win such splendid renown,--the Constitution. She was then commanded
by Captain Samuel Nicholson. He remained in her for more than two
years, and thus became thoroughly familiar with the great frigate,--a
knowledge he was eventually to put to good use. In 1800 she was the
flagship of Commodore Talbot, in the West Indies, and Hull was her
first lieutenant. Commodore Talbot and the captain of a British frigate
on that station were friends, and the American and British captains
would often discuss the sailing qualities of their respective frigates,
the British ship being a good sailer as well as the Constitution. At
last a sailing-match was agreed upon, the captains wagering a cask
of wine on the result. The two frigates started with a fresh breeze
at sunrise, and the contest was to last until the sunset gun was
fired. Hull sailed the Constitution, and his seamanship on that day
of friendly rivalry was scarcely inferior to that which he displayed
when Admiral Broke's squadron of five ships was hounding him on an
August day, twelve years after. The Constitution could easily leg
it at an eleven-knot gait, with a tolerable breeze, and was almost
unapproachable on a wind; but that day, under Hull's skilful handling,
she outdid herself, and beat her opponent by several miles. Hull
kept the crew on deck the livelong day, and the seamanlike manner in
which he beat the English frigate, which was also remarkably well
sailed, won the admiration even of his opponents. Hull was too great
a seaman himself to underrate either British skill or pluck, and many
years after it is told of him that, speaking with a very steady old
boatswain, the man remarked, "The British, sir, are hard fellows on
salt water."
"I know that,--they are a hard set of fellows, sure enough," was Hull's
emphatic reply.
Hull saw no very brilliant service during the hostilities with France
in 1799-1800, but he cut out a French letter-of-marque in the harbor of
Port Platte, Hayti, in a very handsome manner. He armed a small vessel,
the Sally, with men from the Constitution, ran into the harbor in broad
daylight, landed a company of marines, who spiked the guns of the fort
and carried off the French letter-of-marque in fine style.
In 1802 Hull went to the Adams, of twenty-eight guns, as her first
lieutenant. The Adams was one of the fastest frigates that ever
floated, and Hull was the man to get the most out of her. She was sent
to the Mediterranean at the beginning of the Tripolitan troubles,
and in her patrol of the Straits of Gibraltar in all weathers, and
her blockade of Tripoli in the dangerous winter season, her first
lieutenant splendidly sustained the reputation he had brought from the
Constitution with him, as one of the ablest seamen in the navy. He
would carry more sail than any other lieutenant in the squadron would
have carried, and would make sail when most ships scarcely showed a rag
of canvas.
In 1803 he got his first command, the little schooner Enterprise, which
he exchanged, after a short time, with Decatur, who brought out from
America the Argus, a handsome sixteen-gun brig, lately off the stocks.
In the Argus he took an active part in the bombardment of Tripoli, and
manifested his usual steadiness and coolness. Commodore Preble, wishing
to examine the harbor as closely as practicable during the bombardment,
trusted to Hull's seamanship to get him the best view possible, and
reconnoitred one night in the Argus. It came near being the end of the
vessel and all on board, by one of those accidents against which skill
and courage avail nothing. A heavy shot struck the brig's bottom, and
raked it for several feet, ripping the plank out as it went. Had it
gone an inch deeper, the ship's bottom would have been out; but the
gallant brig and her brave company were saved for great services to
their country.
After the reduction of the Barbary powers Hull returned home, and in
1806 he reached the rank of post-captain. He was then thirty-one years
old, short and stocky, but military in his bearing, prompt and decided
in his manner, kind to his men, but a firm disciplinarian. He was
singularly chivalrous to women, and treated the humblest woman with the
highest respect.
In 1811 Hull got the Constitution, and with her, Lieutenant, afterward
Commodore, Charles Morris, a lieutenant worthy of such a captain. In
the celebrated chase of the Constitution the following year, scarcely
less praise is due to Morris, then her first lieutenant, than to Hull.
The Constitution's first duty was to take a large amount of specie to
Holland, in payment of interest on a debt due by the United States.
From thence she proceeded to Portsmouth, England.
By that time it was known that war was imminent, and Hull kept his
ship prepared for action at a moment's notice. It seemed at one time
as if the Constitution would fire the first gun of the conflict in an
English port. The Havana, frigate, lay close to the Constitution,
and one night a man from the American frigate jumped overboard and
swam to the Havana, where he was taken aboard. Next morning Hull sent
a boat with Morris, to ask the man's surrender. The British captain
declined to give him up, saying that the man swore he was a British
subject. As the British navy made laws for the navies of the world in
those days, the Americans had to submit with a very bad grace. But
compensation was at hand. A man from the Havana, seeing the turn of
affairs, jumped overboard and swam to the Constitution. He was welcomed
on board, one may be sure, and when the Havana's lieutenant sent
after him, Hull coolly announced that the man said he was an American
citizen, and therefore would not be given up. The British captain
had to be satisfied with this answer. But there was some expectation
that an attempt would be made to seize the man by force. Meanwhile
Hull concluded to change his berth, the Havana and her consort being
a little too near; so he picked up his anchor, and dropped down to
leeward a mile or two. The Havana promptly followed him. Hull then
thought it likely that he would be attacked before morning, and made
his preparations accordingly. The ship was cleared for action, the
cabin torn out of the way, the battle lanterns lighted, and the men
sent to their quarters at the tap of the drum. Hull, full of fire and
determination, said to the men,--
"My lads, are you ready for a fight? I don't know but what this frigate
is after us. Are you ready for her?"
The reply was a rousing American cheer. Even some men who were in irons
joined in the cheering, and contrived to get a message to the captain
asking to be released during the time of the expected fight, that they
might do their duty. This was done, and amid the greatest enthusiasm
the guns were cast loose. It was noted that the men took hold of the
gun tackles as if they meant to jerk the guns through the ship's side.
Lieutenant Morris, passing along the batteries, told the men that if
the ship had to fight, it would be in their quarrel, and he hoped they
would give a good account of themselves. The reply of these gallant
tars was, "Let the quarterdeck look out for the colors, and we will
look out for the guns."
Some hours having passed, with the Constitution plainly ready for
a fight, without any demonstration from the British frigate, Hull
determined to lift his anchor and sail for France. The men responded
with a loud groan to the boatswain's call to man the capstan bars, and,
sailor-like, were acutely disappointed that they got off without a
chance to show what the ship could do.
Hull returned to the United States, and in June, 1812, war was
declared. The Constitution was at Annapolis, where she had been newly
coppered, and where a sloop-of-war was also being fitted out. A report
got about, among the Constitution's crew, that men were to be drafted
from her to the sloop-of-war. This created great dissatisfaction. The
men, nearly all native-born Americans, although new to the ship, were
proud of her, and had a superstitious faith in her good fortune and
were devoted to their captain. Their complaints became almost mutinous,
when Hull appeared among them and assured them that not a man should
be taken out of the ship. This pacified them, and on the 14th of July,
1812, they sailed for New York, to join Commodore Rodgers's squadron.
About four o'clock on the morning of July 19th, the cry rang through
the ship that the American squadron was sighted; but as day broke, it
was found that the Constitution was almost surrounded by a British
squadron under Admiral Broke, one of the finest seamen in the British
navy. It consisted of the Africa, sixty-four; the frigates Shannon and
Guerrière, of thirty-eight guns each (with the last the Constitution
was to have it out, yardarm to yardarm, that day month); the light
frigates Belvidera and Eolus; and two small vessels. By sunrise it fell
almost calm, and it seemed as if the glorious frigate would have to lie
where she was, to be eaten up by her enemies as soon as the wind rose.
But Hull and Morris were men of resource, and while fully prepared to
go down fighting, if necessary, they knew a way of getting off even
without a wind. All the spare hawsers in the ship were bent together,
and to a kedge anchor which was put in a boat, sent ahead half a mile,
and let go. The crew, at a signal, clapped on, and walked away with the
ship. Before she lost the impetus gained by rousing on the one kedge,
another one was carried ahead and let go; and so she progressed at the
rate of about three knots an hour. At first the British were amazed to
see her trotting off without a wind; but they soon found out what was
going on, and put all the available boats in the squadron to towing the
Shannon after the Constitution. The Shannon, however, could not make
much headway, as Hull had mounted stern-chasers in the cabin, and fired
on the British boats whenever they came within range.
The Shannon, however, was coming up on the starboard, while the other
ships were towing, kedging, and sending their boats ahead with sweeps,
to surround the gallant frigate. The Guerrière, too, was nearing
her on the port quarter, and men less resourceful than Hull and his
officers would have despaired of escape. But just then a light breeze
struck the ship, the sails were trimmed, and the ship came by the wind
beautifully. This brought the Guerrière nearly within gunshot, and she
roared out her broadside; but the Constitution's people continued
hoisting up their boats with as much coolness and steadiness as if the
cannonade were no more than birdshot. For an hour the Constitution
legged it at a lively rate; but about ten o'clock it fell calm, and
the wearisome and tedious method of kedging was again resorted to. The
British put nearly all their boats on the Shannon, but in spite of
numbers the American frigate managed to keep just out of gunshot.
Every device known to seamanship was used to increase the distance
between the frigate and her pursuers. Her sails were wet down fore and
aft, several thousand gallons of water were pumped out of her, the
boat's falls were kept in hand to run the boats up, and every cat's
paw was taken advantage of with the finest possible seamanship. Yet so
hopeless did her chances seem that Admiral Broke had a prize crew told
off, to take her into Halifax! Neither Hull nor his officers or men
contemplated for a moment giving up the frigate. Hull knew his ship;
he had a remarkably capable set of officers, and his ship was so well
manned by intelligent Americans that it was said in a very little while
after they had enlisted the crew could have sailed and fought the ship
without their officers.
About two o'clock the Belvidera got within range and began to throw
her broadside; but Hull, after returning a few shot, devoted himself
strictly to keeping his ship away from her enemies. All day the
British ships used every method that skill could devise to get at the
Constitution, but were able neither to overhaul her nor to close with
her. At eleven o'clock at night a breeze sprang up which lasted for an
hour, when it died away. During that night neither the Constitution nor
her pursuers kedged, the crews on all the ships being too exhausted;
but no officer or man on the Constitution went below. The officers lay
down at their stations, and the sailors slept at their guns, with their
rammers and sponges at their sides.
With daylight came wind enough to keep the ships moving, and at
sunrise the sight was singularly beautiful. The summer sea was faintly
rippled by a long, soft swell, and the sun shone with unclouded
splendor. The five pursuing ships, as well as the Constitution, were
clouds of canvas, from rail to truck, and all six were on the same
tack. Including the six men-of-war, eleven sail were in sight. The
British squadron had been joined by the Nautilus, brig, and the rest
were merchantmen. During the morning an American merchant ship was
observed approaching. The Constitution, seeing the ship was unaware of
her danger, hoisted an English ensign and fired a gun at her,--which
induced her to run away from her supposed enemy.
All day the chase continued; but the Constitution showed a clean
pair of heels, and was slowly, though steadily, widening the distance
between herself and her pursuers. In the afternoon a heavy squall with
rain came up. The Constitution took in her sails, which induced the
British ships to do the same. But as soon as she was hid by the curtain
of falling rain, she made sail upon her stout masts, that carried her
along at a rattling gait. In about an hour the weather cleared, when it
was seen that the Belvidera, the nearest vessel, was far astern, the
others were more distant still, the Africa being hull down. The chase
was still kept up during the whole of that night, but at daylight next
morning the British ships were almost out of sight, and about eight
o'clock they hauled their wind and gave up the contest.
Not only had the noble frigate escaped from her enemies, but she had
done so without losing a gun, an anchor, or a boat. She was ready
at any moment of the chase to go into action, and the steadiness,
coolness, and precision of her manoeuvres were never surpassed. This
chase is one of the glories of the American navy,--not merely because
of the escape itself, but by reason of the seamanlike manner in which
it was accomplished.
Shortly after, the Constitution ran the blockade and got into Boston,
to hear the news that she had been captured!
The delight of the people at the escape of their favorite frigate was
unbounded. Hull was hailed as a hero; but with characteristic modesty
he ascribed most of the credit of his escape to his officers and crew,
both in his official report and a published card.
Having had an intimation, however, that it was in contemplation to give
the ship to Bainbridge, in virtue of his superior rank, and without
waiting for orders, which might be just what he did not want, Hull
sailed eastward as soon as he had watered and victualled his ship. On
the afternoon of the 19th of August, just one month to a day after
he had first been chased by the Guerrière, he ran across her again,
and both ships prepared to fight it out, with the greatest spirit
imaginable.
Captain Dacres, of the Guerrière, and Hull were personal friends, as
many of the American and British captains were in those days, and
there was a standing bet of a hat between them on the result in case
their two ships ever came to exchanging broadsides. The Guerrière was
an extremely fine French-built frigate, carrying fifty guns,--the
Constitution carried fifty-four and her broadside was much the heavier.
In men, the Constitution had also the advantage of the British ship,
but the damage inflicted by the Constitution was far in excess of her
superiority in men and metal. On the Guerrière's great mainsail was
inscribed in huge red letters,
"All who meet me have a care,
I am England's Guerrière."
The two ships were looking for each other, when on the 19th of August,
about ten o'clock, a sail being reported off the port bow, a midshipman
was sent aloft to try and make her out. All hands were hoping the
stranger was the Guerrière, when Hull called out with animation,--
"What do you think she is?"
"She's a great vessel, sir. Tremendous sails."
"Never mind," coolly replied Hull, turning to the boatswain. "Mr.
Adams, call all hands. Make sail for her."
Before the boatswain's pipe was heard, the men came tumbling up on
deck, even the sick turning out of their berths. Hull, in his official
report of the battle, says: "From the smallest boy in the ship up to
the oldest seaman, not a look of fear was seen. They went into action
giving three cheers, and requesting to be laid alongside the enemy."
When the call to quarters was heard through the ship, the men went
to the guns dancing. Sail was crowded on, and soon it was seen that
the stranger was the Guerrière. She had hauled her wind, and lay with
her topsails aback, gallantly waiting for her enemy. Her officers and
crew prepared to meet the Americans with the spirit of British seamen.
There were ten Americans in the crew who came to Captain Dacres and
told him they could not fight against their own country. The captain
magnanimously told them to go below, and assist in the cockpit with the
wounded.
As soon as the Constitution got within range, the Guerrière let fly
her batteries, firing the starboard guns, then wearing and giving
the Constitution her port guns. The Constitution came on, yawing at
intervals to prevent being raked, and occasionally firing one of her
bow guns. Three times Lieutenant Morris asked permission to fire a
broadside, and each time Hull answered, "Not yet." At last, when within
fifty yards of the Guerrière, the moment had come. Hull spoke a few
stirring words to his people.
"Men!" he said, "now do your duty. Your officers cannot have entire
command over you now. Each man must do all in his power for his
country. No firing at random. Let every man look well to his aim.
Sailing-master, lay her alongside."
The Constitution came up into the wind in gallant style, and as she
fell off a little, the Guerrière, an antagonist worthy of the great
frigate, ranged alongside. The Constitution let fly every gun in
her starboard batteries at short range, and the shock was like an
earthquake. Every timber in the frigate trembled like a leaf. When
the smoke cleared away, it was seen that this terrific broadside had
made destruction on the British ship. Her mizzen-mast had gone by the
board, her mainyard had been shot from the slings, and a momentary
confusion reigned on her decks. The effect of their first broadside was
so encouraging to the Americans that before firing another gun they
gave three thundering cheers. The English officers spoke afterward of
the extra ordinary enthusiasm of the Americans, which was a part of the
fury of their attack.
When the cheers had subsided, Hull called out, "My lads, you have made
a brig of that craft;" to which the sailors shouted back, "We'll make a
sloop of her soon, sir;" and in a little while the foremast went by the
board. The Guerrière then swung round, and, being almost unmanageable,
got into a terrible position for raking. Her officers and men fought
with undiminished valor, and when the ensign was shot away, another one
was nailed to the stump of the mizzen-mast. On the Constitution the
halyards were shot away, and the flag became entangled in the splinters
of a shattered yard. A sailor sprang aloft and nailed it to the mast,
and both ships continued the action without thought of surrender.
The Guerrière, however, was plainly getting the worst of it. Most of
her fire was directed to the masts and spars of the Constitution, while
several shot that struck the frigate's hull rebounded into the water.
At this the sailors cheered.
"Huzza!" they cried. "Her sides are made of iron! Huzza for Old
'Ironsides'!"
Then some one on the Constitution, pointing to the captain, cried,--
"Hull her, men! Hull her!"
The sailors, catching the pun, roared out,--
"Hull her! Hull her! Yes, we'll hull her!"
Hull, who had grown very stout, and was short withal, was standing on
an ammunition box, while shot flew thick and fast around him. Leaning
over to give an order, his knee breeches, which were very tight, burst
from knee to hip. The men shouted with laughter; but it was no time to
repair such damages, and Hull finished the battle with his trousers
hanging in rags.
It was not to last long. The mainmast soon followed the other masts,
and in thirty minutes from the time the Constitution's first broadside
had been fired, the Guerrière lay, a helpless hulk, rolling in the
trough of the sea, that washed into her shattered main-deck ports.
Her masts and spars having gone by the board, she swung round, so that
she lay perfectly helpless, while every gun in the Constitution raked
her. The men could see the whites of each other's eyes, and the gleam
of the teeth as they fought. Captain Dacres had been badly wounded,
while standing in the hammock nettings cheering his men on, a vast
number of officers and men killed and wounded, and the Guerrière's
decks ran with blood. But even in these dreadful circumstances not a
man or boy on the British ship faltered; and when it was plain to
every eye that resistance was over for the proud Guerrière, one of her
powder boys was heard to shout to another confidently,--
"Work away there! Huzza! She'll soon be ours!"
Her captain saw that it was time to stop the useless slaughter,
and a gun was fired to leeward, which signified surrender. But her
men refused to haul down the jack they had nailed to the stump of
the mizzen-mast, and not until Captain Dacres stepped into the
Constitution's boat did the brave men and boys of the Guerrière
acknowledge themselves beaten. It was, indeed, an idea almost
impossible for them to grasp, that a crack British frigate should have
been whipped in fair fight by an American; but it is easily understood
when it is remembered that they were men of the same stock,--for the
Constitution was wholly manned by native-born Americans, who came
justly by that genius for fighting at sea which is the common heritage
of the Anglo-Saxon race.
As Captain Dacres came over the side of the Constitution, Hull met
him with the cordiality of a friend and shipmate instead of the air
of a conqueror. He gave the British captain a hand, saying, with the
greatest friendliness,--
"Dacres, I see you are hurt. Let me help you."
As soon as Captain Dacres reached the Constitution's deck, he attempted
to hand his sword to Hull, who said,--
"No, no, I cannot take the sword of a man who knows so well how to use
it; but--I'll thank you for that hat!"
The business of transferring the prisoners then began. It was seen at
once there was no hope of saving the Guerrière, and it was determined
to remove everything of value and then blow her up. The damages to the
Constitution were repaired in an hour. She had lost seven men killed
and seven wounded. The Guerrière had lost seventy-nine in killed and
wounded.
The Constitution lay by the Guerrière all night, and the Americans
worked like Trojans to save the belongings of the prisoners. Hull
asked Captain Dacres if everything of value had been sent him out of
the Guerrière's cabin. Captain Dacres replied that a Bible, his wife's
gift, had been left behind. Hull immediately sent a boat after it.
Captain Dacres, in his report to the Admiralty, said: "I feel it my
duty to state that the conduct of Captain Hull and his officers to our
men has been that of a brave enemy, the greatest care being taken to
prevent our men losing the smallest trifle, and the greatest attention
being paid to the wounded."