The war of 1812 was mainly fought upon the water, and in the American
navy at that time the Negro stood in the ratio of about one to six. We
find record of complaint by Commodore Perry at the beginning because of
the large number of Negroes sent him, but later the highest tribute to
their bravery and efficiency. Capt. Shaler, of the armed brig General
Thompson, writing of an engagement between his vessel and a British
frigate, says:
“The name of one of my poor fellows, who was killed, ought to be
registered in the book of fame, and remembered as long as bravery is a
virtue. He was a black man, by name John Johnson. A twenty-four pound
shot struck him in the hip, and took away all the lower part of his
body. In this state the poor brave fellow lay on the deck, and several
times exclaimed to his shipmates: ‘Fire away, my boys; no haul a color
down!’ Another black man, by the name of John Davis, who was struck in
much the same manner, repeatedly requested to be thrown overboard,
saying that he was only in the way of others.”