Part 12

“Our guns on the starboard side being nearly all dismounted or unmanageable, a stern-anchor was let go, the bower-cable cut, and the ship winded with a fresh broadside on the enemy’s ship, which soon after surrendered. Our broadside was then sprung to bear on the brig, which struck about fifteen minutes afterwards. The sloop which was opposed to the _Eagle_ had struck some time before, and drifted down the line. The sloop which was with their galleys had also struck. Three of their galleys are said to be sunk; the others pulled off. Our galleys were about obeying with alacrity the signal to follow them, when all the vessels were reported to me to be in a sinking state. It then became necessary to annul the signal to the galleys, and order their men to the pumps. I could only look at the enemy’s galleys going off in a shattered condition; for there was not a mast in either squadron that could stand to make sail on. The lower rigging, being nearly all shot away, hung down as though it had just been placed over the mast-heads.

“The _Saratoga_ had fifty-nine round shot in her hull; the _Confiance_ one hundred and five. The enemy’s shot passed principally just over our heads, as there were not twenty whole hammocks in the nettings at the close of the action, which lasted, without intermission, two hours and twenty minutes.

“The absence and sickness of Lieutenant Raymond Perry left me without the assistance of that able officer. Much ought fairly to be attributed to him for his great care and attention in disciplining the ship’s crew, as her first lieutenant. His place was filled by a gallant young officer, Lieutenant Peter Gamble, who, I regret to inform you, was killed early in the action.”

The English had begun the action as if they never doubted the result being to their advantage, and before taking up their positions in the line parallel to Macdonough’s, Downie had sailed upon the waiting fleet bows on; thus most of his vessels had been severely raked before they were able to return the fire. As soon as Sir George Prevost saw the results of the action out on the water, he gave up all idea of conquest, and began the retreat that left New York free to breathe again. The frontier was saved. The hills and the shores of the lake had been crowded with multitudes of farmers, and the two armies encamped on shore had stopped their own preparations and fighting to watch.

Sir George Prevost had bombarded the American forts from the opposite side of the River Saranac, and a brigade endeavored to ford the river with the intention of attacking the rear of General Macomb’s position. However, they got lost in the woods, and were recalled by a mounted messenger just in time to hear the cheers and shouts of victory arise from all about them.

In the battle the _Saratoga_ had twenty-eight men killed and twenty-nine wounded, more than a quarter of her entire crew; the _Eagle_ lost thirteen killed and twenty wounded; the _Ticonderoga_, six killed and six wounded; the _Preble_, two killed; and the galleys, three killed and three wounded. The _Saratoga_ was hulled fifty-five times, and had caught on fire twice from the hot shot fired by the _Confiance_. The latter vessel was reported to have lost forty-one killed outright and eighty-three wounded. In all, the British loss was eighty-four killed and one hundred and ten wounded.

Macdonough received substantial testimonials of gratitude from the country at large, the Legislature of New York giving him one thousand acres of land and the State of Vermont two hundred. Besides this, the corporations of Albany and New York City made him the present of a valuable lot, and from his old command in the Mediterranean he received a handsome presentation sword.

XVI

THE LOSS OF THE “PRESIDENT”

[January 15th, 1815]

In recording the actions of the war of 1812 that gave lustre to our navy and added to the records of its heroes, we have already included two in which the results were defeat and capture of American ships. The _Essex_ and the _Chesapeake_ are here referred to, the latter being the only case in which the opposing forces approached an equality. There is one other action still to be touched upon, which, though disastrous, cannot but reflect honor upon those connected with it.

Stephen Decatur, the idol of the American service, had been given the command of the frigate _President_, which had been refitting in the harbor of New York.

On the evening of the 14th of January, 1815, he sailed into the lower bay, intending to make his way to sea under cover of the night, as it was known that a heavy squadron of the English had been hovering along the coasts of New Jersey and Long Island.

In leaving the harbor near Sandy Hook, owing to some mistake of the pilot, the _President_ grounded heavily on a sand-bar, and for an hour and a half she struck continually in her efforts to escape, breaking several of her rudder-braces and straining her seams so badly that she commenced to leak very fast. Decatur determined to return to the harbor, as he suspected, what was afterwards proved to be true, that the _President_ had carried away part of her false keel, and was badly hogged (_i. e._, broken and bent near her keelson). Owing to a strong wind rising, it was found impossible to put the _President_ about, and the tide being at the flood, it became necessary to force her over the bar at all hazards. By ten o’clock that night she had succeeded in freeing herself, and shaped her course along the shore of Long Island, steering southeast by east.

Shortly after daybreak three ships were discovered ahead. The _President_ hauled her wind and passed two miles to the northward of them. As the morning mist disappeared, it was discovered that four ships were in chase--one on each quarter and two astern. The leading ship, from the height of her towering masts, was made out to be a razee. She commenced firing, but at such a distance that the shot fell short.

At twelve the steady breeze which had been blowing became light and baffling. The _President_, despite her crippled condition, had left the large vessel far behind, but the next ship astern was proving herself a faster sailer, and was gradually gaining--creeping up with every puff of wind. The _President_ sat deep in the water, and plunged downward into the sea as if she had been waterlogged. Immediately all hands were occupied in lightening the ship, starting the water in the butts, cutting away the anchors, throwing overboard provisions, cables, spare boats, and every article to be gotten at, while the men aloft were hoisting buckets and keeping the sails wet from the royals down.

At three o’clock the large ship, which had been joined by a brig, came up rapidly. It was the _Endymion_, mounting 50 guns, and she commenced to fire as she neared with her forward battery, while Decatur replied with his stern-chasers. Thus it continued for two hours, when the Englishman obtained a position on the starboard quarter at less than point-blank range, and maintained it so cleverly that neither the _President’s_ stern nor quarter guns would bear. For half an hour the vessels sailed on, firing occasional guns, and keeping back their broadsides, the Englishman wishing, no doubt, to capture the _President_ without crippling her, while Decatur hoped to be able to close, as he had had his boarders waiting for some time. It became evident, however, that the Englishman did not wish close quarters; and as it was growing dusk, Decatur made up his mind to alter his course farther to the south, for the purpose of bringing the enemy abeam. Meanwhile the ships astern were approaching, and would soon be within range. For two hours and a half longer the Englishman and the _President_ sailed side by side, and the action gave cause for some pretty writing and press controversy afterwards, as all unfinished international contests will.

However, there is no question whatever that the _President_ during the running fight completely disabled her antagonist, and at last left her drifting round and round helplessly before eight o’clock had passed.

It was growing dark, but the other ships of the squadron could be made out by their signal-lights, and to lower a boat to take possession of the _Endymion_ was impossible. One more attempt Decatur made to avoid capture, and to accomplish this he sailed close to the _Endymion_ and exposed himself to a raking fire, being within range for over half an hour, but not a shot was heard. The Englishman had been placed entirely out of the combat.

At eleven it had lightened considerably, and two fresh ships of the enemy had crawled up within gunshot. They were the _Pomone_ and the _Tenedos_, heavy frigates. When within musket-shot the _Pomone_ opened fire on the larboard bow, and the _Tenedos_ swung across the _President’s_ wake, taking a raking position on her quarter.

With a breaking heart the gallant Decatur saw that there was nothing for it but surrender. One-fifth of his crew had been killed or wounded, the ship was crippled aloft and leaking badly, and he hauled down his flag.

The joy of the English officers when they found who it was that had yielded to them was great, and it must be recorded that they did everything in their power to make it comfortable for the wounded, and that their treatment of the officers was courteous and kindly. For twenty-four hours after the action it fell a dead calm, and the crews of the squadron were kept occupied in repairing the crippled ships. As if to enforce the idea that the _Endymion_ had not surrendered, Decatur was placed on board of her, a cabin prisoner.

On the 17th a tremendous gale came from the eastward, which played havoc with the late combatants, the _President’s_ masts going by the board, and the _Endymion_ losing her bowsprit, fore and main mast, and mizzen-topmast, being compelled to throw overboard all her upper-deck guns. It had been impossible for Decatur to ascertain the exact number of the killed and wounded, but he speaks of his great sorrow at the loss of three of his most trusted lieutenants--Babbit, Howell, and Hamilton, the last being the son of the late Secretary of the Navy. It was he who had had the honor of conveying the news of the capture of the _Macedonian_ to Washington, and who had appeared, as we have recorded, at the ball given by Dolly Madison wrapped in the colors of the captured ship.

Decatur and his officers were given the freedom of the island of Bermuda, and crowds swarmed to visit the captured _President_ as she lay decked with British flags in the harbor.

Captain Hays of the _Majestic_, to whom Decatur had surrendered his sword, returned it at once, and proved to be a friend who was worth the gaining.

Upon the investigation of the action Decatur was honorably exonerated, and Alexander Murray, the President of the Court of Inquiry, expressed himself in the following words:

“We consider the management of the _President_ from the time the chase commenced until her surrender as the highest evidence of the experience, skill, and resources of her commander, and of the ability and seamanship of her officers and crew. We fear that we cannot express in a manner that will do justice to our feelings our admiration of the conduct of Commodore Decatur and of all under his command.... In this unequal conflict the enemy gained a ship, but the victory was ours.”

Referring to the press comments at the time, a very interesting circumstance occurred, which may prove to be well worth the reading, especially as showing that contemporaneous press notices taking only one view of a question are untrustworthy recorders of history. A Bermuda paper, the _Royal Gazette_, published on the 2d of April a scurrilous and unwarrantable attack, false in its every statement, that impugned the character of Decatur and cast a slur on the name of each one of his officers. The article, in giving the reports of the capture, stated that the _President_ had _struck_ to the _Endymion_, and that after she had done so Commodore Decatur concealed sixty-eight men in the hold of the _President_ for the purpose of rising on the prize crew and recapturing her. On the appearance of this account Captain Hope of the _Endymion_ immediately sent an officer to Commodore Decatur, disclaiming any participation in the article, and the governor of the island demanded of the editor of the _Royal Gazette_ that he should immediately retract the statement. This the editor, much against his will, did, but inserted a foot-note in large print stating that the retraction was inserted “merely as an act of generosity and a palliative for the irritated feelings of prisoners of war.” He asserted that what he had said at first was correct, and declared that the deception he had referred to was planned and authorized by Commodore Decatur. It is of interest to quote an extract from an official letter sent by the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda to the editor of the _Royal Gazette_ upon the appearance of this second article.

The governor’s secretary writes for his chief as follows:

“_The Editor of the Royal Gazette_:

“Your publication of Thursday imposes it upon His Excellency the Governor, as a duty to himself, to Captain Hope, and to the British nation, and in common justice to Commodore Decatur, who is not present to defend himself from the aspersions that you have cast upon him, not to admit of such a document standing uncontradicted in a paper published under the immediate authority of His Majesty’s government. His Excellency is thoroughly aware of the great importance of preserving to the utmost extent perfect freedom of discussion and the fullest liberty of the press in every part of the British dominions. Undoubtedly, therefore, nothing could be further from his intentions than the most distant desire to compel a British editor to retract a statement founded on truth; but when a statement is founded on falsehood, His Excellency conceives it to be incumbent on him equally, in duty to the British public and in support of the true character of the British press, to demand that that falsehood, whether directed against friend or foe, should be instantly retracted, or that the paper which thinks fit to disgrace its columns by persevering in error should no longer be distinguished by royal protection.”

Some weeks later, in an issue of March 2d, the following extract attracts attention in a Bermuda journal:

“On Wednesday evening last Mr. Randolph, of the United States Navy, late of the _President_ frigate, in company with some other officers of the ship, attacked the editor of the _Royal Gazette_ in a most violent and unprovoked manner with a stick, while he was walking unarmed. The timely arrival of some British officers prevented his proceeding to further acts of violence, and, the guard shortly after coming up, the officer decamped, and the next morning, we understand, he was hoisted into a boat at the crane from the Market Wharf and absconded. An honorable way, truly, for an officer to quit a place where he had been treated with civility and politeness.”

However, it will not do to leave the subject without quoting from a letter which the Mr. Randolph referred to wrote over his own signature and sent to the editors of the _Commercial Advertiser_, after his return to New York, in which he observes, after reference to the Bermuda _Royal Gazette_, the affair of the stick, and the “acts of violence,” as follows:

“As soon as I read the scurrilous remarks in the _Royal Gazette_ of the fifteenth ult., in relation to the capture of the late U. S. frigate _President_, I walked to the King’s Square with the determination to chastise the editor. I soon fell in with him, and executed my purpose in the most ample and satisfactory manner. There was no American officer in the company except Midshipman Emmett, and Mr. Ward, the editor, was accompanied by Lieutenant Sammon, of the Royal Navy, but by neither of these officers was I interrupted or assisted in the operation.

“Having previously obtained my passports, and being advised that the editor of the _Royal Gazette_ was taking measures to employ the civil authority against me, I left the island the next day for the United States.

“I am, Gentlemen, etc., etc.,” “R. B. RANDOLPH, Midshipman, “Late of the U. S. frigate _President_”

Upon Decatur’s return to the United States he was treated as a hero, and received the usual ovation given to victors when they return to their native land. The _President_ was spoken of by her captors as a model of naval architecture, and her method of construction recommended to British ship-builders.

XVII

THE “CONSTITUTION,” THE “CYANE,” AND THE “LEVANT”

[February 20th, 1815]

Charles Stewart was a Philadelphian. He was born on the 28th day of July, 1778, shortly after the evacuation of the city by the British. His mother was left a widow when he was but two years old. Overcoming many hardships, Mrs. Stewart managed to support herself and her large family of eight children during the troublous times of the Revolution. At the age of thirteen Charles entered the merchant service as a cabin-boy, and speedily began to show that he had in him the material for making an officer.

At the age of twenty he was in command of a vessel in the Indian trade, but shortly after he attained this rank he accepted a commission as lieutenant in the navy of the United States. Stewart’s able handling of the little schooner _Experiment_, of 12 guns, on several occasions brought him to the attention of the country, and his conduct in the Mediterranean won for him the praise of his superiors and the admiration of the service. He was a fine-looking, energetic man, who possessed a manner that is said to have been most fascinating; but, like all of his school, he was above everything else a fighting man.

In the fall of the year 1814, after the repulse of the British at Norfolk, Captain Stewart, who at the beginning of the war had been in command of the 36-gun frigate _Constellation_, was given the post then most desired above all others in our navy--that of commander of “Old Ironsides.”

After undergoing some repairs in the navy-yard, the _Constitution_, with a veteran crew, sailed from the port of Boston and proceeded southward. For some time she hung about the Bermudas, waiting in vain for an encounter; thence she sailed away for the coasts of Surinam, Berbice, and Demerara; cruised to windward of the island of Barbadoes, St. Vincent, Martinique, off St. Kitt’s, St. Eustatius, Porto Rico, and Santa Cruz, and succeeded in capturing and destroying the _Picton_, of 16 guns; a merchant ship of 10 guns; the brig _Catherine_, 10 guns; and an armed schooner, the _Phoenix_. But no foe was seen that was worthy of her mettle, and it appeared that bad luck was in the breezes.

At this time the _Constitution_ must have presented a peculiar appearance while under way; her sails were the same she had carried in her cruises under Hull and Bainbridge, and the shot-holes made by the _Guerrière_ and the _Java_ were plain to view, like the honorable scars of a veteran. Patched and thread bare, her canvas was in no condition to stand a blow or to hold the wind. In those days the _Constitution_ was a marked vessel in many senses. In view of the reputation she had earned, there were no frigates of her class that appeared to seek her out, and it was not considered a disgrace to avoid a meeting with “the dangerous nondescript,” as the British press had labelled her. If the fact was once ascertained what vessel it was that carried that high freeboard and those brown patched sails, His Majesty’s commanders generally showed a tenderness that their reputations would hardly lead one to expect. In the Mona Passage, for instance, Captain Stewart chased, but failed to come up with, the British frigate _La Pique_, and on two separate occasions he tried to entice the enemy to meet him by unfurling at first sight the enormous flag that also distinguished the _Constitution_ above the other frigates in our service, but all to no purpose; and in March Stewart determined to return to the United States in order to refit completely. But he was not to reach home without an adventure.

Probably no vessel in the world had so many narrow escapes from capture as had the _Constitution_; only masterly seamanship had kept her from being taken.

From 1813 to the close of the war the English frigates generally cruised in pairs; and off the New England coast, on her return voyage, the _Constitution_ ran across the _Junon_ and _La Nymphe_, each of 50 guns. She managed to outsail them by a narrow margin, and arrived safely at Marblehead in the latter part of April. She rested in Massachusetts Bay for seven months, completely refitting under the eye of Captain Stewart himself; and in December she again proceeded to sea, and was then, beyond doubt, the best equipped and best ordered vessel of her class that ever answered helm.

Stewart shaped his course for his favorite cruising-ground, the high seas to the eastward of the Bermudas, and on the 24th of the month he captured the English brig _Lord Nelson_, and took the ship _Susan_ with a valuable cargo, sending the latter to New York. Then he bore away east, with the intention of reaching the waters in the neighborhood of the Madeira Islands.

The morning of the 20th of February began with light breezes from the east and cloudy weather. At 1 P.M. a sail was discovered two points off the larboard and three leagues or more away. The _Constitution_ bore up at once, and made all sail in chase. In half an hour the stranger was seen to be a ship, and in a few minutes another vessel was made out ahead; both were close-hauled, and about ten miles apart. At four o’clock it was seen that the weather-most ship was signalling her consort, who immediately shortened sail and waited for her.

For an hour the three vessels sailed on. The two strangers, that were closing on each other gradually, displayed no flags; and although at too great a distance to reach the nearer vessel, Stewart commenced to fire with his bow guns, in the hope that they would display their colors; but to no purpose. It was not doubted, however, that they were English, and the _Constitution_ cleared for action. Soon they passed within hail of one another, and, hauling by the wind on the starboard tack, showed that they were prepared to fight.