SCENE III. THE LAST FIGHT

The _Constitution_ took a long rest after this battle. The _Java’s_ shot had discovered some rotten spots in her sides. A long overhaul was required to make her again ready for sea. Meanwhile the Navy had won many a victory and had suffered some defeats. Our little sloops-of-war won a long succession of splendid successes. Gallant James Lawrence, hero of the _Hornet-Peacock_ fight, lost the _Chesapeake_ to the British frigate _Shannon_—crying, as he lay dying, “Don’t give up the ship!” Sewing this motto on his blue battle flag Perry annihilated the British squadron on Lake Erie. Macdonough saved the northern frontier with a complete victory on Lake Champlain, which a British marine thought more desperately fought than Trafalgar. Our privateers were gathering in their prizes on every sea in constantly increasing numbers and sending the insurance rates three times higher than all previous levels.

But the war could not well end without a third victory by the _Constitution_. Now she was commanded by Charles Stewart, a worthy successor to Hull and Bainbridge. On February 20, 1815, north of Madeira, the American frigate came in contact with the British corvette _Cyane_, thirty-four guns, and the sloop _Levant_, twenty-one. Their fifty-five guns threw a slightly heavier weight of metal, but their armament consisted mostly of short-range carronades which could not be compared with the terrible long 24’s which filled the _Constitution’s_ gun-deck ports. Still the two Britons formed column and accepted Stewart’s challenge.

Stewart might have fought at long range where the British carronades could not have reached him. But night was coming on, and, if he were to take both ships, there was no time to waste. “At five minutes past six,” he wrote, “ranged up on the starboard side of the sternmost ship, about three hundred yards distant, and commenced the action by broadsides, both ships returning our fire with the greatest spirit for about fifteen minutes.” Stewart’s tactics have a lesson: When you are anxious to engage and night is approaching, do not try to get all the conditions in your favor. Take things as they are and fight in the most decisive manner. Otherwise you will never capture your _Cyane_ and _Levant_. Perhaps we have here a lesson for the battles of peace as well as those of war.

After this first engagement smoke clouds obscured the range and fire ceased. But not for long, for now the _Constitution_ began a series of beautiful maneuvers—raking each enemy ship in turn. They separated and made off. Stewart hung close to the _Cyane_ and soon forced her to surrender. By eight o’clock she had been manned by a prize crew. Stewart started in search of the _Levant_.

Captain Douglass of the _Levant_ had now repaired his damages. Instead of trying to escape, he sailed back to assist his comrade. But he was too late. At eight-thirty he ran into the _Constitution_. Attempts to escape proved futile and at ten the second prize was made. “At 1:00 A.M.,” Stewart reported, “the damages to our rigging had been repaired, sails shifted, and the ship in fighting condition.” The price of this double victory was only fifteen casualties.

The _Cyane_ safely reached home. The _Levant_ was recaptured by a British squadron in a neutral port. The _Constitution_ received her last battle triumph in New York many months after peace had been signed. She had fought her last fight. But for many long years she served her country well by showing the flag in every part of the world. After that she trained many classes of midshipmen at the Naval Academy. Now her useful labors are ended but she serves a still more important purpose. For this old hulk, whose iron sides protected iron men, is an inspiration to every officer and man in the naval service—and to every American.

EPILOGUE

Scarce one tall frigate walks the sea Or skirts the safer shores Of all that bore to victory Our stout old Commodores.

So wrote Oliver Wendell Holmes in 1865. Many years have passed since then. Again a tall frigate walks the sea. She carries a message from many a stout old commodore, many an alert topman, many a keen-eyed gunner. In fact, she carries a message from our Navy to our People.

All the stories of “Old Ironsides” in this little pamphlet are based on chapters of _We Build a Navy_, by Commander H. H. Frost, U. S. Navy, published by U. S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland.

_Information about the “Constitution”_

The building of the _Constitution_ resulted from the failure of the new United States government to purchase protection from the Algerian pirates. By a majority of two, the House of Representatives voted, in March, 1794, to provide six frigates that “separately would be superior to any European frigate.” The _Constitution_ was one of these. She was designed by Joshua Humphreys of Philadelphia and built at Hartt’s Wharf in Boston, near the present Constitution Wharf. The copper bolts and fittings were supplied by Paul Revere. Construction was all but abandoned after a new treaty was made with the pirates, but the insistence of Presidents Washington and Adams, coupled with the rising difficulties with revolutionary France, finally brought the work to completion. She was launched in October, 1797, and commissioned quickly.

The _Constitution_ was rated as a 44-gun frigate but has carried as many as 55 guns at various times. The present arrangement closely follows that of her early days. The guns on the spar deck are 32-pounder carronades, short, light guns which threw heavy shots a short distance (300 to 400 yards). On the gun deck are long 24-pounders, heavy guns with much greater range but less smashing power than the carronade. In the following table the ranges given are for one degree of elevation. The long gun could attain ranges up to 2,000 yards by greater elevation, the projectile leaving the gun with a velocity of about 1,500 feet per second.

The _Constitution_ cost $302,917. Her original dimensions were: length over-all, 204 feet; beam, 43.5 feet; draft, forward 21 feet, aft 23 feet; displacement 2,200 tons. She was generally considered an excellent sailer, the report being that “she works within eleven points of the wind; steers, works, sails, scuds, and lies-to well; rolls deep and easy, and sailing close-hauled has beaten everything sailed with.”

Guns of the Constitution

Location Type No. Length Weight Bore Powder Approx. lbs. inches charge range

Gun deck, 24-pdr., 12 9′ 5¾″ 5,135 5.824 8 lbs. 700 yds. for’d. and aft American Gun deck, 24-pdr., 18 10′ 5¾″ 5,733 5.824 8 lbs. 700 yds. amidships English Spar deck 32-pdr., 20 5′ 5″ 2,240 6.41 4 lbs. 400 yds. carronades Spar deck, bow 24-pdr. 2 9′ 9½″ 4,170 5.824 8 lbs. 700 yds. chasers

The two bow chasers are 18-pounders bored for 24-pound shot. They are lighter than the standard 24-pounder to reduce top weights. Total weight of broadside, 734 pounds. As shot were frequently underweight, this figure is not exact.

Her complement was 400 officers and men, but she usually cruised with about 50 men in excess. At sea the men were crowded closely together and there was much sickness. The ration was fixed by law and it made a monotonous diet. The legal ration for Sunday was 1½ lbs. beef, 14 oz. bread, ½ lb. flour, ¼ lb. suet, ½ pt. spirits. On week days pork was sometimes substituted for beef, with cheese or dried peas in place of suet. The meat was usually salted, the bread stale and moldy, the spirits good.

Transcriber’s Notes

—Silently corrected a few typos.

—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.

—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.

—Inserted the original page-footer line drawings into the text.