THE FIRST EXHIBIT OF YANKEE METTLE
CAPTAIN DAVID PORTER’S IDEAS ABOUT TRAINING SEAMEN--THE GUNS OF THE
_ESSEX_--TAKING A TRANSPORT OUT OF A CONVOY AT NIGHT--A BRITISH
FRIGATE CAPTAIN WHO WAS CALLED A COWARD BY HIS COUNTRYMEN--CAPTAIN
LAUGHARNE’S MISTAKE--A FIGHT THAT BEGAN WITH CHEERS AND ENDED IN
DISMAY FOR WHICH THERE WAS GOOD CAUSE--WORK THAT WAS DONE BY YANKEE
GUNNERS IN EIGHT MINUTES--WHEN FARRAGUT SAVED THE SHIP--AN ATTACK
ON A FIFTY-GUN SHIP PLANNED.
During the time that Commodore Rodgers was making what was practically
a fruitless cruise with his squadron, Captain David Porter was doing
somewhat better with the little frigate _Essex_. Rarely has a naval
man had the benefit of such experiences as those through which Captain
Porter had passed. At the age of sixteen (1796), while in the West
Indies on the merchant-schooner _Eliza_, of which his father was
commander, he had stood at the rail with the rest of the crew and
fought off a British press-gang in such a determined assault that
several men were killed and wounded on both sides. A year later he was
twice impressed into the British navy, but escaped both times. Then he
joined the American navy as a midshipman, and, as already told, showed
himself a hero in helping to hold the prisoners on a captured French
frigate for three days, although they were in overwhelming numbers, and
he had to watch them during all the time without a moment’s sleep. In a
pilot-boat called the _Amphitrite_, that mounted but five one-pounder
swivels and carried fifteen men, he attacked a French privateer armed
with a long twelve-pounder and a number of swivels, and carrying forty
men. Moreover, the Frenchman was supported by a barge armed with
swivels and carrying thirty men. Such odds had rarely been taken, but
the impetuous onslaught of the Yankees carried the privateer after a
bloody resistance. She had lost seven killed and fifteen wounded, more
than half her crew, when she surrendered. Porter did not lose a man.
The barge escaped, but a merchant-prize they had captured was retaken.
After a variety of exploits only less daring than this, he was sent to
the Mediterranean Sea, and there continued to gain knowledge, skill,
and reputation until, by the grounding of the _Philadelphia_, he became
a prisoner to the Tripolitans.
When war was declared in 1812 he was in the _Essex_. She was undergoing
repairs in New York Harbor. It was fortunate for Porter that she was
not ready to sail with Rodgers, for the delay enabled him to make a
cruise alone. And this cruise, because of what it shows about the
American armament and American seamen, is worth describing in detail.
[Illustration: David Porter.
_From an engraving by Edwin of the portrait by Wood._]
The _Essex_ was rated as a thirty-two-gun frigate, but she carried
forty-six carriage-guns all told. As to her numbers of guns she was
greatly underrated, but as to the effectiveness of her armament she
was the most overrated ship in the little navy. She had originally
mounted twenty-six long twelve-pounders on her main deck, while her
forecastle and poop carried sixteen twenty-four-pounder carronades,
“but official wisdom changed all this.” The Navy Department took out
twenty-four of her main deck long twelves and put thirty-two-pounder
carronades there instead. Then the poop and forecastle were swept clear
of the twenty-four-pounder carronades and four long twelves and sixteen
thirty-two-pounder carronades were mounted there. Porter protested over
and again, but in vain.
To fully understand why Porter should have protested against this
armament one must know the character of the guns. This is a matter that
has been discussed at very great length by almost every one who has
written on the navy of any nation. But, for the aid of the uninformed
reader, it may be said that an average long thirty-two-pounder
was eight and a half feet long, and weighed 4,500 pounds, while a
thirty-two-pounder carronade was four feet long and weighed but 1,700
pounds. Being thick at the breech and long, the long gun had a long
range. That is, a heavy powder charge would act on the ball throughout
the length of the long bore and so hurl the ball over a long range.
The short gun being short, and thin at the breech, could stand only
about one-third of the charge of powder used in the long gun. Where the
long thirty-two burned seven pounds of powder and had a range, when
elevated one degree, of six hundred and forty yards (not counting the
ricochet leaps), the short thirty-two burned two and a half pounds of
powder and had a range of three hundred and eighty yards.
A short range means a small power to penetrate, not fully expressed by
the above figures. To make a carronade really effective the ship had
to be placed within two hundred yards of the enemy, and even at twenty
yards it was known that a thirty-two-pounder ball stuck in a ship’s
mast instead of crashing through it, and the long twelves could do
effective work when entirely beyond the range of the short thirty-two,
for they were made heavier in proportion to the size of the ball
than the long thirty-two, and had a range quite equal to that of the
larger calibre. But the long gun in that day was exceedingly heavy. It
needed a big carriage and big tackles, and a big crew. It was a hard
job to load and aim one of these long guns. The short gun, throwing
a ball of the same size, weighed, as shown, comparatively little and
could, therefore, be loaded and fired much more rapidly. When within
pistol-shot of the enemy this was an advantage, of course. Another
advantage of the short gun was in the fact that a battery of them did
not strain a ship as a battery of long guns would do. But when all was
said in favor of a short gun of big bore, the fact remained that in a
combat, a handy ship having long guns could remain out of range of the
ship having short guns and shoot it to pieces. The short-gun ship had
to close in on the other or suffer defeat. Had Porter’s petition for
his long twelves been granted he would have had a different story to
tell when he reached the Pacific.
But this chapter is to tell of his first cruise in the _Essex_. On July
2, 1812, he was off to sea in search of the British thirty-six-gun
frigate _Thetis_, which was bound to South America with specie. The
_Thetis_ escaped, but a few merchantmen were captured, and then on
the night of the 10th a fleet of seven merchantmen in convoy was
discovered. As it happened the moon was shining, but the sky was so
well overcast with clouds that the alternating shadows and lights
made it easy for Porter to pose the _Essex_ as a merchant-ship. Her
top-gallant masts were dropped part way down to conceal their height,
the lee braces and other running rigging were left slack, and the guns
were run in and ports closed. In this fashion Porter jogged with
the fleet, where in casual conversation he learned that a thousand
soldiers were there en route from Barbadoes to Quebec, and that the
thirty-two-gun frigate _Minerva_ was the sole guard.
After a time a ship-captain to whom Porter was talking became
suspicious, and started to signal the presence of a stranger to
the _Minerva_, but Porter threw open his ports and compelled the
merchantman to follow the _Essex_ out of the fleet. This manœuvre was
done without alarming any other one in the fleet. On boarding her, one
hundred and ninety-seven soldiers were found.
The merchantman was captured at 3 o’clock in the morning. Before
another could be overhauled daylight came. At that, Porter took in the
slack of his loose rigging, set up his masts and invited the _Minerva_
to come and try for victory. Captain Richard Hawkins, who commanded
her, thought best to tack and sail into the midst of his fleet, where,
in case he was attacked, the eight hundred and odd soldiers who were on
the transports could render him effective service by sweeping the decks
of the _Essex_ with their muskets, and by firing such cannon as the
transports carried. James, who is the standard naval historian in the
British navy, says of this affair:
“Had Captain Porter really endeavored to bring the _Minerva_ to
action we do not see what could have prevented the _Essex_, with her
superiority of sailing, from coming alongside of her. But no such
thought, we are sure, entered into Captain Porter’s head.”
David G. Farragut, of lasting fame, was a midshipman on the _Essex_,
and was keeping a journal. He wrote:
“The captured British officers were very anxious for us to have a
fight with the _Minerva_, as they considered her a good match for
the _Essex_, and Captain Porter replied that he should gratify them
with pleasure if his Majesty’s commander was of their taste. So we
stood toward the convoy, and when within gunshot hove to, and awaited
the _Minerva_; but she tacked and stood in among the convoy, to the
utter amazement of our prisoners, who denounced the commander as a
base coward, and expressed their determination to report him to the
Admiralty.”
But to further explain the difference between long and short guns, it
should be mentioned that the _Minerva_ carried on her main deck the
long twelves which Porter had wanted, and in a fight she would have
been able to riddle the _Essex_ while still far beyond the range of the
short thirty-twos with which the American was armed. At pistol range
the _Essex_ was much more powerful, and she carried, moreover, fifty
men more than the _Minerva_, though Captain Hawkins could not know
that, and, doubtless, would have been ashamed to offer that as a reason
for declining to fight.
[Illustration: Fight of the _Essex_ and the _Alert_.
_From an old wood-cut._]
Until August 13th the _Essex_ had no adventure. On that day, while
cruising along under reefed top-sails, a ship was seen to windward
that appeared to be a man-of-war. At this, drags were put over the
stern of the _Essex_ to hold her back, and then a few men were sent
aloft to shake out the reefs, and the sails were then spread to the
breeze exactly as a merchant-crew would have done it. The stranger
was entirely deceived by this, and she came bowling down toward the
_Essex_, which was now flying the British flag. The stranger having
fired a gun, the _Essex_ hove to until she had passed under her stern
to leeward. Having now the weather-gage, the _Essex_ suddenly filled
away her main-sails, cut away the drags, hauled down the British flag,
ran up the Stars and Stripes, and, throwing open her ports, ran out the
muzzles of her guns.
At the sight of these doings the Englishmen gave three cheers, and,
without waiting to get where their guns would bear effectively, they
blazed away with grape and canister.
The _Essex_ waited for a minute or two until her guns would bear, and
then gave the stranger a broadside, “tompions and all,” as Midshipman
Farragut wrote at the time. The effect on the stranger was stunning.
Her crew were actually stunned into inaction, and all of them but three
officers were severely reprimanded at the court-martial of the captain,
and several of the lower officers were dishonorably dismissed from the
service on a charge of cowardice. They tried to veer off and run away,
but “she was in the lion’s reach,” to again quote the youngster, and
within eight minutes the _Essex_ was alongside, when the stranger fired
a musket and then struck her flag.
The American officer who boarded her found that she was the corvette
_Alert_, Captain Thomas L. P. Laugharne, carrying eighteen short
thirty-twos and two long twelves, a very inferior force to that of the
_Essex_. And yet the result of this brief contest was of the greatest
significance. The British histories say the fight lasted fifteen
minutes. Doubtless this means from the time the _Alert’s_ crew cheered
so vigorously until they hauled down their flag. Farragut says that
it was eight minutes from the first broadside of the _Essex_ until
the flag came down, and this is not disputed. In eight minutes the
_Essex_ had shot the _Alert_ so full of holes that when the American
boat’s crew reached the beaten ship the water was seven feet deep in
her hold in spite of the utmost efforts of her crew to check the leaks!
Not a man was killed on the _Alert_, and only three were wounded. The
gunners of the _Essex_ aimed low--they shot to sink the enemy, and they
wellnigh succeeded. No one was hurt on the _Essex_.
For several days after this the _Essex_, having repaired the _Alert_,
cruised with her in tow, and then an incident occurred, the story of
which brings out very clearly another characteristic of the American
crews; that is to say, the care with which the green crews were trained
from the day they came on board.
The number of prisoners on the _Essex_ very greatly exceeded her crew
after the capture of the _Alert_, for the _Alert’s_ crew were added
to the soldiers and men from the transport, while the _Essex_ had put
out two prize crews. Knowing this, the prisoners formed a plan to take
the ship, the coxswain of the _Alert’s_ gig being the leader in the
conspiracy. Young Farragut happened to discover the plot on the night
it was to be executed. He was lying in his hammock and saw the coxswain
with a pistol in hand on the deck where the hammock was swinging. The
coxswain was looking around to see if all was in order for his men to
rise, and going to Farragut’s hammock, looked earnestly at the boy,
who had the wit to feign sleep. But the moment the coxswain was gone,
Farragut ran into the cabin and told Captain Porter, who sprang from
his berth, and running out of his cabin began to shout:
“Fire! Fire!”
A more distressful cry than that is never heard at sea. To the
prisoners it brought utter confusion. To the crew of the _Essex_
it meant only that they were to hasten to fire-quarters for a
night-drill--something to which they had been trained ever since
leaving New York. Captain Porter had even built fires that sent up
volumes of smoke through the hatches in order to make the crew face
what seemed to be a real fire, and so had steadied their nerves. Now
they promptly but coolly went to their quarters. It was then a simple
matter to turn them on the mutineers.
[Illustration: An English Thirty-gun Corvette.
_From an engraving by Merlo in 1794._]
Afterwards the prisoners were sent to St. John’s, Newfoundland, in the
_Alert_ as a cartel. She was not by the letter of the law a proper
cartel, for she was still at sea and quite likely to be captured,
but it is pleasant to observe that Admiral Sir John T. Duckworth
“generously sustained the agreement” made by Captain Laugharne. He
wrote:
“It is utterly inconsistent with the laws of war to recognize the
principle upon which this arrangement has been made. Nevertheless I
am willing to give a proof at once of my respect for the liberality
with which the captain of the _Essex_ has acted in more than one
instance toward the British subjects who had fallen into his hands; of
the sacred obligation that is always felt to fulfil the engagements
of a British officer, and of my confidence in the disposition of
his Highness, the Prince Regent, to allay the violence of war by
encouraging a reciprocation of that courtesy by which its pressure upon
individuals may be so essentially diminished.”
[Illustration: SIR JOHN THOMAS DUCKWORTH, K.B.
Vice Admiral of the White Squadron.]
There is still one more incident of this cruise worth describing. The
_Essex_ was chased by the British frigate _Shannon_ and another ship
when off St. George’s Bank. Captain Porter supposed that the speedier
ship of the two was the fifty-gun _Acasta_, a much more powerful ship
than the _Shannon_, and that a third ship he had seen with the two was
also in chase. As the largest ship was gaining, and a splendid breeze
for working the ship was blowing, Captain Porter planned a most
daring defence. Running until night was fully come, he called his crew
together and told them that he was going to tack ship, run alongside
the enemy, and board her while under full sail. According to Farragut,
Porter believed that the enemy would be sailing at the rate of eight
knots an hour, at least, while his ship would foul her while going at
not less than four knots. Nevertheless, the proposition was greeted
with enthusiastic cheers.
The cause of the enthusiasm may be found readily in Farragut’s account
of the crew. He says:
“Every day the crew were exercised at the great guns, small-arms,
and single-stick. And I may here mention the fact that I have never
been on a ship where the crew of the old _Essex_ was represented, but
that I found them to be the best swordsmen on board. They had been so
thoroughly trained as boarders that every man was prepared for such an
emergency, with his cutlass as sharp as a razor, a dirk made by the
ship’s armorer out of a file, and a pistol.” They had been drilled
until they had confidence in themselves as well as their leaders, and
it was not an overweening confidence, either.
So a kedge anchor with a cable attached was hoisted to the end of the
main-yard, where it could be readily dropped on the passing enemy as
the two crashed together and so hold her fast. At the proper hour the
_Essex_ tacked in search of the enemy, but failed to find her.
At the end of sixty days from the time he sailed, Porter was back
in port. He had captured nine prizes, with more than five hundred
prisoners, and retaken five American privateers and merchantmen.
The little American navy was beginning in a small way to do something
for the nation.