Part 1

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NAVAL ACTIONS OF THE WAR OF 1812

BY JAMES BARNES

AUTHOR OF “FOR KING OR COUNTRY”

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY CARLTON T. CHAPMAN

NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

FOR KING OR COUNTRY. A Story of the American Revolution. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth, $1 50.

A story that will be eagerly welcomed by boys of all ages.... It is doubtful whether the reader will be content to lay the story aside until he has finished it. It is a good book for an idle day in the country, and we cordially recommend it both to boys on a holiday and to boys that stay at home.--_Saturday Evening Gazette_, Boston.

A spirited story of the days that tried men’s souls, full of incident and movement that keep up the reader’s interest to the turning of the last page. It is full of dramatic situations and graphic descriptions which irresistibly lead the reader on, regretful at the close that there is not still more of it.--_Christian Work_, N. Y.

A fascinating study. It is replete with those Homeric touches which delight the heart of the healthy boy.... It would be difficult to find a more fascinating book for the young.--_Philadelphia Bulletin._

A capital story for boys, both young and old; full of adventure and movement, thoroughly patriotic in tone, throwing luminous sidelights upon the main events of the Revolution.--_Brooklyn Standard-Union._

PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK.

Copyright, 1896, by HARPER & BROTHERS.

TO MY FATHER

WHOSE ENCOURAGEMENT AND ASSISTANCE ARE HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGED WITH AFFECTIONATE GRATITUDE I HAVE THE HONOR TO DEDICATE THIS BOOK

PREFACE

The country that has no national heroes whose deeds should be found emblazoned on her annals, that can boast no men whose lives and conduct can be held up as examples of what loyalty, valor, and courage should be, that country has no patriotism, no heart, no soul.

If it be wrong to tell of a glorious past, for fear of keeping alive an animosity that should have perished with time, there have been many offenders; and the author of the following pages thus writes himself down as one of them. Truly, if pride in the past be a safeguard for the future in forming a national spirit, America should rejoice.

There exists no Englishman today whose heart is not moved at the word “Trafalgar,” or whose feelings are not stirred by the sentence “England expects every man to do his duty.” The slight, one-armed figure of Admiral Nelson has been before the Briton’s eyes as boy and man, surrounded always with the glamour that will never cease to enshroud a nation’s hero. Has it kept alive a feeling of animosity against France to dwell on such a man as this, and to keep his deeds alive? So it may be. But no Englishman would hide the cause in order to lose the supposed effect of it.

In searching the history of our own country, when it stood together as a united nation, waging just war, we find England, our mother country, whose language we speak, arrayed against us. But, on account of this bond of birth and language, should we cease to tell about the deeds of those men who freed us from her grasp and oppressions, and made us what we are? I trust not. May our navy glory in its record, no matter the consequences! May our youth grow up with the lives of these men--our Yankee commanders--before them, and may they profit by their examples!

This should not inculcate a hatred for a former foe. It should only serve to build up that national _esprit de corps_ without which no country ever stood up for its rights and willed to fight for them. May the sons of our new citizens, whose fathers have served kings, perhaps, and come from other countries, grow up with a pride in America’s own national history! How can this be given them unless they read of it in books or gain it from teaching?

But it is not the intention to instruct that has caused the author to compile and collate the material used in the following pages. He has been influenced by his own feelings, that are shared by the many thousands of the descendants of “the men who fought.” It has been his pleasure, and this alone is his excuse.

Mr. Carlton T. Chapman, whose spirited paintings are reproduced to illustrate this volume, has caught the atmosphere of action, and has given us back the old days in a way that makes us feel them.

CONTENTS

PAGE INTRODUCTION 1

I

The United States frigate _Constitution_, on July 17th, 1812, falls in with a British squadron, but escapes, owing to the masterly seamanship of Captain Isaac Hull 23

II

The _Constitution_, under command of Captain Hull, captures the British frigate _Guerrière_, under command of Captain Richard Dacres, August 19th, 1812 35

III

The United States sloop of war _Wasp_, Captain Jacob Jones, captures the English sloop of war _Frolic_, October 18th, 1812; both vessels taken on the same day by the English seventy-four _Poictiers_ 47

IV

October 25th, 1812, the British frigate _Macedonian_, commanded by John S. Carden, is captured by the _United States_ frigate, under command of Stephen Decatur; the prize is brought to port 59

V

Captain Wm. Bainbridge, in the _Constitution_, captures the British frigate _Java_ off the coast of Brazil, December 29th, 1812; the _Java_ is set fire to and blows up 73

VI

Gallant action of the privateer schooner _Comet_, of 14 guns, against three English vessels and one Portuguese, January 14th, 1813 91

VII

The United States sloop of war _Hornet_, Captain James Lawrence, takes the British brig _Peacock_; the latter sinks after the action, February 24th, 1813 103

VIII

The United States frigate _Chesapeake_ is captured by the English frigate _Shannon_ after a gallant defence, June 1st, 1813 113

IX

The United States brig _Enterprise_, commanded by William Burrows, captures H. B. M. sloop of war _Boxer_, September 5th, 1813; Burrows killed during the action 129

X

On September 10th, 1813, the American fleet on Lake Erie, under the command of Oliver Hazard Perry, captures the entire English naval force under Commodore Barclay 139

XI

The American privateer brig _General Armstrong_, of 9 guns and 90 men, repulses a boat attack in the harbor of Fayal, the British suffering a terrific loss, September 27th, 1813 159

XII

March 28th, 1814, the United States frigate _Essex_, under Captain David Porter, is captured by two English vessels, the _Phoebe_ and the _Cherub_, in the harbor of Valparaiso 171

XIII

The United States sloop of war _Peacock_, commanded by Captain Warrington, takes the British sloop of war _L’Epervier_ on April 29th, 1814 191

XIV

The United States sloop of war _Wasp_, under command of Captain Blakeley, captures the British sloop of war _Reindeer_, June 28th, 1814. The _Wasp_ engages the British sloop of war _Avon_ on the 1st of September; the English vessel sinks after the _Wasp_ is driven off by a superior fore 199

XV

September 11th, the American forces on Lake Champlain, under Captain Macdonough, capture the English squadron, under Captain Downey, causing the evacuation of New York State by the British 209

XVI

The United States frigate _President_, under command of Captain Decatur, is taken by a British squadron after a long chase, during which the _President_ completely disabled one of her antagonists, January 15th, 1815 219

XVII

February 20th, 1815, the _Constitution_, under Captain Stewart, engages and captures two English vessels that prove to be the _Cyane_ and the _Levant_; one of her prizes is retaken, and the _Constitution_ again has a narrow escape 231

XVIII

The British brig of war _Penguin_ surrenders to the United States brig _Hornet_, commanded by Captain James Biddle; the _Penguin_ sinks immediately after the accident, March 23d, 1815 245

XIX

The chase of the _Hornet_, sloop of war, by the _Cornwallis_, a British line-of-battle ship 255

ILLUSTRATIONS

THE SURRENDER OF THE “GUERRIÈRE” _Frontispiece_

_Facing p._ MEDAL PRESENTED BY CONGRESS TO CAPTAIN ISAAC HULL 22

THE “CONSTITUTION” TOWING AND KEDGING 26

THE “WASP” RAKING THE “FROLIC” 50

MEDAL PRESENTED BY CONGRESS TO CAPTAIN STEPHEN DECATUR 58

MEDAL PRESENTED BY CONGRESS TO CAPTAIN WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE 72

MEDAL PRESENTED BY CONGRESS TO CAPTAIN JAMES LAWRENCE 102

THE “PEACOCK” AND “HORNET” AT CLOSE QUARTERS 106

THE “CHESAPEAKE” LEAVING THE HARBOR 116

MEMORIAL MEDAL IN HONOR OF CAPTAIN WILLIAM BURROWS 128

MEDAL PRESENTED BY CONGRESS TO LIEUTENANT EDWARD R. McCALL 128

THE “ENTERPRISE” HULLING THE “BOXER” 132

MEDAL PRESENTED BY CONGRESS TO CAPTAIN OLIVER HAZARD PERRY 138

THE “NIAGARA” BREAKS THE ENGLISH LINE 148

THE “ESSEX” BEING CUT TO PIECES 184

MEDAL PRESENTED BY CONGRESS TO CAPTAIN LEWIS WARRINGTON 190

THE “PEACOCK” CAPTURES THE “EPERVIER” 192

MEDAL PRESENTED BY CONGRESS TO CAPTAIN JOHNSTON BLAKELEY 198

THE “WASP’S” FIGHT WITH THE “AVON” 204

MEDAL PRESENTED BY CONGRESS TO CAPTAIN THOMAS MACDONOUGH 208

THE “PRESIDENT” ENDEAVORING TO ESCAPE 222

MEDAL PRESENTED BY CONGRESS TO CAPTAIN CHARLES STEWART 230

THE “CONSTITUTION” TAKING THE “CYANE” 236

MEDAL PRESENTED BY CONGRESS TO CAPTAIN JAMES BIDDLE 244

THE “PENGUIN” STRIKES TO THE “HORNET” 252

INTRODUCTION

To study the condition of affairs that led up to the declaration of the second war against Great Britain we have but to turn to the sea. Although England, it must be confessed, had plenty of fighting on her hands and troubles enough at home, she had not forgotten the chagrin and disappointments caused by the loss of the American colonies through a mistaken enforcement of high-handedness. And it was this same tendency that brought to her vaunted and successful navy as great an overthrow as their arms had received on land some thirty-seven years previously.

The impressment of American seamen into the English service had been continued despite remonstrances from our government, until the hatred for the sight of the cross of St. George that stirred the hearts of Yankee sailor men had passed all bounds. America under these conditions developed a type of patriot seafarer, and this fact may account for his manners under fire and his courage in all circumstances.

The United States was an outboard country, so to speak. We had no great interstate traffic, no huge, developed West to draw upon, to exchange and barter with. Our people thronged the sea-coast, and vessels made of American pine and live-oak were manned by _American men_. They had sought their calling by choice, and not by compulsion. They had not been driven from crowded cities because they could not live there. They had not been taken from peaceful homes and wives and children by press-gangs, as was the English custom, to slave on board the great vessels that Great Britain kept afloat by such means, and such alone. But of his own free-will the Yankee sailor sought the sea, and of his own free-will he served his country. It would be useless to deny that the greater liberty, the higher pay, the large chance for reward, tempted many foreigners and many ex-servants of the king to cast their lot with us. But when we think that there were kept unwillingly on English vessels of war almost as many American seamen as were giving voluntary service to their country in our little navy, we can see on which side the great proportion lies.

It is easy to see that the American mind was a pent furnace. It only needed a few more evidences of England’s injustice and contempt to make the press and public speech roar with hatred and cry out for revenge. So when in June, 1812, war was declared against Great Britain, it was hailed with approbation and delight. But shots had been exchanged before this, and there were men who knew the value of seamanship, recognized the fact that every shot must tell, that every man must be ready, and that to the navy the country looked; for the idea of a great invasion by England was scouted. It was a war for the rights of sailors, the freedom of the high-seas, and the grand and never thread-worn principles of liberty.

So wide-spread had been the patriotism of our citizens during the revolutionary war that our only frigates, except those made up of aged merchant-vessels, had been built by private subscription; but now the government was awake, alert, and able.

To take just a glance at the condition of affairs that led up to this is of great interest.

So far back as the year 1798 the impositions of Great Britain upon our merchantmen are on record, and on November 16th of that year they culminated in a deliberate outrage and insult to our flag.

The U. S. ship of war _Baltimore_, of 20 guns, was overhauled by a British squadron, and five American seamen were impressed from the crew. At this time we were engaged in the quasi-war with France, during which the _Constellation_, under Captain Truxton, captured the French frigate _L’Insurgent_, of 54 guns. On February 1st, 1800, a year after the first action, the same vessel, under the same commander, captured _La Vengeance_, of 54 guns. On October 12th of the same year the U. S. frigate _Boston_ captured the French corvette _Le Berceau_. Minor actions between the French privateers and our merchantmen occurred constantly. We lost but one of our national vessels, however--the schooner _Retaliation_, captured by two French frigates.

England was protecting the Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean at this time, in order to keep out competitive commerce--a fine bit of business! Europe and America bought immunity.

On June 10th, 1801, war was declared, however, by the Bashaw of Tripoli against the United States, because we failed to accede to his demands for larger tribute, and a brief summary of the conduct of this war will show plainly that here our officers had chances to distinguish themselves, and the American seamen won distinction in foreign waters.

Captain Bainbridge, in command of the frigate _Philadelphia_, late in August, 1803, captured off the Cape de Gatt a Moorish cruiser, and retook her prize, an American brig. About two months later the _Philadelphia_, in chase of one of the corsairs, ran on a reef of rocks under the guns of a battery, and after four hours’ action Bainbridge was compelled to strike his flag to the Tripolitans. For months, now, it was the single aim of the American squadron under Preble to destroy the _Philadelphia_, in order to prevent her being used against the United States, and on February 15th, 1804, this was successfully accomplished by Lieutenant Stephen Decatur and seventy volunteers, who entered the harbor on the ketch _Intrepid_, set fire to the _Philadelphia_, and escaped.

All through August Preble’s squadron hovered about the harbor of Tripoli, and bombarded the town on four separate occasions. On June 3d, 1805, he arranged a peace with the Tripolitans, and two days later Bainbridge and the American prisoners were liberated. But the bashaw could not control the piratical cruisers who made his harbor a rendezvous, and in September hostilities were again commenced, during which occurred the sad accident, the premature blowing up of the fire ship _Intrepid_, by which the navy lost Captain Richard Somers, one of its bravest officers, two lieutenants, and ten seamen.

But to return to the relations existing between America and England. A crisis was fast approaching. Off the shore of Maryland on June 22d, 1807, the crowning outrage attending England’s self-assumed “right of search” took place, when the British sloop of war _Leopard_, 50 guns, fired upon the _Chesapeake_, 36 guns, which vessel, under command of Captain Barron, had just shipped a green crew, and could return, owing to her unprepared condition, but one shot to the Englishman’s broadside. Barron hauled down his flag, and had to allow himself to be searched by the orders of Captain Humphries, commander of the _Leopard_, and four American-born seamen were taken out of his crew and sent on board the Englishman. It was claimed by Captain Humphries that three of these men were deserters from the British frigate _Melampus_. Although the _Chesapeake_ had hauled down her flag and surrendered, the _Leopard_ paid no attention to this, and sailed away, leaving Barron with three men killed and eighteen wounded, and his ship badly damaged in hull, spars, and rigging. Barron was censured by a court of inquiry and suspended from his command. Looking at this sentence dispassionately, it was most unjust.

But the indignation that was felt throughout the country over this affair wrought the temper of the people to a fever-heat. Congress passed resolutions, and the President of the United States issued a proclamation, forbidding all British armed vessels from entering the ports of the United States, and prohibiting all inhabitants of the United States from furnishing them with supplies of any description.

Great Britain’s disavowal of the act of Admiral Berkeley (under whose command Captain Humphries had acted) was lukewarm, and the Admiral’s trial was something of a farce, and gave little satisfaction to America.

Napoleon at about this time had begun his senseless closing of French ports to American vessels, and once more the French cruisers apparently considered all Yankee craft their proper prey. They would interrupt and take from them stores, water, or whatever they considered necessary, without remuneration or apology. As the English were taking our seamen and showing absolute contempt for our flag wherever found, the condition of our merchant marine was most precarious. No vessel felt secure upon the high seas, and yet the English merchant ships continued to ply their trade with us.

On May 1st, 1810, all French and English vessels of any description were prohibited from entering the ports of the United States. On June 24th of this year the British sloop of war _Moselle_ fired at the U. S. brig _Vixen_, off the Bahamas, but fortunately did no damage. Another blow to American commerce just at this period was the closing of the ports of Prussia to American products and ships. But an event which took place on May 16th, 1811, had an unexpected termination that turned all eyes to England. The British frigate _Guerrière_ was one of a fleet of English vessels hanging about our coasts, and cruising mainly along the New Jersey and Long Island shores. Commodore Rodgers was proceeding from Annapolis to New York in the _President_, 44 guns, when the news was brought to him by a coasting vessel that a young man, a native of New Jersey, had been taken from an American brig in the vicinity of Sandy Hook, and had been carried off by a frigate supposed to be the _Guerrière_. On the 16th, about noon, Rodgers discovered a sail standing towards him. She was made out to be a man-of-war, and concluding that she was the _Guerrière_, the commodore resolved to speak to her, and, to quote from a contemporary, “he hoped he might prevail upon her commander to release the impressed young man” (what arguments he intended to use are not stated). But no sooner had the stranger perceived the _President_, whose colors were flying, than she wore and stood to the southward. Rodgers took after her, and by evening was close enough to make out that she was beyond all doubt an English ship. But owing to the dusk and thick weather it was impossible to count her broadside, or to make out distinctly what was the character of the flag that at this late hour she had hoisted at her peak. So he determined to lay his vessel alongside of her within speaking distance, and find out something definite. The strange sail apparently wished to avoid this if possible, and tacked and manoeuvred incessantly in efforts to escape. At twenty minutes past eight the _President_, being a little forward of the weather beam of the chase, and within a hundred yards of her, Rodgers called through his trumpet with the usual hail, “What ship is that?” No answer was given, but the question was repeated from the other vessel in turn. Rodgers did not answer, and hailed again. To his intense surprise a shot was fired into the _President_, and this was the only response. A great deal of controversy resulted from the subsequent happenings. The English deny having fired the first gun, and assert that Rodgers was the offender, as a gun was discharged (without orders) from the American vessel almost at the same moment. Now a brisk action commenced with broadsides and musketry. But the commodore, noticing that he was having to deal with a very inferior force, ceased firing, after about ten minutes of exchanging shots. He was premature in this, however, as the other vessel immediately renewed her fire, and the foremast of the _President_ was badly injured by two thirty-two-pound shot. By this time the wind had blown up fresh, and there was a heavy sea; but notwithstanding this fact and the growing darkness, a well-directed broadside from the _President_ silenced the other’s fire completely. Rodgers approached again, and to his hail this time there was given some reply. Owing to his being to windward, he did not catch the words, although he understood from them that his antagonist was a British ship. All night long Rodgers lay hove to under the lee of the stranger, displaying lights, and ready at any moment to respond to any call for assistance, as it had been perceived that the smaller vessel was badly crippled.

At daylight the _President_ bore down to within speaking distance and an easy sail, and Rodgers sent out his first cutter, under command of Lieutenant Creighton, to learn the name of the ship and her commander, and with instructions to ascertain what damage she had received, and to “regret the necessity which had led to such an unhappy result.” Lieutenant Creighton returned with the information that the British captain declined accepting any assistance, and that the vessel was His Britannic Majesty’s sloop of war _Little Belt_, 18 guns. She had nine men killed and twenty-two wounded. No one was killed on board the _President_, and only a cabin-boy had been wounded in the arm by a splinter.