GUN-BOATS NOT WHOLLY WORTHLESS
EVEN IN THE WORST VIEW OF THEM THEY ARE WORTH CONSIDERATION--THE BEST
OF THEM DESCRIBED--THE HOPES OF THOSE WHO, LIKE JEFFERSON, BELIEVED
IN THEM--REASONS FOR THEIR GENERAL WORTHLESSNESS THAT SHOULD
HAVE BEEN MANIFEST BEFORE THEY WERE BUILT--PROMOTED DRUNKENNESS
AND DEBAUCHERY--THEY PROTECTED YANKEE COMMERCE IN LONG ISLAND
SOUND--A FIGHT WITH A SQUADRON IN CHESAPEAKE BAY--WHEN THE BRAGGART
CAPTAIN PECHELL MET THE YANKEES--SAILING-MASTER SHEED’S BRAVE
DEFENCE OF “NO. 121”--COMMODORE BARNEY IN THE PATUXENT RIVER--WHEN
SAILING-MASTER TRAVIS OF THE _SURVEYOR_ MADE A GOOD FIGHT--A
WOUNDED YANKEE MIDSHIPMAN MURDERED--MEN WHO MADE FAME IN SHOAL
WATER BELOW CHARLESTON.
As has been mentioned incidentally a number of times in the course
of this history the Americans had, when war was declared to exist in
1812, a very large number of gun-boats--the quills, so to speak, of
the great American heraldic porcupine (_Erethizon Dorsatus dormant_).
Because in the days before the War of 1812 gun-boats--harbor-defence
vessels--constituted in the eyes of the majority of American
legislators the ideal navy for the American nation, it is worth
telling at some length just what these gun-boats were and what they
accomplished in the way of compelling the world to respect the American
flag. They are farther worth consideration because in these last days
of the nineteenth century a very great number of people in the nation
believe that if an enemy’s battle-ship should dare to threaten the
American metropolis, the courageous tugboat-men of the harbor would
arm their little vessels with torpedoes and, swarming down to Sandy
Hook, surround the audacious armor-clad, and by sheer force of numbers
run in and explode their dynamite where it would fill the enemy with
dismay, and his hull with water. Indeed, a noted orator has proposed
this kind of a defence before a rapturously applauding audience in the
metropolis, and some millions of his fellow-citizens read his words in
the next morning’s papers and, in their minds, patted themselves and
him approvingly upon the back as they did so.
The gun-boat of 1812, when built on the most approved plans, was fifty
feet long, eighteen feet wide, and four feet deep from deck-beams to
the top of the keel, but of the two hundred and fifty-seven of these
boats found in the harbors of the United States in June, 1812, nearly
all were but ten instead of eighteen feet wide. Each boat was provided
with two masts and schooner sails, and with from twenty to thirty long
oars, called sweeps. The crew of each varied from twenty to fifty, all
told, and each (that is of the best) was armed with a long thirty-two
pounder, the most efficient cannon of that day, which was mounted on
a circle so that it could be pointed to any part of the horizon. The
majority of the boats, however, were much smaller and carried smaller
guns.
The arguments in favor of these vessels as stated by the friends of the
system were as follows:
Frigates draw so much water and need so much sea-room for all manœuvres
that they are utterly helpless in the shoal waters of the American
harbors, while the gun-boats are moveable batteries, capable of going
anywhere in any harbor that has three feet of water in it.
The gun of the gun-boat was as efficient as any of the best guns of the
largest ship afloat, so forty gun-boats would have among them a more
efficient battery than the _Constitution_, or any other frigate afloat.
In a contest between forty gun-boats and a frigate, the boats would
have the broadside of the ship--say 1,500 to 2,000 square feet of
surface--for a target, but the boats would fight her end on, and so
each would present to her a target but ten feet wide (at most eighteen
feet wide) and but two feet out of water.
The gun-boats would be scattered around the frigate and so the gunners
would have to aim at the little targets separately.
The gun on the boat being low down near the water, had a better chance
of hitting the frigate (and at the water-line) than a high gun had of
hitting a low target.
[Illustration: Old-time Naval Gunnery.
_From a wood-cut._]
If a shot fired at the hull of a frigate happened to fly too high it
might still seriously injure the rigging and spars, but if a shot was
fired at the gun-boat and bounded over the hull it would do no damage
because the spars of the gun-boat were not for use in time of battle.
If a frigate lost her masts or her rudder she was helpless, but a
gun-boat, having many oars, could surely be managed as long as she
floated.
The gun-boats were cheap to build--seventy-five of them cost no more
than one good frigate, or say $4,000 each.
On the whole the building of gun-boats certainly was a plausible scheme
in the eyes of a landsman, especially as the first argument--as to the
depth of water and sea-room required for a frigate--was unanswerable.
But when the men who knew the sea looked upon the plan it made them
sick at heart. The mere idea of proposing to protect the lives and
liberties of the people of the nation from foreign aggression by
inviting the enemy to come into our harbors to fight, was enough to
make any patriot sick at heart. But that was only one point against the
system.
Considering the physical qualities of the supposed combatants, when
forty boats attacked a frigate the ship did, indeed, show a broadside
of 2,000 square feet, while the gun-boat was only ten feet wide and two
feet high out of water. Even at that the aggregate length of water-line
of all the boats when standing precisely end on to the frigate was four
hundred feet. But the boats could not and never did remain end on.
They had to fire over one bow or the other, so the target that each
presented was much more than ten feet wide and two high, and, what was
worse, the gunners of the high-decked frigate could look down on the
deck of the gun-boat.
Then the men on the gun-boats had to fight out on an open deck, as did
Perry’s men on Lake Erie, while those of a frigate fought behind thick
timber bulwarks. And because the gun-boats were built with thin plank,
a single shot could sink one, as happened to the sloop in the first
fight on Lake Champlain, during this war, while a frigate could still
float, as the brig _Boxer_ did after it had received many shot below
the water-line in the fight with the _Enterprise_.
More important still was the fact that even the best (widest) gun-boats
needed absolutely still water when making a fight--the swell of an
ordinary windy day in the lower bay of New York proved enough to
destroy their efficiency, while the narrow boats rolled so under the
recoil of their own guns even in smooth water that the crews had to
wait, after each discharge, for the rolling to cease before firing
again.
And then as to the cost, while it was perhaps true that the price of a
frigate would have built seventy-five boats, a frigate required a crew
of but four hundred or four hundred and fifty men, while a flotilla of
the forty boats needed to match a frigate required, on the whole, 2,000
men, including three commissioned officers to each boat. Besides, forty
gun-boats were never got together in a fleet to attack a frigate.
To all of this must be added the difficulty of finding forty gun-boat
captains who would act together in battle, and the trouble in caring
for the wounded when a ship had but four feet of head-room below its
deck, and the wretched quarters there afforded to the men who had to
man the boats.
And if there was lack of concert among the captains of the flotillas
in battle, there was a worse lack of discipline on the vessels at all
times. Captain Jacob Lewis, previously of the privateer _Bunker Hill_,
was made Commodore of the fleet in New York Harbor. He was as efficient
as any man of his experience could be, but his boats were manned by
river boatmen; men who, though afraid to go to sea, were yet anxious
to get the bounty and the good pay offered to naval seamen--waifs from
the streets of the metropolis. “The temptations to insubordination and
vice were much greater” in the gun-boats than in any other service. In
short, there was every opportunity for drunkenness and the lowest forms
of debauchery.
Nevertheless, in spite of the disreputable character of the gun-boat
service as a whole, some few of the boats did actually burn gunpowder
to the honor of the flag, and in some respects they were valuable, even
though they did not fire their big guns once.
For instance, there were several flotillas of them along the coast
from Newport, where Perry was in command early in the war, through
Long Island Sound to New York. These were kept travelling to and fro
convoying the coasting merchantmen, who were thus protected from
British privateers and, at times, even from frigates, as well as
from the attacks of British naval seamen in the small boats of the
blockading squadrons. Moreover, the knowledge that a fleet of boats
carrying a large gun each lay within a harbor, naturally kept the
British from bringing their big ships, which needed plenty of sea-room
for manœuvres, inside.
But the first encounter between gun-boats and a frigate demonstrated
the inefficiency of the boats. On June 20, 1813, the British frigates
_Junon_ and _Barossa_, with the sloop _Laurestinus_, were becalmed
in Hampton Roads. Seeing them helpless, Captain Tarbell, with a
fleet of gun-boats, rowed out to attack them. The bay was smooth,
and every condition favored the Yankee boats, but instead of having
forty gun-boats to attack one frigate, as the gun-boat theory had
proposed, Captain Tarbell had but fifteen. However, on arriving within
long range (he did not dare try short range because grape-shot would
sink a gun-boat), he anchored his fleet in the form of a crescent
around the _Junon_. But no sooner did he come to anchor than the
boats swung around with the tide, and he could not fire a gun at the
frigate without shooting away his own masts; so he up anchor again, and
swinging around almost broadside on to the frigate with his sweeps,
began blazing away. The first shot made some of his men wish they
hadn’t fired it, and the reason they wished so can be made plain even
to a landsman. The boats, as told, were perhaps fifteen feet wide. The
cannon each carried was a long thirty-two pounder. This gun was nine
feet long, weighed five thousand pounds, and was mounted amidships,
with its centre of gravity directly above the boat’s keel. In that
position, even when it was swung around to fire over either rail, it
did not materially interfere with the stability of the boat if the
water was smooth. But the instant it was fired it had to recoil and the
whole two and a half tons of iron was hurled with a tremendous thump
toward the rail of the boat, and over rolled the boat under the weight
and shock of the recoil until “all hands thought she was done for sure
enough.”
However, although the danger was imminent, no boat did actually turn
over in this fight. But the rolling that was started kept the crew busy
with the sweeps for several minutes before another shot could be fired.
Feeble as was the attack, Captain Sanders, of the _Junon_, made a
very hasty and ill-directed fire in return, and with the first breath
of wind strove to sail clear of the gun-boats. But Captain Sheriff, of
the _Barossa_, as soon as he had steerage way, stood for the gun-boats,
and by a well-directed fire soon disabled one and struck another, when
Captain Tarbell thought best to retreat.
The Americans lost one man killed and two wounded. No losses were
reported on the British ships, and it is certain that no material
damage was done to them, for the _Junon_ was in Delaware Bay a few days
later taking part in another fight with gun-boats.
The only American who at all distinguished himself in this fight was
Lieutenant William Bradford Shubrick, who was in the _Hornet_ when she
sank the _Peacock_. He commanded the gun-boat that approached nearest
to the enemy, covered the retreat of the flotilla, and towed off the
disabled boat, so saving it from capture. But he had had enough of
gun-boat service, and as soon as possible got himself transferred to
the _Constitution_, where he had a chance to see fighting of some
consequence.
Meantime, however, he participated in a fight on shore against a
landing party of British seamen, marines, and soldiers that ended in
one of the most brilliant victories for the Americans known to the
war--the victory of Craney’s Island, near Norfolk. This island had been
fortified with a battery of eighteen-pounders, but was not ordinarily
occupied by troops. It was merely a battery to be manned for the
defence of Norfolk, whenever occasion demanded.
The occasion arose when, on June 22, 1813, three British
seventy-four-gun ships-of-the-line, one sixty-four-gun ship, four
frigates, two sloops, and three transports anchored off the island,
and prepared to take possession. At that time the American frigate
_Constellation_ was blockaded at Norfolk (where she had been from
the first), and her commander, Captain John Cassin, sent one hundred
and fifty sailors and marines under Lieutenant H. B. Breckenridge to
defend the fort. Lieutenants Neale, Shubrick, and Sanders were under
Breckenridge. To whelm this tiny force the British came with seven
hundred (James says seven hundred, so there were probably more) men in
fifteen boats, the leader of the boats being a launch fifty feet long,
called the _Centipede_, which was in charge of Captain Hanchett, of the
_Diadem_, an illegitimate son of King George IV. The whole expedition
was under the command of Captain Samuel John Pechell, the braggart who,
in the _Guerrière_, painted her name on her foretop-sail, and then
cruised up and down the Yankee coast, and finally took John Deguyo, an
American citizen, from the American brig _Spitfire_ when she was within
the waters of New York Harbor on May 1, 1811.
[Illustration: _From a lithograph at the Navy Department, Washington._]
Captain Pechell had asserted his contempt for the American people when
in the _Guerrière_, still he was willing that Captain Hanchett should
command the first boat to attempt the landing at Craney’s Island. And
that was unfortunate, too, for it was Hanchett who got hurt.
The enemy came on with the customary dash of British landing parties,
but the Americans held their fire until the boats were within seventy
yards, and then the well-charged battery was turned loose. At the first
blast a round shot raked the _Centipede_, cutting off the legs of
several of the men at the oars, severely bruising the thigh of Captain
Hanchett, and sinking the boat. Two other big boats were sunk at the
same round, and two more a moment later, but it was so shallow there
that the thwarts of three of them were left above the water when they
struck bottom. The crews leaped overboard, splashing their way to the
other boats, and leaving behind dozens struggling in the throes of
death and with the agony of lesser wounds. Seeing the advance checked,
a party of the Americans, under Midshipman Josiah Tattnall, waded out
among the boats, cutlasses in hand. When he saw Tattnall coming Captain
Samuel John Pechell had had enough. He ordered a retreat, and led the
way to safety. His hosts followed in disorder, leaving forty prisoners
in the hands of the brave Tattnall, who was also able to drag three of
the boats ashore.
The comment which the British favorite historian makes on this
inglorious retreat of seven hundred men before one hundred and fifty
is the only one in his work whose meaning is not entirely clear. He
says it was “A defeat as discreditable to those who caused it as it
was honorable to those who suffered it. Unlike most other nations, the
Americans in particular, the British, when engaged in expeditions of
this nature, always rest their hopes of success upon valor rather than
on numbers.” What one would really like to know is whether James was
writing sarcastically about the manifest cowardice of Pechell, or was
he really of the belief that the Americans in this affair had failed
to show a proper spirit. For, of course, under an ordinary British
officer, not to mention a Chads or a Hope, the seven hundred British
would have whelmed the one hundred and fifty Americans, in spite of the
slender fortification.
As said, the British frigate _Junon_ got around to the Delaware
not long after her brush with the gun-boats in the Chesapeake. The
sixteen-gun sloop-of-war _Martin_ was with her, and the _Martin_
grounded on Crow’s Shoal. At that the _Junon_ anchored near the
_Martin_, and then came Lieutenant Samuel Angus with eight American
gun-boats carrying a thirty-two each and two larger vessels
(one-masted) to attack the _Martin_. The Americans were able to
accomplish nothing of consequence in their great gun attack, because
their powder was worthless. The British shot passed over them when
their shot fell short. Still, the truth is, the gun-boats were so
frail that the crews never had the heart to make a really vigorous
attack on a frigate. But when one of this flotilla happened to drift
clear of the rest and the British sent their ships’ boats to attack
it, the Yankees made a fight that any nation might be proud of. This
unfortunate gun-boat did not even have a name. It was “No. 121.” It
was commanded by Sailing-master William W. Sheed, and there was a crew
of twenty-five all told and one long thirty-two. The British force
numbered one hundred and forty men in seven boats, several of which
carried howitzers, under Lieutenant Philip Westphal. Sheed anchored his
craft, and as the boats approached opened fire with his big gun. The
first shot broke the carriage pintle, and the next ruined the carriage;
so the gun became useless. Nevertheless Sheed rallied his little crew
with small arms and fought the enemy until overpowered by sheer weight
of numbers. But before they were overpowered they killed seven of the
one hundred and forty British, and wounded thirteen. The Americans
had seven men wounded. Of like character was the defence which
Sailing-master Paine made with Gun-boat 160 in St. Andrew’s Sound,
near Savannah, when a tender and ten boats, loaded with men and small
cannon, attacked him. Paine had but sixteen men to resist nearly two
hundred, but he fought them off for twenty minutes and only surrendered
when the enemy at last thronged his deck. Paine was promoted for his
gallantry.
Captain Joshua Barney, who made himself famous first by thrashing
the British cruiser _General Monk_ with a very inferior force in
the Pennsylvania State cruiser _Hyder Ali_, during the war of the
Revolution, and who, in the early part of the War of 1812, made a
two-million dollar cruise against British commerce in a Baltimore
clipper, took command of a fleet of gun-boats in Chesapeake Bay in
1813. But nothing of consequence occurred under his command until June,
1814. Then on June 1st he went in chase of two British schooners, and
was fast overhauling them by the aid of long oars when a stiff breeze
came up from the south and the sea rose so that the gun-boats were
useless and he had to retreat. At that the schooners turned on him, but
he made such a good fight in spite of the sea, that the schooners were
glad to abandon the fight.
[Illustration: Joshua Barney.
_From an engraving of the painting by Chappel._]
On June 7th came a sloop-of-war and a razee to reinforce the enemy. The
razee is a style of ship of particular interest to Americans, because
it became a favorite with the British in the War of 1812. A razee was
a line-of-battle ship with her upper deck cut off. This reduced the
number of her guns to about sixty, or perhaps a few less, but the guns
left on her were of the heavy kind--long twenty-fours and thirty-twos.
The razee became a frigate--_i.e._, a two-deck ship--but with a
thickness of timbers and a weight of metal far greater than what the
Yankee frigates carried--the “bunches of pine boards” and “the waggons”
whose architecture and weight of metal had so amused British writers
before the war. Moreover, the razee, having been lightened by removing
the upper deck of guns, was said to be a very fast ship.
On the arrival of this addition to the British squadron in the
Chesapeake, Captain Barney had his gun-boats in the Patuxent River,
a branch of the Potomac. On the morning of June 8, 1814, a British
frigate, a brig, two schooners, and fifteen barges were seen coming up
the river looking for the Yankees. Captain Barney retreated two miles
in order to get into water where the frigate could not follow, and
then, at the mouth of St. Leonard’s Creek, anchored his boats in a line
across the river.
By 8 o’clock the enemy had arrived at the head of navigation for his
largest vessels, and having anchored there, the British barges, fifteen
in number, came up to attack Captain Barney. They had placed their
largest barge at the head of their line and armed her with iron-headed
rockets, which at one time were in great favor with the British. But
when Barney put his men into thirteen barges and started down the
river, the British thought best to retreat. A second attempt in the
afternoon was abandoned under like circumstances, but on the 9th they
really burned gunpowder.
“Twenty-one barges, one rocket boat, and two schooners, each mounting
two thirty-two-pounders, with 800 men, entered the creek with colors
flying, and music sounding its animating strains, and moved on with
the proud confidence of superiority. Barney’s force consisted of
thirteen barges, and 500 men--his sloop and two gun-vessels being left
at anchor above him, as unmanageable in the shoal water--but he did
not hesitate a moment to accept the challenge offered, and gave the
signal to meet the enemy, as soon as they had entered the creek. They
commenced the attack with their schooners and rockets, and in a few
minutes every boat was engaged; the Commodore in his barge with twenty
men, and his son, Major William B. Barney--who, in a small boat, acted
as his aid on the occasion--were seen rowing about everywhere in the
most exposed situations, giving the necessary orders to the flotilla;
the action was kept up for some time with equal vigor and gallantry,
but at length the enemy, struck with sudden confusion, began to give
way, and turning their prows, exerted all their force to regain the
covering ships. They were pursued to the mouth of the creek by the
flotilla with all the eagerness of assured victory; but here lay the
schooner of eighteen guns, beyond which it was impossible to pass
without first silencing her battery, and for this purpose the whole
fire of the flotilla was directed at her. She made an attempt to get
out of the creek, and succeeded so far as to gain the protection of
the frigate and sloop-of-war, but so cut to pieces, that, to prevent
her sinking, she was run aground and abandoned. The two larger vessels
now opened a tremendous fire upon our gallant little flotilla, during
which they threw not less than seven hundred shot, but without doing
much injury. The flying barges of the enemy having thus succeeded in
recovering their safe position under the heavy batteries of the ships,
the flotilla was drawn off, and returned to its former station up the
creek.
“That the enemy suffered severely in this engagement was too manifest
to be denied, even if their own subsequent conduct had not clearly
proved the fact. Several of their boats were entirely cut to pieces,
and both schooners were so damaged as to render them unserviceable
during the remainder of the blockade--they had a number of men killed,
and we have learned from an eye-witness of the fact, that the hospital
rooms of the flag-ship, were long afterward crowded with the wounded
in this engagement. On the part of the flotilla, not a man was
lost--one of the barges was sunk by a shot from the enemy, but she was
taken up again on the very day of the action, and two days afterward
was as ready as ever for service.
“On the first day of these repeated attacks, an incident occurred
which is well worthy of being recorded. One of the enemy’s rockets
fell on board one of our barges, and, after passing through one of the
men, set the barge on fire--a barrel of powder, and another of musket
cartridges, caught fire and exploded, by which several of the men were
blown into the water, and one man very severely burned, his face,
hands, and every uncovered part of his body, being perfectly crisped.
The magazines were both on fire, and the commander of the boat, with
his officers and crew, believing that she must inevitably blow up,
abandoned her, and sought safety among the other barges. At this moment
Major Barney, who commanded the cutter _Scorpion_, and whose activity
and intrepidity as aid to the Commodore in the last day’s action we
have already noticed, hailed his father and asked his permission to
take charge of the burning boat. The Commodore had already ordered
an officer upon that duty, but as his son volunteered to perform it,
he recalled his order and gave him the permission solicited. Major
Barney immediately put himself on board, and by dint of active labor
in bailing water into the boat and rocking her constantly from side to
side, he very soon succeeded in putting out the fire and saving the
boat.
“After the severe chastisement inflicted upon them for their last
attempt, the enemy made no farther effort to disturb the tranquillity
of the flotilla, but contented themselves with converting the siege
into a blockade, by mooring in the mouth of the creek, where they were
soon reinforced by another frigate. Having come to this resolution,
they turned their attention to the plunder of the surrounding country,
in which frequent experience had given them expertness. Tobacco,
slaves, farm-stock of all kinds, and household furniture, became the
objects of their daily enterprises, and possession of them in large
quantities was the reward of their achievements. What they could
not conveniently carry away, they destroyed by burning. Unarmed,
unoffending citizens were taken from their very beds--sometimes with
beds and all--and carried on board their ships, from which many of them
were not released until the close of the war.
“In this state of things, the Secretary of the Navy despatched a
hundred marines, under the command of Captain Samuel Miller, with three
pieces of cannon, to the assistance of Commodore Barney. The Secretary
of War also sent Colonel Wadsworth, with two pieces of heavy artillery,
and ordered about 600 of the regular troops to be marched to St.
Leonard’s Creek for the same purpose. The militia of Calvert County had
been already called out, but like most other troops of that class, they
were to be seen everywhere but just where they were wanted--whenever
the enemy appeared they disappeared; and their commander was never able
to bring them into action.
“Upon the arrival of Colonel Wadsworth, on June 24th, a consultation
was held between him and the Commodore, to which Captain Miller of the
Marines was invited; it was decided by these officers, that a battery
and furnace should be erected on the commanding height near the mouth
of the creek, upon which the colonel’s two eighteen-pounders should
be placed, and that, on the 26th before daylight, a simultaneous
attack should be made by the flotilla and battery upon the blockading
ships. The Commodore placed one of his best officers, Mr. Groghegan (a
sailing-master), and twenty picked men, under the command of Colonel
Wadsworth, for the purpose of working his two guns.
[Illustration: MAP OF CHESAPEAKE BAY, to Illustrate the Taking of
WASHINGTON by the British, August 14, 1814.]
“On the evening of the 25th, after dark, the Commodore moved with
his flotilla down the creek, and at early dawn of the 26th they were
gratified and cheered by the sound of the guns from the opening
battery on the height. The barges now seemed to fly under the rapid
strokes of the oar, and in a few minutes reached the mouth of the
creek, where they assumed the line of battle, and opened fire upon the
moored ships. Their position was eminently critical and hazardous,
but this in the view of the gallant souls on board only rendered it
the more honorable. They were within four hundred yards of the enemy;
and the mouth of the creek was so narrow as to admit no more than
eight barges abreast. The men were wholly unprotected by any species
of bulwark, and the grape- and canister-shot of the enemy, which were
poured upon them in ceaseless showers, kept the water around them in
a continual foam. It was a scene to appall the inexperienced and the
faint-hearted; but there were few of these among the daring spirits of
the flotilla. In this situation, the firing was kept up on all sides
for nearly an hour. The Commodore was then surprised and mortified to
observe that not a single shot from the battery fell with assisting
effect, and that the whole fire of the enemy was directed against his
boats. Shortly afterward the battery, from which so much had been
expected, became silent altogether, and the barges were hauled off
as a matter of consequent necessity. Three of our barges, under the
respective commands of Sailing-masters Worthington, Kiddall, and
Sellars, suffered very much in the action, and ten of their men were
killed and wounded.
“A few minutes after the flotilla had retired, it was perceived that
the enemy’s frigates were in motion, and in a little time the whole
blockading squadron got under way and stood down the river. One of the
frigates, it was observed, had four pumps constantly at work. This
movement on the part of the enemy spoke pretty plainly their opinion
of “Barney’s flotilla;” it was very evident that they had seen quite
as much of him as they desired to see. The way being thus unexpectedly
opened to him, the Commodore immediately left the creek, and moved up
the Patuxent River.
“On the night after the engagement the flotilla was anchored opposite
the town of Benedict, on the Patuxent. As they were moving up the
river, Captain Miller of the Marines went on board the Commodore’s
boat, and gave him the first information he had received from the
ineffective battery. It appears that Mr. Groghegan, on the evening
of the 25th, waited upon Colonel Wadsworth, to receive instructions
as to the place where the two guns were to be stationed; the colonel
replied to his inquiry in these words: “As you are to command and
fight them, place them where you please!” The officer immediately
set to work with his men, and began to construct his battery on the
summit of the hill which completely commanded the ships. He continued
at work all night and had nearly finished his platform when, about
1 A.M., Colonel Wadsworth came upon the ground, and after examining
the work, declared “that his guns should not be put there--that they
would be too much exposed to the enemy!” Having given this as his only
argument, he ordered a platform to be made in the rear of the summit.
As there could be no disputing his orders, he was obeyed, of course,
and the consequence was, that the guns, being placed on the declivity,
must either be fired directly into the hill, or be elevated, after the
manner of bombs, so high in the air as to preclude the possibility of
all aim, and rendered them utterly useless. At the very first fire,
the guns recoiled half way down the hill, and in this situation they
continued to be fired in the air, at random, until the colonel gave
orders to have them spiked and abandoned.”
[Illustration: The Flag of Fort McHenry--After the British Attack in
1814.
_From a photograph at the Naval Academy, Annapolis._]
The above quotations are from Mary Barney’s “Memoir of Commodore
Barney.” The British were driven away for the time, but they returned
in August, having determined to attack the American capital. Under
orders from Washington Captain Barney burned his fleet, and with his
men, some four hundred in number, joined the army assembled to defend
the capital. They made the best fight of any body of men there when
the final fight came, and Barney received a wound from which he never
fully recovered, although he lived several years longer. The new
forty-four-gun frigate _Columbia_ and the sloop-of-war _Argus_ were
burned on the stocks when Washington was taken by the British, besides
the old condemned _Boston_ and a lot of ship timber and naval stores.
This was, of course, an entirely legitimate destruction. Had the
gun-boats been one-half as efficient as their advocates supposed they
were, Washington would not have been captured.
[Illustration: The Capture of Washington.
_From an old wood-cut._]
A small-boat fight well worth a paragraph occurred on June 12, 1813,
in Chesapeake waters, when all the boats of the British frigate
_Narcissus_ were sent, under Lieutenant Cririe, to attack the little
United States schooner _Surveyor_, commanded by Sailing master William
S. Travis, who had but fifteen men and boys, all told, under him. The
_Surveyor_ was lying in York River at the time. The attack was made at
night, and the guns of the schooner were useless, because the enemy
came at her from points where broadside guns could not be made to
bear. Nevertheless, Mr. Travis defended his ship, holding his fire of
small-arms until the British were within a few yards. The one discharge
killed three of the enemy and wounded seven, a remarkably deadly fire
for night-work--but the British host came on, and before the American
weapons could be reloaded, the weight of numbers overpowered the
gallant little crew. Lieutenant Cririe was so impressed by the bearing
of the Americans that he returned the sword of Travis with a highly
complimentary letter.
A very interesting fight was made by the Mosquito fleet on July 14,
1813. The American schooners _Scorpion_ and _Asp_, of the Chesapeake
Bay defence fleet, each armed with three small guns, were chased by a
flotilla of boats from the British blockading squadron. The _Scorpion_
was fleet-winged and escaped up the bay, but the _Asp_ was too slow for
that, and took refuge in Yeocomico River. The British followed and
were beaten off, but they returned in fire-boats with about one hundred
men, and, enraged at this first failure, gave no quarter. The _Asp_
was commanded by Midshipman Sigourney. He was shot through the body at
the first attack, but remained on deck in a sitting posture to inspire
his men when the enemy returned. And when the enemy had killed or
driven overboard all the Americans except Sigourney, a British marine
deliberately put his musket to Sigourney’s head and fired, blowing his
brains out. Sigourney had served under Lawrence in the _Hornet_ when
she sank the _Peacock_, but it is unlikely that the Englishman knew
this fact. After setting fire to the _Asp_, the British went away,
and then the Americans returned on board and extinguished the fire
unmolested.
It is worth noting that on a considerable number of occasions during
this war the Englishmen gave no quarter--it is worth noting as showing
how greatly they were exasperated by their numerous defeats afloat.
Indeed, after Barney’s attack on the _Loire_ and _Narcissus_, British
sailors (who were, it must be remembered, commanded by Admiral Sir
George Cockburn), in their landing parties, not only robbed the
defenceless citizens, but assaulted the women who happened to fall
into their hands. And when they captured Washington, they not only
destroyed such property as might be destroyed legitimately, but they
repeated the universally execrated crime of Alexandria--they repeated
the crime of which the fanatical priests of Spain were guilty among
the civilized people of Yucatan--they deliberately burned the national
library. The Knighted Admiral with his own hands took part in this work
of destruction. Allen honors this British officer with a full-page
engraving, in his history of the British Navy, only fifteen others
being so distinguished in Volume II. of that work.
This is a chapter of small-boat fights, and it is of particular
interest to Americans because of the great courage and good fighting
ability usually displayed by the Yankee crews. The little schooner
_Alligator_ was one that made a good name. Under Sailing-master
Bassett, when lying at Cole’s Island, near Charleston, she was attacked
at night by six boats loaded with small cannon and seamen. She had
but forty men on board, but after a half hour’s fight they drove away
the enemy. The British did not report their loss, but one may get an
idea of their disorder when they fled, from the fact that one of the
attacking cutters was found aground on North Edisto next day, badly
cut up, and with the bodies of an officer and a common seaman lying
dead nearby. The others had been too much demoralized to care for the
wounded, and these two, after the boat drifted ashore, had left it,
vainly seeking help, and had died together.
Last of all will be told the story of Sailing-master Lawrence Kearny’s
attack on the men of the British frigate _Hebrus_, near Charleston. The
_Hebrus_ had sent a lot of men and boats ashore for water, and they had
landed out of gunshot from their frigate. So Kearny, with three barges,
went after the water-party. The Americans were seen afloat from the
_Hebrus_, and signals were at once set and guns fired to recall the
water-party. Two boats of that party got outside clear, but a shift
of wind enabled the Americans to get between the frigate and a large
tender that had been of the water-party.
At that the _Hebrus_ opened fire on the American barges and signalled
her two water-boats to return to the aid of the tender. And when her
water-boats failed to obey these signals she opened fire on them as
well. So near was the frigate at this time that a shot took off the
head of a man sitting beside Kearny, but he held fast on his course and
captured the tender (a schooner, armed with a carronade and six brass
swivels), the big launch of the _Hebrus_ and forty men, all of which
were carried off from under the guns of the enraged Englishman. Nor was
that all, for a few days later Kearny manned the captured launch with
twenty-five men, and rowing out alongside the tender (a schooner) of
the British ship _Severn_, he boarded her in spite of the resistance of
her crew of more than thirty men, and succeeded in taking her and her
crew into port also. “Handsomer exploits of the sort were not performed
in the war.”
And the story of the gun-boats is not completed, as will appear in the
account of the Navy’s part in the battle of New Orleans.
END OF VOL. II.
APPENDIX TO VOLUME II
PRIZE MONEY AND PAY IN 1812.
The act of April 22, 1800, provided for the distribution of prize money
in the sections given below, and it was under this law that the crews
of the American ships were paid in the War of 1812.
_Sec. 6. And be it enacted_, That the prize money, belonging to the
officers and men, shall be distributed in the following manner:
I. To the commanding officers of fleets, squadrons, or single ships,
three twentieths, of which the commanding officer of the fleet or
squadron shall have one twentieth, if the prize be taken by a ship or
vessel acting under his command, and the commander of single ships, two
twentieths; but where the prize is taken by a ship acting independently
of such superior officer, three twentieths shall belong to her
commander.
II. To sea lieutenants, captains of marines, and sailing masters, two
twentieths; but where there is a captain, without a lieutenant of
marines, these officers shall be entitled to two twentieths and one
third of a twentieth, which third, in such case, shall be deducted from
the share of the officers mentioned in article No. 3 of this section.
III. To chaplains, lieutenants of marines, surgeons, pursers,
boatswains, gunners, carpenters, and master’s mates, two-twentieths.
IV. To midshipmen, surgeon’s mates, captain’s clerks, schoolmasters,
boatswain’s mates, gunner’s mates, carpenter’s mates, ship’s stewards,
sailmakers, masters-at-arms, armourers, cockswains, and coopers, three
twentieths and an half.
V. To gunner’s yeomen, boatswain’s yeomen, quarter masters, quarter
gunners, sailmaker’s mates, serjeants and corporals of marines,
drummers, fifers, and extra petty officers, two twentieths and an half.
VI. To seamen, ordinary seamen, marines, and all other persons doing
duty on board, seven twentieths.
VII. Whenever one or more public ships or vessels are in sight, at the
time any one or more ships are taking a prize or prizes, they shall
share equally in the prize or prizes, according to the number of men
and guns on board each ship in sight.
No commander of a fleet or squadron shall be entitled to receive any
share of prizes taken by vessels not under his immediate command; nor
of such prizes as may have been taken by ships or vessels intended to
be placed under his command, before they have acted under his immediate
orders; nor shall a commander of a fleet or squadron, leaving the
station where he had the command, have any share in the prizes taken by
ships left on such station, after he has gone out of the limits of his
command.
_Sec. 7. And be it further enacted_, That a bounty shall be paid by the
United States, of twenty dollars, for each person on board any ship
of an enemy at the commencement of an engagement, which shall be sunk
or destroyed by any ship or vessel belonging to the United States, of
equal or inferior force, the same to be divided among the officers and
crew in the same manner as prize money.
_Sec. 8. And be it further enacted_, That every officer, seaman or
marine, disabled in the line of his duty, shall be entitled to receive
for life, or during his disability, a pension from the United States
according to the nature and degree of his disability, not exceeding one
half his monthly pay.
No change in the pay of the officers of the navy having been made
after the year 1799, the annual amount to which each officer in actual
service was entitled during the War of 1812 was:
A captain commanding a squadron of ships $1,200
A captain of a ship of 32 guns and upwards 1,200
A captain of a ship under 32 guns 900
A master commandant 720
A lieutenant commanding 600
A lieutenant 480
A surgeon 600
A sailing master, purser, and chaplain, each 480
A surgeon’s mate 360
A boatswain, gunner, sailmaker, or carpenter 240
A midshipman 228
A seaman 144
The following is a statement of the pay in the British navy during the
War of 1812:
In the British navy an admiral of the fleet receives £6 sterling per
diem, and is entitled to twelve servants at 32_s._ per month each; an
admiral receives £5 sterling per day, and is entitled to ten servants;
a vice-admiral, £4 sterling per day, and seven servants; a rear-admiral
or commodore with a captain under him, £3 sterling per day while his
flag is flying within the limits of his station; a captain of the
fleet receives £3 sterling per day, and is entitled to three servants
at 32_s._ per month each. Making these various allowances, the annual
amount of compensation to officers of the British navy, from the
admiral of the fleet down to the commander of a sloop or bomb, is:
Admiral of the fleet $15,624
Admiral 13,831 11
Vice-admiral 11,952 88
Rear-admiral or commodore with a captain under him 10,160
Captain of the fleet 5,122 67
Captain of a 1st rate, 800 to 900 men 3,272 87
Captain of a 2d rate, 650 to 700 men 2,864
Captain of a 3d rate, 600 to 650 men 2,455 11
Captain of a 4th rate, 350 to 450 men 2,045 33
Captain of a 5th rate, 280 to 300 men 1,636 44
Captain of a 6th rate, 125 to 175 men 1,432
Captain of a sloop, 100 men or less 1,227 55
All which is exclusive of indulgences and allowances not known in our
service.
INDEX
_Abby Bradford_, merchant-ship, capture of, by the _Sumter_, iv. 412;
captured by the frigate _Powhatan_, 413.
_Abellino_, Yankee privateer, captures prizes in the Mediterranean,
iii. 343.
_Acasta_, British gun-boat, attacks the _Constitution_, iii. 260.
Acquia Creek, Potomac River, capture of Confederate forts at, iv. 66,
81–83.
_Active_, British brig, captured by the _Hazard_, i. 206.
_Adams_, American frigate, changed to a corvette, iii. 54;
Captain Charles Morris in command of, 57;
on the coast of Africa, 58;
chased by the _Tigris_, 59;
scurvy on board, 60;
runs on a rock, 61;
attacked on the Penobscot, 62;
burned, _ib._
Adams, Captain H. A., disloyal conduct of, iv. 117.
Adams, John, member of first Marine Committee, i. 36.
Adams, Samuel, and the Boston tea-party, i. 12.
_Adelaide_, Federal transport, iv. 100.
_Adeline_, American brig, recaptured from the British, ii. 74.
_Admiral Duff_, British privateer, blown up by the _Protector_, i.
207.
_Adriana_, American brigantine, Ambassador to Holland sails on, iv.
153.
_Adventure_, British ship, burned by Paul Jones, i. 78.
_Africa_, British ship-of-the-line, ii. 55.
Africa, making the coast of, safe for American traders, iii. 340–358.
_Aiken_, Southern revenue cutter, converted into the Confederate
privateer _Petrel_, iv. 93.
_Alabama_, Confederate privateer, off Galveston, iv. 357;
known as _No. 290_, 430;
Captain Semmes appointed to command, 431;
cruises off the Azores, Martinique, Galveston, Cape Town, and the
East Indies, 432–436;
encounters the _Kearsarge_ at Cherbourg, 436;
comparison of their armaments, 437;
the fight, 438–441;
prizes taken by, 447.
_Alabama_ claims, iv. 430.
_Albatross_, Federal gun-boat, passes the batteries of Port Hudson,
iv. 358.
_Albemarle_, Confederate ironclad ram, iv. 456;
laid up at Plymouth, N.C., 457;
blown up by Lieutenant Cushing, 461.
Albemarle Sound, N.C., a Confederate privateer resort, iv. 94.
_Albert Adams_, Federal merchant-ship, captured by the _Sumter_, iv.
415.
Alden, Captain James, iv. 386.
Alden, Commander James, iv. 314.
_Alert_, British corvette, surrenders to the _Essex_, ii. 42;
attempt to rescue from Porter, 43, 44.
_Alert_, British cutter, captures the _Lexington_, i. 119, 120.
Alexander, Captain Charles, i. 66.
_Alexandria_, British frigate, ii. 359.
Alexandria, Red River, Admiral Porter’s squadrons arrive at, iv. 370.
_Alfred_, American flagship, sent to France, i. 130;
captured, 132, 133.
Algerian fleet sent after Yankee merchantmen, iii. 341.
Algerian Navy, strength of the, iii. 344.
Algerian pirates encouraged by England, i. 308, 309.
Algiers, Africa, tribute paid to by the United States, iii. 339;
by England, 340.
Algiers, Dey of, ransom paid to, i. 309, 310;
treatment of Americans by, iii. 340, 341.
Algiers, harbor defences of, iii. 345.
_Allen_, American gun-boat, iii. 141.
Allen, Captain William Henry, ii. 360;
carries the American Minister to France, 361;
sails into the English Channel, _ib._;
captures a wine ship from Portugal, 362, 363;
encounters the _Pelican_, 362–364;
his ship surrendered, 367;
dies in Mill Prison Hospital, 371.
Allen, Lieutenant William Howard, takes charge of the ship, ii. 364;
continues the fight, 367;
killed in an engagement with pirates, iii. 333.
_Alliance_, American frigate, detailed to carry Lafayette home, i.
232;
fouls the _Bonhomme Richard_, 234;
takes a valuable prize, 236;
fires into the _Bonhomme Richard_, 254;
flight of Paul Jones on the, 275;
cruises on the French coast, 297;
narrow escape of, 298;
sails from Havana with specie, _ib._;
attacked by the _Sybille_, 299;
sold, 303.
_Alligator_, American tender, surrendered to the British, iii. 235.
_Alligator_, American schooner, defeats an attack at Cole’s Island,
ii. 419.
Alvarado, Mexican port, Commodore Conner attempts to take, iii. 410;
captured by Lieutenant Charles G. Hunter, 428.
Alwyn, John C., Lieutenant in the _Java_ fight, mortally wounded, ii.
166, 171, 172.
American citizens in foreign countries, iii. 385, 386.
American commerce, English policy toward, i. 306, 307, 384;
protected by Portugal, 307;
menace to, iv. 412.
American cruisers in British waters, i. 112–133.
American flag, first salute given to, i. 69;
designed, 134;
first hoisted, 135;
first saluted by a foreign power, 138;
protected by Portugal, 307;
a shield for an infamous traffic, iii. 361;
a Chinese assault on, 380.
American frontier in 1812, ii. 262.
American Navy, first existence of, i. 1;
founders of, 37;
first ships of, in commission, 39–43;
resolutions of Congress founding it, 41;
first officers and first ships of, 39–43;
origin of the, 1–47;
first cruise of the, 48–62;
first squadron poorly manned and inefficient, 49–53;
along shore in 1776, 63–83;
mismanagement in, 159;
at the time of the Declaration of Independence, 300;
building a new navy, 303;
strength of, at commencement of hostilities with France, 315;
almost extinct, 396;
reduced to a peace footing, 398;
discreditable lack of, ii. 26;
increase of, 356;
development of, from 1815 to 1859, iv. 1–9;
personnel of the, in 1859, 24–26;
number of men who took part with the Southern States, 27;
value of men from Northern ports and the Great Lakes, 36;
a nautical curiosity shop, 37;
ferryboats as naval ships, _ib._;
first great naval expedition of the War of the Rebellion, 168;
modern, sketch of, 523–554;
in 1885, condition of, 523.
American prisoners in England, i. 122;
in Tripoli, 345, 358.
American seamen, impressment of, ii. 18;
courage and skill of, 357.
American sea-power in 1812, ii. 21.
American shipping and French cruisers, i. 314.
American squadron, career of the first, i. 60.
Ammen, Captain Daniel, at Port Royal, iv. 163;
Commander of the _Patapsco_, 480.
_Amphitrite_, American pilot-boat, attacks a French privateer, ii. 34.
_Amy_, American bark, Blackford, at Rio Janeiro, iv. 548.
_Anacostia_, Federal screw steamer, at Acquia Creek, iv. 81.
Anarchy in the West Indies and along the Spanish Main, iii. 325.
_Andrea Doria_, brig of first American Navy, i. 39;
in the first naval battle of the Revolution, 58;
ordered to sea, 64;
fight with brig _Racehorse_, 68, 69;
burned, 70.
Andrews, Major W. S. G., Commander of Fort Hatteras, iv. 107.
Anglo-Saxon aggressiveness, iii. 391.
Anglo-Saxon cheer, the, ii. 308.
Angostura, Venezuela, Commodore Perry arrives at, iii. 329.
Anthracite coal used by blockade-runners, iv. 55.
Antonio, Cape, Captain Kearny of the _Enterprise_ captures pirates
near, iii. 331.
_Aquidaban_, Brazilian rebel monitor, iv. 548.
Arbuthnot, Captain James, captured by the _Wasp_, iii. 93–96.
_Arcade_, Federal merchant-ship, captured by Confederate cruiser
_Sumter_, iv. 415.
_Archer_, captured by Captain Read of the _Tacony_, iv. 424.
_Argus_, American sloop, ii. 360;
carries the American Minister to France, 361;
cruises in the English Channel, _ib._;
too successful for her safety, 362;
encounters _Pelican_, 362, 363;
her sails become unmanageable, 364;
surrenders, 367;
contemporary view of the battle, 369;
taken by a prize crew to Plymouth, 371.
_Argus_, American frigate, captures six prizes, ii. 151.
_Argus_, American cruiser, in the attack on Tripoli, i. 374.
_Ariadne_, British man-of-war, captures the _Alfred_, i. 132, 133.
_Ariel_, American schooner, ii. 292.
_Arkansas_, Confederate ram, skirmish in the Yazoo River, iv. 342,
343;
machinery gets out of order, 343;
attacks Farragut’s squadron, 344.
Arkansas Post, naval force sent to help capture, iv. 351.
_Armada_, British liner, chases the _Wasp_, iii. 92.
Armament and construction of gun-boats, iv. 246.
Armament of battle-ships from 1812 to 1859, iv. 24.
Armor-plated ships, first use of, iv. 9, 10.
Armstrong, Commodore James, surrenders Pensacola Navy Yard to
Confederates, iv. 112;
suspended for five years, 113.
Arnold, Benedict, invades Canada, i. 84;
builds a fleet, 89;
fight on Lake Champlain, 92–94;
character of, as a fighter, 105.
Arsenals established in New York State, ii. 264.
_Asp_, American ship, ii. 352.
_Atalanta_, British brig, surrenders to the _Alliance_, i. 298.
_Atalanta_, British ship, captured by the _Wasp_, iii. 100.
_Atalanta_, British frigate, ii. 16.
_Atlanta_, formerly the _Fingal_, Confederate ironclad, iv. 488;
surrenders to the _Weehawken_, 489.
_Atlanta_, United States cruiser, iv. 533.
_Atlantic_, British letter-of-marque whaler, captured by Porter, iii.
9.
See _Essex, Jr._
Audience, an intensely interested, iii. 152.
_Augusta_, Federal ship, in Port Royal squadron, iv. 172.
_Augusta_, armed merchantman, attacked by the Confederate ironclad
_Palmetto State_, iv. 474.
Aulick, Captain James, sent to Japan in 1851, iii. 443;
recalled on false charges, _ib._
_Avon_, British brig-sloop, captured by the _Wasp_ (3), iii. 93–96.
_Aylwin_, American gun-boat, iii. 141.
Bache, Lieutenant G. M., iv. 369.
Badajos, rapacity of English veterans in the streets of, iii. 134.
_Bahama_, British merchant-ship, officers and crew of the _Alabama_
taken in the, to Terceira, iv. 431.
Bahama Islands, a resort for contraband traders in the Civil War, iv.
48.
Bahia, Brazil, Captain Bainbridge paroles his prisoners at, ii. 167,
175.
Bailey, Lieutenant-colonel Joseph, saves Admiral Porter’s squadron,
iv. 371–376;
receives thanks of Congress, 376.
Bailey, Captain Theodorus, at New Orleans, iv. 316;
commands first division of Farragut’s squadron, 324;
sent ashore to deliver Farragut’s letter, 338.
Bainbridge, Captain William, i. 316;
surrenders to the French frigate _Insurgent_, _ib._;
Captain of the _Voluntaire_ refuses to accept his sword, _ib._;
deceives the French officer, 317;
sent to Tripoli in charge of the _Essex_, 335;
chases a Tripolitan corsair, 341;
loses his ship on a reef, 343;
court-martialed, 344;
a prisoner in Tripoli, 345;
communicates with American fleet, 346;
a shot penetrates his prison, 368;
remonstrates with the Navy Department of Madison’s administration,
ii. 26;
cruising in Brazil, 152;
fight with the British frigate _Java_, 153–173;
wounded, 155;
conducts his ship while his wounds are being dressed, 156;
paroles 378 of the _Java’s_ crew, 167;
blows up the _Java_, 173;
his dream realized, 172, 173;
his character illustrated, 177;
insulted at Barcelona, iii. 311–313.
Bainbridge, Midshipman Joseph, his duel with the Secretary of Sir
Alexander Ball, iii. 307–311;
captures a Carthaginian privateer, iii. 65;
attacked and captured by the _Orpheus_ and _Shelburne_, 65, 66.
Baker, Captain Thomas H., iv. 89.
Baldwin, Lieutenant, i. 66.
Ball, Sir Alexander, iii. 307.
_Ballard_, American gun-boat, iii. 141.
Ballard, Midshipman Edward J., ii. 206.
_Baltimore_, American frigate, five men of the, impressed in the
British service, 401.
Bankhead, Captain J. P., at Port Royal, iv. 163.
Banks, General Nathaniel Prentiss, sent on expedition to Shreveport,
La., iv. 368.
_Banshee_, the first steel blockade-runner, iv. 57.
Barbary pirates encouraged by England, i. 307;
war with, 333, 334.
_Barclay_, British whaler, captured by Porter, iii. 8.
Barclay, Captain Robert H., appears off Erie, ii. 289;
fond of festivities, 291;
misses the American fleet, 292;
opposes Perry, 296;
superiority of his ships, 298;
determines to meet Perry, 302;
awaits the American squadron, 306;
fires the first gun, 308;
surrenders, 324, 326;
loses a second arm in the battle, 330.
Barnard, Captain Tim, iii. 187;
captures nineteen prizes, _ib._
Barney, Captain Joshua, sketch of, i. 209–215;
has command of the clipper-schooner _Rossie_, ii. 245;
captures by, 246–248;
commands a fleet in Chesapeake Bay in 1813, 403;
attacked by the British on the Patuxent River, 403–409;
Captain Samuel Miller and Colonel Wadsworth sent to his assistance,
409, 410;
moves up the Patuxent River, 413;
burns his fleet, 414;
wounded, 416.
Barney, Major William B., acts as aid to his father, ii. 406;
in command of cutter _Scorpion_, 408.
_Barossa_, British frigate, ii. 395.
Barreaut, Captain, chases American ships, i. 316;
recalled by Captain St. Laurent, 317–319.
Barriers on the Mississippi to prevent Farragut’s advance, iv. 320;
broken down by the _Itasca_, 323.
Barron, Captain James, sent to Tripoli in charge of the _President_,
i. 335;
with Stephen Decatur, iii. 318–322;
restored to active service, 323.
Barron, Captain Samuel, sent to Tripoli in charge of the
_Philadelphia_, i. 335.
Barron, Flag Officer Samuel, captured at Fort Hatteras, iv. 106.
Barry, Captain John, i. 39;
commands American brig _Lexington_, 63;
cruises off Virginia capes, 64;
encounters British tender _Edward_, 64;
sinks the _Effingham_, 188;
captures and destroys the schooner _Alert_, 189, 190;
appointed to the _Raleigh_, _ib._;
chases the Unicorn, 191;
loses the _Raleigh_, 194.
Bashaw of Tripoli, treachery of, i. 335, 336;
refuses to make a treaty, 340;
agrees to give up prisoners, 378.
Bassett, Lieutenant F. S., opinion of Commodore Hopkins, i. 61.
Batteaux, travelling in, ii. 263.
Battle of Bunker Hill, i. 26;
Champlain, 92–111;
of Fort Pillow, iv. 298;
of Grand Gulf, 367;
of Lake Erie, ii. 309–325;
of Lexington, i. 14;
of Memphis, iv. 298–307;
of New Orleans (in the Civil War), 326–340;
of Pittsburg Landing, 284.
Baton Rouge surrenders to Captain Craven of the _Brooklyn_, iv. 340.
_Baudara de Sangare_, a private vessel, captured by the _Shark_, iii.
332.
Baury, Lieutenant Frederick, iii. 81.
Bay Point. See _Fort Beauregard_.
Bazely, Lieutenant John, captures the _Lexington_, i. 119, 120.
_Beagle_, American ship, captures Cape Cruz, iii. 334.
_Beaufort_, Confederate gun-boat, takes crew off the _Congress_ after
she surrenders to the _Merrimac_, iv. 208.
_Beauregard_, Confederate ram, attacks the _Queen of the West_ at
Fort Pillow, iv. 301;
rammed and sunk by the _Monarch_, 302.
Bell, Henry H., iv. 314.
Belligerent ships, rules and orders regarding, issued by British
Government, iv. 411.
Belligerents, rights of, iv. 86.
Belmont, on the Mississippi, battle at, iv. 251;
the Confederates compel Grant to retreat, 252.
_Belvidera_, British frigate, encounters the _President_, ii. 29;
escapes, 32.
_Ben. Dunning_, Federal merchant-ship, captured by Confederate
cruiser _Sumter_, iv. 415.
Benham, Admiral A. E. K.,
prompt action of, at Rio Janeiro, iv. 548.
Bentham, Commander George, attacks the _General Armstrong_ in the
harbor of Fayal, iii. 187–199;
sets fire to the _Armstrong_, 200.
_Benton_ snag-boat, converted by Eads into an armored vessel, iv.
246–249.
_Benton_, Porter’s flagship before Vicksburg, iv. 363.
_Benton_, Federal gun-boat, Lieutenant-commander J. A. Greer, iv. 369.
_Berceau_, French frigate, fights with the _Boston_, i. 328;
returned to France, 330.
Beresford, Captain John Poer, recaptures the _Frolic_ from the
_Wasp_, ii. 118.
Berkeley, British minister at Washington, recalled and promoted, ii.
2.
Bermudas a basis for contraband trade during the Civil War, iv. 48.
_Betsey_, British bark, captured by Captain Alexander, i. 66.
Biddle, Captain Nicholas, i. 64;
commands the _Randolph_, 160;
attacks the _Yarmouth_, 162.
Biddle, James, Lieutenant on the _Wasp_ (No. 2), ii. 111;
leads the boarders, _ib._;
hauls down the flag of the _Frolic_, 112;
appointed to command the _Hornet_, iii. 272;
commands the _Macedonian_, 331;
sent to the Pacific Coast, 401;
sent to Japan to negotiate a treaty of peace, 440.
_Bienville_, Federal ship, in Port Royal squadron, iv. 172.
_Black Hawk_, Federal gun-boat, iv. 369.
_Black Prince_, purchased by Naval Committee, i. 39.
Black Rock, near Buffalo, Lieutenant Elliott establishes a navy yard
at, ii. 273.
_Black Snake_, British gun-boat, iii. 126.
Blake, Captain H. C., iv. 432.
Blakely, Master-commandant Johnston, ii. 375;
fights with the _Reindeer_ and the _Avon_, iii. 85–96;
captures the _Atalanta_, 100;
lost with his ship, 103.
Blockade-runner, legal status of, iv. 57, 58.
Blockade-runners, chiefly in the hands of the British, iv. 48;
reckless loading of, 61;
profits of, 63, 64.
Blockading the Southern ports, iv. 28–30;
no force available to blockade at the beginning of the war, 32;
lack of ships and men, 34;
Congress slow to appreciate the need of a navy, 35.
“Blood is thicker than water,” iii. 381, 382.
Blythe, Captain Samuel, attacks the _Enterprise_, ii. 375;
killed, 379;
buried at Portland, 385.
Board of Admiralty, i. 158.
Boggs, Commander Charles S., iv. 314.
_Bolton_, American bomb-brig, i. 56.
_Bonhomme Richard_, American ship, i. 227;
origin of the name, 228;
fitted out by Jones, 229;
mixed crew of, 230;
Richard Dale as master’s mate on, _ib._;
the _Alliance_ runs foul of, 234;
accident to, 235;
meets the _Serapis_, 243;
fight with the _Serapis_, 245–259;
comparative strength of the two ships, 265;
after the surrender, 269–272;
sinking of the ship, 272.
_Bonita_, American schooner, in attack on Alvarado, iii. 410.
_Bonne Citoyenne_, British war-ship, blockaded in the harbor of
Bahia, ii. 179;
cowardice of Captain Greene, 180.
_Borer_, American gun-boat, iii. 141.
_Boston_, American frigate, i. 286, 287.
_Boston_, American ship, fights the _Berceau_, Captain Senez, i. 328,
329.
Boston Port Bill, i. 13.
Boston, tea destroyed in harbor of, i. 13;
press-gang riots in, 395.
_Boston_, United States cruiser, iv. 533.
Boutelle, Mr., of the Federal Coast Survey, replaces the buoys at
Port Royal, iv. 171.
Bowling Green, Kentucky, Confederate position at, untenable after
surrender of Fort Henry, iv. 266.
_Boxer_, British brig, attacks the _Enterprise_, ii. 375;
surrenders, 379;
crew of, 382;
decision of the British court on the loss of the, 384.
_Bragg_, Confederate ship, captured at Fort Pillow, iv. 302.
Breckenridge, General, attacks the Federal forces at Baton Rouge, iv.
344.
Breese, Lieutenant-commander K. R., iv. 369.
Breeze, Chaplain, on the _Lawrence_ in the battle of Lake Erie, ii.
317.
British Government, attitude of the, toward African pirates, iii. 340.
British grab at the Valley of the Mississippi, iii. 229, 230.
British merchants and the American war, i. 112.
British Navy in American waters, i. 195.
British waters, rights of belligerents in, iv. 411.
Brock, Sir Isaac, his view of the English possession of America, ii.
279.
_Broke_, British gun-boat, iii. 143.
Broke, Captain Philip Vere, Commodore British squadron, ii. 55;
challenges Lawrence of the _Chesapeake_ to fight, “ship to ship,”
ii. 203, 204;
boards the _Chesapeake_, 214;
is wounded, 217;
becomes delirious, 221, 225;
made a baronet, 226;
death of, 229.
Brooke, Lieutenant John M., assigned to assist in designing an
ironclad, iv. 184.
_Brooklyn_, screw sloop, iv. 314.
_Brooklyn_, Federal gun-boat, iv. 386.
Brown, Lieutenant George, iv. 389.
Brown, Captain Isaac N., iv. 342;
skirmish with the Federal fleet in the Yazoo River, _ib._;
attacks Farragut’s squadron, 344;
supports Breckenridge at Baton Rouge, _ib._
Brown, Lieutenant James, ii. 217.
Browne, Lieutenant G. W., iv. 370.
Brownson, Captain Willard H., at Rio Janeiro, iv. 548;
on the coast of Mexico, 553.
Bruinsburg, Federal army crosses from, to Grand Gulf, iv. 364.
Bryant, Captain N. C., before Fort Pillow, iv. 290.
Buchanan, Flag Officer Franklin, iv. 188;
his difficulty in finding a crew, 195;
wounded, 210;
his report of the fight, _ib._;
Confederate fleet of, at Mobile, 380;
sends the _Tennessee_ into action, 399;
wounded, 402.
Budd, Lieutenant George, ii. 206, 218.
Bullock, Commander James D., supervises construction of the
_Alabama_, iv. 430.
Bunker Hill, battle of, i. 26.
_Bunker Hill_, American privateer, ii. 394.
Burleton, Admiral Sir George, chases the _Hornet_, iii. 282.
Burnside, General A. E., sent to capture Roanoke Island, iv. 109.
_Burrows_, American gun-boat, iii. 141.
Burrows, Lieutenant William, appointed to command the _Enterprise_,
ii. 375;
encounters the _Boxer_, 375–377;
is mortally wounded, 377;
receives the surrender of the _Boxer_, 379.
Bushnell, David, invents first American submarine torpedo boat, i.
164;
sketch of his life, 180–184.
Butler, General Benjamin F., sent to attack the forts on Hatteras
Islands, iv. 100;
his report at, 107;
occupies New Orleans, 338, 339;
his plan for blowing up Fort Fisher, 508–510.
_Byron_, Captain of, chased by the _President_, ii. 29–32.
_Cabot_, brig of first American Navy, i. 39;
commanded by Captain Elisha Hinman, i. 66;
fired by her captain, 163.
_Cairo_, armor-plated Federal gun-boat, built by Eads, iv. 245;
Captain N. C. Bryant commands, 290;
runs by torpedoes in the Yazoo River expedition, iv. 350.
Calbreth, Peter, one of the capturers of the _Margaretta_, i. 17.
Caldwell, Lieutenant C. H. B., iv. 314;
breaks barriers across the Mississippi, 323.
_Caleb Cushing_, Federal revenue cutter, cut out and burnt by the
_Archer_, iv. 424.
_Caledonia_, British brig, captured by Lieutenant Elliott, ii. 279.
California, a bone of contention between Americans and English, in
1842, iii. 387, 388;
operations that insured the acquisition of, iii. 387, 388.
Canada invaded by American troops, i. 84;
annexation of, agitated in 1812, ii. 20;
invasions of, for resenting British aggressions, ii. 263.
Canning, British prime minister, diplomacy of, in regard to the
_Chesapeake_ affair, ii. 1.
Canton, China, American fleet sent to, to protect American interests,
iii. 380.
Cape Cruz, South America, a pirate resort captured by the
_Greyhound_ and _Beagle_, iii. 334.
Carden, Captain John Surnam, i. 389;
cruel treatment of sailors, _ib._;
cruises in the Azores, ii. 121;
falls in with the _United States_, 122;
fight with, 125–134;
Decatur refuses to receive his sword, 139.
Caribbean Sea a nest for pirates, iii. 326.
Carleton, Sir Guy, his supplies captured by Paul Jones, i. 79;
confidence of, 85;
his fleet at St. John’s, 87;
fight on Lake Champlain, 92–94.
_Carleton_, British schooner, ii. 100.
_Carnation_, British brig, attacks the _General Armstrong_ in the
neutral port of Fayal, Azores, iii. 187–200.
Caroband Bank, South America, fight between the _Hornet_ and
_Peacock_ near, ii. 181.
_Caroline_, American schooner, attacks the British camp at Villeré’s
Plantation on the Mississippi, iii. 239;
is fired and abandoned, 240.
Carondelet, James B. Eads’s shipyard at, iv. 243.
_Carondelet_, armor-plated Federal gun-boat, built by Eads, iv. 245,
369;
goes aground outside Fort Henry, 265;
gets free, 266;
shells Fort Donelson, 268, 271;
disabled before Fort Donelson, 271;
gun bursts on, 272;
in Porter’s fleet before Vicksburg, 363.
Carronades, description and value of, ii. 36–38.
Carronades (short guns) out of use, iii. 141.
Carrying trade of the Mediterranean, England’s tribute to the Dey of
Algiers for, iii. 340;
after the War of 1812, _ib._
Cassin, Lieutenant Stephen, iii. 139.
_Castilian_, English brig-sloop, iii. 93.
_Catherine_, British ship, captured by Lieutenant Downes, iii. 10.
Cat-o’-ninetails used to enforce orders on British ships, i. 389.
_Catskill_, Federal ironclad, iv. 480.
_Cayuga_, Federal screw gun-boat, iv. 314.
_Centipede_, American gun-boat, iii. 141.
_Centipede_, British launch, ii. 398;
sunk, 400.
Ceremonies connected with first American fleet, i. 44–46.
_Ceres_, British man-of-war, captures the _Alfred_, i. 132, 133.
Chads, Lieutenant, in the fight with the _Constitution_, takes
command when Captain Lambert is mortally wounded, ii. 165.
Champlain, Lake, naval battle on, i. 92–100;
reflections on the battle, 105–111.
Champlin, Stephen, in the battle of Lake Erie, ii. 326;
fires the last shot of the battle, 327.
Chandeleur Islands, the British forces arrive at, to attack New
Orleans, iii. 230.
Chaplin, Lieutenant J. C., attacks the forts at Acquia Creek, iv. 82.
Charles City, Ark., attack on, by Federal gun-boats and an Indiana
regiment, iv. 307.
_Charleston_, United States cruiser, plans of, imported, iv. 531.
Charleston, S. C., defences of, iv. 467;
bombardment of, iv. 480–502.
_Charlton_, British whaler, captured by Porter, iii. 14.
_Charwell_, British brig, iii. 110.
Chase, Major W. H., and Colonel Lomax, capture the Pensacola Navy
Yard, iv. 112.
_Chasseur_, Baltimore clipper, attacks the _St. Lawrence_, British
war-schooner, iii. 204.
_Chatsworth_, American brigantine, slave-ship captured by Lieutenant
Foote, iii. 366.
Chauncey, Commodore Isaac, appointed to command the forces on the
Great Lakes, ii. 270;
attacks Kingston, _ib._;
attacks Toronto, 341;
attacks Fort George, 342;
returns to Sackett’s Harbor, 348;
makes another assault on Toronto, 349;
Sir James Yeo’s squadron appears, _ib._;
jockeying for position, 350;
Chauncey opens fire, 351;
returns to the attack, 352;
misses the great opportunity of his life, 353;
operations of, on Lake Ontario, iii. 113–129.
_Cherub_, British war-ship, accompanies the _Phœbe_ in the attack on
the _Essex_, iii. 25.
_Chesapeake_, American frigate, built, i. 312.
_Chesapeake_, Lawrence appointed to command of, ii. 197;
her crew, 198;
the ship reputed to be unlucky, 199;
is fitted out for a voyage to intercept British ships, 200;
is blockaded by the _Shannon_ in Boston Harbor, 203;
goes out to meet the _Shannon_, 1813, 204;
crew mutinous, 205;
closes down on the _Shannon_, 206;
the battle, 209;
the _Chesapeake_ is boarded, 214;
hand-to-hand fight, 217;
the ship is captured, 221;
taken to Halifax, 222;
comparison of the two ships, 229.
_Chickasaw_, Federal monitor, iv. 386.
_Chickasaw_, Federal gun-boat, shells Fort Gaines, and compels it to
surrender, iv. 405.
_Chicora_, Confederate ironclad, built at Charleston, iv. 473;
fires on the _Keystone State_ and captures her, 475.
_Chillicothe_, Federal gun-boat, iv. 369.
Chinese assault on the American flag, a, iii. 380.
Chinese war of 1856, American interests involved in, and fleet sent
to protect them, iii. 379–382.
_Chippeway_, British schooner, in battle of Lake Erie, ii. 297.
_Chubb_, British ship, disabled and surrenders to Macdonough, iii.
156.
_Chubb_, British gun-boat, iii. 143.
_Cincinnati_, armor-plated Federal gun-boat, built by Eads, iv. 245;
flagship of Commodore Foote before Fort Henry, 261;
Captain R. N. Stembel commands, 289;
throws the first shell into Fort Pillow, 293;
attacked by Confederate rains, _ib._;
the _Mound City_ goes to the rescue of, 294;
sinks, _ib._
_Circassian_, blockade-runner, captured off Havana by the Fulton
ferryboat _Somerset_, iv. 37.
Civilization promoted by Anglo-Saxon aggressiveness, iii. 391.
_Clarence_, merchant-ship, captured by Captain Maffitt, of the
cruiser _Florida_, iv. 424;
placed under command of Lieutenant Read, _ib._;
burnt, _ib._
Coaling stations, need of, by Federal war-ships in Southern waters,
iv. 161.
Cocke, Captain W. H., iii. 333;
fired on and killed by a Porto Rican fort, _ib._
Collier, Sir Ralph, K. C. B., iii. 260.
Collins, Captain Napoleon, at Port Royal, iv. 163;
commanding the _Wachusett_, captures the _Florida_ in Bahia Harbor,
iv. 424.
“Colonial Navy,” distinguished from temporary cruisers, i. 28, 29.
_Colorado_, United States screw frigate, launched, iv. 15.
_Columbia_, American frigate, attacks and bombards the Malay town of
Quallah Battoo, iii. 375–379.
_Columbia_, United States cruiser, iv. 534.
Columbiad, description of, iv. 119.
_Columbus_, successful cruise of Captain Whipple in the, i. 66.
_Columbus_, American ship-of-the-line, sent to Japan, iii. 440.
Columbus, Ky., Confederate position at, becomes untenable after
surrender of Fort Henry, iv. 266.
Columbus, on the Mississippi, Confederates evacuate, iv. 275.
_Comet_, American privateer, ii. 252.
Commander-in-chief of the Navy, title held by Commodore Hopkins only,
i. 62.
_Condor_, blockade-runner, wreck of, at Fort Fisher, iv. 511.
_Conestoga_, merchant-vessel, purchased by Commander Rodgers, iv. 241;
Captain Phelps appointed to command, 251.
_Confederacy_, American frigate, i. 287.
_Confederacy_, American packet, captured by the English, i. 298.
_Confiance_, British frigate, iii. 142;
flagship of Captain Downie in the battle of Lake Champlain, 153;
disabled and surrendered to the _Saratoga_, 165.
_Congress_, American galley, i. 89;
Arnold’s, flagship, 99;
covers retreat at Crown Point, 104;
burned by Arnold, 105.
_Congress_, American frigate, built, i. 312;
opens fire on the ironclad _Merrimac_ in Hampton Roads, iv. 200;
grounded, 207;
two Confederate gun-boats open fire on her, _ib._;
Lieutenant Pendergrast surrendered her to the _Merrimac_, 208;
hot shot fired at her by the _Merrimac_, 209;
her magazine explodes, 215.
Connecticut troops desert, i. 30.
Conner, Commodore David, lands a force at Point Isabel, iii. 409;
his fleet not fitted for shallow waters, 410;
his conduct of the seige of Vera Cruz, 418.
Connyngham, Captain Gustavus, i. 123;
captures prizes on the French coast, 124;
commission taken from him, 125;
takes command of the _Revenge_, 126;
his ship injured, 127;
refits in English port, 128;
gets provisions in an Irish port, _ib._;
sails for America, _ib._;
denounced as a pirate, 129;
cruel treatment of, in English prison, _ib._
_Constellation_, American frigate, built, i. 312;
Captain Thomas Truxton commands, 316, 319;
battle with French frigate _Insurgent_, 320;
discipline on board of, 322, 323;
battle with French frigate _Vengeance_, 323–325;
Captain Charles Gordon appointed to command in Decatur’s fleet,
iii. 343.
_Constitution_, United States frigate, built, i. 312;
flagship in the attack on Tripoli, 367;
called a “pine box” by Englishmen, 380;
Captain Isaac Hull disputes with the Captain of the British warship
_Havana_, ii. 13, 14;
is chased by two frigates, _ib._;
ship prepares for action, _ib._;
frigates retreat, 16;
her escape from a British squadron, 53–69;
“a bunch of pine boards,” 73;
fight with _Guerrière_, 76–95;
comparative strength of the two ships, 96;
return to Boston, 101;
cruising off Brazil, 152;
falls in with the _Java_, 153, 155–173;
attempt of the _Java_ to board, 158;
the London _Times_ on the victory, 176;
Lawrence applies for the command of, 197;
laid up at Boston, iii. 241;
goes to sea again, 242;
captures the war-schooner _Picton_, _ib._;
falls in with the British frigate _La Pique_, _ib._;
the British ship runs away, 243;
is chased by the _Junon_ and _Tenedos_, 244;
returns to Boston, 245;
captures the _Lord Nelson_, _ib._;
chases the _Elizabeth_ and captures the _Susan_, _ib._;
is chased by the _Elizabeth_ and _Tiber_, 246;
fight with the _Cyane_ and _Levant_, 247–256;
sails to Porto Praya, 260;
attacked by three British frigates, 261;
her fighting days over, 268;
plan of, iv. 537.
Continental Congress, effect on the, of the British vengeance on
Portland, i. 26.
Continental Naval Board, i. 158.
Contraband trade in the Civil War, iv. 48–52.
Cooke, Captain. See _Albemarle_.
_Coquette_, American merchant schooner, plundered by the Porto Rico
privateer _Palmira_, iii. 332.
Cornwallis, Lieutenant-general Lord, released from imprisonment in
exchange for Henry Laurens, iv. 154.
Corpus Christi, Texas, captured by Farragut, iv. 357.
_Cossack_, Federal transport, iv. 478.
Cottineau, Captain Denis Nicholas, i. 232.
Cotton-mills of the world shut down during the War of the Rebellion,
iv. 47.
_Countess of Scarborough_ attacks Paul Jones’s fleet off Flamborough
Head, i. 243;
surrender to the _Pallas_, 267.
_Couronne_, French ironclad, witnesses the _Alabama-Kearsarge_ fight,
iv. 438.
Couthouy, Lieutenant S. P., iv. 369.
Cox, William, midshipman on the _Chesapeake_, ii. 206.
Coxetter, Captain Louis M., iv. 91–93.
Craighead’s Point, shells thrown into Fort Pillow from, iv. 290.
Craney Island, Captain Tattnall fires and blows up the _Merrimac_ on,
iv. 236–237.
Craven, Captain Thomas Tunis, iv. 314;
sinks with his ship, 394.
Craven, Commander T. A. M., iv. 386.
Crawford, William H., American minister to France, ii. 361.
_Cricket_, Federal gun-boat, iv. 370.
Crosby, Lieutenant Pierce, iv. 315.
Crown Point, retreat of Benedict Arnold to, i. 103;
account of the roads and distances to, from New York, 109.
Crowninshield, George, Jr., privateersman, brings home the bodies of
Captain Lawrence and Lieutenant Ludlow, ii. 225.
_Croyable_, French gun-ship, captured off the Delaware, and renamed
the _Retaliation_, i. 316, 400.
Cruisers, Confederate, tales of the, iv. 407–451.
_Cuba_, Federal merchant-ship, captured by Confederate cruiser
_Sumter_, iv. 415.
_Cumberland_, Federal sailing sloop-of-war, opens fire on the
ironclad _Merrimac_, iv. 200;
is rammed by the _Merrimac_, 201;
in a sinking condition, 202;
continues firing as she goes down, 203.
Cumberland Head, Plattsburg Bay, Macdonough’s squadron at, iii. 149.
Dabney, John B., American consul at Fayal, iii. 187;
his report on the fight between the _Carnation_ and the _General
Armstrong_, 195, 196, 198–201.
Dacres, Captain James Richard, ii. 55;
surrenders to Captain Hull, 94.
Dahlgren, Rear-admiral John Adolph, his smooth-bore gun introduced,
iv. 489.
Dahlgren, Admiral John A. B., relieves Dupont of his command, iv. 489.
Dale, Commodore Richard, master’s mate on _Lexington_, i. 68;
escape of, from English prison, 123;
joins Paul Jones’s fleet, 230;
resourceful conduct of, 256, 260–262;
wounded, 266;
gallant conduct on the _Trumbull_, 295–297;
placed in command of squadron in the Mediterranean, 334.
Dartmoor Prison, Rev. Joseph Bates imprisoned in, iii. 294.
_Dartmouth_, merchant-ship, tea thrown from, in Boston Harbor, i. 13.
_Dash_, privateer of Baltimore, captures schooner _Whiting_ in
Chesapeake Bay, ii. 241.
_Dauphin_, American ship, captured by Algerian pirates, i. 309.
Dauphin Island, Mobile, iv. 379;
Federal troops landed on, 385.
“Davids,” torpedo boats, first used at Charleston, iv. 497;
derivation of name, 498.
Davis, Captain Charles, relieves Commodore Foote, iv. 289;
his inactivity, 293.
Davis, Captain Charles H., replaces the buoys at Port Royal, iv. 171.
Davis, Jefferson, proclamation inviting applications for letters of
marque, iv. 85.
Davis, Gunner’s Mate John, heroism of, iv. 110;
promoted and honored, 111.
Davyson, Captain Thomas, surrenders to the _Providence_, i. 282, 283.
Dead Sea, exploration of the, iii. 464.
_Deane_, American frigate, with the _Boston_, captures six prizes, i.
284, 287.
Deane, Silas, member of first Marine Committee, i. 36;
American commissioner to France with Franklin, i. 117.
De Camp, Commander John, iv. 314.
_Decatur_, American privateer, throws her guns overboard, ii. 75.
Decatur, Lieutenant James, in the attack on the city of Tripoli, i.
361;
killed by the Tripolitans, 362.
Decatur, Lieutenant Stephen, Jr., i. 346;
captures the _Mastico_, _ib._;
sails on the _Mastico_ to set fire to the _Philadelphia_, 348–361;
made a captain, 358;
in the attack on the city of Tripoli, 361;
his encounter with a Tripolitan captain, 363, 364;
falls in with the British ships _Eurydice_ and _Atalanta_, ii. 16;
cruises in the Azores in the _United States_, 121;
encounters the _Macedonian_, 122;
fights the second frigate battle of the War of 1812, 125–134;
his personal direction of the guns, 128;
surrender of the British frigate, 133;
ball given to Decatur and his officers in New York, 149;
gold medal given by Congress to, 150;
transferred to the _President_, iii. 212;
ordered to cruise in the East Indies, 215;
chased by the British fleet, 216;
lightens his ship, 217;
addresses his crew, 218;
attempts to retreat, 221;
ordered to cruise in the South Atlantic, 271;
his duelling experiences, 307–315;
his fatal duel with Commodore Barron, 318–321;
his death, 322;
a squadron under his command sent to Africa, 343;
his treaty with the Dey, 347–355;
compels the Dey to pay indemnity, 355;
goes to Tripoli and compels the Bashaw to settle, 357.
_Deerhound_, English yacht, witnesses the _Alabama-Kearsarge_ fight
off Cherbourg, France, iv. 438;
assists in picking up the crew of the _Alabama_, 441.
_Defence_, Connecticut cruiser, captures two transports, i. 203, 204.
_Defiance_, Confederate ironclad, abandoned by her crew at New
Orleans, iv. 337.
De Gama, Saldanha, Brazilian rebel admiral, iv. 548.
_De Kalb_, armor-plated Federal gun-boat, built by Eads, first
called the _St. Louis_, iv. 245;
takes part in capture of Arkansas Post, iv. 351.
_Delaware_, United States frigate, i. 316.
_Demologos_, Fulton’s first steam war-ship, iv. 4, 11.
Desertions from British ships, i. 394.
_De Soto_, Federal boat, added to Ellet’s command, iv. 351;
burned, 352.
_Detroit_, American brig, captured by the British, ii. 274;
recaptured by Lieutenant Elliott, 276;
runs aground on Squaw Island, 278;
British again capture her, _ib._;
the Americans destroy her, 279.
_Detroit_, United States cruiser, at Rio Janeiro, iv. 548;
fires on the _Guanabara_, 553.
_Diadem_, British frigate, strength and armament of, iv. 23.
Diamond Reef, near Cape Hatteras, iv. 165.
Dickenson, Captain James, attacks the _Hornet_, iii. 273;
is killed in the fight, 276.
_Diligence_, British schooner, sent to capture Captain Jeremiah
O’Brien, i. 23.
_Diligent_, English brig, surrenders to the _Providence_, i. 282, 283.
Discipline on board American frigate _Constellation_, i. 322.
Discord fomented by England between the States of the Union, i. 384.
_Divided We Fall_, American privateer, ii. 253.
_Dixie_, Confederate privateer, iv. 93.
_Dolphin_, American cutter, purchased by Franklin and other
commissioners, i. 117.
_Dolphin_, American privateer, ii. 242.
_Dolphin_, United States cruiser, iv. 531.
Donaldson, Commander Edward, iv. 389;
of the _Sciota_, 315.
“Don’t tread on me,” the significant motto, i. 2, 46.
Douglas, Hon. Captain George, iii. 247;
surrenders, 255.
Douglas, Lord Howard, his views on armor-clad ships, iv. 198.
Downes, Lieutenant John, sent on a cruise in the _Georgiana_, iii. 10;
captures by, 10, 11;
in the _Essex-Phœbe_ fight, 28;
is appointed to command the _Epervier_, 1815, 343;
attacks and overpowers the Malays at Quallah Battoo, 373, 374.
Downes, Commander John, iv. 480.
Downie, Captain George, iii. 144, 145;
at the battle of Lake Champlain, 153, 154;
killed, 165.
Drayton, Captain Percival, at Port Royal, iv. 163;
Captain of the _Hartford_, 386;
of the _Passaic_, 480.
Drayton, General Thomas F., at Port Royal, iv. 170.
_Druid_, British brig, attacked by the _Raleigh_, i. 131, 132.
_Drummond_, British gun-boat, iii. 143.
_Drummond_, British schooner, captured by Chauncey at Lake George,
ii. 353.
Drunkenness and debauchery promoted by gun-boats, ii. 394.
_D. Trowbridge_, Federal merchant-ship, captured by the _Sumter_,
iv. 415.
_Dublin_, British frigate, cruises off Callas, iii. 389.
_Duc de Lauzan_, American frigate, i. 287, 299.
Duckworth, Admiral Sir John T., on the cartel of the _Alert_, ii. 47.
Duddingstone, Lieutenant William, i. 4;
shot, 10.
Duelling in the American Navy, iii. 305–323;
at Gibraltar, 313, 314.
_Duke of Gloucester_, British ship captured by Americans at Toronto,
burned at the attack on Fort George, ii. 346.
Dummy monitor sent adrift by Porter’s men, iv. 357.
Dunmore, Lord, in Chesapeake Bay, i. 35.
Dunovant, Colonel R. M., at Fort Beauregard, iv. 170.
Dupont, Commander Samuel Francis, spikes the guns of San Blas, iii.
402;
takes command of a fleet to take possession of Port Royal, iv. 163.
Dynamite cruisers, construction of, iv. 542.
Eads, James B., ship-builder, takes a contract to build seven
ironclad gun-boats, iv. 242–244;
construction of, described, 245, 246;
Eads and Ericsson, 244.
_Eagle_, American sloop, in Macdonough’s squadron, ii. 354;
sunk by the British in the Sorel River, 355.
_Eagle_, American sloop, iii. 136, 138.
Earle, Commodore, attempts to capture the _Oneida_ and destroy
Sackett’s Harbor, ii. 266, 268.
_Eastport_, Confederate river steamer, captured by Lieutenant Phelps,
iv. 267.
_Eastport_, Federal gun-boat, iv. 369.
_Eben Dodge_, Federal merchant-ship, captured by Confederate cruiser
_Sumter_, iv. 415.
_Eclipse_, American merchant-ship, attacked and looted by Malays,
iii. 374–376.
_Edinburgh Review_ on the treatment of America by Great Britain, i.
384.
_Edwin_, American merchant-brig, captured by the Dey of Algiers, iii.
341, 351.
_Effingham_, American frigate, sunk, i. 188.
_Eliza_, merchant-schooner, David Porter’s first ship, ii. 33.
_Elizabeth_, British schooner, captured by Porter, iii. 4.
Ellet, Colonel Charles, Jr., converts seven river steamers into rams
on the Ohio River, iv. 298;
his part in the attack on Fort Pillow, 301.
Ellet, Colonel Charles R., sent by Porter to control the Mississippi
between Vicksburg and Port Hudson, iv. 351.
Elliott, Lieutenant Jesse D., sent to Buffalo to purchase vessels,
ii. 273;
capture of the _Detroit_, 276, 278, 279;
in command of the _Niagara_, 292;
brings up the gun-boats, 322;
criticized for inactivity, 335, 336;
acts as second to Commodore Barron in his duel with Decatur, iii.
319;
commands the _Ontario_ in an expedition against the Dey of Algiers
in 1815, 343.
Elliptical route plan condemned by Admiral Porter, iv. 101.
_Emily St. Pierre_, British merchant-ship, seized by United States
cruiser _James Adger_, iv. 58;
recaptured by her captain, _ib._
_Enchantress_, merchant-schooner, captured by Confederate privateer
_Jefferson Davis_, iv. 91.
_Endymion_, British frigate, attacks the _Prince de Neufchâtel_,
American privateer, iii. 202;
is defeated, 203;
assists in the capture of the _President_, 222.
England, greed of, in dealings with her colonies, i. 4;
tries to crush the new republic, 314.
English Navy of 1812 in American waters, ii. 25.
English officers offended by names given to Yankee ships, iii. 313.
English seaman in 1812, ii. 25.
Ensign, naval, first American, i. 46.
_Enterprise_, American brig, sent to South America to put down
piracy, iii. 331.
_Enterprise_, American schooner, captures the French privateer
_Seine_, i. 330;
sent to Tripoli in charge of Lieutenant Andrew Sterrett, 335;
battle with the war polacre _Tripoli_, 335;
the luckiest, naval ship of the War of 1812, ii. 372;
captures eight privateers, 373;
cruises in the Mediterranean, _ib._;
captures the _Tripoli_ and the ketch _Mastico_, _ib._;
changed to a brig and overloaded with guns, 374;
drives off English privateers under command of Master-commandant
Johnston Blakely, 375;
Lieutenant William Burrows takes charge of her, _ib._;
cruises for privateers, _ib._;
encounters the _Boxer_, _ib._;
her commander wounded, and Lieutenant McCall takes his place, 377,
378;
the _Boxer_ surrenders, 379;
after the battle Master-commandant James Renshaw appointed to
command, 386;
cruises off the southern coast, _ib._;
escapes from a British frigate, _ib._;
employed as harbor guard, 387.
_Enterprise_, American sloop, i. 89.
_Epervier_, British brig-sloop, captured by the _Peacock_, iii. 66–71;
taken into Savannah by Lieutenant John B. Nicholson, 76–78.
_Epervier_, American ship, lost at sea, iii. 354.
_Era_, Confederate steamer, captured by Federal fleet, iv. 352.
Erben, Captain Henry, at Fort Pillow, iv. 289.
_Ericsson_, a name given to the first monitor, iv. 215.
Ericsson, John, Swedish engineer, his screw propeller, iv. 10;
his boat the _Francis B. Ogden_, _ib._;
induced to come to America, 11;
plans the first screw steamship, 12;
Naval Board makes a contract with, for the _Monitor_, 191.
Erie, Pa., chosen as base of operations for gaining control of Lake
Erie, ii. 282;
ship-building at, 286.
_Espiègle_, British war-brig, chased by Captain Lawrence of the
_Hornet_, ii. 181;
again chased after sinking the _Peacock_, 190.
_Essex_, American frigate, sent to Tripoli, i. 335.
_Essex_, American frigate, ii. 33;
first cruise in War of 1812, 34–50;
British frigate _Minerva_ refuses to fight with, 39–41;
captures the _Alert_, 41–43;
crew of _Alert_ plan a rescue, 44;
chased by the _Shannon_, 47;
Farragut’s account of the crew, 49;
begins her second cruise, Oct. 8, 1812, iii. 1;
cruises off Port Praya, 2;
captures the brig _Nocton_, 2, 3;
dysentery among the crew, 4;
panic on board, 6;
painted and disguised, 8;
captures British whalers, _ib._;
refitted from the captured ships, 9;
captures the _Atlantic_ and the _Greenwich_, _ib._;
captures the _Charlton_, 13;
goes into the harbor of Nukahiva to refit, 18–21;
an incipient mutiny on, 21;
attacked by the _Phœbe_ and _Cherub_, 24–43;
losses of, 44;
sent to England to be added to the British Navy, 48;
her captures, 52;
amount of damage done to the enemy, _ib._
_Essex_, Federal armor-plated gun-boat, iv. 249;
in the battle of Port Henry, _ib._;
disabled, 262;
Flag Officer Foote’s warning to his crews about wasting shot, 261;
Commander Robert Townsend, 369.
_Essex Junior_, formerly the British whaler _Atlantic_, iii. 12;
in the fight between the _Phœbe_ and _Cherub_ against the _Essex_,
33–43;
is disarmed and sent to New York, 49.
_Estido_, Algerian brig, captured near Cape Palos by the American
Navy, iii. 348.
_Eurydice_, British frigate, ii. 16.
Evans, Surgeon Amos E., ii. 168.
_Experiment_, British frigate, captures the _Raleigh_, i. 194.
_Experiment_, American schooner, i. 330.
Exploring expeditions of the American Navy, iii. 464.
“Export powder,” an inferior quality of gunpowder, ii. 368.
_Fair American_, British brig, driven ashore by the _Hyder Ali_, i.
215.
Fairfax, Lieutenant D. M., takes Mason and Slidell off the _Trent_,
iv. 144–146.
Fairfax, Commander D. M., iv. 480.
Falcon, Captain Thomas Gordon, chased by the _Constitution_, iii. 247;
surrenders, 252.
Falmouth (now called Portland), Maine, attacked by British, i. 24–26,
32.
_Fame_, privateer of Salem, ii. 241.
_Fanny_, successful blockade-runner, iv. 63.
Farragut, Commodore David Glasgow, midshipman on the _Essex_, ii. 40;
his wit saves a rescue of the _Alert_ by her crew, 44;
his account of the crew of the _Essex_, 49;
as captain when only twelve years old, iii. 12, 13;
resumes his studies at Nukahiva, 19–21;
his account of the fight of the _Essex_ with the _Phœbe_ and
_Cherub_, 40–42;
in his home at Norfolk, Va., 1862, awaiting orders, iv. 311;
a member of the Naval Retiring Board, 313;
suggested by Porter as a suitable commander of the New Orleans
expedition, 313;
accepts the position, 314;
ships in his squadron, 314, 315;
disguises his ships, 317;
advances past the barriers, 324–330;
demands surrender of New Orleans from Mayor Monroe, 338;
pressed by the Administration to open up the Mississippi, 341;
his bold cruise practically fruitless, 342;
his fortune in the Gulf of Mexico, 357;
runs his squadron past the works of Port Hudson, _ib._;
captures Galveston and Corpus Christi, _ib._;
losses in his fleet, 358;
watches Confederates strengthen their works at Mobile, 384;
moves his fleet up to Fort Morgan, 389;
commences the battle, 392;
disregards the torpedoes, 396;
lashed to the mast, _ib._;
wins the battle when the _Tennessee_ surrenders, 403;
in his report gives special praise to members of his fleet, _ib._;
his place in history, 465.
Faunce, Captain John, iv. 99.
Federal Government, its great aim to strangle and starve the
Confederates, iv. 239.
Fernando de Noronha, Brazil, Porter visits and communicates with
Bainbridge at, iii. 3;
Captain Semmes allowed to make his headquarters there, iv. 527.
Ferryboats as successful naval ships, iv. 37.
_Finch_, British gun-boat, iii. 143;
disabled in the battle of Lake Champlain, 161.
_Fingal_, Scotch iron steamer, erected into a Confederate ironclad,
iv. 486;
renamed the _Atlanta_, 488.
Fitch, Colonel, attacks Charles City, Ark., iv. 307;
storms and captures it, 308.
Flag. See _American Flag_.
_Flag_, armed merchantman, attacked by the Confederate ironclad
_Palmetto State_, iv. 474.
_Flambeau_, French privateer, captured by the _Enterprise_, ii. 373.
Flamborough Head, naval fight between the _Serapis_ and _Bonhomme
Richard_ near, i: 243.
Flannen Islands, the _Alliance_, of Paul Jones’s fleet, captures a
valuable prize off the coast of, i. 236.
Flores, General José Maria, paroled by Commodore Stockton, iii. 397;
breaks his parole, _ib._
_Florida_, Confederate cruiser built at Liverpool, iv. 416;
her first voyages, 417;
Captain John Newland Maffitt appointed to command of, 418;
is fired at by Captain Preble of the _Winona_, 419;
escapes, _ib._;
blockaded by the _Cuyler_, 420;
runs the blockade, 423;
Captain Charles M. Morris appointed to command of, 424;
rammed by the _Wachusett_ and taken to the United States, _ib._;
scuttled at Newport News, 429.
_Fly_, schooner of first American Navy, i. 40.
Foote, Admiral Andrew Hull, Lieutenant on the American brig _Perry_,
sent to Africa to assist in putting down the slave traffic,
iii. 363;
his sincere desire to stop the traffic, 364;
captures the slave-ships _Martha_ and _Chatsworth_, 364–366;
the “original prohibitionist of the navy,” 367;
is sent to Canton to protect American interests, 380;
is fired on by the Chinese forts, _ib._;
bombards and captures the forts, 380, 381;
relieves Commander John Rodgers of his command on the Mississippi,
iv. 250;
assembles a fleet at Paducah, 255;
inspects the crews, 256;
seeming insolence of Captain Walke to, 266;
joins the expedition to Fort Donelson, 268;
is seriously wounded, 271;
again, 272;
is relieved by Captain Charles H. Davis, 289.
_Forest Queen_, Federal army transport, in Porter’s fleet before
Vicksburg, iv. 364.
Fort Beauregard, on Bay Point, Charleston, S. C., Confederate fort
at Port Royal, iv. 169, 467.
Fort Donelson, strength of, iv. 268;
arrival of the _Carondelet_, _ib._;
the _St. Louis_, _Louisville_, and _Pittsburg_ arrive before, 271;
all three ships disabled, _ib._;
the fleet at a disadvantage, 272;
surrendered to General Grant, _ib._
Fort Erie, the Coney Island of Buffalo, ii. 273.
Fort Fisher, N. C., capture of, iv. 503–518;
fortifications of, 505;
General Butler’s plan of capture, 508–514;
garrison of, 514.
Fort Gaines shelled by Federal gun-boat _Chickasaw_, iv. 405.
Fort George attacked by the Americans under Winfield Scott, ii.
342–344;
Scott hauls down the British flag, 344.
Fort Gregg, Charleston, S. C., iv. 467.
Fort Henry, Tennessee River, Foote assembles a fleet at Paducah to
attack, iv. 255;
troops under Grant proceed up the river, _ib._;
storm clears the river of torpedoes, 256;
attacked by Foote’s fleet, 261–266;
a victory for the gun-boats, 266;
its importance to both armies, _ib._
_Fort Hindman_, Federal gun-boat, iv. 370.
Fort Jackson, Confederate fortification on the Mississippi, iv. 318;
bombardment of, 322–324;
surrendered to Porter, 339.
Fort Johnson, Charleston, S. C., iv. 467.
Fort Morgan, iv. 385, 386, 389.
Fort Moultrie, Charleston, S. C., iv. 467.
Fort Pillow, Federal fleet advances to, iv. 289;
evacuated by Confederates, 298.
Fort Pinckney, Charleston, S. C., iv. 467.
Fort Ripley, Charleston, S. C., iv. 467.
Fort Sumter, five monitors open fire on, iv. 491;
bombarded and reduced to a wreck, 493.
Fort Wagner, Charleston, S. C., iv. 467, 469, 490.
Fort Walker, on Hilton Head, Confederate fort at Port Royal, iv. 169.
Fortress Monroe, the _Monitor_ retires to, after the fight with the
_Merrimac_, iv. 226.
_Forward_, American schooner, in attack on Alvarado, iii. 410.
_Forward_, filibuster craft, cut out by Lieutenant Brownson of the
United States frigate _Mohican_, iv. 553.
Foster, Lieutenant-commander J. P., iv. 369.
Foster, General John G., Captain Flusser appeals to him to go and
burn the Confederate ironclad _Albemarle_, iv. 454.
Fox, Augustus V., appointed assistant to Gideon Welles, Secretary of
the Navy, iv. 35.
_Fox_, Captain W. H. Cocke, iii. 333.
Foxardo affair, the unfortunate, iii. 337, 338.
France, United States Government abrogates all treaties with, July 7,
1798, i. 314.
_Francis B. Ogden_, Ericsson’s model boat, attains speed of ten miles
an hour, iv. 10;
Captain Stockton makes a trip on, _ib._
Franklin sails for France on the _Reprisal_, i. 114.
Franklin, Sir John, American expedition sent to search for the
remains of, iii. 464.
_Franklin_, American schooner, captures ten vessels and Governor
Wright of St. John’s, i. 203;
captures a quantity of war supplies, _ib._
_Freeborn_, Federal steamer, at Acquia Creek, iv. 81.
“Free trade” before “sailors’ rights,” the motto of Washington
politicians in 1812, ii. 18.
_Freely_, Confederate privateer, iv. 93.
Frémont, John C. (“the Pathfinder”), takes possession of San Diego,
iii. 394;
commands in the Mississippi Valley, iv. 241.
French cruisers destroy American shipping, i. 314.
French troops enter Mexico, iv. 367.
_Friendship_, American ship, attacked and looted by natives of
Sumatra, iii. 368.
_Frolic_, American sloop, built at Portsmouth, N. H., in 1814, iii.
64;
Master-commandant Joseph Bainbridge appointed to, 65:
sinks a Carthagenian privateer, _ib._;
encounters the British frigate _Orpheus_ and schooner _Shelburne_,
_ib._;
surrenders, 66.
_Frolic_, British brig, encountered by the _Wasp_, ii. 106;
captured by the _Wasp_, 107–112;
comparison between the ships, 116;
recaptured by the _Poictiers_, 118.
Frontier posts retained by England contrary to treaty, i. 383;
posts used as Indian headquarters, _ib._
Fry, Captain Joseph, capture of, iv. 308;
captured and executed by the Spaniards in the _Virginius_
expedition, _ib._
Fulton ferryboat _Somerset_ captures the blockade-runner _Circassian_
off Havana, iv. 37.
Fulton, naval plans of, iv. 3, 4;
his first steam war-ship, the _Demologos_, 4;
report of commissioners appointed to examine her, 7, 8;
blown to pieces, 9.
_Fulton 2d_, launched in 1887, iv. 11.
Gadsden, Christopher, member of first Marine Committee, i. 36.
_Gaines_, Confederate gun-boat, iv. 380.
_Galatea_, British frigate, chased by the _Congress_ and _President_,
ii. 151.
_Galena_, Federal gun-boat, iv. 389.
_Gallinipper_, American barge, captures a pirate schooner, iii. 335.
Galveston, Texas, blockaded by the _South Carolina_, iv. 44;
bombarded by Captain James Alden of the Federal frigate _South
Carolina_, 121;
the foreign consuls protest against the bombardment, 123;
captured by Farragut, 357;
is retaken by the Confederates, _ib._
Gamble, Lieutenant Peter, killed in the battle of Lake Champlain,
iii. 157.
_Gaspé_, captured by men armed with paving-stones, i. 9.
_Gazelle_, Federal gun-boat, iv. 370.
Geisinger, Midshipman David, placed in charge of the captured ship
_Atlanta_, iii. 100.
_General Armstrong_, American privateer schooner, iii. 186;
owned by New York men, _ib._;
under Captain Tim Barnard captures nineteen prizes, 187;
sails from New York under command of Captain Samuel C. Reid, _ib._;
arrives at Fayal and encounters the _Carnation_, _Plantagenet_, and
_Rota_, _ib._;
is attacked by boats from the three ships, but beats them off, 189;
scuttled and abandoned by her crew, 200.
_General Bragg_, Confederate gun-boat, rams the _Cincinnati_ at Fort
Pillow, iv. 293;
raked by the _Carondelet_, 294;
surrenders, 302.
_General Monk_, British ship, attacked and captured by the _Hyder
Ali_, i. 209–215.
_General Pike_, American ship, burned at the attack on Fort George,
ii. 346.
_General Price_, Federal ram, in Porter’s fleet before Vicksburg, iv.
364.
_General Rusk_, Confederate steamer, blockaded in Galveston by the
Federal frigate _Santee_, iv. 137.
_Georgiana_, British whaler, captured by Porter, iii. 8.
Gerdes, F. H., Federal coast surveyor at New Orleans, iv. 322.
German troops hired by England to fight in America, i. 32.
Ghent, terms and conditions of the treaty of, iii. 209.
Gherardi, Commander Bancroft, iv. 389.
_Gibraltar_, formerly the _Sumter_. See _Sumter_.
Gibraltar, duels between American and English officers at, iii.
311–313.
Gillis, Captain John P., iv. 99;
of the _Seminole_ at Port Royal, 163.
_Glasgow_, British sloop-of-war, fight with Commodore Hopkins’s
American squadron, i. 59.
_Globe_, American privateer, ii. 250.
“God Save the King,” American sailors on British ships compelled to
bare their heads when played, i. 394, iii. 291.
Godon, Captain S. W., at Port Royal, iv. 163.
_Golden Rocket_, captured by the _Sumter_, iv. 410.
Goldsborough, Flag Officer L. M., in charge of expedition sent
against Roanoke Island, iv. 109;
in charge of a large fleet sent to ram the _Merrimac_, 235.
Gordon’s Landing, Red River, fort at, attacked by Ellet, iv. 352.
Gorringe, Master H. H., iv. 370.
_Governor_, Federal transport, sinks off Cape Hatteras, iv. 166.
_Governor Tompkins_, American privateer, ii. 253.
_Governor Tryon_, British sloop, attacked by and strikes to the
American privateer _Thorn_, i. 209.
_Grampus_, American schooner, in fleet sent to punish pirates in
South America, iii. 331;
captures the _Pandrita_, 332.
Grand Gulf, Porter attacks fortifications of, and finds them
evacuated, iv. 367;
Grant makes it his base of supplies, _ib._
Grant, General Ulysses Simpson, attempts to dislodge Confederates
below Cairo, iv. 251;
attacks the Confederates at Belmont, 251, 252;
proceeds up the Tennessee, to attack Fort Henry, 255;
muddy roads prevents his taking part in the capture of the fort,
266;
at Fort Donelson, 268;
Captain Walker diverts the Confederates’ attention from him, 271;
Confederates surrender to him, 272;
fight with Confederates at Pittsburg Landing, 284;
arrives before Vicksburg, 351;
goes to New Carthage to surround Vicksburg, 363;
makes Grand Gulf his base of supplies, 367.
_Granville_, French privateer, in the fleet of Paul Jones, i. 234.
Graves, Admiral, destroys Portland, Maine, i. 24–26.
Grease as a protection on armor-plated ships, iv. 10.
Great Britain, sea-power of, in 1812, ii. 22;
European nations dread the power of, 23.
Greene, Lieutenant Charles H., iv. 386.
Greene, Captain P. B., blockaded in Bahia Harbor, ii. 179;
refuses Lawrence’s challenge, _ib._;
cowardice of, 180;
rescued by the _Montagu_, _ib._
Greene, Lieutenant S. D., executive officer of the _Monitor_, iv. 216;
takes charge of the guns in the turret, 219, 220;
takes command after Worden is disabled, 226;
his statement, 229, 230;
orders regarding the _Merrimac_, 235.
Greenpoint, Brooklyn, N. Y., the _Monitor_ constructed at, iv. 192.
_Greenwich_, British letter-of-marque whaler, captured by Porter,
iii. 9.
Greer, Lieutenant-commander James A., before Vicksburg, iv. 363, 369.
_Greyhound_, Captain John Porter, iii. 333.
_Growler_, American schooner, captured by the British, ii. 351;
recaptured by the Americans, 351.
_Growler_, American sloop, in Macdonough’s squadron, ii. 354;
grounded in the Sorel River, 355.
_Growler_, American sloop, iii. 135, 138.
_Guanabara_, Brazilian rebel warship at Rio Janeiro, iv. 548;
fired on by the United States cruiser _Detroit_, 553.
_Guerrière_, American frigate, built in 1814, iii. 64;
Decatur’s flagship in expedition sent against the Dey of Algiers,
346, 347.
_Guerrière_, British frigate, picking sailors from American ships,
ii. 6;
flees from an inferior force, 7;
stops the _Spitfire_, and takes off John Deguyo, an American
citizen, _ib._;
race with the _Constitution_, 55;
Captain Dacres in charge of, 55–60;
fight with the _Constitution_, 76–95;
surrendered and blown up, 95.
Gun-boats, the ideal navy, ii. 388;
description and build of, 389;
arguments in favor of, 390;
cheapness of, 392;
points against, _ib._;
cost of, 393;
difficulty of getting unanimity of captains in battle, 394;
lack of discipline on gun-boats, _ib._;
use of, in Long Island Sound, 395;
first encounter with gun-boats, _ib._;
uselessness again shown, 416.
Gunners of 1812 and 1861 compared, iv. 419.
Gunpowder, expedients for getting, by the United Colonies, i. 28.
Guns, penetrating power of long and short, iii. 142;
improvements made in, iv. 18–23.
Gwin, Lieutenant, supports Grant at Pittsburg Landing, iv. 284.
Hacker, Captain Hoysted, i. 79, 282, 283.
Haggerty, Captain F. L., at Port Royal, iv. 163.
_Halifax_, British war-ship, i. 406, 407.
Hallock, Captain William, i. 66.
Hambleton, Purser on the _Lawrence_ in the battle of Lake Erie, ii.
317.
_Hamilton_, American schooner, ii. 350.
Hamilton, Schuyler, suggests cutting through the trees of swamp from
the Mississippi to New Madrid, iv. 281.
Hampton Roads, the first point blockaded in the Civil War, iv. 40;
_Keystone State_ blockades, 45.
Hanchett, Captain, ii. 398.
Handy, Captain Robert, misunderstands signals, iv. 133, 134;
letter to Captain Pope, showing his fear of the _Manassas_, 136.
_Hannah_, a Providence packet, chased by the _Gaspé_, i. 5.
Harding, Captain Seth, surrenders to the _Orpheus_ and _Roebuck_, i.
298.
_Harriet Lane_, American revenue cutter, used as a war-ship, iv. 42;
Captain John Faunce, 99.
_Harriet Lane_, Federal frigate, captured in the Gulf of Mexico, iv.
357.
Harrison, Lieutenant Napoleon B., iv. 314.
_Hartford_, United States screw sloop, built, iv. 16;
flagship of Captain Farragut, 314;
set on fire by Confederate fire-raft, 329;
passes the batteries at Port Hudson, 358;
flagship of Rear-admiral Farragut, 386.
Hatteras, Cape, battle between the _Wasp_ and the _Frolic_ in the
tail of a gale off, ii. 107.
Hatteras, Fort, captured by Federal forces, iv. 106;
the first Union victory in the War of Secession, _ib._
Hatteras hurricane, a fleet of transports in a, iv. 166.
Hatteras Inlet, N. C., resort of the “Hatteras Pirates,” iv. 97.
_Hatteras_, merchant-steamer, captured and sunk by the _Alabama_ at
Galveston, iv. 432.
_Hawke_, American tender, captured by British off Long Island, i. 56.
Hawkins, Captain Richard, refuses to fight the _Essex_, ii. 39–41;
branded as a coward, 40.
Haymakers, Machias, attack of the, on the _Margaretta_, i. 21.
Haymakers and wood-choppers as Yankee seamen, iii. 82, 83, 86, 90, 95.
_Hazard_, American privateer, captured the British brig _Active_, i.
206.
Hazard, Captain, in the first naval battle of the Revolution, i. 57.
_Hebrus_, British frigate, ii. 420.
_Hector_, British letter-of-marque ship, captured by Lieutenant
Downes, iii. 10.
Heddart, Captain Francis, extracts from his account of the
_Serapis_-_Bonhomme Richard_ battle, i. 245, 257.
Henley, Midshipman John D., assists in the attack on the city of
Tripoli, i. 366.
_Henry Clay_, Federal army transport, in Porter’s fleet before
Vicksburg, iv. 364;
catches fire and sinks, _ib._
Hewes, Joseph, member of first Marine Committee, i. 36.
_Hibernia_, British transport, captured by Captain Hopkins, i. 281.
Hickman, on the Mississippi, evacuated by the Confederates, iv. 275.
_Highflyer_, British schooner, Captain Rodgers succeeds in getting
private signals from, ii. 23, 358.
Hillyar, Captain James, in the harbor of Valparaiso, iii. 25;
attempts to attack the _Essex_, but is scared off, 26;
attacks the _Essex_ in company with the _Cherub_, 30–43;
criticism on handling his ship, 46.
Hilton Head. See _Fort Walker_.
Hinman, Captain Elisha, i. 66;
sent to France for army supplies, 130;
his ship captured by the British, 133.
Hislop, Lieutenant-general, Governor of Bombay, on board the _Java_
in her fight with the _Constitution_, ii. 168;
Captain Bainbridge’s curious dream of, 172, 173.
Hoel, Lieutenant W. R., iv. 363, 370.
Hoffman, Lieutenant B. V., sent to take charge of the _Cyane_ when
she surrendered, iii. 252.
Hoke, General, advances on Plymouth, N. C., and captures it, iv. 455,
456.
Holdup, Thomas, in the battle of Lake Erie, chases and captures the
_Chippewa_ and _Little Belt_, ii. 326.
_Holland_, torpedo boat, launching of, iv. 543.
Holland, John P., inventor of submarine torpedo boats, iv. 542.
Honor, American Medal of, origin of, iv. 111.
Hope, Lieutenant David, horrible cruelty of, to sailors, i. 389;
wounded on the _Macedonian_, ii. 140;
his report on gunnery practice, 143.
Hopkins, Esek, Commander-in-chief of first American fleet, i. 42;
career of, 48;
dismissed from the service, 61;
dies near Providence, R. I., _ib._
Hopkins, Captain John Burrows, in command of the _Cabot_, i. 57.
Hopkins, Commodore Robert, receives his appointment through influence
of John Adams, i. 49;
sent to Chesapeake Bay in search of Lord Dunmore, 53;
goes to the Bahamas instead and attacks the British there, _ib._
Hopkins, Stephen, member of first Marine Committee, i. 36.
_Hornet_, sloop of first American Navy, i. 40.
_Hornet_, American sloop-of-war, blockades the British warship _Bonne
Citoyenne_ in Bahia Harbor, ii. 179;
raises the blockade on the approach of the _Montagu_, 180;
captures the _Resolution_, 181;
falls in with the _Peacock_, _ib._;
fight with the _Peacock_, 182–184;
encounters the _Penguin_, iii. 273;
the _Penguin_ surrenders, 274–280;
the _Hornet_ chased by the _Cornwallis_, but escapes, 282–284;
Captain Robert Henley appointed to command, 330;
detailed to South America to destroy pirates, 331.
Horses, wild, as weapons of offence, iii. 401.
_Housatonic_, Federal war-ship, attacked by the Confederate ironclad
_Palmetto State_, iv. 474.
Howard, Lieutenant Samuel, iv. 370.
Howe, Captain Tyringham, i. 59.
Huger, Captain Thomas B., at New Orleans, iv. 321;
mortally wounded, 332.
Hull, Lieutenant Isaac, cuts the privateer _Sandwich_ out of Puerto
Plata, i. 329;
tricky conduct of the officers of two British frigates to, ii. 15;
the frigates turn and retreat, 16;
his opinion of the crew of the _Constitution_, 52;
his escape from a British squadron, after standing at his post for
two days, 53–69;
race with the _Guerrière_, 55;
fight with and capture of the _Guerrière_, 76–95;
reception on returning to Boston, 101;
Congress votes a gold medal to, 103.
Humphreys, Joshua, American ship-builder, statement of, in regard to
new ships, i. 311;
his theories accepted, 312.
Hunt, William H., Secretary of the Navy, appoints a board of naval
officers, with Rear-admiral Rodgers at its head, iv. 527.
_Hunter_, American ship, captured by the _Peacock_, ii. 191;
taken in charge by the _Hornet_, _ib._
_Hunter_, British ship, attacked by privateers, i. 200.
_Hunter_, British brig, in battle of Lake Erie, ii. 296.
_Hussar_, Austrian war-ship, Martin Koszta, an American citizen taken
and detained on, iii. 385;
on demand of Captain Ingraham of the _St. Louis_ is given up, _ib._
Hutter, Midshipman, killed while assisting the Union wounded out of
the _Congress_, iv. 209.
_Hyder Ali_, American privateer, Captain Joshua Barney, attacks and
captures the _General Monk_, i. 212–215.
_Illinois_, United States battle-ship, iv. 534, 536.
Impressment, feeling of American seamen regarding the practice of,
ii. 18.
_Independence_, American privateer, Commander Thomas Truxton, cuts
out three big ships from the British fleet, i. 205.
_Indian Chief_, Confederate ship, iv. 499.
_Indiana_, United States battle-ship, iv. 534.