Pike & Cutlass: Hero Tales of Our Navy

At about four o’clock the “Phœbe” selected a position under the stern of the “Essex,” and opened fire at long range. The “Cherub” stood off her bow. The fire of the “Phœbe” was...

As a boy at the Academy, while he never surreptitiously drank, as others did, he made no pretence of being religious. He smoked whenever he got a chance, in his quarters or in t...

On the “Randolph” Biddle’s men were working well, but the crashing of the shot and the flying splinters were terrific. In fifteen minutes the decks were covered with the bodies...

The people on shore heard the cannonading cease and saw the great clouds of gold-tinted smoke roll away to the south. There they saw the two vessels locked as if in an embrace o...

There was very little sound upon the gunboat now. The wind being favorable, the Americans shipped their sweeps, and sat watching the largest of the Tripolitan vessels, which was...

By half-past two A.M., about a mile below Plymouth, where the “Albemarle” lay, they came upon the submerged “Southfield,” and could just make out the lines of the guard-schooner...

The water frequently became putrid, and this, with the lack of fresh vegetables and the over use of pork, brought on the disease called scurvy, which oftentimes wiped out entire...

But they did not reckon on the superb seamanship of the “Constitution.” In a trice the men were aloft with their axes, the wreck was cleared away, new gear was rove, and in half...

Yet it was truly beautiful. With the tide on the ebb and the wind a-piping free, never was a fairer sight than the Atlantic clipper as she picked her speedy way through the ship...

Back again at the yard, they go through with their drill as infantry or artillery; and last, but not least, comes the drill by companies for the honor of bearing the Naval Acade...

By a little after two o’clock the frigates were within half a mile of each other, and the action then began with great spirit. The Englishman got the range first, and sent in a...

As the “Hartford” drew into range, the admiral walked over to the main rigging and clambered up into the shrouds; and his men below him at the batteries lovingly watched their “...

“I wish to know, sir,” demanded Read peremptorily, “whether I am to consider you as a prisoner of war or as an enemy. I have no time for further parley.”

The writer expresses thanks for their courtesy to the editors of “Lippincott’s Magazine” and the editors of the “Saturday Evening Post,” of Philadelphia, in which periodicals se...

When the “Polly’s” day’s luck is run, all hands take stations for dressing down. It is the dirty part of the business; but so quickly is it done that the crew seems part of a me...