board the frigate
_Essex_ and at 12 o’clock she made a majestic movement into her
destined element, there to join her sister craft in repelling foreign
aggressions and maintaining the rights and liberties of a ‘Great, Free,
Powerful and Independent Nation.’
“The concourse of spectators was immense. The heart-felt satisfaction
of the beholders of this magnificent spectacle was evinced by the
concording shouts and huzzas of thousands which reiterated from every
quarter.
“The unremitting zeal of Mr. Briggs, the architect of this beautiful
ship, cannot be too highly applauded. His assiduity in bringing her
into a state of such perfection in so short a time entitles him to the
grateful thanks of his Country and we fondly hope his labors have not
been spent in vain, for we may truly say that he has not ‘given rest
to the sole of his foot’ since her keel was first laid. At least he
will have the consolation of reflecting on the important service he has
rendered his country in this notable undertaking.”
The guns of the frigate had been planted on a nearby hill, and as she
took the water they thundered a salute which was echoed by the cannon
of armed merchant vessels in the harbor. This famous frigate, literally
built by the American people, their prayers and hopes wrought into
every timber of her with the labor of their own hands, cost a trifle
less than $75,000 when turned over to the Government. The _Essex_ was
a large vessel for her time, measuring 850 tons. She was 146 feet in
length “over all,” while her keel was 118 feet long. Her beam was 37
feet and her depth of hold 12 feet 3 inches. The height between her gun
deck and lower deck was only 5 feet 9 inches. Her mainmast was 85 feet
long with a head of 12 feet. Above this was a topmast 55 feet long with
a head of 7½ feet, and towering skyward from the topmast her topgallant
mast of 40 feet with a head of 15 feet. Her mainyard was 80 feet long.
Rigged as a three-masted ship, with an unusual spread of canvas, the
_Essex_ must have been a rarely beautiful marine picture when under
way. The handling of such a majestic fabric as one of these old-time
men-of-war is mirrored in the song of “The Fancy Frigate” which
describes how such a ship as this noble _Essex_ was manned by the
hundreds of tars who swarmed among her widespread yards:
“Now my brave boys comes the best of the fun,
All hands to make sail, going large is the song.
From under two reefs in our topsails we lie,
Like a cloud in the air, in an instant must fly.
There’s topsails, topgallant sails, and staysails too,
There is stu’nsails and skysails, star gazers so high,
By the sound of one pipe everything it must fly.
Now, my brave boys, comes the best of the fun,
About ship and reef topsails in one.
All hands up aloft when the helm goes down,
Lower way topsails when the mainyard goes round.
Chase up and lie out and take two reefs in one,
In a moment of time all this work must be done.
Man your head braces, your haulyards and all,
And hoist away topsails when it’s ‘let go and haul,’
As for the use of tobacco all thoughts leave behind,
If you spit on the deck then your death warrant sign.
If you spit overboard either gangway or starn
You are sure of six dozen by way of no harm.”
But before this “fancy frigate” of the American navy could get to sea,
there was much to be done. Captain Richard Derby of Salem had been
selected to command her, but he was abroad in one of his own ships and
could not return home in time to equip the frigate for active service.
Therefore, Captain Edward Preble of the navy was offered the command,
which he accepted and hastened to Salem to put his battery and stores
aboard and recruit a crew. It is related that when Captain Preble saw
the armament that had been prepared for his ship he found the gun
carriages not at all to his liking.
“Who built those gun carriages,” he angrily demanded of Master Builder
Briggs.
“Deacon Gould,” was the answer.
“Send for Deacon Gould to meet me at the Sun tavern this evening,”
ordered Captain Preble.
Deacon Gould made his appearance and found Captain Preble waiting with
somewhat of irritation in his demeanor. The deacon was a man of the
most dignified port and he asked:
“What may be your will, Captain Preble?”
“You do not know how to make gun carriages, sir,” exclaimed the
fighting sailor.
“What’s that you say, Captain Preble. What’s that you say?” thundered
Deacon Gould. “I knew how to make gun carriages before you were born,
and if you say that word again I will take you across my knee and play
Master Hacker[29] with you, sir.”
Both men were of a hair-trigger temper and a clash was prevented by
friends who happened to be in the tavern. Captain Preble proceeded to
have the gun carriages cut down to suit him, however, as may be learned
from the following entry in his sea journal kept on board the _Essex_:
“26 12-pound cannon were taken on board for the main battery; mounted
them and found the carriages all too high; dismounted the cannon and
sent the carriages ashore to be altered.”
The battery of the _Essex_ consisted of 26 12-pounders on the gun
decks; 6 6-pounders on the quarter deck; 32 guns in all. During his
first cruise at sea Captain Preble recommended to the Secretary of the
Navy that 9-pounders replace the 6-pound guns on the quarterdeck which
he thought strong enough to bear them, a tribute to honest construction
by Master Builder Enos Briggs.
The official receipt of the acceptance of the _Essex_ in behalf of the
Government of the United States which Captain Preble gave the Salem
committee reads as follows:
“The Committee for building a frigate in Salem for the United States
having delivered to my charge the said frigate called the _Essex_,
with her hull, masts, spars and rigging complete, and furnished her
with one complete suit of sails, two bower cables and anchors, one
stream cable and anchor, one hawser, and kedge anchor, one tow line,
four boats and a full set of spare masts and spars except the lower
masts and bowsprit, I have in behalf of the United States received the
said frigate _Essex_ and signed duplicate receipts for the same.
“EDWARD PREBLE, Captain, U. S. N.
“Salem, Dec. 17, 1799.”
This receipt was not given until Captain Preble had taken time to make
a thorough examination of the vessel, for his first letter to the
Secretary of the Navy concerning the _Essex_ was written on November
17th, more than a month earlier than the foregoing document. He
reported on this previous date:
“Sir. I have the honor to inform you that I arrived here last evening
and have taken charge of the _Essex_. She is now completely rigged,
has all her ballast on board, and her stock of water will be nearly
complete by to-morrow night.... I am much in want of officers to
attend the ship, and the recruiting service. I shall be obliged to
open a rendezvous to-morrow to recruit men sufficient to make the ship
safe at her anchors in case of a storm. I presume the _Essex_ can be
got ready for sea in thirty days if my recruiting instructions arrive
soon. The agent, Mr. Waters, and the Committee are disposed to render
me every assistance in their power.
“Very respectfully,
“Your obedient servant,
“EDWARD PREBLE, Capt.
“To the Hon. Secretary of the Navy, etc., etc.”
In another letter with the foregoing address Captain Preble wrote:
“I beg leave to recommend Mr. Rufus Low of Cape Ann for Sailing Master
of the _Essex_. He has served as captain of a merchant ship for several
years and has made several voyages to India and sustains a good
reputation. His principal inducement for soliciting this appointment is
the injuries he has sustained by the French.”
The crew of the _Essex_, officers and men, numbered two hundred and
fifty when she went to sea. It was a ship’s company of Americans of
the English strain who had become native to the soil and cherished as
hearty a hatred for the mother country as they did the most patriotic
ardor for their new republic. There were only two “Macs” and one “O’”
on the ship’s muster rolls, and men and boys were almost without
exception of seafaring New England stock. In a letter of instructions
to Captain Preble, the Secretary of the Navy, Benjamin Stoddard, wrote
of the proposed complement of the _Essex_:
“Sixty able bodied seamen, seventy-three ordinary seamen, thirty boys,
fifty marines including officers. Able seamen $17 per month, ordinary
seamen and boys $5 to $17.”
Captain Preble was greatly pleased with the behavior of the frigate in
her first “trying out” run from Salem to Newport. He wrote from sea to
Joseph Waters:
“The _Essex_ is a good sea boat and sails remarkably fast. She went
eleven miles per hour with topgallant sails set and within six points
of the wind.”
He also wrote the Secretary of the Navy after leaving Newport:
“I have the honor to acquaint you that the _Essex_ in coming out of
the harbor sailed much faster than the _Congress_, and is, I think, in
every respect a fine frigate.”
Nor was this admiration limited to her own officers, for from the Cape
of Good Hope, on her first deep-water cruise, Captain Preble wrote home:
“The _Essex_ is much admired for the beauty of her construction by the
officers of the British Navy.”
In company with the frigate _Congress_ the _Essex_ sailed in January,
1800, for Batavia to convoy home a fleet of American merchantmen. Six
days out the _Congress_ was dismasted in a storm which the _Essex_
weathered without damage and proceeded alone as the first American war
vessel to double the Cape of Good Hope. Ten months later she reached
the United States with her merchantmen. The _Essex_ had not the good
fortune to engage the enemy, for a treaty of peace with France was
signed in February, 1801.
Captain Preble left the ship because of ill health, and in command
of Captain Wm. Bainbridge, she joined the Mediterranean squadron of
Commodore Richard Dale. She made two cruises in this service until
1805, and played a peaceful part on the naval list until the coming
of the War of 1812. At that time the eighteen-gun ship _Wasp_ was
the only American war vessel on a foreign station. A small squadron
was assembled at New York under Commodore Rodgers, comprising the
_President_, _Hornet_ and _Essex_. Captain David Porter had been
given command of the _Essex_ and he sailed with this squadron which
was later reinforced by the ships assembled with the pennant of
Commodore Decatur. The _Essex_ took several prizes, and fought a fierce
single-ship action with H. B. M. ship _Alert_ of twenty guns and 100
men, which he captured.
The immortal cruise of the _Essex_ under David Porter began when he was
ordered to meet Bainbridge’s ships, the _Constellation_ and _Hornet_ in
South American waters. Failing to find the squadron at the rendezvous
in the South Atlantic, in April David Porter headed for Cape Horn and
the Pacific in search of British commerce. Early in 1813 he was able to
report:
“I have completely broke up the British navigation in the Pacific;
the vessels which had not been captured by me were laid up and dared
not venture out. I have afforded the most ample protection to our own
vessels which were on my arrival very numerous and unprotected. The
valuable whale fishery there is entirely destroyed and the actual
injury we have done them may be estimated at two and a half million
dollars, independent of the vessels in search of me.
“They have furnished me amply with sails, cordage, cables, anchors,
provisions, medicines, and stores of every description; and the slops
on board have furnished clothing for my seamen. I have in fact lived on
the enemy since I have been in that sea, every prize having proved a
well-found store ship for me.”
In letters from Valparaiso Captain Porter was informed that a British
squadron commanded by Commodore James Hillyar was seeking him. This
force comprised the frigate _Phoebe_ of thirty-six guns, the _Raccoon_
and _Cherub_, sloops of war, and a store ship of twenty guns. “My ship,
as it may be supposed after being near a year at sea,” wrote Captain
Porter, “required some repairs to put her in a state to meet them;
which I determined to do and to bring them to action if I could meet
them on nearly equal terms.”
With this purpose in mind Captain Porter went in search of the British
squadron. In his words: “I had done all the injury that could be done
the British commerce in the Pacific, and still hoped to signalize my
cruise by something more splendid before leaving that sea.”
“Agreeably to his expectation,” as Captain Porter phrased it, the
_Phoebe_ appeared at Valparaiso shortly after the arrival of the
_Essex_ in that port. But instead of offering a duel on even terms
between the two frigates, the British Commodore brought with him the
_Cherub_ sloop of war. These two British vessels had a combined force
of eighty-one guns and 500 men, as compared with the thirty-six guns
and fewer than 300 men of the _Essex_. “Both ships had picked crews,”
said Captain Porter, “and were sent into the Pacific in company with
the _Raccoon_ of 32 guns and a store ship of 20 guns for the express
purpose of seeking the _Essex_, and were prepared with flags bearing
the motto, ‘God and Country; British Sailors Best Rights; Traitors
Offend Both.’ This was intended as reply to my motto, ‘Free Trade and
Sailors’ Rights,’ under the erroneous impression that my crew were
chiefly Englishmen, or to counteract its effect on their own crew....
In reply to their motto, I wrote at my mizzen: ‘God and Our Country;
Tyrants Offend Them.’”
Alongside the _Essex_ lay the _Essex, Junior_, an armed prize which
carried twenty guns and sixty men. For six weeks the two American
vessels lay in harbor while the British squadron cruised off shore
to blockade them, “during which time, I endeavored to provoke a
challenge,” explained Captain Porter, “and frequently but ineffectually
to bring the _Phoebe_ alone to action, first with both my ships, and
afterwards with my single ship with both crews on board. I was several
times under way and ascertained that I had greatly the advantage in
point of sailing, and once succeeded in closing within gun shot of
the _Phoebe_, and commenced a fire on her, when she ran down for the
_Cherub_ which was two miles and a half to leeward. This excited some
surprise and expressions of indignation, as previous to my getting
under way she hove to off the port, hoisted her motto flag and fired a
gun to windward. Com. Hillyar seemed determined to avoid a contest with
me on nearly equal terms and from his extreme prudence in keeping both
his ships ever after constantly within hail of each other, there were
no hopes of any advantages to my country from a long stay in port. I
therefore determined to put to sea the first opportunity which should
offer.”
On the 28th of March, 1813, the day after this determination was
formed, the wind blew so hard from the southward that the _Essex_
parted her port cable, and dragged her starboard anchor out to sea. Not
a moment was to be lost in getting sail on the ship to save her from
stranding. Captain Porter saw a chance of crowding out to windward of
the _Phoebe_ and _Cherub_, but his main-topmast was carried away by
a heavy squall, and in his disabled condition he tried to regain the
port. Letting go his anchor in a small bay, within pistol shot of a
neutral shore, he made haste to repair damages.
The _Phoebe_ and _Cherub_ bore down on the _Essex_, which was anchored
in neutral water, their “motto flags,” and union jacks flying from
every masthead. The crippled _Essex_ was made ready for action, and
was attacked by both British ships at three o’clock in the afternoon.
Describing the early part of the engagement Captain Porter reported to
the Navy Department:
“My ship had received many injuries, and several had been killed and
wounded; but my brave officers and men, notwithstanding the unfavorable
circumstances under which we were brought to action and the powerful
force opposed to us, were in no way discouraged; and all appeared
determined to defend their ship to the last extremity, and to die
in preference to a shameful surrender. Our gaff with the ensign and
the motto flag at the mizzen had been shot away, but ‘Free Trade and
Sailors’ Rights’ continued to fly at the fore. Our ensign was replaced
by another and to guard against a similar event an ensign was made fast
in the mizzen rigging, and several jacks were hoisted in different
parts of the ship.”
After hauling off to repair damages both the _Phoebe_ and the _Cherub_
stationed themselves on the starboard quarter of the _Essex_ where her
short carronades could not reach them and where her stern guns could
not be brought to bear, for she was still at her forced anchorage.
All the halyards of the _Essex_ had been shot away, except those of
the flying jib and with this sail hoisted the cable was cut and the
stricken Yankee frigate staggered seaward with the intention of laying
the _Phoebe_ on board and fighting at close quarters.
For only a short time was Porter able to use his guns to advantage,
however, for the _Cherub_ was able to haul off at a distance and pound
the _Essex_ while the _Phoebe_ picked her own range and shot the
helpless frigate to pieces with her long eighteen-pounders. In the
words of David Porter which seem worthy of quotation at some length:
“Many of my guns had been rendered useless by the enemy’s shot, and
many of them had their whole crews destroyed. We manned them again from
those which were disabled and one gun in particular was three times
manned—fifteen men were slain in the course of the action. Finding that
the enemy had it in his power to choose his distance, I now gave up
all hope of closing with him and as the wind for the moment seemed to
favour the design, I determined to run her on shore, land my men, and
destroy her.”
But the wind shifted from landward and carried the _Essex_ toward
the _Phoebe_, “when we were again exposed to a dreadful raking fire.
My ship was now totally unmanageable; yet as her head was toward the
enemy and he to leeward of me, I still hoped to be able to board him.”
This attempt failed, and a little later, the ship having caught fire in
several places, “the crew who had by this time become so weakened that
they all declared to me the impossibility of making further resistance,
and entreated me to surrender my ship to save the wounded, as all
further attempt at opposition must prove ineffectual, almost every gun
being disabled by the destruction of their crew.
“I now sent for the officers of division to consult them and what was
my surprise to find only acting Lieutenant Stephen Decatur M’Knight
remaining ... I was informed that the cockpit, the steerage, the
wardroom and the berth deck could contain no more wounded, that the
wounded were killed while the surgeons were dressing them, and that
if something was not speedily done to prevent it, the ship would soon
sink from the number of shot holes in her bottom. On sending for
the carpenter he informed me that all his crew had been killed or
wounded....
“The enemy from the smoothness of the water and the impossibility of
reaching him with our carronades and the little apprehension that was
excited by our fire, which had now become much slackened, was enabled
to take aim at us as at a target; his shot never missed our hull and my
ship was cut up in a manner which was perhaps never before witnessed;
in fine, I saw no hopes of saving her, and at 20 minutes after 6 P.
M. I gave the painful order to strike the colours. Seventy-five men,
including officers, were all that remained of my whole crew after the
action capable of doing duty and many of them severely wounded, some
of them whom have since died. The enemy still continued his fire, and
my brave, though unfortunate companions were still falling about me.
I directed an opposite gun to be fired to show them we intended no
farther resistance, but they did not desist; four men were killed at
my side, and others at different parts of the ship. I now believed he
intended to show us no quarter, that it would be as well to die with my
flag flying as struck, and was on the point of again hoisting it when
about 10 minutes after hauling down the colours he ceased firing.”
Of a crew of 255 men who went into action, the _Essex_ lost in killed,
wounded, and missing no fewer than 153 officers, seamen and marines,
including among the list of “slightly wounded” no less a name than
that of “David G. Farragut, midshipman,” who was destined to serve his
country a full half century longer on the sea before his great chance
should come to him on the quarterdeck of the _Hartford_ in the Civil
War.
Captain David Porter had been overmatched, fighting his crippled ship
against hopeless odds until his decks were such an appalling scene of
slaughter as has been recorded of few naval actions in history. But the
Salem-built frigate _Essex_ had fulfilled her destiny in a manner to
make her nation proud unto this day of the men who sailed and fought
her in the harbor of Valparaiso, many thousand miles from the New
England shipyard where a patriotic town of seafarers had united with
one common purpose to serve their country as best they could.
There was grief and indignation beyond words when the tidings reached
Salem that the _Essex_ had been taken, and bitter wrath against
England was kindled by the conviction, right or wrong, that Commodore
Hillyar had not played the part of an honorable foe in pitting both
his fighting ships against the Yankee frigate. This impression was
confirmed by that part of Captain Porter’s official report which read:
“We have been unfortunate but not disgraced—the defence of the _Essex_
had not been less honourable to her officers and crew than the capture
of an equal force; and I now consider my situation less unpleasant than
that of Com. Hillyar, who in violation of every principle of honour
and generosity, and regardless of the rights of nations, attacked the
_Essex_ in her crippled state within pistol shot of a neutral shore,
when for six weeks I had daily offered him fair and honourable combat
on terms greatly to his advantage. The blood of the slain must rest on
his head; and he has yet to reconcile his conduct to heaven, to his
conscience, and to the world.”
In a later letter to the Secretary of the Navy Captain Porter added
these charges:
“Sir: There are some facts relating to our enemy and although not
connected with the action, serve to shew his perfidy and should be
known.
“On Com. Hillyar’s arrival at Valparaiso he ran the _Phoebe_ close
alongside the _Essex_, and inquired politely after my health, observing
that his ship was cleared for action and his men prepared for boarding.
I observed: ‘Sir, if you by any accident get on board of me, I assure
you that great confusion will take place; I am prepared to receive
you and shall act only on the defensive.’ He observed coolly and
indifferently. ‘Oh, sir, I have no such intention’; at this instant
his ship took aback of my starboard bow, her yards nearly locking with
those of the _Essex_, and in an instant my crew was ready to spring on
her decks.
“Com. Hillyar exclaimed in great agitation: ‘I had no intention of
coming so near you; I am sorry I came so near you.’ His ship fell off
with her jib-boom over my stern; her bows exposed to my broadside,
her stern to the stern fire of the _Essex, Junior_, her crew in the
greatest confusion, and in fifteen minutes I could have taken or
destroyed her. After he had brought his ship to anchor, Com. Hillyar
and Capt. Tucker of the _Cherub_ visited me on shore; when I asked him
if he intended to respect the neutrality of the port: ‘Sir,’ said he,
‘you have paid such respect to the neutrality of this port that I feel
myself bound in honour, to do the same.’”
The behavior of Commander Hillyar after the action was most humane
and courteous, and the lapse of time has sufficed to dispel somewhat
of the bitterness of the American view-point toward him. If he was
not as chivalrous as his Yankee foeman believed to be demanded of the
circumstances, he did his stern duty in destroying the _Essex_ with
as great advantage to himself as possible. Captain Porter had shown
no mercy toward English shipping, and he was a menace to the British
commerce, which must be put out of the way. The inflamed spirit of
the American people at that time, however, was illustrated in a
“broadside,” or printed ballad displayed on the streets of Salem. This
fiery document was entitled:
“CAPTURE OF THE ESSEX
“Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights.
“Or, the In-glorious victory of the British with the _Phoebe_,
Frigate, of 36 guns and 320 men and the _Cherub_, sloop of war, with
28 guns, and 180 men over the unfortunate _Essex_, Frigate of 32 guns
and 255 men. Commanded by Captain _David Porter_. An action fought two
hours and 57 minutes against a double complement of Men and force, by
an enterprising and veteran Crew of Yankees.”
The closing verses of this superheated ballad were:
“The ESSEX sorely rak’d and gall’d;
While able to defend her
The _Essex Crew_ are not appall’d
They DIE but _don’t_ SURRENDER!
They fearless FIGHT, and FEARLESS DIE!
And now the scene is over;
For _Britain_, Nought but _Powers_ on high
Their DAMNING SINS can Cover.
They MURDER and refuse to _save_!
With Malice Most infernal!!
Rest, _England’s Glory_ in the Grave,
’Tis INFAMY—ETERNAL!!!
Brave HULL and LAWRENCE fought your Tars
With honorable dealings;
For great as JOVE and brave as MARS
Are hearts of _Humane Feelings_
Our tears are render’d to the brave,
Our hearts’ applause is given;
Their Names in Mem’ry we engrave,
Their spirits rest in Heaven;
Paroled see PORTER and his crew
In the ESSEX JUNIOR coasting;
They home return—hearts brave and true,
And scorn the _Britons_ boasting—
Arrived—by all around belov’d,
With welcome shouts and chanting,
Brave Tars—all valiant and approv’d,
Be such Tars never Wanting.
Should Britain’s _Sacrilegious_ band
Yet tell her in her native land
Her _Deeds_ are like her _Daring_,
That should she _not_ with WISDOM haste
Her _miscreant_ CRIMES undoing,
Her _Crown_, _Wealth_, _Empire_, _all_ must waste
And sink in common RUIN.”
One of the seamen of the _Essex_ returned to his home at the end of
the cruise and told these incidents of his shipmates as they have been
preserved in the traditions of the town:
“John Ripley after losing his leg said: ‘Farewell, boys, I can be of no
use to you,’ and flung himself overboard out of the bow port.
“John Alvinson received an eighteen-pound ball through the body; in the
agony of death he exclaimed: ‘Never mind, shipmates. I die in defence
of ‘Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights’ and expired with the word ‘Rights’
quivering on his lips.
[Illustration: Broadside ballad published in Salem after the news was
received of the loss of the _Essex_]
“James Anderson had his left leg shot off and died encouraging his
comrades to fight bravely in defence of liberty. After the engagement
Benjamin Hazen, having dressed himself in a clean shirt and jerkin,
told what messmates of his that were left that he could never submit to
be taken as a prisoner by the English and leaped into the sea where he
was drowned.”
FOOTNOTES:
[29] Master Hacker was a Salem schoolmaster of that time.