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TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
TWELVE 
 NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 Being a Record of Certain Americans who 
 made themselves Immortal 
 
 BY 
 
 MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL 
 
 author of 
 
 ^'the sprightly romance of marsac," " the history 
 
 of the lady betty stair," "children of 
 
 destiny," "throckmorton," 
 
 "little jarvis," etc. 
 
 WITH PORTRAITS 
 
 NEW YORK 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
Copyright, 1897, 
 By Charles Scribner's Sons. 
 
 ^nibcrsitg Press : 
 John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 
 
PEEFACE 
 
 In offering this book to the youth of the coun- 
 try, the writer does not wish it understood as a 
 comprehensive record of American naval captains 
 from 1776 to 1815. It is merely a selection of 
 twelve commanders who had great opportunities, 
 and were equal to those opportunities, from the 
 long list of brave and deserving officers, especially 
 during the brilliant period from 1798 to 1815. 
 
 The writer desires to express the deepest obli- 
 gations to Cooper's Naval History and Naval 
 Biographies. If those noble and beautiful books 
 were read at the present day as they deserve to be 
 read, there would be little reason for any modern 
 author writing upon the same subjects. 
 
 A faithful effort has been made to copy Cooper's 
 admirable impartiality. He says, justly, in speak- 
 ing of the captures on each side made in 1812-15, 
 " No vessel was unworthily given up." It is per- 
 haps unfortunate for the good-will which should 
 
PREFACE 
 
 exist between kindred nations, like the United 
 States and Great Britain, that the naval and mil- 
 itary glory of the early years of the republic 
 should have been gained almost wholly against 
 Great Britain. But an unprejudiced view will 
 soon show that much of the fierceness of the 
 fighting was due to the closeness of the tie of 
 blood. There was but a slight foreign element 
 among the Americans who sustained themselves 
 so gallantly from 1776 to 1815 ; and this foreign 
 element, instead of modifying those Anglo-Saxon 
 characteristics which are the common heritage 
 of Americans and British alike, was brought into 
 subjection to the Anglo-Saxon standards of laws, 
 customs, and language. The Americans of Amer- 
 ican stock take the liberty of believing and say- 
 ing that every generation nurtured under Ameri- 
 can institutions is a distinct advantage ; and 
 those Americans whose ancestors at their own 
 pleasure cast off the rule of England have no 
 grudge against the mother country, but rather 
 the utmost good-will and cordial friendship. 
 The youth of the country should realize that a 
 ceaseless whine against England is very un- 
 American. The Americans never whined. They 
 made a stout protest, followed by a bold defiance 
 
PREFACE 
 
 and a great and successful fight, then shook 
 hands and made it up. 
 
 The writer offers this book with diffidence, 
 but trusts that the inherent virtue in the men 
 and events treated of may make the record of 
 
 interest. 
 
 MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL. 
 
y 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAaE 
 
 PAUL JONES 1 
 
 RICHARD DALE 28 
 
 THOMAS TRUXTUN 42 
 
 WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE 53 
 
 EDWARD PREBLE 83 
 
 STEPHEN DECATUR 102 
 
 RICHARD SOMERS 130 
 
 ISAAC HULL 145 
 
 CHARLES STEWART 167 
 
 OLIVER HAZARD PERRY 182 
 
 THOMAS MACDONOUGH 192 
 
 JAMES LAWRENCE 208 
 
LIST OF PORTRAITS 
 
 Paul Jones Frontispiece 
 
 Richard Dale Facing page 28 
 
 Thomas Truxtun " 42 ^. 
 
 William Bainbridge " 53 
 
 Edward Preble " 83 
 
 Stephen Decatur " 1^2 
 
 Richard Somers " ^^^ 
 
 Isaac Hull " 1^5 
 
 Charles Stewart " ^^^ 
 
 Oliver Hazard Perry " 1^2 
 
 Thomas Macdonough " 1^2 
 
 James Lawrence " 208 
 
PAUL JONES 
 
 American history presents no more picturesque 
 figure than Paul Jones, and the mere recital of 
 his life and its incidents is a thrilling romance. 
 A gardener's boy, he shipped before the mast at 
 twelve years of age, and afterward rose to be 
 the ranking officer in the American navy. His 
 exploits by land and sea in various parts of the 
 world ; his intimacy with some of the greatest 
 men of the age, and his friendships with reigning 
 sovereigns of Europe ; his character, of deep sen- 
 timent, united with extraordinary genius and ex- 
 treme daring, — place him among those historical 
 personages who are always of enchanting interest 
 to succeeding ages. Paul Jones himself foresaw 
 and gloried in this posthumous fame, for, with 
 all his great qualities, he had the natural vanity 
 which so often accompanies the self-made man. 
 He lacked the perfect self-poise of Washington, 
 who, having done immortal things, blushed to 
 have them spoken of, and did not deign to appeal 
 to posterity. Paul Jones was continually appeal- 
 ing to posterity. But his vanity was that of an 
 1 1 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 honest man, and he was often stung to assert- 
 iveness by the malignities of his enemies. That 
 these malignities were false, and that he was a man 
 of lofty ideals and admirable character, is shown 
 by the friends he made and kept. Dr. Franklin, 
 Thomas Jefferson, Robert Morris, and Lafayette 
 lived upon terms of the greatest intimacy with 
 him ; Washington esteemed him, — and the good- 
 will of such men places any man in the category 
 of the upright. 
 
 Nothing in the family and circumstances of 
 Paul Jones indicated the distinction of his later 
 life. His father, John Paul, was a gardener, at 
 Arbigland, in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, where 
 Paul Jones was born in 1747. He was named 
 John Paul, for his father ; but upon his taking up 
 his residence in Virginia, in his twenty-seventh 
 year, he added Jones to his name, — for some rea- 
 son which is not now and never has been under- 
 stood, — and as Paul Jones he is known to history. 
 The Pauls were very humble people, and Paul 
 Jones's childhood was like the childhood of other 
 poor men's sons. Boats were his favorite and 
 only playthings, and he showed from the begin- 
 ning that he had the spirit of command. He 
 organized his j^layfellows into companies of make- 
 believe sailors, which he drilled sternly. The 
 tide rushes into the Solway Firth from the Ger- 
 man ocean so tremendously that it often seems 
 like a tidal wave, and the boy Paul Jones had 
 
PAUL JONES 
 
 sometimes to run for his life when he was wading 
 ont commanding his miniature ships and crews. 
 Close by his father's cottage is the sheltered bay 
 of the Carsethorn, where, in the old days, ships 
 for Dumfries loaded and unloaded. Deep water 
 is so close to the shore that as the ships worked 
 in and out their yardarms seemed to be actually 
 passing among the trees that cling stubbornly to 
 the rocky shore. It was the delight of the boy 
 Paul Jones to perch himself on the highest point 
 of the promontory, and to screech out his orders to 
 the incoming and outgoing vessels ; and the ship- 
 masters soon found that this bold boy was as good 
 as a pilot any day, and if they followed his direc- 
 tions they would always have water enough under 
 the keel. 
 
 The only school which Paul Jones ever attended 
 was the parish school at Kirkbean, and that only 
 until he was twelve years old. But it was char- 
 acteristic of him, as man and boy, to learn with 
 the greatest eagerness ; and the result is shown in 
 his letters and language, which are far superior to 
 the average in those days. The habit of applica- 
 tion never left him, and he was a hard student all 
 his life. 
 
 There were many mouths to feed in the little 
 cottage at Arbigland, and in Paul Jones's thir- 
 teenth year he was bound apprentice to a ship- 
 master. His first voyage was to Fredericksburg 
 in Virginia, where he had a brother, William Paul, 
 
 3 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 living, — a respected citizen. His time ashore was 
 spent with this brother, and so well did he con- 
 duct himself that when William Paul died some 
 years later he left his estate to this favorite 
 younger brother. There were, however, many 
 years of toil before Paul Jones, and hardships 
 and buffetings, and even injustices that sank deep 
 into his sensitive soul. It is said that he was at 
 one time on a slave-ship, the slave-trade being 
 then legalized throughout the world ; but, hating 
 the life, he quitted ^his ship, and the traffic too. 
 When he was about twenty years old, he found 
 himself without employment in Jamaica. He 
 embarked as a passenger on the John, — a fine 
 brigantine, owned by a shipping firm in his native 
 shire. On the voyage home both the captain and 
 the first mate died of yellow fever. The young 
 passenger — John Paul, as he was then called — 
 took command of the brigantine, and brought her 
 safely to her port. The owners rewarded him by 
 making him captain and supercargo of the John. 
 This shows that Paul Jones was not only a capa- 
 ble seaman, worthy of command at twenty years 
 of age, but of integrity and steady habits as 
 well. 
 
 In his twenty-fourth year occurred an event 
 which gave him great anguish, and was probably 
 the reason of his leaving his native land. While 
 in command of a vessel in Tobago, he had his car- 
 penter. Maxwell, flogged for some offence. This 
 
PAUL JONES 
 
 was the common mode of punishment in those 
 days. Maxwell complained to the Vice-Admiralty 
 Court, and the affair was investigated. The Court 
 examined Maxwell, and dismissed his charges 
 against Paul Jones, as frivolous. It is noted, 
 though, that Paul Jones expressed sorrow for 
 having had the man flogged. Maxwell shipped 
 on another vessel, but died a week or two after- 
 ward. This put a much more serious aspect on 
 the matter. There was some talk of a prosecu- 
 tion for murder ; but it was shown that Maxwell's 
 death had nothing to do with the flogging, and it 
 was dropped. Nevertheless, the effect upon a 
 nature, at once arrogant and sensitive, like Paul 
 Jones's, was exquisitely painful. It is likely that 
 this case was the origin of the one weak point in 
 Paul Jones's tremendous naval genius : he was 
 never a good disciplinarian, and he seems always 
 to have hesitated too long before administering 
 punishments, and of course severer punishments 
 were needed thereby. 
 
 Upon his return to Scotland, he was coldly re- 
 ceived by his friends and neighbors. To Paul 
 Jones's mind this coolness assumed the form of a 
 persecution. He left his native country with re- 
 sentment in his heart against it, although he kept 
 up affectionate relations with his family. Many 
 years after, when he was one of the celebrities of 
 his age, he speaks in a letter of his grief at learn- 
 ing of his mother's death, especially as he had 
 
 6 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 found that several sums of money which he had 
 sent her had never reached her. 
 
 He came to Yirginia in 1773, and took posses- 
 sion of the property left him by his brother, which 
 with his own savings gave him a competence. 
 Little is known of the particulars of his life from 
 1778 to 1775 ; but late researches show- that his 
 friendship with Thomas Jefferson, and with other 
 persons of prominence in A^irginia and North 
 Carolina, then began. Although his origin was 
 humble, his manners, tastes, and feelings led him 
 naturally into the most distinguished society, and 
 at a very early period in his career he is found 
 associated with persons of note. 
 
 On the first outbreak of hostilities with the 
 mother country Paul Jones offered his services to 
 the Continental Congress, and his name headed 
 the list of thirteen first lieutenants in the navy 
 appointed in December, 1775. Perhaps no man 
 had stronger natural and personal inclinations 
 toward the revolutionary cause than Paul Jones. 
 In his native country he was poor, obscure, and 
 perpetually barred out by his low estate from 
 those high places to which his vast ambition 
 aspired. In America, under a republican form 
 of government, he was as good as any man, pro- 
 vided only he were worthy ; and the fixed rank 
 of a naval officer would give him standing in 
 Europe among those very persons w^ho would 
 otherwise have regarded him with contempt. 
 
 6 
 
PAUL JONES 
 
 His commission was obtained through Mr. 
 Joseph Hewes. a member of Congress from 
 North Carolina, and the celebrated Robert Morris, 
 who was then at the head of the Marine Com- 
 mittee of Congress. The influence of Thomas 
 Jefferson was also in his favor. 
 
 At this time his true career may be said to 
 have begun. He was then twenty-eight years 
 old, of " a dashing and officer-like appearance," 
 his complexion dark and weather-beaten, and his 
 black eyes stern and melancholy in expression. 
 He had a slight hesitation in his speech which 
 disappeared under the influence of excitement. 
 His manner with sailors was said to be peculiarly 
 winning, and he was, no doubt, highly successful 
 in dealing with those characters which can be 
 gained by kindness and indulgence ; but with 
 that part of mankind to whom severity is a neces- 
 sity, he does not seem to have been so well 
 adapted, and the evidences of a firm and consis- 
 tent discipline are wanting. When he came to 
 command a ship of his own, — which he did very 
 shortly, — he was extremely polite to the midship- 
 men, frequently asking them to dine with him in 
 the cabin, but likely to blaze away at them if they 
 were not carefully and properly dressed for the 
 occasion. One of his officers, presuming upon 
 Paul Jones's indulgence, ventured to be insolent, 
 and got himself kicked down tlie hatchway for it. 
 It is said that when a midshipman on the topgal- 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 lant yard was inattentive to his duty as a lookout, 
 Paul Jones himself would gently let go the hal- 
 yards, and the unlucky midshipman would come 
 down the yard on the run. 
 
 Paul Jones was extremely temperate in his 
 habits, and was naturally fond of order and deco- 
 rum. He had fixed religious principles, and, like 
 Washington, lie considered a chaplain a useful and 
 even a necessary officer. A letter of his is extant 
 in which he says he would like a chaplain on 
 board who should be accommodated in the cabin, 
 and always have a seat at the cabin table, " the 
 government thereof should be entirely under his 
 direction." He was a tireless student by night, 
 his days at sea being occupied, when cruising, by 
 exercising his officers and men in their duty. 
 
 His first orders, as an American naval officer, 
 were as flag lieutenant on the Alfred, of twenty- 
 four guns. Commodore Hopkins's flagship. On 
 this ship Paul Jones claims to have hoisted with 
 his own hands the original flag of the Revolu- 
 tion — the pine-tree and rattlesnake flag — the 
 first time it was ever displayed. This may well 
 be true, as such an act is thoroughly in keeping 
 with the romantic sentiment of Paul Jones's 
 character; and he says, " I think I feel the more 
 for its honour " on account of that circumstance. 
 
 Congress had assembled in the Delaware River 
 a fleet of five small vessels, and it was with 
 ardent hopes that Paul Jones joined this little 
 
 8 
 
PAUL JONES 
 
 squadron. In a very short while, though, he dis- 
 covered that Commodore Hopkins was very much 
 disinclined to " go in harm's way," to use one of 
 Paul Jones's favorite expressions, and his wrath 
 and disgust flamed out without any concealment. 
 The object of the cruise was to capture a lot of 
 stores, left unprotected by the British at the 
 island of New Providence. By Commodore Hop- 
 kins's blundering the governor of the island had 
 time to save most of the stores. The Commodore 
 finding himself among the keys and islands of 
 the Bahamas, seems to have been afraid to go 
 away and afraid to stay where he was. Paul 
 Jones, however, taking a pilot up to the foretop- 
 mast head with him, piloted the Alfred to a safe 
 anchorage. To crown all, the five vessels ran 
 across a little British frigate, the Glasgow, off 
 Newport, and after a smart cannonade the Glas- 
 gow succeeded in slipping through Commodore 
 Hopkins's fingers and getting back to Newport. 
 
 Paul Jones's rage at this was furious, and it 
 became impossible for him to serve in the same 
 ship with Commodore Hopkins, who was shortly 
 afterward censured by Congress, and within the 
 year dismissed from the navy. In the summer of 
 1776 Paul Jones was given the command of a lit- 
 tle sloop, the Providence, mounting only twelve 
 four-pounders, but a fairly smart and weatherly 
 vessel. He improved her sailing qualities so 
 that she could log it faster than a great many 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 better ships. With this little sloop he was em- 
 ployed in conveying military stores from New Eng- 
 land to Washington's army on Long Island ; and 
 as the coast and the sounds swarmed with the 
 cruisers of Lord Howe's fleet, this was a difficult 
 and daring undertaking. But in difficulty and 
 daring Paul Jones always shone, and he succeeded 
 so as to win the admiration and personal regard 
 of Washington, as well as the approval of Con- 
 gress. In the autumn he made a more extended 
 cruise, during which he captured several valuable 
 prizes, and showed his courage and seamanship 
 by manoeuvring boldly before the Solebay frigate 
 and then running away from her. The Solebay 
 thought she had bagged the Providence, when the 
 little sloop, suddenly weathering her, ran directly 
 under her broadside, where the guns could not 
 be brought to bear, and went off before the wind 
 while the heavy frigate was coming about. On 
 another occasion he was chased by the Milford 
 frigate. Finding the Providence was fast enough 
 to play with the Milford, Paul Jones kept just out 
 of reach of the heavy cannonade of the Milford ; 
 and every time the frigate roared out her heavy 
 guns, a marine, whom Paul Jones had stationed 
 aft on the Providence, banged away with his 
 musket in reply. This amused and delighted the 
 men, and when Paul Jones was ready he ran 
 away from the frigate, leaving her still tlumder- 
 ing away in his wake. These little events had a 
 
 10 
 
PAUL JONES 
 
 good effect on his officers and men, showing them 
 that they had a man of dash and spirit for their 
 captain. When his cruise was up, he received 
 full recognition of his services by being appointed 
 to command a splendid frigate then building in 
 Holland for the American government. Mean- 
 while he was ordered to take command of the 
 Ranger, a sloop-of-war, mounting eighteen light 
 guns, then fitting for sea at Portsmouth, New 
 Hampshire. On the very day he was appointed 
 to her, June 14, 1777, Congress adopted the stars 
 and stripes as the national ensign, and Paul Jones 
 always claimed that he was the first man to hoist 
 the new flag over a ship of war when he raised it 
 on the Ranger in Portsmouth harbor. 
 
 The Ranger was weakly armed and poorly 
 fitted. Her cabin furnishings were meagre enough, 
 but there were two bookcases full of books provided 
 by the captain. The Ranger sailed from Ports- 
 mouth in November, 1777, and after an unevent- 
 ful voyage, arrived safely at Nantes in France in 
 December. Leaving his ship in charge of the 
 first lieutenant^ Simpson, Paul Jones started for 
 Paris to confer with the three American Com- 
 missioners, Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and 
 Arthur Lee. He bore a letter to them from the 
 Marine Committee describing him as " an active 
 and brave commander in our service." On reach- 
 ing Paris, a sharp disappointment awaited him con- 
 cerning the Holland frigate. Great Britain, which 
 n 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 was not then at war with either France or Hol- 
 land, although on the verge of it, had made com- 
 plaints about the frigate, and it had been passed 
 over to the French government to prevent its 
 confiscation. Paul Jones had a partial compen- 
 sation, however, in winning the affectionate re- 
 gard of Benjamin Franklin, and the friendship 
 that ever afterward subsisted between the im- 
 petuous and sentimental Paul Jones and the 
 calm and philosophic Franklin was extremely 
 beautiful. 
 
 Despairing of getting any better ship than the 
 Ranger, Paul Jones set himself to work to im- 
 prove her sailing qualities ; it is a striking fact 
 that he improved every ship he commanded, be- 
 fore he was through with her. 
 
 Being ready to take the sea, he determined to 
 secure a salute to his flag from the splendid French 
 fleet commanded by M. de La Motte Piquet. He 
 took the Ranger to Quiberon Bay, and at once sent 
 a letter to the French admiral, announcing his 
 arrival, and another to the American agent at 
 L'Orient. Paul Jones's dealings with this agent 
 are laughable, as many of his transactions were. 
 He began, as usual, with the most formal polite- 
 ness ; but as soon as there was any hesitation shown 
 in complying with his requests, which it cannot be 
 denied were perfectly sensible, he would blaze 
 out, and carry his point by the bayonet, as it were. 
 The agent did not understand the importance of 
 
 12 
 
PAUL JONES 
 
 the salute, and although he dined on board the 
 admiral's ship the day the request was made, he 
 failed to mention it to the admiral. This infuri- 
 ated Paul Jones, who wrote him a letter in which 
 he said, "I can show a commission as respect- 
 able as any the French admiral can produce," 
 and finally declared that unless the salute were 
 allowed, he would leave without entering the up- 
 per bay at all. 
 
 His determined attitude had its effect. The 
 French admiral agreed to salute the Ranger, and 
 to make sure that it was done in broad daylight, 
 so there could be no misunderstanding about it, 
 Paul Jones kept his ship in the lower bay until 
 the next day. The French admiral paid the 
 American commander the compliment of having 
 the guns manned when the Ranger sailed through 
 the double line of the French fleet, and when the 
 French guns roared out in honor of the American 
 flag, it meant that France was from that day 
 openly, as she had been for some time secretly, 
 committed to an alliance with the struggling colo- 
 nies. Seeing that nothing was to be hoped for in 
 the way of a better ship, Paul Jones, like all truly 
 great men, determined to do the best he could with 
 the means at hand. So, on an April evening in 
 1777, he picked up his anchor and steered the lit- 
 tle Ranger straight for the narrow seas of Great 
 Britain, the Mistress of the Seas, and the greatest 
 naval power on earth. The boldness of this can 
 
 13 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 scarcely be overestimated. The French admirals, 
 with fifty-five ships of the line, hung on to their 
 anchors, not caring to risk an encounter with the 
 fleets of England, manned by her mighty captains 
 and heroic crews ; but Paul Jones, alone, in a 
 weak vessel, lightly armed, took all the chances 
 of destruction, and bearded the lion in his den. 
 He counted on the slowness of communication in 
 those days, and all of those other circumstances 
 in which fortune favors the brave, — and the 
 result justified him. 
 
 He cruised about' for several days, burning and 
 destroying many merchant ships. He landed at 
 St. Mary's Isle, in order to capture the Earl of 
 Selkirk, but the bird had flown. His men became 
 mutinous, because, contrary to the custom of the 
 time, they were not allowed to loot the place. 
 Paul Jones was forced to allow them to carry off 
 some silver plate, which he afterward redeemed out 
 of his own pocket, and returned to Lady Selkirk. 
 He also landed at Whitehaven, and fired the ship- 
 ping in the port, although he did not succeed in 
 burning the vessels. But the desire of his heart 
 was to find a ship of war, not too strong for him, 
 with which he might fight it out, yardarm to yard- 
 arm. This he found in the Drake, a sloop-of-war, 
 carrying twenty guns, and lying off Carrickfer- 
 gus. Like the Ranger, she was a weak ship ; but 
 she carried brave men and a fighting captain, 
 and when, on the afternoon of the 24th of April, 
 
 14 
 
PAUL JONES 
 
 the Ranger appeared off Carrickfergus, the Drake 
 promptly came out to meet her. The tide was 
 adverse, and the Drake worked out slowly, but 
 her adversary gallantly waited for her in mid- 
 channel, with the American ensign at her mizzen 
 peak, and a jack at the fore. The Drake's hail, 
 " What ship is that ? " was answered by the mas- 
 ter, under Paul Jones's direction : " This is the 
 American Continental ship Ranger. We wait 
 for you and beg you will come on. The sun is 
 but little more than an hour high, and it is time 
 to begin." 
 
 The Drake promptly accepted this cool in- 
 vitation, and the action began with the great- 
 est spirit. In an hour and four minutes the 
 Drake struck, after a brave defence. She had 
 lost her captain and first lieutenant, and thirty- 
 eight men killed and wounded, and had made, 
 as Paul Jones said, " a good and gallant de- 
 fence." The Ranger lost two men killed and 
 six wounded. On the 8th of May he arrived off 
 Brest in the Ranger, with the American ensign 
 hoisted above the union jack on the Drake. The 
 French pilots vied with each other as to which 
 should have the honor of piloting the two vessels 
 through the narrow channel known as Le Goulet, 
 and there was no question of a salute then, — 
 every French ship in sight saluted the plucky 
 little American. 
 
 This daring expedition gave Paul Jones a great 
 
 15 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 reputation in France. The French government, 
 by this time openly at war with England, asked 
 that Paul Jones remam in Europe to command a 
 naval force to be furnished by France ; and he was 
 justified in expecting a splendid command. But 
 the maladministration of affairs in Paris left him 
 a whole year, idle and fretting and wretched, as 
 such bold spirits are, under hope deferred, and 
 at last he was forced to put up with an old India- 
 man, the Due de Duras, larger, but not stronger 
 than the Ranger. He changed the name of this 
 old ship to the Bon Homme Richard, out of 
 compliment to Dr. Franklin, whose " Poor Rich- 
 ard's Almanac" had just then appeared. She 
 was the flagship of a motley squadron of two 
 frigates besides the Bon Homme Richard; the 
 Alliance, an American frigate commanded by a 
 French captain, Landais, who was suspected to 
 be crazy, and acted like a madman ; the Pallas, 
 commanded by another French captain, Cottineau, 
 a brave and skilful seaman ; and a cutter and a 
 brig, neither of which was of consequence in the 
 cruise. 
 
 A number of American prisoners having been 
 exchanged and sent to France, Paul Jones was 
 enabled before he sailed to get about thirty 
 Americans for the Bon Homme Richard. Every 
 officer on the quarterdeck was a native Ameri- 
 can except Paul Jones himself and one midship- 
 man ; and the first lieutenant was Richard Dale, 
 
 16 
 
PAUL JONES 
 
 one of the most gallant seamen the American 
 navy ever produced. He had lately escaped from 
 Mill Prison in England. Paul Jones justly ap- 
 preciated his young lieutenant, then only twenty- 
 three years old, and the utmost confidence and 
 attachment subsisted between them. 
 
 The crew was made up of men of all nation- 
 alities, including a number of Malays, and many 
 of the fok'sle people did not understand the word 
 of command. With this singular squadron and 
 unpromising ship and crew Paul Jones set sail 
 on the 15th of August, under orders to report at 
 the Texel early in October. Great things were 
 expected of him, but agonizing disappointment 
 seemed to be in store for him. Landais, the 
 captain of the Alliance, was mutinous, and 
 the whole squadron seemed incapable of either 
 acting together or acting separately. Twice 
 Paul Jones sailed up the Firth of Forth as far 
 as Leith, the port of Edinburgh, and the Edin- 
 burghers made preparations to withstand this 
 bold invader. Among the children who lay 
 awake at night waiting for the booming of 
 Paul Jones's guns, was a lad of ten years of 
 age, — Walter Scott, who, when he was the great 
 Sir Walter, often spoke of it. But both times 
 the wind blew Paul Jones out to sea again, so 
 that nothing was done in the way of a descent on 
 Edinburgh. Many merchant ships were taken, 
 and the coasts of the three kingdoms were 
 
 2 17 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 alarmed, but so far no enemy in the shape of 
 a warsliip had appeared. The time for the 
 cruise to be up was fast approaching, and it 
 seemed likely to end in a manner crushing to the 
 hopes of Paul Jones, when, at noon on the 23d 
 of September, 1779, the Bon Homme Richard 
 being off Flamborough Head, a single ship was 
 seen rounding the headland. It was the first of 
 forty ships comprising the Baltic fleet of mer- 
 chantmen, which Paul Jones had expected and 
 longed to intercept. A large black frigate and 
 a smaller vessel were convoying them; and as 
 soon as the two warships had placed themselves 
 between the fleet and the Bon Homme Richard, 
 all the fighting ships backed their topsails and 
 prepared for action. 
 
 At the instant of seeing the two British ships, 
 Paul Jones showed in his air and words the de- 
 light his warrior's soul felt at the approaching 
 conflict. His officers and crew displayed the ut- 
 most willingness to engage, while on board the 
 Serapis her company asked nothing but to be 
 laid alongside the saucy American. 
 
 The Serapis was a splendid new frigate, — 
 " the finest ship of her class I ever saw," Paul 
 Jones afterward wrote Dr. Franklin, — and carried 
 fifty guns. It is estimated that her force, as 
 compared to the poor old Bon Homme Richard, 
 was as two to one. She was commanded by 
 Captain Pearson, a brave and capable officer. 
 
 18 
 
PAUL JONES 
 
 At one o'clock the drummers beat to quarters 
 on both ships, but it was really seven o'clock 
 before they got near enough to begin the real 
 business of fighting. Much of this time the 
 British and Americans were cheering and jeer- 
 ing at each other. The Serapis people pretended 
 they thought the Bon Homme Richard was a mer- 
 chant ship, which indeed she had been before she 
 came into Paul Jones's hands, and derisively 
 asked the Americans what she was laden with ; 
 to which the Americans promptly shouted back, 
 " Round, grape, and double-headed shot ! " 
 
 At last, about seven o'clock in the evening, the 
 cannonade began. At the second broadside two 
 of the battery of eighteen-pounders on the " Bon 
 Homme" burst, the rest cracked and could not 
 be fired. These had been the main dependence 
 for fighting the ship. Most of the small guns 
 were dismounted, and in a little while Paul Jones 
 had only three nine-pounders to play against the 
 heavy broadside of the Serapis. In addition 
 to this, the shot from the Serapis had made 
 several enormous holes in the crazy old hull of 
 the Bon Homme Richard, and she was leaking 
 like a sieve, while she was afire in a dozen places 
 at once. The crews of the exploded guns had no 
 guns to fight, but they had to combat both fire 
 and water, either of which seemed at any moment 
 likely to destroy the leaking and burning ship. 
 They worked like heroes, led by the gallant Dale, 
 
 19 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 and encouraged by their intrepid commander, 
 whose only comment on the desperate state of 
 the ship was, " Never mind, my lads, we shall 
 have a better ship to go home in." 
 
 Below, more than a hundred prisoners were 
 ready to spring up, and were only subdued by 
 Dale's determined attitude, who forced them to 
 work at the pumps for their lives. The Serapis 
 pounded her adversary mercilessly, and literally 
 tore the Bon Homme Richard to pieces between 
 decks. Most captains in this awful situation would 
 have hauled down the flag. Not so Paul Jones. 
 Knowing that his only chance lay in grappling 
 with his enemy and having it out at close quar- 
 ters, he managed to get alongside the Serapis, 
 and with his own hands made fast his bowsprit 
 to the Serapis' mizzen-mast, calling out cheer- 
 fully to his men, " Now, my brave lads, we have 
 her ! " Stacy, his sailing-master, while helping 
 him, bungled with the hawser, and an oath burst 
 from him. " Don't swear, Mr. Stacy," quietly said 
 Paul Jones, " in another moment we may be in 
 eternity ; but let us do our duty." 
 
 The Alliance lay off out of gunshot and quite 
 inactive most of the time, but at this point she 
 approached and sailed around the two fighting 
 ships, firing broadsides into her consort, which 
 did dreadful damage. After this, her captain, 
 the crack-brained and treacherous Landais, made 
 off to windward and was seen no more. 
 
 20 
 
PAUL JONES 
 
 The combat deepened, and apparently the Bon 
 Homme Richard was destined to go down fighting. 
 At one moment the two ships got into a position 
 in which neither could fire an effective shot. As 
 they lay, head and stern, fast locked in a deadly 
 embrace, and enveloped in smoke and darkness as 
 they repeatedly caught fire from each other, a 
 terrible stillness fell awhile, until from the 
 bloody decks of the Serapis a voice called 
 out, — 
 
 " Have you struck ? " 
 
 To this Paul Jones gave back the immortal 
 answer, which will ever mark him among the 
 bravest of the brave, — 
 
 " We have not yet begun to fight ! " 
 
 Soon the conflict was renewed. The Serapis' 
 heavy guns poured into and through the Bon 
 Homme Richard's hull, but the topmen on the 
 American ship kept up such a hurricane of de- 
 struction on the Serapis' spar deck, that Cap- 
 tain Pearson ordered every man below, while 
 himself bravely remaining. A topman on the 
 Bon Homme Richard, taking a bucket of hand 
 grenades, lay out on the main yard, vv^hich was 
 directly over the main hatch of the Serapis, and, 
 coolly fastening his bucket to the sheet block, be- 
 gan to throw his grenades down the hatchway. 
 Almost the first one rolled down the hatch to the 
 gun-deck, where it ignited a row of cartridges 
 left exposed by the carelessness of the powder 
 
 21 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 bojs. In an instant came an explosion which 
 seemed to shake the heavens and the ocean. 
 
 This was the turning-point. The men in the 
 Bon Homme Richard's tops climbed into those of 
 the Serapis, the yards of the two ships being in- 
 terlocked, and swept her decks with fire and shot. 
 Dazed by the explosion, and helpless against the 
 American sharpshooters, the courageous men on 
 the Serapis saw themselves conquered, and Cap- 
 tain Pearson himself lowered the flag which had 
 been nailed to the mast. Lieutenant Dale, swing- 
 ing himself on board the Serapis' deck, received 
 the captain's surrender ; and thus ended one of the 
 greatest single ship fights on record. The slaugh- 
 ter on both ships was fearful, and the Serapis' 
 mainmast went by the board just as she was given 
 up. But the poor Bon Homme Richard was past 
 help, and next morning she was abandoned. At 
 ten o'clock she was seen to be sinking. She gave 
 a lurch forward and went down, the last seen of 
 her being an American flag left flying by Paul 
 Jones's orders at her mizzen peak, as she settled 
 mto her ocean grave. 
 
 The Pallas, under Captain Cottineau, had cap- 
 tured the Countess of Scarborough, which made a 
 brave defence, and, in company with the Serapis, 
 sailed for the port of the Texel, which they 
 reached in safety. England scarcely felt the loss 
 of one frigate and a sloop from her tremendous 
 fleets, but the wound to the pride of a great and 
 
 22 
 
PAUL JONES 
 
 noble nation was severe. She caused the Dutch 
 government to insist that Paul Jones should 
 immediately leave the Texel. This he refused 
 to do, as it was a neutral port, and he had a right 
 to remain a reasonable time. The Dutch govern- 
 ment then threatened to drive him out, and had 
 thirteen double-decked frigates to enforce this 
 threat, while twelve English ships cruised outside 
 waiting for him. But Paul Jones kept his flag 
 flying in the face of these twenty-five hostile ships, 
 and firmly refused to leave until he was ready. 
 Through some complication with the French 
 government, he had the alternative forced upon 
 him of hoisting a French flag on the Serapis, or 
 taking the inferior Alliance under the American 
 flag. Bitter as it was to give up the splendid 
 Serapis, he nobly preferred the weaker ship, 
 under the American flag, and in the Alliance, 
 in the midst of a roaring gale on a black De- 
 cember night, he escaped from the Texel, " with 
 my best American ensign flying," as he wrote Dr. 
 Franklin. 
 
 The British government offered ten thousand 
 guineas for him, dead or alive, and forty-two 
 British ships of the line and frigates scoured the 
 seas for him. Yet he escaped from them all, 
 passed within sight of the fleets at Spithead, 
 ran through the English Channel, and reached 
 France in safety. He went to Paris, where he 
 was praised, admired, petted by the court, and 
 
 23 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 especially honored by royalty. The King, Louis 
 XYL, gave him a magnificent sword, while the 
 Queen, the lovely and unfortunate Marie An- 
 toinette, invited him in her box at the opera, 
 and treated him with charming affability. The 
 first time he went to the theatre in Paris, he 
 found a laurel wreath suspended over his seat. 
 He rose quietly and moved away. — an act of 
 modesty which was much applauded by all. 
 
 Captain Pearson, on his return to England, 
 received honors that caused many persons to 
 smile, although he had undoubtedly defended 
 his ship very determinedly. He was made a 
 knight. When Paul Jones heard of this, he re- 
 marked : " Well, he has deserved it ; and if 1 
 have the good fortune to fall in with him again, 
 I will make him a lord." 
 
 Compliments were plenty for Paul Jones, too ; 
 but no ship was forthcoming for him worthy of 
 his fame, and at last, in 1780, he was forced to 
 return to America in the Ariel, a lightly armed 
 vessel, carrying stores for Washington's army. 
 
 His services were fully appreciated in the 
 United States. General Washington wrote him 
 a letter of congratulation ; Congress passed a 
 resolution of thanks in his honor, and gave him 
 a gold medal ; and the French king made him a 
 Kniglit of the Order of Military Merit. The 
 poverty of his country prevented him from getting 
 a ship immediately, and the virtual end of the 
 
 24 
 
PAUL JONES 
 
 war in 1781 gave him no further opportunity of 
 naval distinction. 
 
 He was employed in serving the naval interests 
 of the country on this side of the ocean until 1787, 
 when he went to Europe on a mission for the 
 government. While there, he had brilliant offers 
 made him to enter the service of the Empress 
 Catherine of Russia, and to take charge of naval 
 operations against the Turks. The nature of 
 Paul Jones was such that any enterprise of adven- 
 turous daring was irresistibly attractive to him. 
 At that time his firm friend Thomas Jefferson 
 was minister to France, and he advised Paul 
 Jones to accept the offer. This he did, relying, 
 as he said, on Mr. Jefferson to justify him in so 
 doing, and retaining his American citizenship. 
 He had an adventurous journey to Russia, stop- 
 ping for a while on public business at Copenhagen, 
 where he was much caressed by the King, Queen, 
 and Court. He resumed his route by sea, and at 
 one time in a small boat in the Baltic Sea he 
 forced the sailors to proceed at the point of his 
 pistol, when their hearts failed them and they 
 wished to turn back. 
 
 His connection with the Russian navy proved 
 deeply unfortunate. He had to deal with per- 
 sons of small sense of honor, who cared little for 
 the principles of generous and civilized warfare. 
 He was maligned and abused, and although he 
 succeeded in clearing himself, he left Russia with 
 
 25 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 disappointment and disgust. His health had be- 
 gun to fail, and the last two years of his life, from 
 1790 to 1792, were spent in Paris, w^here he was 
 often ill, and more often in great distress of mind 
 over the terrible scenes then occurring in France. 
 He did not forget that the King and Queen had 
 been his friends, and showed them attentions 
 when it was extremely dangerous to do so. La- 
 fayette, who had long been his devoted friend, 
 soothed his last days ; and Gouverneur Morris, 
 then minister to France, paid him many kind 
 attentions. He made his will, naming Robert 
 Morris as his executor, and then faced death 
 with the same cool courage as upon the 
 bloody and burning deck of the Bon Homme 
 Richard. 
 
 In the evening of the 18th of July, 1792, after 
 calmly making his preparation, the end came. 
 The National Assembly of France paid honor to 
 his remains, and in the United States the news of 
 his death was received with profound sorrow. 
 Some years after, the Congress sent the St. Law- 
 rence frigate to Europe, to bring back the body of 
 Paul Jones to the United States ; but it was found 
 that, according to the French custom, it had been 
 destroyed by quicklime long before. 
 
 Few men have been more warmly attacked and 
 defended than Paul Jones ; but in the light of his- 
 tory and of research it is altogether certain that 
 he was a man of extraordinary genius and courage, 
 
 26 
 
PAUL JONES 
 
 of noble aspirations, and sincerely devoted to 
 his adopted country; and at all times and places 
 he made good his proud declaration : '' I have 
 ever looked out for the honor of the American 
 flag." 
 
 The eulogy passed upon him by Benjamin 
 Franklin was brief, but it embodied many vol- 
 umes of praise. It was this : " For Captain Paul 
 Jones ever loved close fighting." 
 
 27 
 
RICHARD DALE 
 
 If an example were needed of the superiority 
 of character and courage over intellect, no more 
 fitting person could be named than Commodore 
 Richard Dale, — "that truth-telling and truth- 
 loving officer," as Fenimore Cooper calls him. 
 Nothing is more beautiful than the reverence 
 which Cooper, a man of real genius, had for 
 Richard Dale, whose talents, though good, were 
 not brilliant ; and in this Cooper shows to lesser 
 minds that intellect should ever pay tribute to 
 character. Dale had nothing more than good, 
 sound sense, but by the courage and constancy of 
 his nature, by his justice, gentleness, and probity, 
 he attained a standing of which a great intellect 
 might have been proud. He was Paul Jones's 
 first lieutenant during two years of daring adven- 
 ture, and, like Cooper, Paul Jones, the man of 
 genius, loved and admired Dale, the man of ex- 
 cellence. The affection between the two was deep, 
 and in Dale's old age he spoke of his old com- 
 mander, then no more, affectionately as " Paul," 
 — a strong testimony in the great captain's favor. 
 
 Dale was born near Norfolk, in Virginia, in 
 1756. His parents were respectable persons, but 
 
 28 
 
RICHARD DALE 
 
 not very well off, and Dale appears to have had 
 but few advantages of education in his boyhood. 
 He was, by nature, a daring and reckless speller, 
 and the ingenuity and simplicity with which he 
 could twist the letters of the alphabet into forms 
 never before seen, was truly comical. In a letter 
 to Paul Jones, describing some work he was do- 
 ing on the bowsprit, he says, " the boulsprit was 
 something Dificoult in Giting out." But no doubt 
 the bowsprit was smartly handled, and got out all 
 right. And when ''tow french voluntairs " de- 
 serted. Dale says he " made haist " to send the 
 " golly-boat " after them, and certainly got them, 
 if it were possible to do so. But in spite of his 
 spelling, he was educated in all the courtesies of 
 life, his manners were polished, his person was 
 handsome, and he was a daring and capable sea- 
 man. Paul Jones said he always found Dale 
 ready and willing to execute the most hazardous 
 duty ; and this willingness to do his duty was the 
 distinguishing characteristic of his whole life. 
 
 When he was twelve years of age, he entered 
 the merchant service and made a voyage with 
 an uncle of liis, a sea-captain. Then began his 
 career of hard knocks; and few men who sail 
 blue water ever had more. He began by falling 
 down the hold of his ship, and breaking most of 
 his bones except those of his back and neck ; then 
 followed experiences of being knocked overboard 
 and battling in the sea an hour before being 
 
 29 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 picked up ; of being struck by lightning and re- 
 maining unconscious for hours. From the time 
 he joined the navy of the colonies, he never was 
 in action without being either wounded or cap- 
 tured and sometimes both. Three times was he 
 badly wounded, five times was he taken pris- 
 oner; yet he managed to be in active service 
 during a great part of the war, and at last died 
 peacefully in his bed, at a good old age. 
 
 Almost as soon as war was declared, Dale, then 
 a fine young fellow of nineteen, enlisted in the 
 feeble naval forces of the colonies ; and the very 
 first time he smelled powder, in 1776, he was 
 captured by the British and taken to Norfolk. 
 There he was put on board a prison ship, where 
 he found among the officers an old friend of his, 
 a young Virginian, Bridges Gutteridge. Gut- 
 teridge was a royalist, and, being a plausible 
 fellow, he used his friendship with Dale to per- 
 suade him that he was wrong in being in rebel- 
 lion. Dale, who was young and inexperienced, 
 was beguiled by his friend into turning royalist 
 too, and actually enlisted upon a small British 
 vessel. The first action in which he was engaged 
 — a fight with American pilot boats — Dale met 
 his usual fate, and was severely wounded. He 
 was carried back to Norfolk, and in the long days 
 of illness and convalescence he began to see his 
 conduct in its true light, and bitterly repented 
 of having fought against his country. He went 
 
 30 
 
RICHARD DALE 
 
 to work upon his friend Gutteridgc, and succeeded 
 in converting him, after once having been con- 
 verted by him, into a patriot. Dale then quietly 
 bided his time to get back into the American 
 navy, and, as he said, " I made up my mind if I 
 got into the way of bullets it should never again 
 be the bullets of my own country." 
 
 It is indicative of the simple honesty of the 
 man, that he never attempted to belittle or dis- 
 guise this early lapse of his, and always expressed 
 the deepest sorrow for it, alleging what a nature 
 less fine would never have admitted, " I knew no 
 better at the time." 
 
 As soon as he was recovered, he managed to 
 get aboard a merchant ship; to go to sea was 
 the first step toward returning to the continental 
 navy, which was the desire of his heart. He 
 was captured as usual. But this time it was 
 just the very sort of a capture that Dale desired, 
 his ship being taken by the Lexington, a smart 
 little cruiser under the command of Captain 
 Barry, a brave officer, with whom Dale's life 
 was afterward much connected. Dale lost not a 
 moment in enlisting as midshipman on the Lex- 
 ington, and the first time she backed her topsails 
 at a British vessel she was captured, and Dale 
 was a prisoner for the third time. 
 
 An officer and a prize crew were thrown on the 
 Lexington, and her captor, the Pearl, frigate, 
 directed the prize to follow her. In the night 
 
 31 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 the Americans rose on their captors, and retook 
 the brig, carrying her into Baltimore. Soon 
 after that. Dale was exchanged, and in January, 
 1777, he found himself again on the Lexington, 
 as master's mate. In March, the brig sailed for 
 France, under Captain Henry Johnson, and cruised 
 boldly in European waters. 
 
 One night, in September, 1777, Captain John- 
 son found himself close under the quarter of a 
 well-armed British cutter. The two gallant lit- 
 tle vessels opened fire with great spirit, and the 
 Americans were getting decidedly the better of 
 it, when their shot gave out. Dale and the other 
 officers collected every scrap of iron about the 
 ship that could be found or wrenched from its 
 place to fire in the place of shot, but the un- 
 equal fight could not last long ; the brig was 
 given up after several of her officers and men 
 had been killed, and Dale was a prisoner for the 
 fourth time before he was twenty-one years old. 
 
 In most of these revolutionary encounters the 
 ships engaged were of trifling force, but the 
 attack and defence were gallant and spirited in 
 the highest degree, by both the Americans and 
 the British, and no ship was given away on either 
 side. 
 
 The Lexington's officers and men were carried 
 to England and thrown into Mill Prison, where 
 they underwent the agonies of famine and priva- 
 tion. Dale always spoke of those dreadful days 
 
 32 
 
RICHARD DALE 
 
 with horror, and told of being driven by hunger 
 to kill a stray dog, which he, with the other 
 prisoners, cooked and ate. 
 
 The story of their sufferings got abroad and 
 excited the indignation of many persons in Eng- 
 land, who were jealous of the lienor of their 
 country. They raised sixteen thousand pounds 
 for American prisoners in England, and relieved 
 all their material wants. But the Americans 
 longed for liberty, and Dale and a few others 
 determined to have it. They found a place under 
 the prison walls through which a hole could be 
 dug, and they began the almost impossible task 
 of scooping out enough earth that they might 
 crawl through to the other side. They could 
 work only while exercising in the prison yard, 
 and had to put the dirt in their pockets as they 
 scooped it up. Nevertheless, after working for 
 weeks at it, on a dark night in February, 1778, 
 Captain Johnson, Dale, and several of the Lex- 
 ington's crew crawled through, and found them- 
 selves free at last of the prison walls. 
 
 It is strange that men who could accomplish 
 this should have been so unwise as to stay to- 
 gether, but for a week the whole party wandered 
 about the country at night, half starved and half 
 clothed, in the worst of wintry weather. At last 
 they concluded to separate, and Dale and a young 
 midshipman cast their lots together. Their char- 
 acter was soon suspected by people they asked for 
 
 3 33 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 food and shelter, and pursuers were put upon 
 them. They doubled on their tracks and got to 
 London. They were still hunted for, and the 
 house in which they were concealed was raided. 
 Dale and his friend escaped into a shed close by. 
 and lay concealed under straw for hours, until 
 the pursuing party had left. They then slipped 
 down to the docks, and were entered as hands on 
 a vessel for Scotland. But Dale's usual ill-fortune 
 followed him. The British navy, wanting able 
 seamen, sent a press gang to the Scotch vessel, 
 and Dale and his friend, unluckily attracting 
 notice by their stalwart appearance, were im- 
 pressed. In a little while they were found out 
 to be American officers, and were sent back to 
 Mill Prison. Forty days in the black hole of the 
 prison followed. When this was over. Dale 
 earned another forty days in it by singing rebel 
 songs. He continued to sing his songs, though, 
 while in the black hole. After a whole year in 
 prison he made his escape under circumstances 
 which he never revealed to the day of his death, 
 except that he had on a complete suit of British 
 uniform. How he got it remains a mystery, and 
 from that day until his death, forty-seven years 
 afterward. Dale kept the dangerous secret of the 
 person who risked so much for him. It is sup- 
 posed that he was provided liberally with money, 
 and even with a passport, for he got out of 
 England quickly and went to France. Here, at 
 
 34 
 
RICHARD DALE 
 
 L'Orient, he found Paul Junes, then fitting out 
 the Bon Homme Richard, in which both the com- 
 mander and Dale were to win immortality. 
 
 Dale was then an active, handsome young 
 fellow of twenty-three, and had seen more hard 
 service than many officers of the highest rank. 
 At the first glance Paul Jones saw his steadiness, 
 coolness, and splendid qualities as a sea officer, 
 and soon made him first lieutenant on the Bon 
 Homme Richard. A deep attachment sprang 
 up between these two kindred souls, and it is 
 enough for Dale's reputation to know that he 
 was a man after Paul Jones's own heart. 
 
 In the summer of 1779 the Bon Homme 
 Richard, old, crazy, and weakly armed, but 
 carrying as much valor as any ship afloat, started 
 upon her daring cruise in the narrow seas of 
 Great Britain. Every day showed Paul Jones 
 more and more the admirable character of his 
 young first lieutenant, and in all the hazardous 
 enterprises of that bold cruise Dale was the 
 man who w^as always Paul Jones's right arm of 
 strength. On the 23d of September, 1779, was 
 fought the celebrated battle between the Bon 
 Homme Richard and the Serapis. Dale was 
 not only the first, but the only sea lieutenant on 
 board, and proved himself altogether worthy to 
 serve under the great captain who took the 
 Serapis. He commanded the main deck, and, 
 although his wretched and defective guns soon 
 
 35 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 became disabled, his activity did not cease for a 
 moment. 
 
 At the most critical stages of the battle, when 
 the leaking, burning, and helpless Bon Homme 
 Richard seemed in extremity, the master-at-arms 
 let loose more than a hundred prisoners, who 
 came crowding up into the magazine passage. 
 Dale, running below, with his pistol cocked, faced 
 the mob, and, under Paul Jones's orders, set them 
 to work at the pumps. He then returned to the 
 deck, and so carried away was he with the ardor 
 of battle that when, with his invariable fortune, a 
 shot struck him in the leg, he was quite uncon- 
 scious of it. As soon as Captain Pearson hauled 
 down his flag. Dale claimed his right to go aboard 
 the Serapis and receive her surrender. The 
 mainyard of the Serapis hung cock-a-bill over 
 the Bon Homme Richard's poop. A line hmig 
 from the torn rigging, and Dale, seizing it, swung 
 himself over, and landed alone on the Serapis' 
 deck. The Serapis' officers and people did not 
 all know the colors had been struck, and there 
 was some fighting on the deck afterward. The 
 Sei-apis' first lieutenant ran up just as Captain 
 Pearson surrendered, and cried out, " Has she 
 struck ? " meaning the Bon Homme Richard. 
 Captain Pearson remained silent, and Dale re- 
 plied, " No, sir, the Serapis has struck." 
 
 The lieutenant, ignoring Dale, repeated his 
 question to the captain, who shook his head. 
 
 36 
 
RICHARD DALE 
 
 The lieutenant after a moment asked that he 
 might go below and stop the firing that had 
 not altogether ceased ; but Dale, who was not 
 taking any chances of losing the ship, politely 
 refused, and at once passed the captain and 
 his first lieutenant aboard the Bon Homme 
 Richard. 
 
 As soon as the Americans had possession of 
 the Serapis, Dale sat down on the binnacle, 
 overcome with exhaustion, after nearly ten hours 
 of manoeuvring and fighting, two hours of the 
 time the ships having been lashed together. He 
 gave an order, and, rising to see it executed, 
 measured his length on the deck. Then for the 
 first time he knew that he was wounded. He 
 managed to keep the deck, however, and his 
 wound proved to be trifling. 
 
 In all the accounts of the compliments show- 
 ered upon Paul Jones and his officers at the 
 Texel and afterward at Paris, Dale seems to have 
 kept modestly in the background. His worth, 
 however, was not overlooked, and his testimony 
 that Captain Landais of the Alliance had acted 
 treacherously toward the Bon Homme Richard 
 during the fight with the Serapis was of weight 
 in securing Landais' dishonorable discharge from 
 the continental navy. 
 
 While Paul Jones was enjoying the charms 
 and splendors of Paris, Dale, who had little 
 taste for such things, was "keeping ship" so 
 
 37 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 well that the captain's 'absence was not felt. 
 Like Paul Jones, he ardently longed to put to 
 sea in a fine ship ; but both were doomed to 
 disappointment when the Ariel was the best to 
 be had. In her he sailed, with Paul Jones, for 
 America, in 1781. Oif the . French coast they 
 met with a storm so terrific that Dale always 
 declared he considered they were in more dan- 
 ger than at any time during the fight with the 
 Serapis. In speaking of Paul Jones's coolness 
 in such desperate straits, when every moment 
 they seemed about to go to the bottom. Dale said : 
 "Never saw I such coolness in such dreadful cir- 
 cumstances as I saw in Paul Jones then." To 
 the amazement of all, they escaped with their 
 lives, although the Ariel was so crippled that 
 they had to return to port, and it was many 
 weeks before they could sail again. 
 
 On reaching America, Paul Jones desired Dale 
 to accompany him to Portsmouth, New Hamp- 
 shire, where the government directed him to su- 
 perintend the building of a fine frigate then on 
 the stocks. But Dale preferred active service, 
 and joined the Trumbull frigate, going through 
 with his usual experience, a hot fight with a Brit- 
 ish ship and a severe wound. This time he varied 
 the performance by being captured for the fifth 
 time. He was soon exchanged, however, and the 
 war ended shortly after. 
 
 The navy of the United States ceased practi- 
 se 
 
RICHARD DALE 
 
 callj to exist at the close of the Eevolution, and 
 Dale went into the China trade. He made a 
 modest fortune, came ashore, and married a beau- 
 tiful girl, the ward of his old commander Captain 
 Barry. In 1794 the navy was reorganized, and 
 Dale was the first captain who got afloat under 
 the United States flag. He made several cruises, 
 and in 1801 was made commodore of a fine 
 squadron sent to the Mediterranean. His flag- 
 ship was the President, and it was a sad coin- 
 cidence that upon this very ship, in the war of 
 1812, his son, a gallant young midshipman, re- 
 ceived his death wound. 
 
 The fine appearance of the American ships and 
 the smartness of their officers and crews were 
 generally admired, and Dale himself made friends 
 and admirers by his manly and modest bearing. 
 He spelled no better than ever, but his seaman- 
 ship was beyond reproach. Once, on coming out 
 of Port Mahon, the President struck upon a 
 rock, and was in imminent danger of pounding 
 herself to death. Commodore Dale was below 
 when she struck. He instantly came on deck, 
 assumed command, and by his coolness, nerve, 
 and judgment, saved the ship. He had her tem- 
 porarily repaired, under his own directions, at 
 Port Mahon, but went to Toulon to have her put 
 in dry dock. When the water was pumped out, 
 and her hull exposed, the French naval officers 
 were lost in admiration at the ingenious way in 
 
 39 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 which, with crude appliances and materials, Dale 
 had contrived to repair the damage. 
 
 The great Nelson, wliile observing the manoeu- 
 vring of this fine squadron under Commodore Dale, 
 remarked : " Those American ships can, if they 
 wish, make trouble for the British navy." 
 
 Dale returned home, expecting to spend the rest 
 of his active life in the navy. But in those days 
 it seems to have been a common practice to treat 
 the most distinguished and deserving officers with- 
 out the least consideration of their rights or feel- 
 ings. This happened to Commodore Dale. An 
 affront being offered him by the head of the navy, 
 he promptly resigned. He had two gallant sons 
 who remained in the navy, however ; and one of 
 these, his namesake, lost his life while gallantly 
 fighting in the war of 1812. Dale retired to 
 Philadelphia, and spent the rest of his days in 
 honorable retirement. His old friend Captain 
 Barry had come into possession of the splendid 
 gold sword given Paul Jones by the King of 
 France, and which Paul Jones's relatives had 
 given to Robert Morris, and from him Captain 
 Barry got it. On Captain Barry's death he left 
 this sword, most wortliily and appropriately, to 
 Dale, the great captain's first lieutenant. 
 
 Dale never lost his interest in sailors and all 
 who live by the sea. He was a deeply religious 
 man, and organized a mariners' church, which he 
 urged all sailors to attend. Every Sunday after- 
 
 40 
 
RICHARD DALE 
 
 noon for thirty years he went to this humble little 
 chapel, and, besides joining in the service, would 
 go about among the sailors who were present, 
 gently inquiring into their wants, and never fail- 
 ing to do a kindness for them when possible. It 
 is said that no man was ever heard to speak a 
 word against him. He died peacefully, after a 
 short illness, in 1826. The United States named 
 for him a fine sloop of war, which, like Dale him- 
 self, saw much service and had many vicissitudes. 
 She is still in existence, and when, a few years 
 ago, her timbers were examined, they were found 
 as sound and whole, in spite of all her years of 
 service, as they ought to be in a ship named 
 for a man like Richard Dale. In her main 
 gangway a memorial plate is placed, recalling 
 Commodore Dale's services in the fight between 
 the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis, and 
 quoting the never-to-be-forgotten words of Paul 
 Jones, when he was asked, in his almost help- 
 less ship, if he had struck, — "I have not yet 
 begun to fight." 
 
 41 
 
THOMAS TRUXTUN 
 
 In the old days the American sailors were great 
 singers, and naval songs, rude in construction 
 but vivid witli patriotic fire, were immensely pop- 
 ular. When they were trolled forth on the fok'sle, 
 nearly every sailor could join in, and the effect 
 was as inspiring as Dibdin's songs were to the 
 British navy about the same time. Among the 
 first and favorite of these songs was " Truxtun's 
 Victory," beginning, — 
 
 " Come, all ye Yankee sailors, with swords and pikes ad- 
 vance ; 
 'T is time to try your courage and humble haughty 
 France." 
 
 There was a good deal of poetic license regard- 
 ing facts as well as forms, and the poet, in describ- 
 ing Truxtun's victory on L'Insurgente, a crack 
 French frigate, represents 
 
 " The blood did from their scuppers run ; 
 Their captain cried, ' I am undone ! ' " 
 
 Instead of crying that he was undone, the French 
 captain made a gallant defence ; and if his metal 
 
 42 
 
THOMAS TKincrrrN^ JSSgiTIsiB. and a copyof^Mesohidoti 
 
 cf Conpnv, Till fon;- nrrle hi f/w Ohverjt sxxie of Ore, ^edal . '. \ 
 
 ^ 
 
 y- 
 
 '%- 
 
 
 # 
 
 x' -X 
 
 '%, 
 
 21^ 
 
 
 .■u,Ull,<lw„ .^1' tl,:,^-- ,,.,l./ <•■.■■-». .m,l 
 
 praue. and 'Jtot 
 
 V,.; P"*«icUrU ../•th. I„:l.., .■■.: 
 
 Medal awarded to Thomas Thuxtun 
 
THOMAS TRUXTUN 
 
 had been heavier, it might have been " Barreault's 
 Victory," instead of " Truxtun's Victory." 
 
 Thomas Triixtun was born in New York in 
 1755, but, losing his father early, was taken to 
 Jamaica by a relative and brought up. He had 
 but little chance of a school education, and went 
 to sea early. He was but twenty years old when 
 the Revolution broke out, and was then in com- 
 mand of a merchant vessel. Unfortunately it 
 cannot be recounted that Truxtun entered the 
 American navy then. Instead he chose serving 
 in a privateer. But it must be remembered that 
 the whole naval force of the colonies was very 
 feeble, and so slight was the expectation that it 
 could prevail against the mighty fleets of Eng- 
 land that only a few small ships were ofhcered, 
 and there was no more room for would-be officers. 
 Truxtun, however, did excellent service in priva- 
 teers, — usually not very honorable ships in them- 
 selves, as they prey only on the commerce of an 
 enemy ; yet in the Revolution many privateers 
 boldly engaged with armed ships. Naturally the 
 naval men held privateers in contempt, and a let- 
 ter of the great Paul Jones is extant which shows 
 that he and young Captain Truxtun had a sharp 
 quarrel over the rights of privateers. Congress 
 had passed an act forbidding a privateer to hoist 
 a pennant in the presence of a naval ship, with- 
 out first getting the consent of the naval ship's 
 commander. Truxtun, an impetuous young man 
 
 43 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 of twenty-five, in command of the ship Inde- 
 pendence from Philadelphia, arrived at L'Orient 
 in France in 1780. At the same time the Ariel, 
 under command of Paul Jones, was lying in the 
 port. What folloAved Paul Jones himself describes 
 in a letter addressed to " Mr. Thomas Truxtun, 
 master of the ship Independence." 
 
 ^' You passed, some time ago, with the merchant 
 ship called the Independence belonging to Philadel- 
 phia, close under the stern of the continental ship 
 Ariel, under my command in the Road of Groix; 
 and you then showed no mark of respect to the Con- 
 tinental flag of commission, but went on with a long 
 Pendant flying, and without lowering any sail or 
 colour, or crew showing any mark of politeness. In 
 the port of L'Orient you were not satisfied with a 
 long Pendant, but you hoisted a kind of Broad one ; 
 and until yesterday you have worn it at your moor- 
 ings in presence of the Continental ship Ariel. 
 This was flying in the Face of a positive resolution 
 of Congress. When your vessel was yesterday 
 under sail, she was steered in my presence very 
 near the Ariel in passing down to Port Louis. I 
 then sent a Boat with an oflicer to request yourself 
 or your representative to take down the Pendant. 
 The officer returned and reported to me that my 
 boat's crew had been menaced by your people, and 
 that your mate said he had Orders to treat me with 
 Contempt, and disobey any order or request to haul 
 down the Pendant. When I found this, I sent 
 Lieut. Dale back with two Boats armed, and with 
 
 44 
 
THOMAS TRUXTUN 
 
 another polite message, and sucli orders as I will 
 
 answer for having given. The Pendant was then 
 
 hauled Down as he approached. I cannot answer 
 
 your letter of this date more particularly, as there 
 
 are in it several words that I do not understand and 
 
 cannot find in the dictionary. I shall receive no 
 
 more letters from you on the subject. It is not me 
 
 you have offended. You have offended the United 
 
 States of America. I am, sir, your most humble 
 
 servant, 
 
 ^^ J. Paul Jones." 
 
 By this letter it will be seen that Captain 
 Truxtun, like Richard Dale, was better at fight- 
 ing than writing ; and it will also be noted that 
 when Paul Jones's blood vv^as up, he sent Dale to 
 call Captain Truxtun to account, and as soon as 
 Dale took the matter in hand, '' the Pendant was 
 then hauled down." 
 
 Truxtun had an adventurous time of it during 
 the Revolution, and made a name for himself as a 
 man of enterprise and a fine seaman. His after 
 achievements make it a source of keen regret 
 that such a man should have been engaged in 
 such a calling as privateering, when, like Paul 
 Jones and Richard Dale, he might have assisted 
 his country much better on a regular ship of 
 war. 
 
 He remained in the merchant service after the 
 war was over ; but when the United States began 
 to create a navy in 1784, Truxtun was given a 
 
 45 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 captain's commission. Trouble had been brewing 
 with France for some time, and in 1797 the gov- 
 ernment determined to build several frigates in 
 case of war, and this year saw the launching of 
 the two noble ships, the Constitution and the 
 Constellation, which were both destined to win 
 immortal fame. Truxtun was appointed to com- 
 mand the Constellation, and also to superintend 
 the building. She was laid down at Baltimore in 
 the summer of 1797, and few ships ever took the 
 water more quickly than the glorious Constella- 
 tion. She had a very remarkable launch on the 
 7th of September, 1797. Nearly all her guns and 
 stores w^ere on board, and seven days after she 
 kissed the water she was ready to sail. She 
 had been coppered in ten hours. The Constella- 
 tion was a beautiful frigate, very fast and weath- 
 erly, and carrying thirty-eight guns. She was 
 finely officered and manned, and Captain Truxtun 
 sailed on his first cruise with every advantage in 
 his favor, — a ship that could both fight and run, 
 and a company worthy of the ship. He cruised 
 for some time without meeting with any extraor- 
 dinary adventures ; but the next year four other 
 smaller vessels were put under his command, and 
 the squadron went to the West Indies. This was 
 directly in harm's way, as the West India islands 
 were full of French ships of war, and France and 
 the United States were on the eve of a quasi-war, 
 so that Captain Truxtun sailed with the hope of 
 
 46 
 
THOMAS TRUXTUN 
 
 getting a whack at a Frenchman, and this came 
 about in February, 1799. As the old song has it, 
 
 " 'T was in the month of February, off Montserrat we lay, 
 When there we spied the Insurgente — " 
 
 This was considered to be the fastest frigate in 
 the world, and was commanded by a crack French 
 captain, Barreault. She carried forty twelve- 
 pounders in her batteries, and the Constellation 
 carried thirty-eight twenty-four pounders, making 
 the Constellation much the stronger ship; yet 
 Captain Truxtun showed, in the fight which fol- 
 lowed, that he could have whipped a heavier ship 
 than L'Insurgente, which made a very smart fight 
 too. Captain Barreault knew that the Constella- 
 tion was the heavier, but he did not on that account 
 refuse the battle, but showed a manly willingness 
 to fight. 
 
 The Constellation sighted L'Insurgente in the 
 forenoon of February 9, 1799, and immediately 
 made for her. As soon as she got near enough, 
 the French ship hoisted American colors, in or- 
 der to draw her on and give the French ship 
 time to find out something about the stranger. 
 Captain Truxtun then showed the private signal, 
 which Captain Barreault was unable to answer. 
 L'Insurgente then threw off every disguise, and, 
 setting the French ensign, ran off and fired a gun 
 to windward, which meant, in sailor language, 
 that he was ready for a yardarm to yardarm 
 
 47 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 fight. Captain Truxtun set an American ensign 
 at every masthead and came on, the Frenchman 
 waiting on an easy bowline, for his enemy. The 
 Americans, both officers and men, showed the 
 most cheerful ardor to engage, and the two 
 ships went at it with equal spirit. When within 
 hailing distance the Frenchman hailed; but dis- 
 regarding this, Captain Truxtun came on until 
 he was abeam of his adversary. Then he let fly 
 his broadside, and the Frenchman answered him 
 promptly. Captain Truxtun discovered that he 
 had no fool to play with in Captain Barreault, 
 and for an hour the Frenchman gave the Con- 
 stellation all she could do. But by that time 
 the superior metal of the Constellation began to 
 tell. The Frenchman aimed at the spars and 
 rigging, and the foretopmast of the Constel- 
 lation was badly wounded. The officer in the 
 foretop was Midshipman David Porter, afterward 
 the celebrated captain, and, seeing that the fore- 
 topmast was likely to fall, with all the men in 
 the hamper, he hailed the deck to report the 
 damage. So furious was the cannonade, though, 
 that his voice could not be heard. He therefore 
 gave orders on his own account to cut away the 
 stoppers and lower the topsail yard, and by his 
 promptness the spar as well as the men in the top 
 were saved. The Americans aimed at the hull, 
 and in an hour L'Insurgente was riddled like a 
 sieve. The Constellation then shot ahead, and, 
 
 48 
 
THOMAS TRUXTUN 
 
 luffing across the Frenchman's bows, was ready 
 with every gun to rake him, when Captain Bar- 
 reault, seeing his hopeless condition, struck his 
 
 colors. 
 
 The captured frigate was sent into St. Kitts 
 with only two midshipmen, Porter and Rodgcrs, 
 and eleven men, to keep one hundred and seventy 
 three Frenchmen below the hatches. This they 
 did, besides managing the ship in a hard gale, 
 and took her in triumph to St. Kitts within four 
 
 days. 
 
 The next year Captain Truxtun had a chance 
 to show what he could do against a stronger ship 
 than his own, and on the 1st of February, 1800, 
 being off Guadeloupe, he sighted La Vengeance, 
 one of the great French frigates, mounting fifty- 
 two guns. The Constellation immediately set 
 her ensign and gave chase, but La Vengeance, 
 having on board a large number of officers of 
 rank and soldiers which she was carrying to 
 France, would rather not have fought, and so 
 took to her heels. The chase continued from the 
 morning of the 1st of February until late in the 
 afternoon of the 2d, and it was eight o'clock 
 at night before they finally came to close quarters. 
 When La Vengeance found the Constellation was 
 bent on a fight, she entered into it with all the 
 bravery of the French character. The officers 
 and soldiers she was carrying as passengers went 
 to quarters with the regular crew, and she came 
 
 4 49 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 on in grand style, giving her first broadside as 
 soon as the Constellation was within range. 
 Captain Truxtun, without firing a gun, drew 
 within pistol shot of his enemy, both crews cheer- 
 ing as the two gallant enemies neared each other. 
 When within pistol shot, the Constellation barked 
 out every gun in broadside, and the fight be- 
 gan in good earnest. Both ships were running 
 free, and during the whole fight, which lasted 
 five hours, the cannonade continued. The crowded 
 condition of the Frenchman's decks made the 
 slaughter dreadful, but she did not take her pun- 
 ishment without giving it back with spirit. The 
 moon had risen in tropic splendor, and a good 
 breeze was blowing, so that both ships could 
 manoeuvre, and the bright light enabled them to 
 see what they were doing. Toward midnight, 
 though, it was plain that the French ship was 
 getting the worst of it. However, she showed no 
 signs of surrender, and her guns that could still 
 be worked pounded the mainmast of the Con- 
 stellation until it was soon seen that it must fall. 
 At this point occurred what is probably the 
 noblest act of young courage in all naval history. 
 The officer of the maintop was a little midship- 
 man, James Jarvis, who was only thirteen years 
 old. When it was seen tliat nothing could save 
 the mainmast, the topmen leaped and clam- 
 bered down, and an old sailor begged the little 
 midshipman to save himself. To this young 
 
 50 
 
THOMAS TRUXTUN 
 
 Jarvis answered calmly, " As an officer I cannot 
 leave my station, and if the mast goes, I must go 
 with it." In a few moments the great mast fell 
 with a fearful crash, and this dauntless boy came 
 down with it. He w^as the only officer on the 
 Constellation killed. 
 
 This accident rendered the Constellation help- 
 less for a time, and La Vengeance, having still 
 spars enough left to get away, made off, with- 
 out firing another gun, and was soon lost in the 
 darkness that followed the setting of the moon. 
 Her loss of men was frightful, while that of the 
 Constellation was comparatively small. 
 
 When Captain Truxtun reached home after 
 this brilliant engagement, he was received with 
 acclamations. Congress gave him a gold medal 
 and its thanks, and passed a solemn resolution in 
 honor of young Jarvis, " who gloriously preferred 
 certain death to the abandonment of his post." 
 This is, perhaps, an unprecedented honor for a 
 boy of thirteen, but it cannot be denied that the 
 little midshipman, who deliberately gave his life 
 rather than desert his post, well earned it. 
 
 The London merchants of Lloyd's coffee-house 
 sent Captain Truxtun a splendid service of plate 
 worth six hundred guineas, and some years after- 
 ward the United States named a smart sloop of 
 w^ar after him, the Truxtun. Captain Truxtun 
 served but a short while in the navy after this. 
 In 1802 he was ordered, as Commodore, to com- 
 
 51 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 mand a squadron, and, finding he was to have 
 no captain on his flag-ship, declined the honor. 
 His letter was misunderstood by the authorities 
 of the Navy Department to mean a resignation 
 from the navy, and was, as such, accepted. 
 Commodore Truxtun, too proud to withdraw it, 
 chose rather to withdraw from the navy, — a 
 course which must ever be regretted. He chose 
 Philadelphia as his home, and became a promi- 
 nent and important citizen. He was for some 
 time Sheriff of the city. In 1823 his death 
 occurred, and he left behind him an honorable 
 name as a man, and a brilliant reputation as a 
 seaman. 
 
 52 
 
William Bainbridge 
 
WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE 
 
 Commodore Bainbhidge was born at Princeton, 
 New Jersey, in 1774. His family were of good 
 standing, and willing as well as able to give the 
 boy a liberal education; but an inborn love of 
 adventure possessed him, and he begged to be 
 allowed to go to sea. At that time, 1789-90, 
 the navy of the Revolution had ceased to exist, 
 while the navy of a later date was not created, 
 and the only way to gratify the boy was to send 
 him to sea in a merchant vessel. He first shipped 
 in his sixteenth year, and his good habits and 
 natural genius for the sea gave him the place of 
 first officer of a ship when he was eighteen. 
 During a voyage to Holland a mutiny occurred 
 on board his vessel, which was quelled chiefly by 
 the vigor and determination of young Bainbridge. 
 The owners rewarded his services by giving him 
 the command of the ship when he was barely 
 nineteen. At this time he was a singularly hand- 
 some young man. He was six feet high, his figure 
 elegant, and his countenance as frank and open 
 as it was comely. His manners were cordial, and 
 his disposition impetuous ; but although he some- 
 times fell into hasty and passionate language, no 
 
 53 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 man was more ready to make amends. Like Paul 
 Jones, he stammered slightly, but, also like him, 
 he spoke smoothly enough when there was oc- 
 casion for it, and no one ever heard him halt in 
 his speech when an order aboard ship was to be 
 given. 
 
 Bainbridge remained in command of merchant 
 ships until the reorganization of the navy in 1798. 
 During those years a singular and unsatisfactory 
 state of affairs existed for American ships on the 
 ocean. Without a single ship of war to protect 
 them, they were liable to be overhauled by British 
 warships, which claimed the right to search, by 
 French warships, which practically fought and 
 captured them, while a large trade with the North 
 of Europe and the East was harassed by the cor- 
 sairs of the Barbary coast. With regard to these 
 last, a truly disgraceful condition prevailed. The 
 Dey of Algiers actually demanded and received 
 tribute from the United States government for 
 not molesting its trading-vessels ! It is true that 
 other nations of Europe submitted to the same 
 sort of blackmail ; but their reasons, although not 
 sufficient, were better than those of the Americans. 
 New in the art of forming a great republic, and 
 unduly fearful of the dangers of a fixed naval 
 force as well as of a standing army, the govern- 
 ment of the United States tried to do without 
 a navy ; but it paid for its mistake many times 
 over, both in national honor and in money. The 
 
 54 
 
WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE 
 
 European nations also paid money to the Barbary 
 pirates, and allowed their ships to be used in 
 various ways, at the request of these haughty 
 despots ; but it was with a desire to secure their 
 political alliances in the universal wars that 
 scourged Europe at that day, and not from in- 
 ability to protect their own carrying ships. 
 
 It may be imagined how galling this was to 
 American captains, and that they resisted when- 
 ever there was a chance of success. Young 
 Bainbridge was the last man to submit to co- 
 ercion when he could help himself, and on two 
 occasions, while in command of merchant vessels, 
 showed the spirit that was in him. Once, when 
 commanding the Hope, a little vessel carrying 
 only eleven men before the mast and four nine- 
 pounders, he fell in with a British privateer, 
 carrying thirty men and eight guns. A sharp 
 action ensued; for privateers are not wont to 
 heed any vessel's rights when the privateer is the 
 stronger party, and Paul Jones's characterization 
 of them as " licensed robbers " is not far wrong. 
 The Hope, however, made a good defence, and 
 forced the privateer to call for quarter. Under 
 the existing law, Bainbridge could not claim her 
 as lawful prize, but was forced to let her go, 
 shouting out to her commander as they parted, 
 " Tell your employers if they have occasion for 
 the Hope, they must send some other man than 
 you to get her ! " 
 
 55 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 Another time, the Indefatigable, frigate, under 
 Sir Edward Pellew, afterward Lord Exmouth and 
 the conqueror of Algiers, sent a squad of seamen 
 on board the Hope, and took out of her a man 
 alleged to be a British subject. Bainbridge could 
 not resist, but he sent word to Sir Edward that 
 the first British vessel of a force the Hope could 
 cope with, a man should be taken out of her, as 
 sure as he was alive and commanded the Hope. 
 This he did within a week, and carried the man 
 back to the United States with him. 
 
 Things reached such a pass in 1798 that the 
 necessity for a navy became pressing, and steps 
 were promptly taken to organize and equip a 
 naval force. Bainbridge, then twenty-four years 
 old, was among the first to apply for a commis- 
 sion, and he was given that of lieutenant com- 
 mandant. He soon got the command of a little 
 cruiser of fourteen guns, captured from the 
 French, and renamed the Eetaliation. The ship 
 was ordered to the West Indies, to cruise in 
 company with the Montezuma, sloop of war, and 
 the Norfolk, brig. On a November day in 1798, 
 while cruising off Gaudeloupe, Bainbridge found 
 himself too near two French frigates, Le Vo- 
 lontier, forty-four guns, and L'Insurgente, forty 
 guns.i L'Insurgente was a tremendously fast 
 frigate, and soon overhauled Bainbridge and com- 
 
 1 See the biography of Commodore Truxtun, who captured 
 LTnsurgente. 
 
 56 
 
WILLIAM BATNBRIDGE 
 
 pelled him to strike his colors. He was at once 
 taken on board Le Yolontier, while L'Insurgente 
 proceeded in chase of the Montezuma and the 
 Norfolk. Captain St. Laurent, of Le Volontier, 
 seeing L'Insurgente about to engage two adver- 
 saries, and knowing her captain, Barreault, to be 
 a man brave to rashness, was disturbed at the 
 prospect. He asked Bainbridge, who was on the 
 quarterdeck, what the force of the American 
 ships was. Bainbridge promptly replied that the 
 Montezuma carried twenty-eight long guns, and 
 the Norfolk twenty. This was about double their 
 real force. Captain St. Laurent at once signalled 
 L'Insurgente to return. Her captain, Barreault, 
 was deeply chagrined, and when he went on board 
 Le Yolontier, told Captain St. Laurent that the 
 American vessels were of trifling force, and he 
 could easily have taken them both. Then Bain- 
 bridge's clever ruse was discovered ; but the 
 French officers, realizing that he had done his 
 duty in trying to save his country's ships, showed 
 no ill-will toward him. 
 
 The Retaliation was the first and only ship 
 of war captured by the French during the years 
 that war existed between the United States and 
 France, althougli it never was declared. But 
 Bainbridge's reputation did not suffer by this, 
 as his whole conduct was that of a man of spirit 
 and capacity. He rose to the rank of captain 
 just as he reached his twenty-sixth birthday ; and 
 
 57 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 in 1800 he was appointed to the command of 
 the George Washington, of twenty-eight guns. 
 His first duty was to carry tribute to the Dey of 
 Algiers. No more hateful service could have been 
 devised for him, and great blame rests upon the 
 men in the government who subjected the United 
 States to such humiliation. 
 
 In September, 1800, Bainbridge reached Al- 
 giers, and anchored within the mole. Scarcely 
 had he landed the tribute, consisting of about 
 half a million in money, — enough to have built 
 a ship that could have knocked the Dey's forts 
 about his ears, — when he was asked to carry the 
 Dey's ambassador to Constantinople, along with 
 a present to the Sultan, of slaves, wild beasts, 
 and a large sum of money. Bainbridge was 
 furious at the demand; but the Dey insolently 
 told him that he must go, or the ship, which was 
 completely in the Dey's power, would be taken, 
 her officers and crew sold into slavery, and war 
 made on American trade. Bainbridge was re- 
 minded that British, French, and Spanish ships 
 had performed the same duty ; but no doubt Bain- 
 bridge realized that in all those cases it was done 
 from political motives, while in his case it was 
 done simply because he could not help himself. 
 With a very bad grace, he agreed, and the pres- 
 ents and passengers v/ere put in the ship and he 
 sailed for Constantinople in October. Tt was a 
 cruise the officers of the George Washington 
 
 58 
 
WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE 
 
 never liked to speak of; but there is no doubt 
 til at, although it was a time of the utmost vexa- 
 tion and mortification, innumerable amusing inci- 
 dents occurred. The Moliammedans had great 
 difficulty in keeping their faces toward Mecca 
 during the frequent evolutions of the ship, and 
 a man had to be stationed at the compass to let 
 them know when it was time for them to '^ go 
 about." This was a standing cause of laughter 
 and gibes from the sailors, which naturally gave 
 great offence to the Mohammedans ; and these 
 disagreements, together with a ship full of wild 
 beasts, made it a cruise never to be forgotten. 
 
 Bainbridge was very doubtful whether his vessel 
 would be allowed to pass the Dardanelles, as the 
 American flag had never been seen in those seas 
 before ; so he concluded to get through by his 
 wits. He approached with a strong wind, and 
 clewed up his light sails as if about to anchor, 
 saluting meanwhile. The salute was returned, 
 and under cover of the smoke sail was quickly 
 made and the ship slipped past, out of range of 
 shot from the castles. When she reached Con- 
 stantinople, a boat was sent ashore to report her 
 arrival. The Turkish officials sent back word 
 that they knew no such nation as the United 
 States. They were soon convinced that there 
 was such a nation, and were well received. The 
 Sultan's brother-in-law, Capudan Pasha, became 
 much attached to Bainbridge, and mentioned that 
 
 59 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 the Dey of Algiers was not in favour with the 
 Sublime Porte. Bainbridge, knowing he would re- 
 turn to Algiers, got a letter from Capudan Pasha, 
 in which the Dey was commanded to treat the 
 American commander with the highest respect. 
 Bainbridge returned to Algiers in January, and 
 was immediately met with another demand, — 
 that he take the Algerine ambassador back to 
 Constantinople. This he firmly refused, at an 
 interview in which the Dey stormed, raged, and 
 threatened. In the midst of this, Bainbridge 
 calmly produced Capudan Pasha's letter. The 
 Dey paused, grew pale, and trembled, and then 
 burst into profuse offers of assistance, which 
 Bainbridge coolly declined, and left the palace. 
 
 The next day, in obedience to orders from 
 Constantinople, the Dey declared war against 
 France, and notified all of the French in Algiers 
 — fifty-six men, women, and children — that unless 
 they left within forty-eight hours, they would be 
 sold into slavery. France was then at war with 
 the United States, but this did not prevent Bain- 
 bridge from offering these unfortunates an asylum 
 on the George Washington at great inconvenience 
 to himself, and carrying them all to Spain. For 
 this humane act he received the personal thanks 
 of Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul. 
 
 Bainbridge returned to the United States with 
 the George Washington, and soon after got the 
 Essex, a thirty-two-gun frigate attached to the 
 
 60 
 
WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE 
 
 squadron which was sent to the Mediterranean 
 in 1801, under the command of Commodore 
 Richard Dale. Among the lieutenants of the 
 Essex was Stephen Decatur, afterward the cele- 
 brated Commodore. 
 
 The ship arrived at Barcelona in August, and 
 took a berth in the harbor, close to the Spanish 
 guardship. The neatness of the Essex and the 
 seamanlike appearance and conduct of her officers 
 and men were so much remarked upon that it 
 gave great offence to the officers of the guardship. 
 The stay of the American frigate at Barcelona 
 was a long scene of turmoil, owing to collisions 
 between her junior officers and the Spanish mid- 
 shipmen. In one of these Decatur figured promi- 
 nently. Bainbridge acted with spirit and also 
 with judgment, but was glad to get away from 
 such uncomfortable quarters. 
 
 By that time Congress was beginning to wake 
 up to the necessity for a more vigorous policy with 
 regard to the Barbary powers, and the squadron 
 was directed to protect American shipping by 
 force. The corsairs interpreted this to mean 
 war, and their aggressions reached such a pitch, 
 after the return of Dale's squadron in 1802, that 
 in 1803 Commodore Preble was sent out with the 
 Constitution, the Philadelphia, and five smaller 
 vessels, to reduce these piratical powers. Bain- 
 bridge was promoted from the command of the 
 Essex to the Philadelphia, a fine thirty-eight-gun 
 
 61 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 frigate, carrying a few more than three hundred 
 men. 
 
 Her first lieutenant was David Porter, who, 
 as a young midshipman, had distinguished him- 
 self in the Constellation under Captain Truxtun, 
 and who was destined to a highly honorable and 
 active career during the whole time of his service 
 in the navy. 
 
 The Philadelphia arrived at Gibraltar in Au- 
 gust, 1803, and the next day began to cruise up 
 and down the straits in search of corsairs. In a 
 day or two she fell in with a Moorish vessel, 
 the Meshboha, in company with an American 
 brig which had been captured, and her company 
 taken aboard the Meshboha. The Philadelphia 
 stood by, and forced the Moorish captain, Luba- 
 rez, to send all his prisoners to the Philadelphia, 
 and to come aboard himself. Bainbridge invited 
 him into the cabin, and feeling sure that he had 
 orders to capture American ships, directed him to 
 produce these orders. Lubarez stoutly denied 
 he had any such orders. 
 
 "Yery well," coolly responded Bainbridge, 
 taking out his watch. " I am now going on 
 deck for half an hour. When I return, if you 
 cannot show your orders, I will immediately hang 
 you at the yardarm for a pirate." 
 
 At the end of half an hour Bainbridge re- 
 turned. Lubarez then sullenly admitted he had 
 orders, but they were inside his waistcoat. 
 
 62 
 
WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE 
 
 " Take off your waistcoat," said Bainbridge. 
 
 Lubarez began slowly to remove his waistcoat ; 
 but another appeared under it. He finally peeled 
 off five waistcoats, and underneath the last one 
 were the orders. Bainbridge immediately took 
 possession of the Meshboha and her prize, and 
 carried them both into Gibraltar. 
 
 In a few days Commodore Preble reached Gib- 
 raltar, and Bainbridge was sent to Tripoli, with 
 orders to intercept and capture every Tripolitan 
 vessel possible. He arrived before Tripoli, in the 
 autumn of 1803, and immediately began a vigor- 
 ous blockade. On the 31st of October he gave 
 chase to a xebec trying to get into the harbor. 
 He was rapidly overhauling her, when, at the 
 mouth of the harbor, the water suddenly shoaled, 
 and the Philadelphia ran upon a tremendous reef, 
 known to the Tripolitans, but not down on any 
 chart. 
 
 At once every effort was made to get the ship 
 off, but she held fast, and soon heeled over so far 
 to starboard that her guns on that side became 
 useless. The Tripolitans at once saw her desper- 
 ate plight, and gunboats came out in swarms to 
 attack her. The Americans fought the gun- 
 boats off as best they could, meanwhile working 
 with amazing energy to save the ship. All the 
 water in her was pumped out, the anchors were 
 cut from the bows, most of her guns thrown over- 
 board, and at last the foremast w^as cut away. 
 
 63 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 Still the ship stuck fast. Bainbridge, who had 
 shown great coolness and determination in the 
 dreadful circumstances in which he found himself, 
 presently saw that he must give up the ship. He 
 called a council of his officers, and they agreed 
 that all had been done that men could do. The 
 carpenters were ordered to scuttle the ship ; and 
 just as the autumn night was closing in, the 
 Philadelphia's colors were hauled down, and 
 the Tripolitans swarmed over the decks, in the 
 ports, and everywhere a foot could be set. Then 
 looting began ; the officers being robbed of every- 
 thing, even their swords and epaulets. Bain- 
 bridge gave up his watch and money in dignified 
 silence ; but when his wife's picture was about to 
 be torn from around his neck, he swore no man 
 should have it, and fought the Tripolitan off who 
 would have taken it. 
 
 The officers and men were then carried into 
 the town, where the officers were received by the 
 Bashaw in great state, surrounded by his minis- 
 ters. It is said that Bainbridge never looked 
 handsomer or more imposing than wiien he ap- 
 peared at the head of his officers before the 
 barbaric prince. The Bashaw treated them with 
 Eastern courtesy, gave them a handsome supper, 
 for they were half dead with hunger and fatigue, 
 and then sent them to a temporary prison. They 
 were in charge of Sidi Mohammed D'Ghies, one 
 of the great officers of state, who proved to be a 
 
 64 
 
WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE 
 
 man of good heart, and whose ideas of military 
 honor were Western rather than Eastern. 
 
 Then began a captivity which lasted for nine- 
 teen months. The men were reduced to a posi- 
 tion of slavery, and made to work for their 
 Tripolitan masters. The officers were closely 
 confined, and after several attempts at escape 
 had been made by the younger ones, they were 
 removed to the dungeons of the Bashaw's castle. 
 
 The situation of Bainbridge was sad in the 
 extreme. He felt himself to be foredoomed to 
 misfortune. He had lost his first ship, the Re- 
 taliation, in the French war. His cruise in the 
 George Washington had been painful and hu- 
 miliating in many respects; and now he had 
 lost one of the two frigates that the country 
 depended upon to punish the corsairs. A very 
 affecting letter of his to his wife exists, in which 
 he seems plunged into despair ; and in it he says 
 he sometimes thinks " it would have been a mer- 
 ciful dispensation of Providence if my head had 
 been shot off while our vessel lay rolling upon 
 the rocks." But from this sharp affliction his 
 gallant spirit rallied after a time. His officers 
 and men felt undiminished confidence in and 
 affection for him, and did all in their power 
 to comfort him. 
 
 The very day after their capture they sent him 
 a letter saying, " We, late officers of the United 
 States frigate Philadelphia, wishing to express 
 
 5 65 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 our full approbation of your conduct concerning 
 the unfortunate event of yesterday, do conceive 
 that the charts and soundings justified as near an 
 approach to the shore as we made, and that after 
 she struck every expedient was used to get her 
 off and to defend her which courage and abilities 
 could dictate. 
 
 " We wish to add that in this instance as in 
 every other, since we have had the honor of being 
 under your command, the officers and seamen 
 have always appreciated your distinguished con- 
 duct. Believe us, sir, that our misfortunes and 
 sorrows are entirely absorbed in our sympathy 
 for you. We are, sir, with sentiments of the 
 highest and most sincere respect, your friends 
 and fellow sufferers." 
 
 Here follow the signatures of every officer 
 under Bainbridge. 
 
 He soon received letters from Commodore 
 Preble ; and the brotherly kindness expressed 
 in them reflects the greatest honor upon a supe- 
 rior officer who could feel so generously in an 
 affair which crippled and embarrassed him so 
 cruelly as the loss of the Philadelphia. Preble 
 wrote : " May God bless and preserve you ! Rec- 
 ollect that destiny, not want of courage, has de- 
 prived you of liberty, hut not of honor. ^^ And he 
 adds, " The first consul of France, the celebrated 
 Bonaparte, has interested himself deeply in your 
 situation." 
 
 66 
 
WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE 
 
 To the chagrin of the Americans, they found 
 that the Philadelphia had not been thoroughly 
 scuttled, and she was hauled off the rocks by the 
 Tripolitans, the holes in her bottom stopped, her 
 foremast refitted, her guns and anchors fished up, 
 and she was towed within the harbor. From the 
 one window of their underground prison, the un- 
 fortunate officers of the Philadelphia could see the 
 ship riding at anchor, and disgraced by the pirate 
 flag of Tripoli. 
 
 The captives were allowed to communicate at 
 intervals with Commodore Preble, who gave them 
 assurance that they were not forgotten, and that 
 the Bashaw would have to surrender them and 
 pay dearly for having imprisoned them. Besides 
 these official communications, means were found 
 by which letters written in lemon juice were 
 exchanged, and in one of these Bainbridge sug- 
 gested the possibility of destroying the Philadel- 
 phia at her moorings, — which was afterward 
 carried out with splendid dash by Decatur. 
 
 In spite of those alleviations, there were long 
 months of weariness and dreariness in a pecu- 
 liarly trying captivity. The time was not wholly 
 wasted. The midshipmen, whose untamed spirits 
 frequently got them into difficulties, were set to 
 work by the older officers, and all, men as well as 
 officers, bore their imprisonment with fortitude. 
 The seamen were made to labor on the fortifica- 
 tions ; and as they were often unruly, the slave- 
 67 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 driyers had no hesitation in ordering them to be 
 bastinadoed on every occasion. The man who ad- 
 ministered tlie punishment was not so hard-hearted 
 as his masters, and although he regularly laid on 
 the required number of blows upon the soles of 
 the sailors' feet, he winked at the fact that they 
 had wrapped folds of matting around their feet, 
 and the blows hurt not at all. The sailors were 
 clever enough to shriek and scream during this 
 mock bastinadoing, and the slave-drivers were 
 completely deceived by Jack's ruse. 
 
 At last, on the night of the 15th of February, 
 1804, the captives were awakened by the firing of 
 heavy guns. By the light of a brilliant moon and 
 the blazing hull and spars of the Philadelphia out 
 in the harbor, they saw the destruction of the ship 
 by Decatur^ and his gallant band. While they 
 watched her burn to the water's edge, her shotted 
 guns burst with heat and flame, her magazine 
 blew up, and when the sun rose next morning, 
 not a vestige remained of the lovely frigate. She 
 had been destroyed by the Americans under De- 
 catur, without the loss of a single man. 
 
 This gave heart to the prisoners, and they felt 
 their deliverance was at hand ; but it was not 
 until the spring had passed and the summer 
 dragged along into August that one day they 
 were roused by a heavy cannonade. They were 
 then confined underground in the Bashaw's 
 
 1 See the biography of Decntur. 
 ^ 68 
 
WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE 
 
 castle, and there was only one window by which 
 they could see the offing. They eagerly clam- 
 bered up, and the thrill of joy they felt may be 
 imagined when they saw a smart flotilla of small 
 vessels, led with the greatest dash and impetuosity 
 by Decatur and Somers, burning, sinking, or driv- 
 ing back the Tripolitan gunboats. And farther 
 out in the offing, they saw the glorious Constitu- 
 tion coming into action in grand style, choosing 
 her range with majestic deliberation, and then 
 her batteries roaring out destruction to her ene- 
 mies, while the Tripolitan shot fell short, or 
 dropped harmlessly against her stout sides. 
 
 For six weeks the attack was kept up furiously, 
 and in that time five tremendous assaults were 
 made by Commodore Preble's squadron. In one 
 of these destructive cannonades a round shot 
 from the Constitution tore in at the one win- 
 dow from which a part of the harbor could be 
 seen, and, narrowly missing Bainbridge, knocked 
 him down and almost covered him with the mass 
 of stone and mortar it dislodged. But Bain- 
 bridge was not the man to mind a trifle like this, 
 and every time the Constitution came within 
 range, she was welcome to the tired eyes, and the 
 thunder of her well-served batteries was music 
 to the ears of the imprisoned Americans. They 
 hoped from day to day for release, and although 
 the season for active operations closed before the 
 Bashaw had actually been reduced to submission, 
 
 69 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 yet it was plain that the town could not with- 
 stand another such cannonade. 
 
 Wlien the Constitution was forced to depart, 
 she left behind her a menacing promise to the 
 Bashaw that she would come back the next sea- 
 son, and finish the work ; and the last of May, 
 1805, saw her again oif the town. This time 
 the Bashaw was anxious to make peace. Sidi 
 Mohammed D'Ghies urged him to send Bain- 
 bridge aboard the Constitution on his parole, to 
 see what the Americans demanded. The Bashaw 
 asked if Sidi really thought that Bainbridge 
 would return if once his foot touched the Con- 
 stitution's deck. 
 
 " Certainly," replied Sidi ; " the American 
 captain will keep his word, and I will leave my 
 eldest son as a hostage that he will return." 
 
 The Bashaw, only half believing, allowed Bain- 
 bridge to go, and on the 1st of June, 1805, nine- 
 teen months exactly after his capture, Bainbridge 
 again trod the deck of an American man-of-war. 
 Commodore Rodgers, commanding the Consti- 
 tution, and all the officers of the squadron re- 
 ceived him affectionately. They had brought out 
 a treaty of peace for the Bashaw to sign, and 
 the first stipulation was that every American 
 prisoner should be given up immediately and 
 without conditions. This, Bainbridge said, he 
 did not believe the Bashaw would ever agree to, 
 as it was a fixed principle with the Barbary 
 
 70 
 
WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE 
 
 powers never to give up a prisoner without ran- 
 som. Bainbridge returned to the shore at night- 
 fall, and, with Sidi, went to the castle, where the 
 Bashaw expressed great surprise at seeing him 
 again. The Bashaw, however, was far less in- 
 clined to keep up the fight than Bainbridge ima- 
 gined. After a day or two of hesitation, a council 
 of war w^as held at which Bainbridge was invited 
 to be present, — an honor never before bestowed 
 upon a prisoner of the Barbary States. When 
 Bainbridge entered the council chamber at the 
 castle, he found the Bashaw surrounded by all of 
 his great officers of state, with the treaty brought 
 by Commodore Rodgers spread out before them. 
 To sign it meant peace, and the immediate release 
 of every American prisoner ; to refuse it meant 
 that the Constitution and her consorts lying 
 out within gunshot of the town, would be thun- 
 dering at their forts and ships within an hour. 
 The question of peace or war was debated with 
 grave eloquence. The council was evenly divided. 
 At last the decision had to be made. The Bashaw, 
 after a solemn pause, took his signet ring from 
 his bosom, and, affixing it to the treaty, said with 
 dignity,— 
 
 " It is peace." 
 
 Bainbridge is said to have thought, after the 
 event happened, that the Bashaw had no real 
 intention of withstanding another bombardment, 
 and his hesitation and final yielding to the 
 
 71 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 advocates of peace was a preconcerted arrange- 
 ment. 
 
 As soon as the treaty was signed, the forts and 
 castle saluted the American flag, and the squadron 
 returned the salute. Next day the American 
 prisoners were released. A Neapolitan who had 
 been held in slavery for years by the Tripolitans 
 had been very kind to the sailors and marines, 
 and they asked Bainbridge if he would authorize 
 the purser to advance them seven hundred dollars 
 out of their pay to buy the Neapolitan's freedom. 
 This was done, and the man was restored to his 
 country by these grateful men. 
 
 The squadron sailed for Syracuse, where a court 
 of inquiry into the loss of the Pliiladelphia was 
 held, and Bainbridge was honorably acquitted. 
 On his return to the United States he was re- 
 ceived with much kindness by his companions in 
 arms, by the government, and the people, all of 
 whom regarded him as a brave and capable offi- 
 cer who had lost his ship by one of those fateful 
 accidents against which neither courage nor ca- 
 pacity can prevail. 
 
 It seems singular that on the heels of the splen- 
 did successes of the navy before Tripoli and with 
 the rest of the Barbary powers, the government 
 and the people showed very little understanding 
 of the value of the naval service. As soon as 
 hostilities were over with the corsairs, a reduc- 
 tion of the navy took place, although at that very 
 
 72 
 
WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE 
 
 time aggressions of Great Britain upon American 
 merchant ships were continuing at a rate which 
 was bound to provoke war in the end. Bain- 
 bridge, like many others, found himself without 
 a ship, and on half-pay ; and he asked and ob- 
 tained leave, during the intervals when he was 
 without a naval command, to make voyages in 
 the merchant service. He was absent on one 
 of these voyages for profit in the autumn of 
 1811, when at St. Petersburg he heard of the 
 probability of a declaration of war with Great 
 Britain. He started instantly on his return to 
 the United States, and reached Washington in 
 February, 1812. He found there one of Commo- 
 dore Preble's captains, Charles Stewart,^ and to 
 his rage and mortification was told that the gov- 
 ernment thought it vain and foolhardy to give 
 battle on the sea to the mightiest naval power 
 on earth, which had then vanquished the navies 
 of Europe and kept them skulking in their own 
 harbors. Such over-prudence ill suited the ardent 
 and determined natures of Bainbridge and Stewart. 
 They heard that the government had concluded 
 to lay up such ships as it had, and to prosecute 
 the fight entirely on land. They went together 
 to President Madison, and besought him to change 
 this cowardly and unwise policy, and succeeded 
 in persuading him to do it. For this one act the 
 country is forever indebted to Bainbridge and 
 
 ^ See the biography of Stewart. 
 73 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 Stewart. While nothing could eventually stop 
 tlie progress of the United States toward being 
 a great and powerful nation, yet, had it not been 
 for the victories gained at sea during the War of 
 1812-15, the dignity and prestige of the United 
 States would have suffered an eclipse for fifty 
 years. The success of the Americans in the ship 
 duels on the ocean during the war of 1812 did more 
 to make the United States respected abroad than 
 any event of our history after the Revolution. 
 The great question of the right of search in neu- 
 tral vessels was settled by the achievements of a 
 few smart vessels with great and daring captains, 
 belonging to a young and hitherto feeble power in 
 America, — a right which had been vainly con- 
 tested by all the powers of Europe. The British 
 navy had been for more than a hundred years 
 practically invincible, and there can be no doubt 
 that many of its earlier losses in 1812-15 came 
 from absolute rashness, fostered by a long and 
 glorious career of conquest. What was of more 
 value to the United States than the respect of 
 continental Europe was the respect earned from 
 the English themselves. The United States of 
 1812 was chiefly populated by those only a few 
 generations from an English ancestry, and the 
 people of the two countries were alike in their 
 willingness to make a square, stand-up fight, and 
 then to shake hands afterward. From the hour 
 that the first British frigate struck to an Ameri- 
 
 74 
 
WILLIAM BAINBlilDGE 
 
 can sliip, the British navy highly esteemed the 
 American navy, and the British government real- 
 ized that at last there was a sea power equal in 
 skill, daring, and resource to Great Britain. The 
 ships lost by the British were scarcely missed 
 from their huge fleets ; but Great Britain, like 
 America, promptly recognized the new and tre- 
 mendous force which the taking of those few 
 ships implied. It was one of the most fortunate 
 hours that ever dawned for the United States 
 when the advice of Bainbridge and Stewart was 
 taken, and within six months they were amply 
 justified. 
 
 Bainbridge by his rank was entitled to a choice 
 of the few frigates the country then owned, and 
 he would undoubtedly have chosen the glorious 
 " Old Ironsides " upon which to hoist his flag. 
 But HulP had got her already, and, apprehend- 
 ing that orders might come detaching him, he put 
 to sea in a hurry, and before he returned, had 
 captured the Guerriere frigate. Bainbridge got 
 the Constellation, the fine frigate in which Com- 
 modore Truxtun had fought two French frigates. 
 He was not able, however, to get to sea in her; 
 and when Hull returned from his victorious cruise, 
 in August, 1812, he gave up the Constitution to 
 Bainbridge, who hoisted a broad pennant on her. 
 The Essex, thirty-two guns, commanded by Cap- 
 tain Porter, who afterward made his celebrated 
 
 1 See the biography of Commodore Hull. 
 75 
 
TAVELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 • 
 cruise in her to the Pacific, and the Hornet, of 
 
 eighteen guns, under the gallant Lawrence,^ with 
 the Constitution, were ordered to join Bainbridge. 
 Porter was Bainbridge's old lieutenant in the 
 Philadelphia, and had shared his captivity at 
 Tripoli. Events, however, so fell out that the 
 Essex did not join the other two ships, and Bain- 
 bridge sailed in October, 1812, for the South 
 Atlantic accompanied only by the Hornet. The 
 Constitution was in need of repairs, and not sail- 
 ing in her usual great form, but could still sail 
 fairly well on a wind. She had some of the offi- 
 cers and all of the crew in her that had got her 
 out of the clutches of Admiral Broke's squadron 
 in June, and had taken the Guerriere in August. 
 Therefore it was with great confidence that Com- 
 modore Bainbridge on the morning of the 29th of 
 December, 1812, made for a British frigate which 
 showed an equal inclination to close with him. 
 This vessel, the Java, which carried forty-nine 
 guns, was undoubtedly a lighter ship than the 
 Constitution. Yet the British were in the habit 
 of engaging such odds successfully with the war- 
 ships of other nations, and Captain Lambert of 
 the Java showed a stern determination to stand 
 by his colors, and was as far from declining the 
 fight when he saw his adversary's power as when 
 she was still hull down in the distance. 
 
 The Java was fitted out to carry Lieutenant- 
 
 1 See the biograpliies of Porter aud Lawrence. 
 76 
 
WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE 
 
 General Hislop and a large staff to Bombay, 
 besides a number of naval officers and seamen for 
 ships on the East India stations. She had about 
 four hundred and twenty-five men on board. 
 
 About two o'clock in the day, after manoeuvring 
 for an hour or two in order to get together, the 
 first broadsides were exchanged. There was a 
 light wind blowing, and Bainbridge, wishing to 
 get the advantage of it as far as possible, did not 
 strip his ship of much of her canvas, but went 
 into action with most of his light sails set and his 
 royal yards across. The Java, which was finely 
 officered and extra manned, was very actively 
 handled ; and so many evolutions were made, in 
 order to get a good position for raking, that the 
 battle ended many miles to leeward of where it 
 began. The cannonade was brisk from the start, 
 and soon after the first broadside Commodore 
 Bainbridge was struck on the hip by a musket 
 ball, and in less than five minutes, while he was 
 standing near the wheel, a shot shivered it, and a 
 small bolt was driven into his thigh. Bainbridge 
 did not leave the deck a moment for this, but 
 remained walking about as if he had not been 
 wounded. The loss of the Constitution's wheel 
 was very serious, especially with so expert an 
 antagonist as Captain Lambert to deal with, and 
 Bainbridge endeavored to close. This was only 
 partially successful, but nevertheless so effective 
 was the Constitution's fire that it was soon appar- 
 
 77 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 ent that she had the Java at her mercy. The 
 gallant frigate, however, did not strike her colors 
 until every spar was shot out of her, her cap- 
 tain mortally hurt, her first lieutenant painfully 
 wounded, and she had lost forty-eight killed and 
 one hundred and two wounded. Then only she 
 hauled down the union jack which had been fly- 
 ing at the stump of the mizzen-mast. The Con- 
 stitution had lost nine men killed and twenty-five 
 wounded, and came out of the action with all her 
 royal yards across, and every spar in place. 
 
 The Java had been so much cut up that it 
 was impossible to refit her, and Bainbridge was 
 forced to burn her, after taking out her wheel to 
 replace the Constitution's. This was a remark- 
 ably clumsy wheel, and in no way matched the 
 handsome fittings of the ship ; but it was retained, 
 from motives of sentiment, ever afterward. 
 
 Captain Lambert lived several days after the 
 fight, and was put ashore, with the rest of the 
 officers of the Java, at San Salvador. Com- 
 modore Bainbridge's wounds were dangerous, as 
 he had remained on deck from the time he was 
 shot, at half past two in the day, until eleven 
 o'clock that night. When Captain Lambert was 
 about to be taken ashore, Bainbridge had himself 
 carried on deck by two of his officers, to where 
 Captain Lambert lay in his cot. Bainbridge, who 
 was then dangerously ill and in great pain, re- 
 turned the dying officer his sword, and Captain 
 
 78 
 
WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE 
 
 Lambert, still conscious, feebly thanked him. 
 The interview brought tears to the eyes of all 
 who witnessed it, and the two captains parted, 
 never to meet again in this world, with feelings 
 of kindness such as brave enemies should enter- 
 tain for each other. 
 
 Bainbridge treated all of his prisoners with 
 great generosity, and they showed a very grate- 
 ful appreciation of it. On the 4th of January, 
 on being informed by Lieutenant Chads, next 
 in command, of Captain Lambert's death, Bain- 
 bridge wrote a very beautiful letter, in which he 
 said : " Commodore Bainbridge takes this occa- 
 sion to observe, m justice to Lieutenant Chads, 
 who fought the Java after Captain Lambert was 
 wounded, that he had done everything which a 
 brave and skilful officer could do, and further 
 resistance would have been a wanton effusion of 
 human blood." 
 
 This was valuable testimony to Lieutenant 
 Chads on his future court martial. Bainbridge 
 had known what it was to lose his ship, and he 
 could feel for an officer under a similar misfor- 
 tune. So thoughtful was his kindness to his pris- 
 oners, that General Hislop in gratitude gave him a 
 splendid gold-hilted sword, and the two remained 
 friends and correspondents during the rest of their 
 lives. The conduct of Bainbridge and his officers 
 was duly reported in England, and the Prince Re- 
 gent, afterward George the Fourth, who could say 
 
 79 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 graceful things, remarked that he would like to 
 shake hands with Bainbridge, for his magna- 
 nimity to the British prisoners. The loss of the 
 Java, following upon that of the Guerriere and 
 the Macedonian, produced a shock of pain and 
 grief throughout Great Britain. The venerable 
 Admiral Jarvis, the day after the news reached 
 London, said he had passed a sleepless night, not 
 from the destruction of a single British frigate, but 
 because of the seamanlike manner in which it had 
 been captured, which gave him as an Englishman 
 much uneasiness and apprehension of the future 
 naval greatness of the United States. Bainbridge 
 returned to the United States within five months 
 of leaving home, and was welcomed as victorious 
 captains always are. He landed at Boston, where 
 he was given a splendid public dinner ; resolutions 
 of thanks from the city and State governments 
 were passed in his honor, and he and the brave 
 fellows under him became the heroes of the hour. 
 Amid all this popular adoration, Bainbridge did 
 not forget the claims of the seamen, and imme- 
 diately began efforts to get them prize money. 
 He wrote, with much justice, that the captain 
 usually got all the honor when a ship was cap- 
 tured, while the officers and men, who did quite 
 as much toward success, got nothing, except from 
 the generosity of the government; and he was 
 deeply gratified when Congress, after awarding 
 him the customary gold medal, and the officers 
 
 80 
 
WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE 
 
 silver medals, gave the crew a substantial sum 
 in prize money. He gave up the Constitution 
 to Captain Stewart, who, like Hull and himself, 
 was destined to do great things in her. 
 
 Bainbridge did not get to sea again during the 
 war, but soon after the peace he went to the 
 Mediterranean in command of a splendid squad- 
 ron destined to punish the Dey of Algiers for 
 certain treacherous acts toward American ves- 
 sels. Bainbridge hoisted his flag on the Inde- 
 pendence, seventy-four guns, — the first line-of- 
 battle ship over which the American flag ever 
 floated. Decatur, who had sailed in advance of 
 the commander-in-chief, had already brought the 
 Dey to terms before Bainbridge arrived, but it 
 was thought well to show the squadron for some 
 time in European waters. It consisted of the 
 largest naval force that had, up to that time, ever 
 been collected under an American flag officer. 
 It consisted of one ship of the line, three splendid 
 frigates, and fourteen smaller vessels, all well 
 officered and manned, and fine ships of their 
 class. At Gibraltar, where it lay some time, it 
 was extremely admired, and the American officers 
 received much attention from the officers of the 
 British fleet and garrison. 
 
 In 1820 Bainbridge again took a noble fleet to 
 the Mediterranean. On reaching Gibraltar, he 
 found a very bad state of affairs between the 
 officers of the American squadron, which rendez- 
 
 6 81 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 voiised there, and the British officers of the gar- 
 rison and fleet. Misunderstandings, quarrels, and 
 duels were so frequent that the Governor had taken 
 upon himself to forbid the American officers from 
 visiting the town or garrison. He expressed to 
 Commodore Bainbridge, however, a desire for an 
 amicable arrangement. Bainbridge at once re- 
 quired that this prohibition be removed, and 
 refused to treat until it was withdrawn, which 
 was done. As the British officers had very great 
 personal regard for Bainbridge, he was the man 
 for smoothing down differences while maintaining 
 the dignity of an American officer. From that 
 day, American officers have been well treated at 
 Gibraltar. This was Bainbridge's last cruise, and 
 afterward his service was in command of differ- 
 ent navy yards. It is said that in the course of 
 his naval career he moved his family twenty-six 
 times. His health began to fail after his fifty- 
 fifth year, but he survived his sixtieth year. 
 He died at Philadelphia in July, 1833, honored 
 and admired to an extraordinary degree. His 
 last words were, as he raised himself from his 
 bed of death, — 
 
 '' Give me my sword ! And call all hands to 
 board the enemy ! " 
 
EDWARD PREBLE 
 
 The story of Commodore Preble is, in itself, 
 not only exciting but amusing ; and the gravest 
 histories of him have not been able to keep the 
 vagaries of the commodore's celebrated bad temper 
 in abeyance. Preble was, unquestionably, one of 
 the very greatest sea officers this country ever 
 produced ; and however ridiculous the outbursts 
 of his fiery temper might make him, they never 
 made him contemptible. " The old man has the 
 best heart, if he has the worst temper, in the 
 world," was always said of him by the junior 
 officers who were the victims of his wrath. 
 Preble seems to have come naturally by his im- 
 petuosity. His father before him, General Preble, 
 brigadier in the provincial army, was one of the 
 same sort, and it was commonly said by their 
 neighbors and friends that " Ned has a good deal 
 of the brigadier in him." The father and son 
 were deeply attached to each other, although they 
 often came in conflict. The last time was when 
 Edward was about sixteen years old, in 1777. 
 Men were so scarce, owing to most of them hav- 
 ing enlisted in the continental army, that the old 
 brigadier set his boys to hoeing potatoes on his 
 
 83 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 farm near Portland, Maine. Edward had not 
 worked very long when, throwing away his hoe, 
 he declared he had no taste for such work, and 
 walked himself off to the seacoast, where he en- 
 tered the first vessel that would take him. The 
 brigadier did not seem to regard this as wholly 
 unjustifiable, and, seeing the boy was bent on the 
 sea, got him a midshipman's commission in the 
 infant navy of the colonies. In almost his first 
 engagement Edward was taken prisoner, but was 
 given his parole at New York. There is in exist- 
 ence a letter written to him at that time by his 
 father the brigadier, which shows great affection 
 for the boy, and the strongest possible desire that 
 he should conduct himself honorably. The old 
 man, then over seventy, reminds his son " not to 
 stain his honor by attempting to escape." And 
 another recommendation is followed by the utter- 
 ance of a great truth which it would be well if 
 every human being acted upon. It is this : " Be 
 kind and obliging to all ; for no man ever does 
 a designed injury to another ivithout doing a 
 greater to himself ^ 
 
 Before this, an event had occurred which Preble 
 occasionally alluded to in after life, and which, 
 marvellous as it seems, must be accepted as true, 
 for Preble was too close an observer to have been 
 deceived, and too sensible a man to have assumed 
 that he saw a thing which he did not really see. 
 
 In the summer of 1779 young Preble was 
 
 84 
 
EDWARD PREBLE 
 
 attached to the Protector, a smart little conti- 
 nental cruiser, under the command of Captain 
 Williams, a brave and enterprising commander. 
 The Protector was lying in one of the bays on 
 the Maine coast, near the mouth of the Penobscot, 
 when on a clear, still day a large serpent was seen 
 lying motionless on the water close to the vessel. 
 Captain Williams examined it through his spy- 
 glass, as did every officer on the vessel. Young 
 Preble was ordered to attack it in a twelve-oared 
 boat, armed with a swivel. The boat was low- 
 ered, the men armed with cutlasses and boarding- 
 pikes, and quickly pulled toward the serpent. 
 The creature raised its head about ten feet above 
 the surface, and then began to make off to sea. 
 The boat followed as rapidly as the men could 
 force it through the water, and the swivel was 
 fired at the serpent. This had no apparent effect, 
 except to make the creature get out of the way 
 the faster. Preble, however, had had a complete 
 view of it for some time, and said, in his opinion, 
 it was from one hundred to one hundred and fifty 
 feet long, and was about as big around as a barrel. 
 This account must be accepted as exactly true in 
 every particular, coming from a man like Edward 
 Preble ; and when he says he saw a sea-serpent 
 from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet 
 long and as big around as a barrel and got close 
 enough to fire at it, it must be absolutely true in 
 every particular. It must be remembered that 
 
 85 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 Preble died long before sea-serpent stories became 
 common.^ 
 
 Preble saw much service in the Revolution, 
 and was the hero of a very daring achievement 
 not long after his onslaught on the sea-serpent. 
 He was then serving as first lieutenant on the 
 Winthrop, a small cruiser. Captain Little, of 
 the Winthrop, heard there was an armed brig 
 lying at anchor under the guns of the British 
 breastworks on the Penobscot. He gave per- 
 mission to Preble to cut the brig out, if possible. 
 It was determined to steal in upon her at night, 
 and carry her by boarding. On a dark night, 
 therefore, Preble, with forty men, ran in un- 
 perceived, and the Winthrop got alongside her 
 enemy. They all wore their white shirts over 
 their jackets, so that they could tell friends from 
 foes when once on the British vessel. The officer 
 of the deck of the British ship mistook the little 
 Winthrop for a tender of their own, and called 
 out, " Run aboard ! " "I am coming aboard," 
 answered Captain Little, as his vessel shot along- 
 side. Preble, with only fourteen men, leaped on 
 the brig's deck, when the Winthrop caught a puff 
 of wind and drifted off. As they passed ahead. 
 Captain Little called out, — 
 
 " Shall I send you some more men ? " 
 '' No," coolly answered Preble ; " I have too 
 many already." 
 
 1 See Cooper's Naval Biography for this incident. 
 86 
 
EDWARD PREBLE 
 
 He had then secured the few men on deck, and 
 soon had possession of the brig. The British 
 batteries on shore opened fire on him, but Preble 
 manao-ed to take the vessel out without serious 
 damage and without losing a man. 
 
 At the end of the Revolution the navy practi- 
 cally ceased to exist, and Preble went into the 
 merchant service, as so many of the officers were 
 forced to do. But in 1798, when the quasi war 
 with France took place, he re-entered the navy, 
 which had been created anew. He was commis- 
 sioned lieutenant in 1798, and was lucky enough 
 the very next year to get the Essex, frigate of 
 thirty-two guns. In her he started on what was 
 then the longest cruise ever made by an American 
 man-of-war. He went to the Indian Seas, to give 
 convoy to a valuable fleet of merchant vessels 
 engaged in the China and India trade, and which 
 were liable to be attacked by French cruisers. 
 He had no opportunity to distinguish himself 
 especially in this duty, although he took care of 
 the ships and got them all safely to New York. 
 Soon afterward, the United States and France 
 having come to terms, Preble went ashore and 
 remained for two years. His health was bad in 
 the beginning, but being much improved, in 1803 
 he reported for duty, and was assigned to the 
 Constitution, forty-four guns, then preparing for 
 a Mediterranean cruise. 
 At that time the relations of the United States 
 
 87 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 with the piratical powers of the Barbary coast 
 were most unsatisfactory. After years of sub- 
 mission to their exactions, — a submission which 
 seems almost incredible now, — the United States 
 government determined to do in the end what it 
 should have done in the beginning. This was to 
 send a powerful squadron to attack these pirates 
 of the land as well as the sea, and to force them 
 to respect the persons and liberties of Americans. 
 Preble was given the command of this squadron, 
 with orders to punish Algiers, Morocco, Tunis, 
 and especially Tripoli, so that it would not soon 
 be forgotten. He hoisted the broad pennant of a 
 commodore on the Constitution, and had under 
 him the Philadelphia, a heavy frigate of thirty- 
 eight guns, and five small vessels, — the Enter- 
 prise, Argus, Nautilus, Vixen, and Siren. It was 
 a remarkable squadron in many ways. The Con- 
 stitution was probably the heaviest frigate afloat, 
 and able to withstand a cannonade as well as 
 any line-of -battle ship. In Preble she had a com- 
 mander worthy of her. 
 
 Preble was then about forty years of age, and 
 his temper had not been sweetened by dyspepsia, 
 of which he had been a victim for a long time. 
 The Constitution was destined, under his com- 
 mand, to win for herself the famous name of 
 " Old Ironsides " from the way in which her stout 
 timbers resisted the tremendous cannonade of the 
 forts and fleets at Tripoli. It was in this splendid 
 
EDWARD PREBLE 
 
 cruise, too, that she gained her well-maintained 
 reputation for being a lucky ship. In all her 
 great battles she never lost her commanding offi- 
 cer, nor did any great slaughter ever take place 
 on her decks, nor was she ever dismasted or 
 seriously injured by war or weather, nor did she 
 ever take the ground. Up to this time the Con- 
 stellation had been the favorite frigate of the 
 navy, but, beginning with Preble's great cruise, the 
 Constitution became, once and for all, the darling 
 ship, not only of the navy but of the nation. 
 
 The only other heavy frigate in the squadron was 
 the Philadelphia, thirty-eight guns, commanded by 
 Captain William Bainbridge. Her tragic fate and 
 the glorious manner in which it was avenged is one 
 of the immortal incidents of the American navy.^ 
 
 The five small vessels were commanded by 
 five young men, lieutenants commandant, accord- 
 ing to the rank of the day, of which three — 
 Hull, Decatur, and Stewart — reached the great- 
 est distinction. Somers, the fourth, had a short 
 but glorious career. The fifth, Captain Smith, 
 was a brave and capable officer, but his name has 
 been overshadowed by the four young captains, 
 who made a truly extraordinary constellation of 
 genius. Among the midshipmen in the squadron 
 were two, Thomas MacDonough and James Law- 
 rence, who achieved reputations equal to the 
 three great captains. 
 
 1 See the biography of Bainbridge. 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 In the summer of 1803 the squadron sailed, 
 as each ship was ready, for Gibraltar, which was 
 the rendezvous. On the way out, the young 
 officers on the Constitution had a taste of the 
 commodore's temper, which was far from pleas- 
 ing to them ; but they also found out that he had 
 an excellent heart, and even a strict sense of 
 justice, as soon as his explosions of wrath were 
 over. And before very long they discovered 
 the qualities of promptness, courage, and capacity 
 which made Commodore Preble a really great 
 commander. While off Gibraltar, on a dark 
 night, the Constitution found herself quite close 
 to a large ship. Preble immediately sent the 
 men to quarters, for fear the stranger might 
 be an enemy, and hailing began. The stranger 
 seemed more anxious to ask questions than to 
 answer them. This angered the fiery commodore, 
 and he directed his first lieutenant to say if the 
 ship did not give her name he would give her a 
 shot. The stranger called back : "• If you give 
 me a shot, I '11 give you a broadside." Preble, 
 at this, seized the trumpet himself, and, spring- 
 ing into the mizzen rigging, bawled out : " This 
 is the United States ship Constitution, forty- 
 four guns, Commodore Edward Preble. I am 
 about to hail you for the last time. If you 
 do not answer, I will give you a broadside. 
 What ship is that ? Blow your matches, boys ! " 
 The answer then came : " This is his Britan- 
 
 90 
 
EDWARD PREBLE 
 
 nic Majesty's ship Donegal, razee, of eighty 
 guns." 
 
 " I don't believe you," answered Preble, " and 
 I shall stick by you till morning to make sure of 
 your character." In a few minutes a boat came 
 alongside, with an officer, who explained that the 
 stranger was the Maidstone, frigate, of thirty- 
 eight guns, and the delay in answering the hails 
 and the false name given were because the Con- 
 stitution had got close so unexpectedly that they 
 wanted time to get the people to quarters in case 
 she should prove an enemy. This one incident 
 is said to have worked a complete revolution in 
 the feelings of the officers and men toward Preble ; 
 and although he was as stern and strict as ever, 
 they could not but admire his firmness and cool 
 courage in an emergency. 
 
 Arrived at Gibraltar, Preble met for the first 
 time his five young captains. Not one was twenty- 
 five years of age, and none was married. At 
 the first council of war held aboard the Consti- 
 tution there was a universal shyness on their 
 part when asked their views by the commodore. 
 The fame of the " old man's " temper and severity 
 had preceded him, and his boy captains felt no 
 disposition whatever to either advise him or to 
 disagree with him. When the council was over, 
 Preble remained in the cabin, leaning his head 
 on his hand, and quite overcome with dejection and 
 depression. To Colonel Lear, an American con- 
 
 91 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 sul, then on board, Preble bitterly remarked : " I 
 have been indiscreet in accepting this command. 
 Had I known how I was to be supported, I 
 certainly should have declined it. Government 
 has sent me here a parcel of schoolboys, to com- 
 mand all my light craft ! " 
 
 A year afterward, when the " parcel of school- 
 boys " had covered themselves with glory, Colonel 
 Lear asked the commodore if he remembered this 
 speech. 
 
 " Perfectly," answered the commodore. " But 
 they turned out to be good schoolboys." 
 
 After collecting his squadron at Gibraltar, 
 Preble, with three vessels, stood for Tangier. 
 The Emperor of Morocco pretended to be very 
 friendly witli the Americans, and sent them pres- 
 ents of bullocks, sheep, and vegetables ; but 
 Preble, while treating him with respect, yet kept 
 his ships cleared for action and the men at quar- 
 ters day and night, lest the Moors should show 
 treachery. On going asliore with some of his 
 officers to pay a visit of ceremony to the Em- 
 peror, he gave a characteristic order to the com- 
 manding officer of the ship : " If I do not return, 
 enter into no treaty or negotiation for me, but 
 open fire at once." On reaching the palace he 
 was told that the party must leave their side- 
 arms outside before entering the Emperor's pres- 
 ence. Preble replied firmly that it was not the 
 custom of the American navy, and that they 
 
 92 
 
EDWARD PREBLE 
 
 should enter as they were, — which they did. The 
 Emperor soon found what sort of a man he had 
 to deal with, and Preble had no further trouble 
 with him. A few weeks after the arrival of the 
 squadron, Preble heard the news of the loss of the 
 Philadelphia. Nothing better shows the steadfast 
 and generous nature of the man than the manner 
 in which he accepted this misfortune. No regrets 
 were heard from him; no railing accusations 
 against Bainbridge ; but a prompt and deter- 
 mined grappling with the terrible complication 
 of having a great part of his force turned against 
 him; and the most tender consideration for the 
 feelings as well as the rights of Bainbridge and 
 his men. 
 
 Preble was enabled to provide himself with 
 bomb-vessels and gunboats by the aid of the 
 King of Naples, who, like all the other European 
 sovereigns, wished to see the nest of pirates ex- 
 terminated. The first one of the "schoolboys" 
 to distinguish himself was Decatur, ^ who, in Feb- 
 ruary, 1804, crept by night into the harbor of 
 Tripoli, and earned immortality by destroying 
 the Philadelphia as she swung to her anchors, 
 in the face of one hundred and nineteen great 
 guns and nineteen vessels which surrounded her. 
 The destruction of the Philadelphia not only wiped 
 away the stain of losing her, in the first instance, 
 but was of the greatest advantage to Commodore 
 
 1 See the biography of Decatur. 
 93 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 Preble in the bombardment of Tripoli, as the 
 frigate would have been a formidable addition 
 to the defence of the town. 
 
 In the summer of 1804, his preparations being 
 made, Commodore Preble sailed for Tripoli, where 
 he arrived on the 25th of July. He had one 
 frigate, — the Constitution, — three brigs, three 
 schooners, two bomb-vessels, and six gunboats. 
 With these he had to reduce an enemy fighting 
 one hundred and nineteen great guns behind a 
 circle of forts, with a fleet of a gun-brig, two 
 schooners, two large galleys, and nineteen gun- 
 boats, all of which could be manoeuvred both in- 
 side the rocky harbor and in the offing. 
 
 On the morning of the 3d of August the four 
 hundred officers and men of the Philadelphia, 
 confined in the dungeons of the Bashaw's castle, 
 were gladdened by the sight of the American flag 
 in the offing, and soon the music of the American 
 guns showed them that their comrades were bat- 
 tling for them. On that day began a series of 
 desperate assaults on the forts and war ships of 
 Tripoli that for splendor and effect have never 
 been excelled. Preble could fire only thirty 
 heavy guns at once, while the Tripolitans could 
 train one hundred and nineteen on the Ameri- 
 cans. During all these bombardments, while the 
 gunboats, in two divisions, were engaging the 
 Tripolitan gunboats, running aboard of them, 
 with hand-to-hand fighting, sinking and burning 
 
 94 
 
EDWARD PREBLE 
 
 them, the mighty Constitution would come into 
 position with the same steadiness as if she were 
 working into a friendly roadstead, and, thunder- 
 ing out\er whole broadside at once, would deal 
 destruction on the forts and vessels. In vain the 
 Tripolitans would concentrate their fire on her. 
 Throwing her topsail back, she would move slowly 
 when they expected her to move fast, and would 
 carry sail when they expected her to stand still, 
 and her fire never slackened for an instant. It 
 was after this first day's bombardment that the 
 sailors nicknamed her "Old Ironsides." She 
 and her company seemed to be invulnerable. Es- 
 capes from calamity were many, but accidents 
 were few. One of the closest shaves was when, 
 in the midst of the hottest part of the action, a 
 round shot entered a stern port directly in line 
 of Preble, and within a few feet of him. It 
 struck full on a quarterdeck gun, which it 
 smashed to splinters, that flew about among a 
 crowd of officers and men, wounding only one, 
 and that slightly. Had it gone a little farther, it 
 would have cut Preble in two. 
 
 After one of the fiercest of the boat attacks a 
 collision occurred between Preble and the scarcely 
 less fiery Decatur, which is one of the most re- 
 markable that ever occurred in a man-of-war. At 
 the close of the attack Decatur came on board 
 the flagship to report. Preble had been watching 
 him, and fully expected that all of the Tripolitan 
 
 95 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 gunboats would be captured. But, after taking 
 three of them, Decatur found it impossible to 
 do more. As he stepped on the Constitution's 
 deck, still wearing the round jacket in which he 
 fought, his face grimed with powder, and stained 
 with blood from a slight wound, he said quietly 
 to Preble : " Well, Commodore, I have brought 
 you out three of the boats." Preble, suddenly 
 catching him by the collar with both hands, shook 
 him violently, and shrieked at him : " Aye, sir, 
 why did you not bring me more ? " The officers 
 were paralyzed with astonishment at the scene, 
 and Decatur, who was scarcely less fiery than 
 Preble, laid his hand upon his dirk. Suddenly 
 the commodore turned abruptly on his heel and 
 went below. Decatur immediately ordered his 
 boat, and declared he would leave the ship at the 
 instant ; but the officers crowded around him 
 and begged him to wait until the commodore had 
 cooled down. Just then the orderly appeared, 
 with a request that he should wait on the com- 
 modore in the cabin. Decatur at first declared 
 he would not go, but at last was reluctantly per- 
 suaded not to disobey his superior by refusing to 
 answer a request, which was really an order. At 
 last he went, sullen and rebellious. He stayed 
 below a long time, and the officers began to be 
 afraid that the two had quarrelled worse than 
 ever. After a while one of them, whose rank en- 
 titled him to seek the commodore, went below 
 
 96 
 
EDWARD PREBLE 
 
 and tapped softly at the cabin door. He received 
 no answer, when he quietly opened the door a 
 little. There sat the young captain and the 
 commodore close together, and both in tears. 
 From that day there never were two men who re- 
 spected each other more than Preble and Decatur. 
 
 For more than a month these terrific assaults 
 kept up. The Bashaw, who had demanded a 
 ransom of a thousand dollars each for the Phil- 
 adelphia's men, and tribute besides, fell in his 
 demands ; but Preble sent him word that every 
 American in Tripolitan prisons must and should 
 be released without the payment of a dollar. 
 The Tripolitans had little rest, and never knew 
 the day that the invincible frigate might not be 
 pounding their forts and ships, while the enter- 
 prising flotilla of gunboats would play liavoc 
 with their own smaller vessels. The Tripolitans 
 had been considered as unequalled hand-to-hand 
 fighters ; but the work of the Americans on the 
 night of the destruction of the Philadelphia, and 
 the irresistible dash with which they grappled 
 witli and boarded the Tripolitan gunboats, dis- 
 concerted, while it did not dismay, their fierce 
 antagonists. 
 
 Sometimes the squadron was blown off, and 
 sometimes it had to claw off the land, but it 
 always returned. The loss of the Americans 
 was small ; that of the Tripolitans great. One of 
 the American gunboats exploded, and a terrible 
 7 97 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 misfortune happened in the loss of the ketch In- 
 trepid ^ and her gallant crew. Reinforcements 
 were promised from the United States, which 
 did not come in time, and Preble met with all the 
 dangers and delays that follow the making of 
 war four tliousand miles from home ; but he was 
 the same indomitable commander, feared alike 
 by his enemies and his friends. On the 10th of 
 September the President, forty-four guns, and 
 the Constellation, thirty-eight guns, arrived ; the 
 John Adams had come in some days before. By 
 one of those strange accidents, so common in the 
 early days of the navy. Commodore Barron had 
 been sent out in the President to relieve Com- 
 modore Preble by the government at Washington, 
 which, in those days of slow communication, 
 knew nothing of Preble's actions, except that he 
 was supposed to be bombarding Tripoli. The 
 season of active operations was over, however, and 
 nothing could be done until the following summer. 
 Meanwhile the Bashaw had a very just apprehen- 
 sion of the return of such determined enemies as 
 the Americans another year, and gave unmistak- 
 able signs of a willingness to treat. To that he 
 had been brought by Commodore Preble and his 
 gallant officers and crews. Knowing the work to 
 be completed, Preble willingly handed over his 
 command to Commodore Barron. He had the 
 pleasure of giving Decatur, then a post captain, 
 
 1 See the biography of Somers. 
 98 
 
EDWARD PREBLE 
 
 the temporary command of the Constitution. Be- 
 fore leaving the squadron, he received Qvery testi- 
 monial of respect, and even affection, from the very 
 men who had so bitterly complained of his severe 
 discipline and fiery temper. It was said at the 
 time, that when the squadron first knew him he 
 had not a friend in it, and when he left it he 
 had not an enemy. At that day duelling was 
 common among the privileged classes all over 
 the western world, especially with army and navy 
 officers ; but so well did Commodore Preble 
 have his young officers in hand that not a single 
 duel took place in the squadron as long as he 
 commanded it. 
 
 The younger officers were supplied with an end- 
 less fund of stories about " the old man's " out- 
 bursts, and delighted in telling of one especial 
 instance which convulsed every officer and man 
 on the Constitution. A surgeon's mate was 
 needed on the ship, and a little Sicilian doctor 
 applied for the place and got it. He asked the 
 commodore if he must wear uniform. To which 
 the commodore replied, " Certainly." Some days 
 afterward the commodore happened to be in the 
 cabin, wearing his dressing-gown and shaving. 
 Suddenly a gentleman in uniform was announced. 
 Now, in those days flag officers wore two epau- 
 lets, the others but one, and the commodore him- 
 self was the only man in the squadron who was 
 entitled to wear two. But the stranger had on 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 two epaulets ; besides, a sword, a cocked hat, and 
 an enormous amount of gold lace. 
 
 The commodore surveyed this apparition si- 
 lently, puzzled to make out who this imposing 
 personage was, until, with a smirk, the bedizened 
 Sicilian announced himself as the new surgeon's 
 mate. Furious at his presumption in appearing 
 in such a rig, Preble uttered a howl of rage, 
 which scared the little doctor so that he fled up 
 on deck, closely followed by the commodore, his 
 face covered with lather, and the open razor still 
 in his hand. The little doctor ran along the deck, 
 still pursued by the commodore with the razor, 
 until, reaching the forward end of the ship, the 
 poor Sicilian sprang overboard and struck out 
 swimming for the shore, and was never seen on 
 the ship again. 
 
 Preble transferred his flag to the John Adams, 
 and visited Gibraltar, where he was received 
 with distinction by the British officers. He had 
 many friends among them, especially Sir Alex- 
 ander Ball, one of Nelson's captains ; and the 
 great Nelson himself knew and admired the ser- 
 vices of the Americans before Tripoli. The 
 Spaniards and Neapolitans, who had suffered 
 much from the corsairs, rejoiced at the drubbing 
 Preble had given them, and at the prospect that 
 the Americans imprisoned in the Bashaw's castle 
 would soon be released. The Pope, Pius the 
 Seventh, said : " This American commodore has 
 
 100 
 
EDWARD PREBLE 
 
 done more to humble the piratical powers of the 
 Barbary coast than all the Christian powers of 
 Europe put together." 
 
 Preble sailed for home in December, 1804, and 
 reached Washington the 4th of March, 1805, the 
 day of President Jefferson's first inauguration. 
 The news of his success and the early release 
 of the Philadelphia's officers and men liad pre- 
 ceded him. Congress passed a vote of thanks to 
 him and the officers and men under him. President 
 Jefferson, although of the opposite party in poli- 
 tics from Preble, offered him the head of the 
 Navy Department, but it was declined. Preble's 
 health had steadily grown worse, and soon after 
 his return to the United States it was seen that 
 his days were few. He lingered until the sum- 
 mer of 1807, when at Portland, Maine, near his 
 birthplace, he passed away, calmly and resignedly. 
 He left a widow and one child. 
 
 Preble was in his forty-seventh year when he 
 died. He was tall and slight, of gentlemanly 
 appearance and polished manners. He left be- 
 hind him a reputation for great abilities, used 
 with an eye single to his country's good, and a 
 character for probity and courage seldom equalled 
 and never surpassed. 
 
 101 
 
STEPHEN DECATUR 
 
 Among the most brilliant and picturesque figures 
 in American naval history stands Stephen Decatur. 
 His achievements were of that dashing and splen- 
 did quality which leaves a blaze upon the page of 
 history ; and the greatest of them, the destruc- 
 tion of the Philadelphia frigate in the harbor of 
 Tripoli, earned from Lord Nelson the praise of 
 being " the most bold and daring act of the 
 age." 
 
 Decatur came justly by his genius for the sea. 
 His father was a captain in the navy of the 
 United States, and his grandfather had been a 
 French naval officer. His was no rude struggle 
 with adversity. The child of gentle people, he 
 entered the navy in 1797, with every advantage 
 of education and training. He was then eighteen 
 years of age, — old for a midshipman, when boys 
 entered at thirteen and were often acting lieuten- 
 ants at sixteen. Decatur was a handsome man, 
 tall and well made. 
 
 Although of a disposition the most generous, 
 he was always of an impetuous and even domi- 
 neering nature. Strict habits of self-control 
 modified this impetuosity, but to the day of his 
 
 102 
 
Stephen Decatur 
 
STEPHEN DECATUR 
 
 death he was subject to gusts of temper whenever 
 he came across any instance of cruelty or mean- 
 ness or oppression. 
 
 A famous example of this was shown shortly 
 before his untimely death. He was then at the 
 summit of his fame, one of the ranking officers of 
 the navy, a navy commissioner, and living in 
 grand style for the times in the city of Washing- 
 ton. He had a favorite dog, and one day, when 
 the dog was lying quietly asleep on the doorstep 
 of Decatur's house, a policeman came along and 
 wantonly shot the poor creature. Decatur hap- 
 pened to see the whole affair, and, rushing out, 
 he gave the policeman then and there a terrific 
 walloping. The policeman, smarting from the 
 injury to his dignity as well as the pounding of 
 his bones, swore out a warrant, and Decatur was 
 commanded to appear before the Mayor of Wash- 
 ington. Furious at the turn of affairs, Decatur 
 flatly refused to obey the constable's summons. 
 In vain the officer pleaded with him to go quietly. 
 Decatur would not budge a step. At last the man 
 brought a posse and proceeded to take him by 
 force. Decatur would not be guilty of the crime 
 of resisting the law, but he proposed to let them 
 get him before the magistrate the best way they 
 could. He not only would not walk a step, but 
 lay down on the floor, and, as he was a large and 
 heavy man, it was a job to lift him up and put him 
 in a carriage ; but at last it was accomplished. 
 
 103 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 By the time they reached the Mayor's court, 
 Decatur's temper, never mild, was red hot. He 
 proceeded to harangue and even to browbeat the 
 Mayor, who was a very insignificant person com- 
 pared with Commodore Decatur. At the first blast, 
 though, the Mayor proved that he had a spirit of his 
 own. " Look here, Commodore," said he, " when 
 you are on the quarterdeck of your ship you com- 
 mand. I '11 have you understand that this court- 
 room is my quarterdeck, and I command here, and 
 if I hear another disrespectful word from you I '11 
 send you to jail for as long as I please." Decatur, 
 paralyzed with astonishment, looked at the Mayor 
 for a long time ; then, suddenly bursting into a 
 shout of laughter, apologized for his behavior and 
 submitted to be fined for thrashing the policeman. 
 
 Such was the man through life, — daring, gen- 
 erous, overbearing sometimes, but always respond- 
 ing to what was just and courageous in others. 
 
 Decatur's first cruise was made in the United 
 States, frigate, forty-four guns, wearing the broad 
 pennant of Commodore Barry. Charles Stewart, 
 afterward the celebrated commodore, was one of 
 the junior lieutenants of the ship, and the heroic 
 and unfortunate Richard Somers was one of the 
 midshipmen. 
 
 Decatur and Somers had been schoolmates in 
 Philadelphia, and the association formed there 
 was cemented into a devoted friendship in the 
 steerage of the United States. No two natures 
 
 104 
 
STEPHEN DECATUR 
 
 were ever more dissimilar than that of the impet- 
 uous Decatur and the gentle and retiring but 
 indomitable Somers. From the beginning they 
 were actuated by a noble professional rivalry ; yet 
 their close and affectionate friendship was that of 
 brothers, and their devotion to each other has 
 become a tradition in the navy. 
 
 The United States was a splendid frigate, fast 
 and weatherly, and, from the regularity with 
 which she made time on her cruises, was known 
 as " Old Wagoner." Commodore Barry was an 
 old officer who had done good service in the 
 Revolution, and when he took command of the 
 squadron of which " Old Wagoner " was the flag- 
 ship, he sailed at once for the West Indies, to 
 retaliate on the French ships which had preyed 
 upon American commerce. It was not the good 
 fortune of the United States to meet a frigate 
 of equal force, so that her men and their mettle 
 could be tried, but she did good service in clear- 
 ing out the French privateers which infested 
 those seas. Decatur saw much active cruising, 
 and gave indications of that dashing courage, 
 masterly seamanship, and fertile resource which 
 he developed the instant he got command of a ship. 
 He made several cruises, reached his lieu- 
 tenancy, and was attached to the Essex when she 
 went under Captain Bainbridge to the Mediter- 
 ranean, in 1802. During the troubles the officers 
 of the Essex had, at Barcelona, with the officers of 
 
 105 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 the Spanish guardship, Decatur was conspicuous. 
 Having been annoyed and insulted by the Spanish 
 officers, on his way to and from his ship, he went 
 aboard the Spaniard, and asked for her command- 
 ing officer. He was absent, and Decatur left this 
 message, which he shouted out in his tremendous 
 voice, on the Spanish quarterdeck : '^ Tell him that 
 Lieutenant Decatur of the Essex declares him to 
 be a scoundrelly coward ; and if Lieutenant Deca- 
 tur meets him ashore, he will cut his ears off ! " 
 A duel in the case was narrowly averted. 
 
 At twenty-four Decatur got his first command, 
 the Argus, one of the two sixteen-gun brigs which 
 were to assist Commodore Preble in the reduc- 
 tion of the Barbary powers. This was a heavier 
 vessel than a young officer of Decatur's rank 
 was entitled to, and he was given the command 
 of her only to take her out of the Mediter- 
 ranean, where he was to exchange with Isaac 
 Hull, then a lieutenant commandant, and take 
 Hull's vessel, the Enterprise, schooner, of twelve 
 guns. The Enterprise, like the great frigates 
 Constitution and Constellation, was a favorite 
 of fortune. She had a glorious record for so 
 small a vessel, and fought ten spirited actions 
 during her career, winding up with the capture 
 of the Boxer in the war of 1812-15. She was 
 lucky also in escaping many times from superior 
 force, and had an uninterrupted course of suc- 
 cess. Her good fortune really consisted in the 
 
 106 
 
STEPHEN DECATUR 
 
 people who manned her, and the officers who 
 commanded her, — of whom Decatur was not tlie 
 least distinguished. He had the good fortune to 
 have as his first lieutenant in the little schooner 
 James Lawrence, a man after Decatur's own heart, 
 who was worthy of his ship and his captain. 
 
 Decatur was one of the young commanders 
 who took part in the council of war called by 
 Commodore Preble at Gibraltar, in the autumn 
 of 1803, at which the peppery commodore was so 
 disgusted that he called them " a parcel of school- 
 boys." But most of them were shortly destined 
 to immortality. 
 
 After collecting his force, Preble sailed for 
 Syracuse, that historic city, beautiful in its decay. 
 The object of the American commander was to 
 establish a base of supplies, and to get the co- 
 operation of the King of the Two Sicilies, who 
 was also at war with the Bashaw of Tripoli. It 
 was while at Syracuse, in the autumn of 1803, 
 that the plan to destroy the Philadelphia in the 
 harbor of Tripoli was determined upon. The 
 credit of the original idea has been separately 
 claimed for Preble, Bainbridge, and Decatur ; 
 and the fact probably is that it occurred at prac- 
 tically the same time to each one of them. Every 
 one of Preble's dashing young captains desired 
 the honor of making the attempt, and the fact 
 that Decatur obtained the distinction is presump- 
 tive proof that he had a share in the first incep- 
 
 107 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 tion of the plan. Stewart's claim to a part in 
 the undertaking was so strong that to him fell 
 the honor of supporting, in the Siren, Decatur's 
 proposed attack. 
 
 In order to look over the ground, Preble in 
 the Constitution, accompanied by Decatur in the 
 Enterprise, sailed for Tripoli, in December, 1803. 
 Decatur, with his characteristic boldness, offered 
 to make the attempt with the Enterprise ; but 
 Commodore Preble prudently concluded to use a 
 ketch, the Meshouda, which Decatur had lately 
 captured and which was of a build and rig com- 
 mon in Mediterranean waters. 
 
 As Decatur meant to get inside the harbor of 
 Tripoli by stratagem, it was important to have a 
 vessel that would not attract attention. The 
 ketch was fittingly renamed the Intrepid, and 
 preparations were begun for the desperate adven- 
 ture with her. 
 
 Decatur was extremely anxious, as was Stewart, 
 to cut the Philadelphia out; but Commodore 
 Preble, as bold as they were, but older and more 
 prudent, saw the insurmountable difficulties in 
 the way of bringing so large a ship as the Phil- 
 adelphia out of a dangerous and unknown harbor 
 such as Tripoli. He therefore gave strict orders 
 that no attempt should be made to carry her out, 
 but that she should be destroyed at her moorings ; 
 and the commodore was certain to be obeyed. 
 
 The Intrepid was converted into a fire-ship, or 
 
 108 
 
STEPHEN DECATUR 
 
 " infernal." She was filled with combustibles, and 
 it was designed that she should steal in at night 
 in disguise, throw the combustibles into the Phila- 
 delphia, fire them, and then make a race for her life. 
 The nature of this enterprise required men of 
 extraordinary steadiness as well as courage ; but 
 they could be easily supplied from the American 
 squadron. It was intended to man and officer 
 the Intrepid as far as possible from the Enter- 
 prise ; and in pursuance of this, on the after- 
 noon of the 3d of February, 1803, all hands on 
 the Enterprise were called up and aft. Decatur 
 then stated the nature of the service for which 
 the Intrepid was destined, — a service of heroic 
 possibilities but appalling danger, — and then 
 called for sixty-two volunteers. Instead of sixty- 
 two men, the whole ship's company down to the 
 smallest boy volunteered with a cheer. This was 
 what any captain would have desired, and Decatur 
 was forced to make a choice. He selected sixty- 
 two of the youngest and most active men in the 
 crew, who showed their gratification by saying, 
 " Thankee, sir," as each man was told off. He 
 could make no choice among his lieutenants, but 
 took them all — Lawrence, Joseph Bainbridge, and 
 Thorn — and one of his midshipmen, the indomi- 
 table Macdonough, the rest being necessarily left 
 to take care of the ship. He was compelled to 
 make a draft of junior officers from the Consti- 
 tution, and asked for midshipmen Morris, Laws, 
 
 109 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 Izard, Davis, and Rowe. There was also a sur- 
 geon, Dr. Heermann, and Salvatore Catalano, a 
 Sicilian pilot, who, in return for his services, was 
 made a master in the American navy, and had an 
 honorable career in it. 
 
 On the evening of the 3d of February the 
 Intrepid sailed upon her glorious expedition, 
 accompanied by the Siren, whose character as 
 a ship of war was thoroughly concealed. The 
 ketch was to pass for a merchant vessel from 
 Malta, and her officers had the costumes of Mal- 
 tese sailors in which to disguise themselves. The 
 two vessels reached the entrance to the harbor of 
 Tripoli on the 9th of February, but a terrific storm 
 arose, which drove them off. For six days they 
 were storm-tossed in the gulf of Sydra, but on the 
 16th of February they found themselves together 
 again off Tripoli. The evening was mild and 
 beautiful, and the wind was so light that the 
 Siren was almost becalmed in the offing, but 
 the Intrepid met a wandering breeze that car- 
 ried her within the rocky harbor. Once inside, 
 a good breeze was blowing, which swept them 
 rapidly forward, and threatened to bring the 
 Intrepid up with the Philadelphia before it was 
 quite dark enough to do the work meant for her. 
 As it would not do to excite suspicion by taking 
 in sail, Decatur had buckets and sails towed astern 
 which acted as a drag, and brought the ketch in 
 very slowly. When Decatur noticed that the 
 no 
 
STEPHEN DECATUR 
 
 Siren in the offing had no wind and consequently 
 could be of no assistance to him, he remarked 
 cheerfully to his men, " Never mind ; the fewer 
 the number the greater the glory." 
 
 The ketch sailed leisurely in, having the ap- 
 pearance of a merchant ship from a Mediterra- 
 nean port, after a considerable voyage. 
 
 The crew had been sent below, and only a few 
 officers, disguised as Maltese sailors, stood or sat 
 about the deck. Before them lay the Bashaw's 
 castle, with its menacing battlements, and all 
 around the harbor was a chain of forts that could 
 make a circle of fire for an invader. Directly 
 under the guns of the castle loomed the tall black 
 hull of the Philadelphia, flying the piratical flag of 
 Tripoli, while moored near her were three smaller 
 cruisers and nineteen gunboats. 
 
 The moon had risen, and by its clear illumina- 
 tion tlie " infernal " steered straight across the 
 blue waters of the harbor for the Philadelphia. 
 When about two hundred yards off, Salvatore 
 Catalano, the pilot, hailed the Tripolitan officer 
 of the deck on the Philadelphia, who lounged 
 over the rail smoking a long pipe. 
 
 ''This is the ketch Stella, from Malta," he 
 said in the lingua franca of the East. " We lost 
 our anchors and cables in the gale, and would 
 like to lie by you during the night." 
 
 "Your request is unusual, but we will grant 
 it," answered the Tripolitan officer. 
 Ill 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 The officer then asked what vessel it was that 
 was lying in the offing. The pilot, with much 
 readiness, replied that it was the Transfer, a 
 cruiser lately bought from the British by the Tri- 
 politan government, and which was daily expected. 
 This answer seemed to satisfy the Tripolitan, and 
 a boat then put off from the Philadelphia with 
 a fast, and at the same moment a boat also put 
 off, under the command of Lawrence, from the 
 Intrepid. On meeting, Lawrence coolly took the 
 fast from the Tripolitan boat, and soon had 
 the hawser aboard of the ketch. A moment more 
 and the supposed Maltese sailors, in their jackets 
 and red fezzes, roused on the hawser and breasted 
 the ketch along under the Philadelphia's quar- 
 ter. Had the slightest suspicion been aroused 
 then, they would have been blown out of the 
 water by a single broadside. But the Americans 
 retained their coolness in their desperate situation. 
 
 Presently the Intrepid drew out from the black 
 shadow of the frigate's hull into a great patch of 
 white moonlight. The Tripolitans saw the an- 
 chors on the deck, with the cables coiled around 
 them. Instantly a cry rang through the ship, 
 " Americanos ! Americanos ! " 
 
 At the same moment the Intrepid came grind- 
 ing up against the frigate's stern quarter, and, 
 as if by magic, was alive with men. Decatur 
 shouted, " Board ! " and the Americans dashed 
 at the frigate's deck. 
 
 112 
 
STEPHEN DECATUR 
 
 Decatur, and two midshipmen, Morris and Laws, 
 leaped at the same moment into the chain plates. 
 Decatm' and Morris made a spring for the rail ; 
 Decatur's foot slipped, else he would have been 
 first upon the Philadelphia's deck ; but Morris, 
 an agile young midshipman, was a moment before 
 him. Midshipman Laws dashed at a port, and 
 would have been before Morris in entering the 
 ship, but the pistols in his boarding-belt caught 
 for a moment between the gun and the port, and 
 he was third to stand upon the deck. The rest of 
 the Americans swarmed into the ship. 
 
 The Tripolitans, completely surprised, yet fought 
 desperately. They had been accounted the best 
 hand-to-hand fighters in the world, but they were 
 no match for the Americans. Within fifteen 
 minutes every one of them had been cut down 
 or driven overboard, and the Philadelphia was 
 once more an American ship. Meanwhile lights 
 had been moving about on shore, and the vessels 
 and forts saw that something was happening on 
 the Philadelphia, but not enough could be seen 
 to justify them in firing on their own ship. In 
 a few minutes more, though, smoke was pouring 
 from the ports, and flames were running up her 
 tar-soaked rigging. The Americans, with almost 
 incredible swiftness, had hoisted powder aboard 
 the ship and fired her in a dozen places. Two 
 guns, double-shotted, were dragged amidships and 
 pointed down the main hatch to blow her bottom 
 
 8 113 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 out. They then leaped into the ketch ; but at 
 that moment the most awful danger of that ter- 
 rible yet glorious night awaited them. The fast 
 became jammed, and the jigger of the ketch 
 caught fire as it flapped against the burning 
 frigate, while below, on the Intrepid's deck, lay 
 all her powder exposed. The officers, undis- 
 mayed however, drew their swords and hacked at 
 the hawser until it parted. Then, under sweeps 
 and sails, the Intrepid made for the offing, the 
 men pulling for their lives, while the ships and 
 forts, now thoroughly aroused, opened all their 
 batteries on this daring invader. But the shot 
 fell short, and raised only showers of spray, at 
 which the Americans laughed and jeered. 
 
 The Philadelphia was now ablaze from rail to 
 truck, and sea and sky were lighted up by the 
 flames of the burning ship. Her guns began to 
 go off as the fire reached them, and she poured 
 a cannonade from every quarter. The ketch was 
 plainly visible as she made rapidly for the offing, 
 and a hundred guns were trained on her. At 
 this supreme moment the Americans gave one 
 last proof of their contempt of danger. The men 
 stopped rowing, and every officer and man, rising 
 to his feet, gave three thundering American cheers. 
 Then they bent to their oars with giant strokes, 
 and in a little while were safe under the Siren's 
 guns. They had not lost a man in the glorious 
 achievement. 
 
 114 
 
STEPHEN DECATUR 
 
 The Siren, meanwhile, in the offing, had hoisted 
 out her boats, and was ready to assist the In- 
 trepid, in case she needed it. The progress of 
 the ketch was plainly visible until she was lost 
 in the shadow of the Philadelphia's black hull. 
 In a few minutes a single rocket skyward showed 
 the anxious watchers that the Philadelphia was 
 boarded; and almost at once the blaze rushed 
 up the rigging, and enveloped the tall hull, light- 
 ing up the night with a lurid glare, while the 
 guns of the doomed frigate and those of the cas- 
 tle, the ships, and the forts thundered out. Then 
 they knew that the great enterprise was accom- 
 plished. The boats pulled toward the harbor 
 entrance; soon the ketch had shot across the 
 illuminated water, and had reached them. Deca- 
 tur, jumping into one of the Siren's boats, was 
 quickly pulled toward the brig. Stewart, stand- 
 ing in the gangway, saw the boat approach, and 
 a man, in a sailor's round jacket and a fez, sprang 
 over the gangway, into his arms. It was Decaturt 
 Fifteen days after leaving Syracuse, the ketch 
 and the brig were seen standing in the harbor, 
 the signal of success flying from the Intrepid's 
 masthead. For this splendid adventure Decatur 
 was made a post-captain, his commission dating 
 from the 16th of February, and the officers and 
 men were rewarded. 
 
 Before, however, receiving his commission, 
 Decatur was yet to do glorious things in the bom- 
 
 115 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 bardment of Tripoli during the following summer. 
 Commodore Preble, in arranging the boat attacks, 
 which he supported by the batteries of the " Old 
 Ironsides," and all his brigs and schooners, 
 gave the command of the right division to Rich- 
 ard Somers, Decatur's bosom friend, and the left 
 division to Decatur. On the 2d of August the 
 first attack was made. The Tripolitans had a 
 flotilla of fourteen gunboats to resist the six the 
 Americans could muster ; and they had, in reserve, 
 behind the rocks in the harbor, five more gun- 
 boats and several heavy galleys, besides their 
 forts, batteries, and larger clubs. The attack was 
 begun about half past one in the afternoon, the 
 whole force standing in ; the Constitution ap- 
 proaching as close as possible and pouring in 
 many broadsides against the forts, the brigs and 
 schooners supporting the gunboats, while the 
 latter dashed at the Tripolitan gunboats and gal- 
 leys with a swiftness and impetuosity that were 
 simply tremendous. The attack soon assumed a 
 character of hand-to-hand fighting that is seldom 
 seen in modern days. Decatur's own vessel laid 
 aboard a large Tripolitan gunboat, and in spite of 
 the most desperate resistance, grappled with her. 
 She was divided in the middle by a long narrow 
 hatchway, and in this the Tripolitans mustered 
 to drive back the Americans when they entered. 
 Immediately Decatur was over the side, followed 
 by his lieutenant, Mr. Thorne, by Macdonough, 
 
 116 
 
STEPHEN DECATUR 
 
 and all the Americans in the gunboat's crew. 
 They advanced together with pikes and cutlasses, 
 and then ensued a contest, man to man, figliting 
 every inch of the way, which resulted in cutting 
 down or driving overboard every Tripolitan officer 
 and man. 
 
 Just as the Tripolitan ensign was hauled 
 down, it was seen that James Decatur, Decatur's 
 younger brother, who was in command of another 
 gunboat and had carried her into action with 
 great spirit, had fallen by a shot from a Tri- 
 politan which had surrendered and then basely 
 resumed firing. James Decatur was carried aboard 
 the Constitution to die, but it was no time to 
 indulge in private griefs ; and Decatur, without 
 knowing whether his brother were living or dead, 
 turned upon the next foe. This was another 
 gun-vessel, which was commanded by a gigantic 
 Tripolitan, who seemed to court rather than avoid 
 a hand-to-hand contest with the Americans. 
 
 Decatur ran him aboard, and then with a 
 cheer the Americans leaped into the gunboat. 
 Seeing the force with which they had to contend, 
 Decatur waited until his men could form a line. 
 They then advanced resolutely, led by their offi- 
 cers. They were greatly outnumbered, but by 
 standing together they made the most of their 
 number. The Tripolitan captain and Decatur 
 soon met face to face. The Tripolitan, a much 
 larger and more powerful man than Decatur, 
 
 117 
 
TWELA^E NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 stood on tiptoe to deal a more tremendous blow. 
 Decatur rushed at him with a pike. The Tripoli- 
 tan wrenched the pike from him, and raised it to 
 strike. Decatur then drew his sword, and in 
 trying to parry the pike, the sword broke off at 
 the hilt, and the pike entered Decatur's breast. 
 Pulling it out, he grappled with the Tripolitan, 
 and both came to the deck together. Tlie 
 Tripolitan attempted to draw his dagger ; but 
 Decatur, firmly grasping his arm, managed to 
 get a small pistol from his pocket, and fired it. 
 With a scream the Tripolitan relinquished his 
 hold and rolled over. As Decatur rose to his 
 feet, another Tripolitan raised his sword ; as the 
 blow was about to descend on Decatur's head, 
 Reuben James, a powerful young sailor, threw up 
 his arm, and took the blow, which almost severed 
 his arm from his body. The Americans were 
 now beginning to get a little the advantage ; and 
 by coolness and resolution they were soon enabled 
 to get possession of the gunboat. The Tripoli- 
 tan loss showed the nature of the fighting, fifty- 
 two men being killed and wounded out of a total of 
 eighty in the two captured gunboats. The loss of 
 the Americans was relatively small, owing to their 
 plan of standing together and attacking as a body.^ 
 Four more of these ferocious attacks, combined 
 
 1 It was after this attack that the celebrated scene occurred in 
 the Constitution between Decatur and Commodore Preble, as 
 related in Preble's life. 
 
 118 
 
STEPHEN DECATUR 
 
 with a terrific cannonade from the Constitu- 
 tion, and the assistance from the brigs and 
 schooners, lost the Tripolitans many of their 
 most serviceable craft, and made those that were 
 left very shy of coming outside the reefs to meet 
 the " Americanos." The great guns on the Con- 
 stitution had knocked to pieces many of the 
 more exposed land batteries, and brought down 
 the Bashaw's tone immeasurably. He was then 
 anxious to negotiate, but Commodore Preble 
 would listen to nothing but the unconditional 
 surrender of Bainbridge and his men. 
 
 The loss of the Americans was small in num- 
 bers but great in value during the bombardment, 
 and was confined chiefly to the gunboats. In 
 the second attack, on the 7th of August, one of 
 the American gunboats blew up, killing her 
 brave commander. Lieutenant Caldwell, and sev- 
 eral others. When the smoke cleared away 
 after the awful explosion, it was seen that the 
 forward part of the vessel still floated. On it 
 was the long twenty-six-pounder, which was her 
 chief weapon, and which the gun's crew, directed 
 by Midshipman Spence, had just loaded. With 
 as much coolness as if there had been a wliole 
 vessel instead of a half one beneath them, the 
 gun was fired, the eleven men on the wreck gave 
 three cheers, led by the midshipman, and then 
 sprang into the water. All were picked up, and 
 fought during the rest of the action, 
 
 119 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 There was another attack on the 28th of 
 August, and again on the 3d of September. 
 In this last the Constitution bore the brunt 
 of the Tripolitan fire, and did fearful execution 
 with her heavy guns. And on the 4:h of Sep- 
 tember occurred the terrible tragedy of the blow- 
 ing up of the ketch Intrepid.^ 
 
 The beginning of the autumn marked the end 
 of the season for active operations, and the Amer- 
 ican squadron withdrew, with a promise to return 
 the next season and do yet more damage, — a 
 calamity which the Bashaw avoided by promptly 
 giving up the American prisoners the next spring, 
 when the Americans, true to their word, returned 
 in greater force. A relief squadron which had 
 been sent out from the United States arrived 
 just at the close of the campaign before Tripoli. 
 It brought out Decatur's commission as a post- 
 captain, as well as lesser promotions for the other 
 young commanding officers. Commodore Preble, 
 on being relieved by Commodore Barron, turned 
 over the Constitution to Decatur, who thus, at 
 twenty-five, commanded what was probably the 
 finest frigate in the world. His rank, however, 
 as the youngest post-captain in the navy did not 
 entitle him to keep her very long, and he was 
 transferred to the Congress, a smart thirty- 
 eight-gun frigate. She was in the squadron of 
 Commodore Rodgers, which, after the humbling 
 
 1 See the biography of Richard Somers. 
 120 
 
STEPHEN DECATUR 
 
 of Tripoli, was engaged in bringing the Bey of 
 Tunis to terms. Commodore Rodgers sent Deca- 
 tur, who was well known to the heads of Barbary 
 powers, to negotiate a treaty with Tunis. The Bey 
 at first refused to receive him. Decatur returned 
 to his ship, which was cleared for action, and 
 sent a message saying that the Bey must de- 
 cide at once between war and peace. The Bey 
 succumbed immediately, and not only begged 
 for peace, but asked that the Congress should 
 convey a Tunisian envoy to the United States. 
 This was rather more than Decatur had bargained 
 for, particularly as he had to give up a part of his 
 quarters to the Tunisian envoy and his suite. 
 But having succeeded rather better than he ex- 
 pected, Decatur took the party on board and 
 returned to the United States, reaching home 
 in 1805. 
 
 He was received with praise, admiration, and 
 the highest personal and official favor. He was 
 given good commands, and a few years after he 
 had gone out to the Mediterranean to command 
 a little twelve-gun schooner, he again went out 
 in command of a splendid squadron, his broad 
 pennant flying on the mighty Constitution. He 
 was sent to demand reparation from the Dey of 
 Algiers for certain injuries to American citizens. 
 The American consul went in person to see the 
 Dey, who sat in state, looking through the open 
 window at the formidable force with which Deca- 
 
 121 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 tur was prepared to enforce his demands. The 
 consul began by saying, significantly, that the 
 squadron was commanded by Commodore Deca- 
 tur. The Dey, gravely combing his beard with 
 a diamond comb, said : " I know this Decatur. 
 He is the man who burnt the frigate at Tripoli. 
 Hum ! Why do the Americans send wild young 
 men to treat with old powers ? " Nevertheless, he 
 very promptly gave all the satisfaction demanded 
 by the "wild young man." 
 
 On the outbreak of hostilities with Great 
 Britain in 1811-12, Decatur got the command 
 of the United States, — " Old Wagoner," the 
 stanch and weatherly frigate in which he had 
 made his fii*st cruise with his beloved Somers. 
 In her he made the second capture of a frigate 
 in that war, Hull having preceded him in the cap- 
 ture of the Guerri^re by the Constitution. 
 
 Off Madeira, on the 25th of October, the 
 United States sighted the Macedonian,^ a mag- 
 nificent thirty-eight-gun frigate, commanded by 
 Captain Garden. Decatur and Garden were per- 
 sonal friends, and before the war broke out 
 had often discussed the relative fighting powers 
 of their ships. Decatur's black servant had lis- 
 
 1 As in the case of the fight of the Constitution with the Guer- 
 ri^re and the Java, the Macedonian was a lighter ship, with fewer 
 men and guns than the Constitution. But the execution done 
 in every case was far beyond the difference between the Ameri- 
 can ship and her antagonist. 
 
 122 
 
STEPHEN DECATUR 
 
 tened to these talks as he stood behind his 
 master's chair. Captain Garden frequently said, 
 " No, my dear Decatur. Your men are brave, 
 but not experienced ; and when they meet a 
 British ship of equal force, with the best inten- 
 tions to do their duty, they will not know how 
 to fight." Cuffee remembered this, and as soon 
 as it was known on " Old Wagoner " that the 
 approaching frigate was the Macedonian, he very 
 prudently retired to the lower hold, and hid be- 
 hind a hogshead. 
 
 The action began with the greatest spirit on 
 both sides, the ships keeping up a furious cannon- 
 ade at close quarters, with a heavy sea on and a 
 good breeze blowing. The Americans showed 
 great superiority in gunnery, and although the 
 British fought with a gallantry worthy of Brit- 
 ish tars, and their officers nobly encouraged 
 them by word and example, in seventeen min- 
 utes from the time the first broadside struck the 
 Macedonian all was over, and her colors were 
 hauled down. She had suffered terribly, more 
 than a third of her men being killed and wounded. 
 She lost so many men at the guns that the ma- 
 rines were called upon to work the batteries. On 
 the American ship only twelve men were killed 
 and wounded, and the marines during the whole 
 battle were drawn up in the waist of the ship, 
 with nothing to do. This, however, was much 
 more trying than fighting, as they had to stand 
 
 123 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 as if they were on parade, while shot and shell 
 screamed a few inches above their heads. The 
 men, however, showed the utmost steadiness, and 
 acted as well as looked as if they were merely at 
 Sunday morning quarters. When the Macedo- 
 nian struck, it was plain from the way she was 
 cut up that she had made a good and gallant 
 defence. As Captain Garden came over the side, 
 he offered his sword to Decatur, who refused to 
 take it, saying, — 
 
 " I cannot take the sword of a man who has 
 so bravely defended his ship." 
 
 The solemn silence of the occasion was broken 
 by Cuffee, who, the danger being over, had 
 crawled up out of the hold, and appeared upon 
 the quarterdeck at that moment, just in time to 
 bawl out, — 
 
 " I say, Marse Garden, what you think now 
 'bout de way dem 'Mericans fights ! " 
 
 It was several weeks before the United States 
 reached home, and during that time Captain 
 Garden was Decatur's guest in the cabin. De- 
 catur's first letter to his wife after the capture 
 of the Macedonian says : " All my pleasure is 
 spoiled by poor Garden's sorrow;" for Captain 
 Garden knew nothing of the previous capture 
 of the Guerridre and of the Java, which fol- 
 lowed shortly after, and thought himself to be 
 the first and only English captain who had sur- 
 rendered his ship. On reaching the United 
 
 124 
 
STEPHEN DECATUR 
 
 States, Decatur and his odicers received the 
 thanks of Congress, and a gold medal for their 
 gallant conduct. 
 
 Decatur had looked forward to another active 
 cruise in " Old Wagoner," but he soon found him- 
 self penned up at New London by a large blockad- 
 ing force. Decatur's impetuous nature fretted 
 and chafed under this, and in 1814, realizing 
 the impossibility of the United States getting to 
 sea, he got command of the President, of forty- 
 four guns, then lying at New York. Decatur 
 took command of her with bright anticipations. 
 New York bay was closely watched by British 
 cruisers, but Decatur had no fears that he should 
 not be able to get out. Accordingly, on a dark and 
 stormy night in January, 1814, he picked up his 
 anchor, and made for the open sea ; but before 
 daylight the pilots had run the frigate aground 
 near Sandy Hook, where for an hour and a half 
 she lay pounding on the bar. She got off by the 
 rising of the tide, but she was so hagged and 
 twisted that her back was nearly broken, her 
 masts sprung, and her sailing qualities so im- 
 paired that she stood but a small chance of escape 
 should she fall in with an enemy. Unable by 
 reason of the wind to return to New York for 
 repairs, the President proceeded to sea, and by 
 daylight found herself surrounded by a British 
 squadron, consisting of the Majestic, razee, and 
 the Endymion, of forty guns, and the Tenedos 
 
 125 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 and Nympli, light frigates. Then began a fight 
 as well as a race for life, wliich lasted thirty 
 hours. The Endymion got near enough for a 
 bloody contest, in which she was badly crippled 
 and left behmd, the President making a des- 
 perate though lame attempt at flight from her 
 antagonists. But it was in vain. The Tenedos 
 and Nymph gained on her, and it was soon 
 known to all on board that the President was 
 a doomed ship. Three of her five lieutenants 
 lay dead upon her decks, while among the mor- 
 tally wounded was Midshipman Richard Dale, 
 son of the famous Commodore Dale, of Revo- 
 lutionary fame. The killed and wounded among 
 the crew were numerous, and Decatur himself 
 received a painful injury. 
 
 His people, who had never seen him except in 
 the light of triumph and success, were curious to 
 observe how he would stand impending defeat. 
 But never was he calmer and cooler. At one 
 time, seeing he could handle the Endymion 
 alone, he formed the desperate plan of boarding 
 her, transferring his people to her, and abandon- 
 ing the President. The proposition was received 
 with cheers. One of his youngest midshipmen,^ 
 a lad of fourteen, said out aloud, in Decatur's 
 hearing, — 
 
 " I never can get over the side of that ship, as 
 small as I am." 
 
 1 The late Captain Foxliall Parker, 1st. 
 126 
 
STEPHEN DECATUR 
 
 " Oh, yes, you can," replied Decatur, smil- 
 ing. " I will pick you up and throw you over 
 myself." 
 
 The Endymion, seeing that the President must 
 be shortly overpowered by the rest of the squad- 
 ron, very sensibly refused to close, and fell out 
 of the chase in a helpless condition, every sail 
 being shot away from her. 
 
 It was now night, and the President hoped 
 to escape in the darkness, which was extreme. 
 But about eleven o'clock the Pomone ranged up 
 under her lee and poured in a broadside, while 
 the Tenedos was closing in on the weather quar- 
 ter, and the Majestic was within gunshot astern. 
 The President hauled her colors down, and De- 
 catur offered his sword to Captain Hayes of the 
 Majestic, the ranking officer present. It was 
 refused in the same noble words which Decatur 
 had used toward Captain Garden : " I cannot 
 accept the sword of a man who has so bravely 
 defended his ship." 
 
 Decatur was taken to Bermuda, where he was 
 received with the highest distinction by the great 
 Admiral, Lord Coclirane, and all of the British 
 officers. At a splendid dinner given him by the 
 British naval officers, some one was tactless 
 enough to allude to the capture of the President, 
 at which Lord Cochrane promptly said, — 
 
 " The President was mobbed, sir, — simply 
 mobbed." 
 
 127 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 Decatur and his officers were soon paroled, and 
 sent home in a special frigate. Peace was de- 
 clared a few days after, and at New London, 
 where Decatur was landed, there was a grand 
 celebration of the treaty of peace, on the 22d 
 of February. The British frigate in which he 
 had been returned took part in the celebration, 
 and the British and Americans united, as gener- 
 ous enemies who have become friends should in 
 observing the glorious occasion. 
 
 After the peace, Decatur hoisted his broad pen- 
 nant on the Guerri^re,^ and commanded a fine 
 squadron in the Mediterranean, where his name 
 was always a power. On his return from this 
 cruise he was made one of the three navy 
 commissioners who were at the head of 
 the Navy Department in those days. He had 
 amassed a comfortable fortune, and built a fine 
 house in Washington, near the White House, 
 and had apparently entered upon a long career 
 of peace and prosperity; but it was not to 
 be. 
 
 It is distressing to chronicle the melancholy 
 end of so glorious a life. In those days duel- 
 ling was thought justifiable and even obligatory 
 on occasions. Decatur lost his life in March, 
 1820, near Washington, in a duel with Com- 
 modore Barron, concerning some things he had 
 
 1 Not the original ship, captured and blown up by Commodore 
 Hull, but one built and named for her. 
 128 
 
STEPHEN DECATUR 
 
 said about Barron many years before. His 
 death and the manner of it were universally 
 deplored, and when the anxious multitude who 
 surrounded his house in Washington was told 
 that he was no more, Reuben James, the old 
 sailor who had once saved Decatur's life at the 
 risk of his own, cried out, " The navy has lost 
 its mainmast." 
 
 Decatur was the author of that patriotic say- 
 ing which is heard from many American lips 
 and is deeply engraved in every American breast : 
 *' My country, may she always be right ; but, right 
 or wrong, my country ! " 
 
 129 
 
RICHARD SOMERS 
 
 The name and fame of Richard Somers will 
 always be of tender and regretful interest. His 
 gentle and lovable character, his quiet, undaunted 
 courage, the daring enterprise in which he lost his 
 life at the early age of twenty-four, all unite in 
 making him one of those young lieroes who are 
 never forgotten. As he died young, so must he 
 ever remain, a figure of heroic youth, untouched 
 by age or time, illumined by a melancholy glory. 
 Few circumstances of Somers's early life are 
 known. Of a singularly modest and reserved 
 nature, he seldom spoke of himself, and beyond 
 the bare facts of his boyhood and young manhood, 
 little has been gleaned by his various biographers. 
 His father was a man of standing and importance, 
 and represented his district in New Jersey in the 
 Colonial Congress. Somers Point, opposite Cape 
 May, was the family property. Richard Somers, 
 the youngest of his father's children, was born in 
 Philadelphia in 1779, whither his family had 
 removed. It is said that his father was a firm 
 friend and supporter of General Washington from 
 the beginning of his command of the Continen- 
 tal army, and that Washington bestowed much 
 
 130 
 
Richard Somers 
 
RICHARD SOMERS 
 
 kindly notice upon llic lad, Richard Somers. 
 Among Somcrs's possessions was a ring, which he 
 valued highly, containing the hair of Washington. 
 
 The boy went to a " dame's school " in Phila- 
 delphia with Stephen Decatur ; and there began 
 that devoted friendship which lasted through 
 Somers's brief life. No two natures were ever 
 more contrasted than Somers and Decatur. Som- 
 ers was mild in the extreme, of the gentlest man- 
 ners, silent, and somewhat reserved. Decatur was 
 a young volcano in energy, and pursued all his 
 objects in life with a fire and impetuosity almost 
 inconceivable. The affection between the two 
 seemed to be something deeper and stronger than 
 brotherhood, and joined with it was a professional 
 rivalry that only such an affection could have 
 prevented from becoming enmity. 
 
 Somers was left an orphan when a lad not more 
 than twelve years old. He had, however, an uncle 
 who was a second father to him, and he inherited 
 a respectable property. There is no record of 
 Somers having gone to sea before he received 
 his appointment as midshipman, of the same date 
 as Decatur's, 1798. But a number of circum- 
 stances indicate that he was already a capable 
 seaman when he got his midshipman's warrant 
 to the United States, frigate of forty-four guns. 
 He was made master's mate of the hold almost 
 immediately on joining the ship, a place given 
 the steadiest and readiest of the midshipmen, 
 
 131 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 and it is assumed that he would not have been 
 selected had he not known something of his 
 profession. 
 
 The United States, which wore the broad 
 pennant of Commodore Barry, was engaged in 
 active cruising in the West Indies during the hos- 
 tilities with France in 1799-1801, but never came 
 to close quarters with a ship of her own size during 
 the cruise. Somers seems to have won the good- 
 will of every one on board, including Commodore 
 Barry and the future Commodore Stewart, who 
 was the first lieutenant. Somers's mildness seems 
 to have been misunderstood for weakness, and on 
 hearing of some aspersions upon him, Somers 
 determined, in his cool and deliberate manner, to 
 show the stuff that was in him. Duelling was 
 then a common practice among officers of the 
 army and navy, as well as among all those who 
 classed themselves as gentlemen. Somers there- 
 fore challenged three of his tormentors among 
 the midshipmen, and arranged that the three duels 
 should be fought one immediately after another. 
 Decatur was to be his second in all these affairs, 
 and it is a grotesque circumstance that the origin 
 of the reflections cast on Somers was from the 
 unresenting way with which he put up with Deca- 
 tur's chaff. 
 
 In the first two duels Somers received two 
 slight wounds which prevented him from stand- 
 ing up. Decatur eagerly insisted upon being 
 
 132 
 
RICHARD SOMERS 
 
 allowed to take Somers's place after the first 
 hurt received by Somers ; but Somers refused, 
 and exchanged shots for the third time, sitting 
 on the ground and held up in the arms of Deca- 
 tur. It was the first and last time that liis cour- 
 age was ever doubted, and his peace-loving and 
 gentle nature was esteemed at its true value ever 
 afterward. 
 
 In 1801 tlie United States returned home, 
 and Somers's next orders were to the Boston, 
 of twenty-eight guns, in which, at the age of 
 twenty-two, he found himself in the responsible 
 situation of first lieutenant. The Boston was 
 commanded by Captain Daniel McNeill, an old 
 Revolutionary captain, who was one of the char- 
 acters of the old navy. He was a fine seaman 
 and a man of resolution and integrity, but not 
 very amenable to authority. The Boston was 
 ordered to proceed to Europe with Chancellor 
 Livingston, who was to arrange terms of peace 
 with France. They encountered heavy weather, 
 and Captain McNeill carried sail in such a way as 
 to astonish his young officers ; but he had in 
 his first lieutenant a man almost as well versed 
 in seamanship as himself. 
 
 Perhaps no young officer in the navy of that 
 day was so well adapted, by his conciliatory and 
 amiable manners, to be the first lieutenant of 
 such a man as Captain McNeill. The Boston 
 had been ordered to report to Commodore Richard 
 
 133 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 Dale, who was Captain ]\[cNeiirs senior in rank, 
 although much his junior in .age. But Captain 
 McNeill seems to have had no notion of putting 
 himself under the orders of a man so much 
 younger than himself, and although he cruised 
 for nearly two years in the Mediterranean, osten- 
 sibly hunting for the fiagsliip, he managed by 
 the greatest adroitness never to set eyes on 
 her. He was meanwhile very actively engaged 
 in his duty, and gave convoy to American vessels, 
 frightened off the piratical vessels of the Barbary 
 powers, and even blockaded Tripoli for a time ; 
 but he was always just a little too late or a trifle 
 too early to join the flagship. The cruise afforded 
 a multitude of amusing anecdotes about this 
 doughty but eccentric captain, whose character 
 and attainments commanded respect, in spite 
 of his oddities. Once, at Malaga, at a grand 
 dinner given to Captain McNeill and his officers, 
 as also to some Swedish officers of high rank, the 
 American captain was seated between two Swed- 
 ish admirals. At nine o'clock a midshipman 
 entered the room, according to orders, and re- 
 ported to Captain McNeill that his boat waited. 
 " What did you say ? " asked the captain. The 
 midshipman repeated his announcement, Somers 
 and the other American officers present waiting 
 in agony for what Captain McNeill would say or 
 do next. The captain again asked the midship- 
 man what he said, bawling out, " These bloody 
 
 134 
 
RICHARD SOMERS 
 
 Swedes keep up such a chattering I can't hear 
 what you saj ! " 
 
 Another one of Captain McNeill's adventures 
 was when, lying in a French port, he wished to 
 test how quickly his ship could be got under way. 
 Three of his own officers were on shore, but three 
 French naval officers happened to be on board ; 
 so, coolly remarking that he would hold on to the 
 French officers to keep up his complement, he put 
 to sea. It was several months before the French- 
 men could return to France, and meanwhile they 
 had been published as deserters. 
 
 At another time, taking a fancy to a regimental 
 band which came aboard the Boston in an Italian 
 port, he sailed for America with the musicians, 
 and it was several years before they were all re- 
 turned to Italy. 
 
 The Boston soon after this returned to the 
 United States, and the administration of the navy 
 winked at Captain McNeill's peccadilloes, in view 
 of the actual service he had done during his 
 memorable cruise. 
 
 It was at this time that the government deter- 
 mined to send a force out, under Commodore 
 Preble, to crush Tripoli. Somers got the com- 
 mand of the Nautilus, one of the four small 
 vessels that were built and sent out, Stewart 
 getting another, and Decatur a third. Somers 
 was now in his twenty-fifth year, handsome, well 
 made, and his naturally dark skin still darker from 
 
 135 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 wind and sun. His manners were polished, and 
 he was as prepossessing, in his quiet way, as the 
 dashing Decatur. Somers's black eyes were notice- 
 ably melancholy, and after his untimely death 
 those who loved him fancied they had always 
 seen in his countenance some premonition of his 
 doom. 
 
 The officers who were to command these lit- 
 tle vessels superintended their building, as there 
 were then no regular navy-yards in the country. 
 The Nautilus, under Somers's command, was the 
 first to sail, and the first to arrive at Gibraltar, 
 in July, 1803. She was a beautiful little schooner, 
 of twelve guns, with a crew of nearly a hundred 
 men. She was, however, very small to cross the 
 Atlantic, and several times during the voyage 
 Somers was hailed and offered assistance by 
 friendly shipmasters, who thought the gallant 
 little vessel must have been blown out of her 
 course. 
 
 Somers was one of the boy captains whose 
 youth so disgusted Commodore Preble when he 
 met them first on their arrival at Gibraltar. But 
 the commodore found in Somers, as early as 
 with any, the stuff of which these young officers 
 were made. Somers was very actively engaged 
 in the labors and cruises which occupied the 
 winter of 1803-4, preparing to attack Tripoli 
 in the summer. He sympathized ardently with 
 Decatur in the splendid exploit of the destruction 
 
 136 
 
RICHARD SOMERS 
 
 of the Philadelphia. He was anxious to assist 
 him with the Nautilus, but Stewart's superior 
 rank and larger command entitled him to support 
 Decatur, which he did in the Siren. Decatur's 
 success inspired every young captain in the 
 squadron with a noble desire to equal it, and 
 none more than the quiet and self-contained 
 Somers. 
 
 The preparations for the bombardment of 
 Tripoli continued, and on the 3d of August the 
 first attack took place. Commodore Preble gave 
 the command of the right division of gun-ves- 
 sels to Somers, and the left to Decatur. Somers 
 was supposed to be Decatur's senior at the time, 
 but the post-captain's commission which the 
 Congress had given Decatur as a reward for the 
 destruction of the Philadelphia was then on its 
 way, and arrived a few days after ; while the 
 same ship brought Somers's promotion to a mas- 
 ter commandant. 
 
 The story of those splendid attacks has been 
 told in the biographies of Preble and Decatur.^ On 
 the memorable 3d of August, when the captives of 
 the Philadelphia in the Bashaw's dungeons first 
 heard from the guns of the squadron the thun- 
 dering demand for the release of the prisoners, 
 Somers, like Decatur, performed prodigies of 
 valor. The harbor of Tripoli is crossed by a 
 great reef, above the water, and on which forts and 
 
 1 See the biography of Decatur. 
 137 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 batteries were mounted. At the western end is 
 a narrow opening of about two hundred yards, 
 while within the reef the rocks and shoals were so 
 numerous and so difficult that the best seaman- 
 ship and the greatest courage were necessary for 
 an attacking enemy. The guns from the forts 
 and ships nearer the town, too, could be concen- 
 trated on any small craft which passed through 
 this western passage. These desperate risks did 
 not deter Somers and Decatur, who went inside 
 and fell upon the Tripolitan gun-vessels with the 
 fury of fiends. On the 3d of August, while Decatur 
 was engaged in his terrible encounter with the 
 Tripolitan, Somers in a single small gun-vessel 
 held at bay five gun-vessels, each larger than his 
 own, and fought with savage determination. 
 The wind was driving him straight on the rocks, 
 and he had to keep backing his sweeps to save 
 himself from destruction, while fighting like a 
 lion. The Constitution, seeing his critical posi- 
 tion, came to his support, and, opening her batter- 
 ies on the Tripolitans, succeeded in driving them 
 still farther within the reefs, while Somers brought 
 his gallant little gun-vessel out in triumph. 
 
 Four of these dashing attacks were made, in 
 every one of which Somers and Decatur com- 
 manded the two boat divisions. Both had many 
 narrow escapes. Once, while Somers was lean- 
 ing against the flagstaff of his little vessel, as 
 she was on her way to attack, he saw a rou^d 
 
 138 
 
RrCIlARD SOMERS 
 
 shot coming. lie jumped iiside, and the next 
 moment the flagstaff was shattered just at the 
 pouit where his head had rested. His knowledge 
 of the interior of the harbor, where the Tripoli- 
 tans had a large number of vessels at anchor, in- 
 spired him with the design of leading a forlorn 
 hope, — to strike one great blow, and, if necessary, 
 to die for his country the next moment. At 
 last he got Commodore Preble's permission to 
 carry out the daring attempt, which, heroic in its 
 conception, yet makes one of the saddest pages 
 in the history of the American navy. 
 
 The plan was to fit up as a fire-ship, or " infer- 
 nal," the ketch Intrepid, in which Decatur had 
 won immortality in the same harbor, take it 
 in, and explode it among the Tripolitan fleet. 
 Somers earnestly begged Commodore Preble for 
 the honor of leading this desperate expedition, 
 and the commodore at last agreed. It would be 
 necessary to pour one hundred barrels of gun- 
 powder into the hold of the ketch in order to 
 make it effective as a fire-ship, and before con- 
 senting to this, the Commodore warned Somers 
 that so much powder must not be allowed to fall 
 into the hands of the Tripolitans. It was dur- 
 ing the Napoleonic wars, powder was in great 
 demand, and the Tripolitans were supposed to be 
 short of it. After this interview Somers ex- 
 pressed the determination to be blown up rather 
 than to be captured. 
 
 139 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 The details of the attack were worked out most 
 carefully. Besides the powder, the Intrepid was 
 to carry a large stock of splintered wood ; and 
 about two hundred shells, with their fuses pre- 
 pared, were laid on her decks, to add their horrors 
 to the explosion. The brave adventurers had two 
 chances for their lives, in having two boats in 
 which to escape from the ketch. One of them 
 was a very fast four-oared boat from Somers's 
 own vessel, the Nautilus, and the other was 
 a six-oared cutter from the Constitution. Somers 
 was to be in his own boat, while Lieutenant 
 Henry Wadsworth ^ commanded the Constitu- 
 tion's cutter. Ten sailors were to be taken along 
 making twelve persons in all ; but the number 
 was increased to thirteen by a little midshipman, 
 Joseph Israel, who smuggled himself into the 
 Constitution's boat. 
 
 Somers had consulted at every step his bosom 
 friend Decatur, and Charles Stewart, with whom 
 he had begun his naval life in " Old Wagoner." 
 Decatur, in his own vessel, the Argus, and Lieu- 
 tenant-Commandant Smith, of the Vixen, and 
 Somers's vessel, the Nautilus, under the command 
 of his first lieutenant, Washington Reed, were to 
 support the dauntless party in the boats as far as 
 possible. 
 
 Everything being ready, on the day after the 
 
 1 Lieutenant Wadsworth was the uncle of Longfellow, and the 
 poet was named for this gallant gentleman and brave sailor. 
 140 
 
RICHARD SOMERS 
 
 desperate boat attack of the 3d of September, in 
 the afternoon, Somers appeared on the deck of 
 his vessel, and, having the crew piped up, ad- 
 dressed them, telling frankly the hazardous na- 
 ture of the attempt he was to make, and calling 
 for four volunteers who would go with him to 
 advance one step ahead of the line. For answer, 
 every man and boy on the Nautilus advanced 
 two steps. This brave spirit was deeply gratify- 
 ing to Somers, and he was forced to make a 
 selection. He chose four of his best seamen, — 
 James Simms, Thomas Tompline, James Harris, 
 and William Keith. 
 
 On the Constitution the same spirit was shown, 
 and Lieutenant Wadsworth selected the six men 
 he needed from the hundreds who were eager to 
 go. The Constitution's sailors were William 
 Harrison, Robert Clark, Hugh McCormick, Jacob 
 Williams, Peter Renner, and Isaac Downes. The 
 names of these humble men deserve to be re- 
 corded, for each one was worthy to do, to dare, 
 and to die with his officers, — Somers, Wads- 
 worth, and Israel. 
 
 When the last preparations were made, on 
 the afternoon of September 4, 1804, and the 
 men were assembled on the Nautilus's deck, with 
 the boats lowered, Somers addressed the ten 
 sailors. He told them that he wanted no man 
 with him who would not rather be blown up than 
 surrender to the Tripolitans. The men responded 
 
 141 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 with a cheer ; and it was found that eacli one had 
 privately asked Somers for the dangerous honor 
 of applying the match when the time for the 
 explosion came. They then said good-bye to 
 their shipmates, and indicated what they wished 
 done with their belongings if they should never 
 return. Somers was accompanied to the In- 
 trepid by Decatur and Stewart, who remained 
 with him until the dusk of the September evening 
 warned them that the solemn hour had come. 
 On parting from them, Somers, who was as tran- 
 quil as ever, took a ring from his finger, and, 
 breaking it in three parts, gave one piece to 
 Decatur, one to Stewart, and kept the third- 
 The last man over the Intrepid's side was Lieu- 
 tenant Reed, who, as Somers's first lieutenant, 
 was to command the Nautilus. 
 
 The night had fallen when the Constitution's 
 boat joined the ketch, and in it was found the 
 little fifteen-year-old midshipman, Israel, who had 
 pleaded to go, and, being refused, had smuggled 
 himself into the boat. There was then no way of 
 getting rid of him, and, admiring his bold deter- 
 mination, Somers welcomed him on the ketch. 
 There was a light blue haze on the water, and 
 the night was murky as the " infernal " stole 
 upon her way. She entered the harbor silently, 
 while outside, in the offing, the Nautilus, the Ar- 
 gus, and the Vixen stood in as close as they 
 dared. Presently, in the darkness, the Siren was 
 
 142 
 
RICHARD SOMERS 
 
 observed to flit past them. Stewart, in his anxiety 
 for Somers, had implored Commodore Preble to 
 let him be near the scene of action, and the com- 
 modore had consented. 
 
 The Siren ventured farther into the offing 
 than the other vessels, and Stewart and his offi- 
 cers, like every officer and man on all of the 
 ships, was intent upon the black shadow of the 
 fire-ship, as she crept in among the rocks. She 
 was soon discovered, in spite of the darkness, and 
 a few grape-shot were thrown at her. Stewart 
 was standing in the Siren's gangway, with one 
 of his lieutenants, anxiously watching through 
 his night-glass the progress of the Intrepid, 
 when the officer cried, " Look ! see the light ! *' 
 A light, like a lantern, was seen to flash across 
 the Intrepid's deck. The next moment a roar 
 as if worlds were crashing together shook the 
 castle and forts, and rocked the ships in the 
 offing; a red glare hideously illumined the sea 
 and sky ; the masts and sails of the ketch rose up 
 in the burning air for a moment, then fell into 
 the fire-lit waves, and all was over. A fright- 
 ful and unearthly silence and darkness succeeded. 
 The brigs and schooners cruised about, their 
 officers and men in anguish over the fate of 
 their brave companions. The Constitution fired 
 minute-guns all night, so that if any survived that 
 awful explosion they might know they were not 
 forgotten. When sunrise came, thirteen black- 
 
 143 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 ened bodies floated ashore at Tripoli. They were 
 so disfigured that the officers could only be told 
 from the men by the softness of their hands. 
 Bainbridge and his officers were taken from their 
 captivity to identify the remains of the thirteen 
 brave souls who had given life itself to hasten the 
 release of the Philadelphia's gallant company. 
 Not the slightest damage was done to the Tri- 
 politan ships or forts, or to the town itself. 
 
 The ten sailors were buried together near the 
 beach, while the three officers were laid in the same 
 grave on a plain a little southward of the castle. 
 Whether Somers blew the ketch up, in his concep- 
 tion of his duty, or whether the powder was acci- 
 dentally ignited, can never be ascertained. All 
 that is known, however, is that he did his duty, 
 as did every officer and man lost in that perilous 
 attempt. Of each of them may be said as is 
 written after the name of the little midshipman, 
 Israel, in the records of the navy, " Died, with 
 honor, in the service, September 4, 1804." 
 
 His country honored Somers by naming for 
 him a beautiful little brig; but like him it was 
 doomed to misfortune. One of the most terrible 
 tragedies that ever occurred in the American 
 navy took place upon the deck of the Somers, 
 and it was afterward lost at sea, going down, as 
 Somers did, in the darkness and silence of an 
 unfathomed mystery. 
 
 144 
 
Isaac Hull 
 
ISAAC HULL. 
 
 The American navy has produced many men 
 great in the handling of sailing-ships ; but no 
 more capable seaman ever trod the quarter-deck 
 than Isaac Hull. In all of his achievements his 
 faculty of handling his vessel, whether great or 
 small, to the utmost possible advantage, was the 
 most considerable factor in his success ; and his 
 tremendous popularity with seamen, who were 
 always eager to ship with him, came from their 
 conviction that in time of stress and danger they 
 had a born sailor to look out for them. 
 
 Hull was the son of a Revolutionary officer, 
 and was born at Derby, Massachusetts, in March, 
 1775, shortly before the affairs at Lexington and 
 Concord. His father was taken prisoner and 
 died on one of the Jersey prison ships, and Isaac 
 was adopted by an uncle, General Hull. The 
 means and station of the Hull family were such 
 that a liberal education was within the lad's 
 reach, and he was destined for a course at Yale 
 College. But he early developed a passion for 
 the sea ; and his uncle, seeing the boy's determined 
 bent, concluded to let him carry it out. The Con- 
 tinental navy had passed out of existence, and the 
 
 10 145 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 reorganization did not take place until 1797-98, 
 so that a naval career was not open to him at 
 the start. General Hull, however, did the next 
 best thing possible for the boy, by sending him to 
 sea in a fine ship owned by a friend of the Hull 
 family. Isaac proved himself capable and indus- 
 trious from the start, and by the time he reached 
 his twenty-first birthday was in command of a 
 small vessel. The desire to hold a commission 
 in the regular navy possessed him, and in March, 
 1798, he got a fourth lieutenant's commission, 
 which was dated on his twenty-third birth- 
 day. 
 
 His first cruise was made in the ship in which 
 he was afterward to 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 lieu- 
 tenant. 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 
 
 146 
 
ISAAC HULL 
 
 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 Constitu- 
 tion could easily leg it at an eleven-knot gait, 
 with a tolerable breeze, and was almost unap- 
 proachable 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 boat- 
 swain, the man remarked, " The British, sir, are 
 hard fellows on salt water." 
 
 "' I knovf 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, 
 
 147 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 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 begin- 
 ning 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 Consti- 
 tution 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 har- 
 bor as closely as practicable during the bombard- 
 ment, 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 acci- 
 
 148 
 
ISAAC HULL 
 
 dents against which skill and courage avail noth- 
 ing. 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 ser- 
 vices 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 immi- 
 nent, 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, 
 
 149 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 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, say- 
 ing 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, see- 
 ing 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 Ha- 
 vana 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, 
 
 150 
 
ISAAC 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 gal- 
 lant tars was, " Let the quarterdeck look out for 
 the colors, and we will look out for the guns." 
 
 Some hours having passed, with the Consti- 
 tution plainly ready for a fight, without any 
 demonstration from the British frigate, Hull de- 
 termined 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 
 
 151 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 June, 1812, war was declared. The Constitu- 
 tion 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 Con- 
 stitution's crew, that men were to be drafted from 
 her to the sloop-of-war. This created great dis- 
 satisfaction. 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 tal^en 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 Constitu- 
 tion 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 Guerriere, 
 of thirty-eight guns each (with the last the Con- 
 stitution was to have it out, yardarm to yardarm, 
 that day montli) ; 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. 
 
 152 
 
ISAAC HULL 
 
 But Hull and Morris were men of resource, and 
 while fully prepared to go down fighting, if neces- 
 sary, 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 pro- 
 gressed at the rate of about three knots an hour. 
 At first the British were amazed to see her trot- 
 ting oif 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 
 Guerriere, 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 Guerriere nearly 
 within gunshot, and she roared out her broadside ; 
 
 153 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 but the Constitution's people continued hoisting 
 up their boats with as much coohiess and steadi- 
 ness as if the cannonade were no more than bird- 
 shot. 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 num- 
 bers 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 
 
 154 
 
ISAAC HULL 
 
 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 Constitu- 
 tion 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 sail- 
 ors 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 sin- 
 gularly 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 can- 
 vas, 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 approach- 
 ing. The Constitution, seeing the ship was un- 
 aware 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 Con- 
 
 155 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 stitation showed a clean pair of heels, and was 
 slowly, though steadily, widening the distance 
 between herself and her pursuers. In the after- 
 noon 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 mana3u- 
 vres were never surpassed. This chase is one of 
 the glories of the American navy, — not merely be- 
 cause of the escape itself, but by reason of the sea- 
 manlike manner in which it was accomplished. 
 
 Shortly after, the Constitution ran the block- 
 ade and got into Boston, to hear the news 
 that she had been captured ! 
 
 The delight of the people at the escape of their 
 
 156 
 
ISAAC HULL 
 
 favorite frigate was iinboLiiided. 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 Bain- 
 bridge, in virtue of his superior rank, and with- 
 out 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 
 Guerri^re, he ran across her again, and both 
 ships prepared to fight it out, with the greatest 
 spirit imaginable. 
 
 Captain Dacres, of the Guerriere, 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 ex- 
 changing broadsides. The Guerriere was an ex- 
 tremely 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 Guerri^re's great 
 mainsail was inscribed in huge red letters, 
 
 157 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 " All who meet me have a care, 
 I am England's Guerrifere." 
 
 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 midship- 
 man was sent aloft to try and make her out. All 
 hands were hoping the stranger was the Guer- 
 riere, when Hull called out witii 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 Guerriere. 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 
 
 158 
 
ISAAC HULL 
 
 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 Guerridre let fly her batteries, firing the star- 
 board guns, then wearing and giving the Consti- 
 tution 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 Guerriere, 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 
 Guerriere, 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, 
 
 159 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 and a momentary confusion reigned on her decks. 
 The effect of their first broadside was so en- 
 couraging to the Americans that before firing 
 another gun they gave three thundering cheers. 
 The English officers spol^e afterward of the ex- 
 tra 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 Guer- 
 riere then swung round, and, being almost un- 
 manageable, got into a terrible position for raking. 
 Her officers and men fought with undiminished 
 valor, and when the ensign was shot away, an- 
 other 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 Guerriere, 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 re- 
 bounded into the water. At this the sailors 
 cheered. 
 
 " Huzza ! " they cried. " Her sides are made 
 of iron ! Huzza for Old ' Ironsides ' ! " 
 
 160 
 
ISAAC HULL 
 
 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 '11 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 broad- 
 side had been fired, the Guerriere 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 help- 
 less, 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. Cap- 
 tain Dacres had been badly wounded, while stand- 
 ing in the hammock nettings cheering his men 
 on, a vast number of officers and men killed and 
 wounded, and the Guerri^re's decks ran with blood. 
 But even in these dreadful circumstances not a 
 man or boy on the British ship faltered ; and 
 
 11 161 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 when it was plain to every eye that resistance was 
 over for the proud Guerriere, one of her powder 
 boys was heard to shout to another confidently, — 
 
 " Work away there ! Huzza ! She '11 soon be 
 ours ! " 
 
 Her captain saw that it was time to stop the 
 useless slaughter, and a gun was fired to lee- 
 ward, 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 Cap- 
 tain Dacres stepped into the Constitution's boat 
 did the brave men and boys of the Guerridre 
 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 Con- 
 stitution's deck, he attempted to hand his sword 
 to Hull, who said, — 
 
 162 
 
ISAAC HULL 
 
 " No, no, I cannot take the sword of a man who 
 knows so well how to use it ; but — i '11 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 Guerriere, 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 Guerriere had lost seventy- 
 nine in killed and wounded. 
 
 The Constitution lay by the Guerriere all night, 
 and the Americans worked like Trojans to save 
 the belongings of the prisoners. Hull asked 
 Captain D acres if everything of value had been 
 sent him oat of the Guerriere'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 
 tlie 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 atten- 
 tion being paid to the wounded." 
 
 After working all night the morning of the 
 20th of August saw the brave but unfortunate 
 Guerriere made ready for her ocean grave. A 
 slow match was applied to her magazine, and 
 the Constitution bore away. About three miles 
 
 163 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 off she hove to, while her officers and men, to- 
 gether with those of the doomed frigate, waited 
 breathlessly for the explosion. As the fire gained 
 headway, a dense volume of smoke formed over 
 her. Some of her guns had been left shotted, and 
 as the fire reached them, they began to go off, 
 their sullen boom over the sea sounding like the 
 death-knell of the gallant ship. Presently the 
 flames reached the magazine. Streams of light, 
 and a roar that seemed to shake the deep, fol- 
 lowed ; a mass of wreckage flew skyward ; the 
 Guerriere was no more. 
 
 There was great uneasiness felt on board the 
 Constitution in regard to the large number of 
 prisoners she carried. There were not enough 
 handcuffs in the ship for the whole British crew, 
 and the Americans felt a manly unwillingness to 
 handcuff any of the men who had fought them so 
 bravely. But it was noted that from the start 
 the prisoners and their captors behaved well, the 
 American and British sailors sitting around the 
 fok'sle together, spinning yarns, exchanging to- 
 bacco, and chumming quite amicably. 
 
 Hull made for Boston, and on his arrival there 
 was greeted witli the wildest enthusiasm. The 
 people were beside themselves with joy. Before 
 this a British ship had been deemed invincible, 
 and the knowledge that one of these great ships, 
 with a captain and crew worthy of her, had struck 
 to an American captain who had never before 
 164 
 
ISAAC HULL 
 
 handled a frigate in action, was gratifying to the 
 national pride. Hull, to his great discomfiture, 
 was seized, as he stepped upon the dock, and car- 
 ried on the shoulders of his admirers to his des- 
 tination. A grand banquet was given to him and 
 his officers in Faneuil Hall. Congress had a 
 medal struck in his honor, and gave swords to 
 the officers and a handsome sum in prize money 
 to the crew. So great was Hull's popularity that 
 the commissioners of the navy would not have 
 taken the ship away from him, had he asked to 
 retain her, but with true magnanimity he gave 
 her up to Bainbridge. Hull knew that Bainbridge 
 was justly entitled to her, and he was not the man 
 to withhold anything from a brother in arms. 
 Bainbridge therefore took her, and went out and 
 captured the Java.^ 
 
 Hull was actively, though not brilliantly, em- 
 ployed during the rest of the war, but did not get 
 afloat again, as there were more captains than 
 frigates. In 1813 he married a beautiful girl, the 
 daughter of a clergyman. She had laughed at 
 his pretensions when he was only a lieutenant ; 
 but after his great cruise she said, when she knew 
 it would be repeated to Hull, " How delightful it 
 must be to be the wife of a hero ! " He took the 
 hint, and soon after they were married. 
 
 Hull's subsequent career was one of honor and 
 usefulness. He was a great hater of idleness, and 
 
 1 See the biography of Bainbridge. 
 165 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 often said, " Idleness will soon bring any man to 
 ruin." He had fine commands, both ashore and 
 afloat, and hoisted his broad pennant over sev- 
 eral splendid squadrons. In 1836 he commanded 
 the Mediterranean station. At Gibraltar he found 
 his old friend Dacres, then an admiral, also in 
 command of a squadron. The two met with de- 
 light. Admiral Dacres showed Commodore Hull 
 the greatest attention, and at a splendid dinner 
 given in his honor on the British flagship the 
 admiral told Mrs. Hull, who was present, the story 
 of the saving of his wife's Bible. Later, both of 
 them having been detached from their squadrons, 
 they were in Rome for a winter together, and were 
 inseparable. Admiral Dacres was a remarkably 
 tall, thin man, while Commodore Hull was some- 
 what the size and shape of a hogshead; and 
 the wags had infinite amusement over the queer 
 figures of these two heroic men. 
 
 On Commodore Hull's retirement he made his 
 home in Philadelphia. He always wore his uni- 
 form, and as he walked the streets every hat was 
 doffed to him, and the salute was courteously re- 
 turned. The end came in February, 1843. His 
 last words were, " I strike my flag," — words that 
 he had never before had occasion to utter. He 
 was a devout Christian, and during his whole life 
 he honestly lived up to the requirements of a 
 just and pious manhood. 
 
 166 
 
Charles Stewart 
 
CHARLES STEWART. 
 
 In the splendid galaxy of naval officers of the 
 early part of tlie century each one seems to have 
 gained some special distinction, equally brilliant, 
 but differing entirely from any other. Thus, as 
 Hull made the most remarkable escape on record, 
 and Decatur succeeded in the most daring enter- 
 prise, so Stewart may be credited with the most 
 superb seamanship in the one great fight that fell 
 to his lot, for with one ship, the glorious Con- 
 stitution, he fought two vessels at the same time, 
 raking them repeatedly, without once being raked 
 himself, and in the end forcing the surrender of 
 both his antagonists. 
 
 Charles Stewart was born in Philadelphia in 
 1778, and entered the merchant service at thir- 
 teen years of age. At twenty he had risen to the 
 command of a fine vessel in the India trade, but 
 on the reorganization of the navy in 1798 he was 
 given a naval commission. His rise in the navy 
 was rapid, as he was an accomplished seaman 
 when he joined it. After serving for a short 
 time as a midshipman, he was made the junior 
 lieutenant on the United States, frigate, when 
 she was commissioned at the beginning of hostili- 
 
 167 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 ties with France. With him on this cniise were 
 Decatur and Somers ; and, as Fenimore Cooper 
 aptly says, the noble frigate turned out to be a 
 nursery of heroes. 
 
 Stewart began the cruise as fourth, and ended 
 it as first, lieutenant. He was of commanding fig- 
 ure and of pleasing address, and his capacity was 
 such that from the first he was thought likely to 
 distinguish himself. 
 
 When the United States was laid up in ordi- 
 nary, Stewart was given the command of a small 
 schooner, the Experiment. In this little vessel he 
 showed much spirit and enterprise, making many 
 captures, and fighting whenever he had a chance. 
 
 Stewart was, like Decatur, of an impetuous and 
 even domineering disposition, and made every- 
 body under him " walk Spanish," as the sailors 
 said. But he himself knew how to obey promptly. 
 Once, having received a peremptory order from 
 his superior officer to report with his ship imme- 
 diately, Stewart sailed, towing his mainmast after 
 him, as he had not time to have it fitted and did 
 not choose to wait. 
 
 In 1803 he was sent to the Mediterranean with 
 the Siren, a beautiful little cruiser, as a part 
 of Commodore Preble's squadron destined to 
 reduce Tripoli. Stewart was the senior among 
 the commodore's " schoolboy captains," and second 
 in command to Commodore Preble himself. 
 
 Although he had no opportunity of performing 
 
 168 
 
CHARLES STEWART 
 
 deeds like Decatur's in the Tripolitan war, his 
 general good conduct was highly praised, and 
 the Siren was brilliantly engaged in all the 
 glorious actions of that famous time. At the 
 beginning of the war of 1812 Stewart was given 
 the command of the Constellation, frigate, which 
 shared with the Constitution the reputation of 
 being a lucky ship, — lucky in meeting and 
 whipping her enemies when the force was any- 
 thing like equal, and lucky in running away 
 when they were too many for her. Stewart 
 took command of this noble ship at Annapolis 
 in 1813. He was ordered to Norfolk, and took 
 the ship to Hampton Roads. He arrived and 
 anchored one night, and next morning at day- 
 light there were five British men-of-war in sight 
 of him. The Constellation endeavored to get 
 out of the way, and the British ships chased her, 
 but, the wind failing, both the pursuers and the 
 pursued were becalmed. Stewart, though, remem- 
 bering the Constitution's escape by kedging from 
 a British squadron, concluded it would never do 
 that the Constellation should not succeed equally 
 as well ; so, putting out his boats, the frigate 
 was kedged up toward Norfolk, until the tide 
 fell, and she took the ground at Seawell's Point, 
 not far from the present Fort Monroe. The mud 
 was soft, the ship's bottom was hard, and the 
 tide would rise ; so Stewart felt no alarm about 
 her. The British squadron were also waiting for 
 
 169 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 • 
 
 the tide, but they did not think that Stewart 
 would attempt to get his ship up the narrow and 
 tortuous channel to Norfolk. 
 
 They did not know Stewart, though. As soon 
 as the darkness of the winter night came, and 
 the tide began to lift the ship out of the mud, he 
 sent pilots ahead to buoy the channel with lights. 
 The ship, helped somewhat by the wind, but 
 towed by the boats, would go a mile or two up 
 to the nearest buoy, when that light would be 
 put out, and she would be headed for the next 
 one. So quietly was this done that the British 
 never suspected what was going on. But when 
 daylight came there was no Constellation to be 
 seen ; she was safe in the Elizabeth River. 
 
 The British determined to blockade her there, 
 and succeeded in doing so ; but although they 
 made several desperate attempts to carry her 
 by boarding, they never succeeded. Stewart had 
 her so well guarded with boats, and the boats 
 with a circle of booms, while the ship was pro- 
 tected with boarding netting, her guns kept double- 
 shotted, and her officers and crew always on the 
 alert, that her enemies themselves were forced to 
 admire the care taken of her. It was the joke 
 among the British officers that Stewart must be 
 a Scotchman, he was so wary and so watchful 
 with his ship ; and the British Admiral is said to 
 have remarked : " If that had been a French ship, 
 we would have had her long ago." 
 
 170 
 
CHARLES STEWART 
 
 Having satisfied himself that although the 
 Constellation could not be taken, yet it was un- 
 likely that she would get out during the war, 
 Stewart applied for and got the Constitution. 
 This was in 1814. The Constitution had then 
 made her celebrated escape from Admiral Broke's 
 squadron, and had destroyed the Guerriere and 
 the Java, — for when " Old Ironsides " got 
 through with an enemy, he was generally 
 past saving. It may be imagined with what 
 splendid hopes Stewart took the great ship after 
 she had been refitted at Boston. He got out, 
 although seven British ships blockaded Boston, 
 and sailed to the West Indies. He made a few 
 prizes, and took a small British cruiser ; but this 
 was not enough for the Constitution to do. 
 Stewart's disappointment with his cruise was 
 great, and it almost seemed as if the ship were 
 no longer to be a favorite of fortune, until she 
 was chased by two frigates, the Junon and the 
 Tenedos, off the Massachusetts coast. Stewart 
 had a good pilot aboard, and he made for Marble- 
 head under a spanking breeze, with the two 
 British frigates legging it briskly after him. The 
 Constitution drew about twenty-two feet of water, 
 and Stewart could not conceal his anxiety as 
 the pilot carried her along the dangerous coast, 
 and it seemed as if any moment slie might be 
 put on the rocks. The pilot, though, a cool- 
 headed, steady fellow, knew his business, and was 
 
 171 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 nettled at Stewart's evident uneasiness. The 
 British ships, not knowing the coast, declined to 
 follow, and were falling slightly astern; but it 
 looked as if the Constitution would only escape 
 one danger to be destroyed by another. Pres- 
 ently Stewart asked the pilot for the hundredth 
 time, — 
 
 " How many feet of water has she under her 
 keel now, pilot ?" 
 
 " Two," answered the pilot ; when, seeing 
 Stewart's countenance turn pale with apprehen- 
 sion, he added nonchalantly : " And afore long 
 she won't have but one ! " 
 
 The effect of this news upon the captain of a 
 war-ship may be imagined ; but in a moment or 
 two the ship slipped into deep water, and, carry- 
 ing sail hard, got into Marblehead safe and 
 sound, while cheering multitudes flocked to the 
 shore to welcome her. 
 
 In a few days Stewart succeeded in slipping 
 into Boston again, — the sixth time in the course 
 of the war that the ship had eluded the British 
 blockade. Stewart took up his berth in the upper 
 harbor, and as he was known to be a fighting 
 captain with a fighting ship, the State and city 
 authorities concluded that they would rather have 
 him a little fartlier off. Accordingly they asked 
 him to take his ship down into the lower harbor, 
 as, if the British blockading fleet attacked him 
 where he was, the cannonade would do great dam- 
 
 172 
 
CHARLES STEWART 
 
 age to the town. Stewart's reply to this request 
 was characteristic. He coolly informed them that 
 he should stay where he was, but it would make 
 very little difference to them where he lay, as, 
 " if attacked, I shall make such a defence as will 
 endanger the town." He recommended them to 
 build some additional batteries to defend the 
 town. The authorities had to be satisfied with 
 this reply ; but they took Stewart's advice, and 
 increased their batteries so that they were better 
 prepared than before to meet a bombardment, 
 should the British fleet treat them to one. 
 
 On the 17th of December, 1814, Stewart again 
 slipped past the blockading fleet, making the 
 seventh time the Constitution had done this, and 
 sailed on his last and greatest cruise. He had 
 lately been married, and it is said that he asked 
 his wife what he should bring home to her. She 
 replied, "A British frigate." Stewart replied, 
 " I will bring you two of them." He kept liis 
 promise. 
 
 Stewart was soon on the broad ocean. Noth- 
 ing of note happened until February, when one 
 morning, off the coast of Portugal, Stewart sud- 
 denly and from no reason he was able to give, 
 except an unaccountable impulse to proceed to a 
 certain spot in the Atlantic, changed the ship's 
 course and ran off sixty miles to the southwest. 
 At two o'clock in the afternoon of the 20th of 
 February, 1815, about sixty leagues southwest of 
 
 173 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 the Madeira islands, a small frigate, the Cjane, 
 was sighted, and a little later a large sloop-of- 
 war, the Levant. The Constitution immediately 
 gave chase, although it was thought that one of 
 the ships was much heavier than she really was, 
 as she had double gun-streaks and false ports 
 painted amidships, which the Americans, in 
 chasing, took for real guns and ports. 
 
 It soon became plain that the two ships were 
 bent on fighting, but they manoeuvred in a very 
 masterly manner for several hours, in order to 
 get together before trying conclusions with the 
 great frigate. At five minutes past six o'clock 
 they hove to and hoisted their ensigns, and the 
 Constitution replied by showing her colors. The 
 three sliips were arranged like the points of 
 an equilateral triangle, — a very advantageous 
 position for the two attacking ships, but one 
 which was turned by the superb seamanship of 
 Stewart to his own profit by what is commonly 
 esteemed to have been the finest manoeuvring 
 ever known of an American ship in action. 
 Stewart fought his port and starboard batteries 
 alternately, giving one of his antagonists a terrible 
 broadside, then wearing, and letting fly at the 
 other, raking them repeatedly, and handling his 
 ship in such a manner that neither the Levant nor 
 the Cyane ever got in a single raking broadside. 
 
 Soon after the action began, a full moon arose 
 in splendor, and by its radiance the battle went 
 
 174 
 
CHARLES STEWART 
 
 on stoutly. There was a good working breeze, 
 and the British captains handled their ships ad- 
 mirably, but "Old Ironsides" appeared to be 
 playing with tliem. She answered her helm 
 beautifully, and always presented her broadside 
 to the ship that attempted to approach her. 
 Soon both the British ships were suffering dread- 
 fully, and the leading ship, the sloop-of-war 
 Levant, was forced to wear under a raking broad- 
 side from the Constitution, and ran off to lee- 
 ward, unable to stand the lire. Having disposed 
 of her, the Constitution now turned her attention 
 to the other ship, the light frigate Cyaue, and 
 another raking broadside caused her to strike her 
 colors. Stewart at once sent Lieutenant Ballard 
 and a prize crew aboard of her, and after repair- 
 ing the slight damages his ship had sustained, 
 set off to look for the Levant. She too had 
 repaired damages, and, altliough free to escape, 
 was gallantly returning to meet her mighty an- 
 tagonist again. For a time the little Levant 
 bravely withstood the heavy frigate's fire, but at 
 last was forced to run away, the Constitution 
 pursuing her. The two ships were so close that 
 those in the Constitution could hear the planks 
 ripping on the Levant as the heavy shot tore 
 through her. At ten o'clock she was overhauled, 
 and forced to strike also, and tlie Constitution 
 liad gained the most brilliant and seamanlike of 
 all her victories. 
 
 175 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 The Constitution lost in this fight three men 
 killed and twelve wounded. The other two ships 
 lost, altogether, nineteen killed and forfcy-two 
 wounded. 
 
 The Constitution, with her two prizes, made 
 sail for Porto Pray a, where they arrived on the 
 10th of March. Next day, about twelve o'clock, 
 while the captured officers of the Cyane and 
 Levant were on the quarter-deck, the first lieu- 
 tenant, happening to pass along, heard a little 
 midshipman who had been taken on the Cyane 
 utter an exclamation to Captain Falcon, late of 
 the Cyane, — 
 
 ^' Oh, Captain Falcon," he cried, " look at the 
 large ship in the offing ! " 
 
 " Hold your tongue, you little rascal ! " an- 
 swered Captain Falcon, in a low voice. 
 
 The American lieutenant looked up and saw, 
 on the top of a fog bank that lay on the water, 
 the sails of a large ship. Indistinctly as she was 
 seen, the squareness and smartness of her rig in- 
 duced the lieutenant to think her a man-of-war. 
 Instantly he went below and told the captain. 
 Stewart, who was shaving, without stopping in 
 his occupation, directed him to call the men to 
 quarters, and make ready to go out and attack 
 the advancing ship. The lieutenant went on 
 deck, gave the order, and it was promptly 
 obeyed. The men were not surprised, because, 
 as they explained, a dog belonging to the ship 
 
 176 
 
CHARLES STEWART 
 
 had been drowned that day, and they knew they 
 would have to fight or run within twenty-four 
 hours. Then the lieutenant noticed that two 
 more ships had appeared above the fog-bank, 
 with the first one. He ran below to tell this to 
 Stewart, who was wiping his face and getting 
 into his uniform at the same time. 
 
 " Cut the cables," he said, " and signal the 
 prizes to do the same and follow us out." 
 
 In another minute he was on deck, and the 
 cables were cut, leaving the anchors at the 
 bottom, and sail was being made with perfect 
 order and marvellous rapidity. In fourteen min- 
 utes from the time the first ship had been seen, 
 and ten minutes from the time the Constitu- 
 tion's cable had been cut, the frigate was stand- 
 ing out of the roads under a cloud of canvas, 
 ready to fight or run, as occasion might require. 
 
 The trade winds were blowing, and the Con- 
 stitution, with her two prizes, passed within gun- 
 shot of the three strangers. Some of the English 
 prisoners who had been landed, manned a battery 
 on shore and opened fire on the Americans. This 
 and other circumstances revealed to the British 
 squadron that the three ships making out to sea 
 were American men-of-war, and they promptly 
 tacked and followed. 
 
 The British ships were the Acasta, of forty 
 guns, a very fast ship ; the Leander, of fifty 
 guns ; and the Newcastle, of fifty guns, all be- 
 
 12 177 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 longing to Admiral Sir George Collier's fleet. 
 The British officers, prisoners on the Constitu- 
 tion, became jubilant as the British ships gained 
 on the Constitution with her two prizes, and 
 promised the Americans that " Kerr in the 
 Acasta" would soon overhaul the Americans. 
 One of the British captains, standing in the 
 stern gallery, called out as the Acasta neared 
 the Constitution, " Captain Kerr, I envy you 
 your glory this day ! " 
 
 Stewart, with his men at quarters and every 
 rag of canvas set that would draw, was edging 
 off, but prepared to fight the three heavy frigates 
 with the Constitution and the two smaller ships 
 if obliged to. He signalled the Cyane and 
 the Levant to take different courses, so that 
 the British squadron might divide in pursuit. 
 This was done, and to the amazement of the 
 Americans and the painful chagrin of the British 
 prisoners the Acasta suddenly went about in 
 pursuit of the Levant, which, by a singular mis- 
 take, was supposed to be a heavy American frig- 
 ate ; the other two ships followed, while the 
 Constitution was trotting off at an eleven-knot 
 gait. 
 
 The Levant put back to Porto Praya, which 
 was a neutral port ; but the three frigates, after 
 chasing her in, opened fire on her, and her com- 
 mander, Lieutenant Ballard, of the Constitu- 
 tion, hauled down his flag. He had his revenge, 
 
 178 
 
CHARLES STEWART 
 
 though. When the British prize-master came 
 on board to take possession of the Levant, he 
 said, " This is, I presume, the American man-of- 
 war Peacock." "You are mistaken, sir," replied 
 Ballard coolly ; " this is the Levant, late of his 
 Britannic Majesty's navy, and prize to tlie United 
 States ship Constitution." 
 
 The commander of the British squadron was 
 censured at home for his mistake in leaving tlie 
 Constitution that he might go in pursuit of 
 the smaller ship ; and the affair on the part of 
 the British was thought to have been bungled 
 to the last degree. 
 
 Stewart carried the grand old ship into New 
 York the middle of May, and then learned that 
 peace had been made many months before. 
 
 He was received with acclamations. The peo- 
 ple by that time had come to believe the ship 
 invincible. Besides her glorious career before 
 Tripoli, she had made two extraordinary escapes 
 from British squadrons. She had run the block- 
 ade seven times through large British fleets. She 
 had captured two heavy frigates, one light frig- 
 ate, a large sloop-of-war, and many merchant- 
 ships, and had made more than eleven hundred 
 prisoners. Her fire had always been fearfully 
 destructive, while she had never had any great 
 slaughter on her decks, nine being the largest 
 number killed in any single engagement. She 
 had never lost her commanding officer, either by 
 
 179 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 wounds or death, had never lost a mast, and had 
 never taken the ground. This record is not one 
 of chance. She was, first, one of the best built 
 frigates in the world ; and, second, she was offi- 
 cered and manned in a surprisingly good manner. 
 Her crews were generally made up wholly of 
 American seamen, and her four great command- 
 ers during her warlike career — Preble, Hull, 
 Bainbridge, and Stewart — would have given a 
 good account of any ships they might have com- 
 manded. 
 
 Congress rewarded Stewart by a gold medal 
 and a resolution of thanks. His officers received 
 silver medals, and there was the usual distri- 
 bution of prize-money among the officers and 
 crew. 
 
 Stewart had a long and distinguished career in 
 the navy, rising in 1859 to be senior officer ; but 
 his fighting days were his early days. He com- 
 manded the Franklin in 1817, a splendid line- 
 of-battle ship, and took her to Europe under his 
 broad pennant as Commodore. She was visited 
 by the Emperor of Austria, and many royal per- 
 sons, besides officers of high rank in foreign 
 navies, all of whom were struck with admiration 
 at her beauty, force, and the fine crew she car- 
 ried. Stewart was retired in 1861, and spent his 
 last days at his country-place, " Old Ironsides," 
 in New Jersey. Among the souvenirs of his great 
 fight was a rude iron hilt to his full-dress sword, 
 
 180 
 
CHARLES STEWART 
 
 a superb Toledo blade. The gold hilt had been 
 shot away in his great fight, and the ship's ar- 
 morer had made an iron one, which Stewart after- 
 ward wore. 
 
 He died in 1869, after having been borne on the 
 navy list for seventy-one years, and he was the 
 last survivor of the great captains of 1812-15. 
 
 181 
 
OLIVER HAZARD PERRY. 
 
 The victory won by Perry on Lake Erie, Sep- 
 tember 10, 1813, has ever been one of great popu- 
 lar renown. It was won in the sight and knowl- 
 edge of the American people ; it was the first 
 success the American navy ever won in squad- 
 ron; the consequences were important; and the 
 fact that the battle was won on the Canadian 
 line, where the American army had met with 
 reverses, was gratifying to the national vanity. 
 
 Perry's youth — he was barely eight-and-twenty 
 — was a captivating element in his success, and 
 as the victory was due in a great measure to his 
 personal intrepidity, he was justly admired for it. 
 He cannot be classed with those American com- 
 manders, like Paul Jones, Preble, Decatur, and 
 Hull, who, either in meeting danger or escaping 
 from it, seemed able to compass the impossible ; 
 but he was a man of good talents, of admirable 
 coolness and courage, and prone to seek active 
 duty and to do it. 
 
 Perry was born in Rhode Island in 1785. His 
 father was a captain in the infant navy of the 
 country, as it was reorganized at the time of the 
 French aggressions. Captain Perry's first duty 
 
 182 
 
Oli\i:u U. Perky 
 
OLIVER HAZARD PERRY 
 
 was to supervise the building of a vessel of war at 
 Warren, Rhode Island, some distance from his 
 home. He found it necessary to remove to War- 
 ren, and took with him Mrs. Perry, leaving the 
 home-place in charge of Oliver, then a boy of thir- 
 teen. He was, even then, a boy of so much 
 steadiness and integrity that he was found quite 
 equal to this task. The fever for the sea, though, 
 seems to have seized him about that time, and in 
 1799, his father having command of a small 
 frigate, the General Greene, Oliver was given a 
 midshipman's commission, and joined his father's 
 ship. Captain Perry was an officer of spirit and 
 enterprise, and Oliver saw some real, if not war- 
 like, service in the General Greene. 
 
 His next cruise was in the Adams, frigate, 
 which was sent out in 1802 to join Commodore 
 Morris's squadron at Gibraltar. The orders of 
 the squadron were to watch the ships of the 
 Barbary powers, and to prevent as far as possi- 
 ble their aggressions upon American commerce. 
 This was hard and thankless work, and most of 
 the younger officers who made the Mediterranean 
 cruise in 1802-3 considered themselves as pecu- 
 liarly unfortunate, as they were generally ordered 
 to return to the United States just at the time 
 that the active hostilities began, in which their 
 successors reaped so much glory. Perry was one 
 of those who made the uneventful cruise of 1802. 
 He enjoyed great advantages, though, in sailing 
 
 183 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 on a ship of which Isaac Hull, afterward the cele- 
 brated commodore, was first lieutenant. Hull's 
 admirable seamanship in navigating the narrow 
 straits of Gibraltar in all weathers, and the block- 
 ading of Tripoli for eight months during an in- 
 clement season, upon a dangerous coast, without 
 pilots and with insufficient charts, was a subject 
 of general commendation from the officers of the 
 squadron. Perry improved his opportunities so 
 well that he was given an appointment as act- 
 ing lieutenant the day he was seventeen years 
 old. It is believed that this is the most 
 rapid instance of promotion in the American 
 navy. 
 
 Perry returned home in the Adams in the 
 autumn of 1803. The next summer it was 
 known that a determined attempt would be made 
 by Preble's squadron to reduce the Barbary 
 powers, and Perry was extremely anxious to be 
 on the scene of action. He found himself ordered 
 to the Constellation, in the squadron under Com- 
 modore Barron which was sent out to assist 
 Preble ; but the Constellation and the Presi- 
 dent, forty-four guns, did not reach Tripoli until 
 Preble had practically completed the work. 
 Perry remained in the Constellation several 
 months ; but as she was too large to be of much 
 service on that coast. Perry thought himself for- 
 tunate to be ordered to the schooner Nautilus, 
 of fourteen guns, as first lieutenant. This was 
 
 184 
 
OLIVER HAZARD PERRY 
 
 his first duty in that responsible capacity, and he 
 acquitted himself well, although only twenty years 
 old. He had a beautiful and penetrating voice, 
 and this, in addition to his other qualifications, 
 made him a brilliant deck officer. 
 
 He took part in the operations off Derne, and 
 was highly commended for his conduct. In the 
 autumn of 1806 he returned home, and served at 
 home stations until 1809, when he got his first 
 command. This was a smart little schooner, the 
 Revenge, of fourteen guns. 
 
 At that time the occurrences which led to the 
 war of 1812-15 were taking place, and Perry 
 soon had a chance to show his determination to 
 maintain the dignity of the flag he flew. An 
 American vessel had been run away with by the 
 English captain who commanded her and who 
 had hoisted British colors over her. Perry deter- 
 mined to take possession of her, although two 
 small British cruisers lay near her. This he did, 
 supported by three gunboats. The British 
 cruisers, appreciating the justice of his conduct, 
 did not interfere, although Perry had no means of 
 knowing whether they would or not and took all 
 the chances. As he was carrying the vessel off, 
 he was met by a British sloop-of-war, and her 
 captain sent a boat, with a request that Perry 
 should come aboard. This Perry flatly refused, 
 and, determined that his sliip should not be caught 
 unprepared as the Leopard caught the Chesa- 
 
 185 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 peake in 1807,^ he sent his men to quarters, 
 and made every preparation to resist; but the 
 British ship passed on, and no collision occurred. 
 In January, 1811, Perry had the misfortune to 
 lose the Eevenge by shipwreck off Watch Hill, 
 in Rhode Island ; but the court of inquiry which 
 investigated it acquitted him of blame, and 
 praised his conduct at the time of the accident. 
 
 When war was declared with Great Britain, 
 Perry was in command of a division of gunboats 
 at Newport ; but finding there was little chance 
 of seeing active service in that duty, he asked to 
 be sent to the lakes, where Commodore Chauncey 
 was preparing to dispute the possession of those 
 great inland seas with the British. 
 
 In the spring of 1813 Perry arrived at Lake 
 Erie, and entered upon his duties. The small fleet 
 to oppose the British had to be constructed in 
 the wilderness, on the shores of the lake ; and 
 men and material had to be transported at great 
 labor and cost from the seaboard. 
 
 Perry showed the utmost skill, energy, and vig- 
 ilance in his arduous work, and built and equipped 
 his little squadron in a manner most creditable to 
 himself and his subordinates. 
 
 The land forces, operating together with the 
 seamen and marines, got command of the Niagara 
 River ; but a little British squadron guarded the 
 mouth of the river, at which there was a bar 
 
 1 See the biography of James Lawrence. 
 186 
 
OLIVER HAZARD PERRY 
 
 wliicli it was thought unlikely the Americans 
 could pass and so get into the lake itself. Perry, 
 however, watched his chance, and on a Sunday 
 afternoon in August, 1813, to his surprise, he 
 found the British squadron had disappeared. It 
 was said that the British commander, Barclay, 
 had gone over to the Canadian side to attend a 
 dinner, thinking the Americans could not possibly 
 get over the bar before his return. But Perry and 
 his officers and men went to work, and by the 
 most arduous labor they got all the vessels into 
 the lake before Captain Barclay returned. Once 
 in the lake, the Americans were much stronger 
 than the British, and Perry determined to go in 
 search of the enemy. He had much sickness on 
 his little squadron, and was ill himself, so that it 
 was not until early in September that he was pre- 
 pared to fight. Meanwhile the British, although 
 having only six vessels to oppose to Perry's nine, 
 undauntedly sought the conflict, and on the morn- 
 ing of the 10th of September, while Perry was in 
 Put-in-Bay, he saw the little British squadron 
 standing in the offing. Perry had two brigs, 
 the Lawrence, — his own flagship, named for 
 the brave Lawrence, — and the Niagara, each of 
 which carried twenty guns ; and he had five 
 smaller vessels. Captain Barclay had the Detroit, 
 — his flagship, of nineteen guns, — the Queen 
 Charlotte, of seventeen guns, and four smaller 
 vessels. 
 
 187 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 The wind was light and variable, so that the 
 American vessels came out slowly ; but the little 
 British squadron waited with their topsails to the 
 mast, until a quarter to twelve, when the first 
 shot was fired by the Detroit. In a very little 
 while the action became general, each American 
 and British vessel bravely doing its best to get 
 alongside its enemy. It was the effort of the 
 gallant commanders of the American and British 
 squadrons to fight flagship to flagship; and in 
 doing this. Perry, in the Lawrence, drew ahead of 
 his column, and concentrated upon his ship the 
 fire from the Detroit and two other vessels. The 
 British fought their batteries with unusual skill, 
 and the result soon was that a dreadful slaughter 
 took place on the Lawrence's decks, her guns 
 were silenced, and she was so much cut up that 
 she was totally unmanageable. But Perry, with 
 indomitable courage, continued the fight. He 
 himself, with the help of the purser and the chap- 
 lain, fired the last gun available on the Lawrence. 
 Her consort, the Niagara, approached about this 
 time, the wind sprang up, and Perry, seeing that 
 the battle was passing ahead of him, determined 
 to abandon his own unfortunate ship and make 
 for the Niagara. He ordered a boat lowered, 
 and, taking with him his brother, a little midship- 
 man of thirteen years old, he was rapidly pulled 
 to the Niagara. Once on board of her, he bore 
 up, and soon got her into a position to rake both 
 
 188 
 
OLIVER HAZARD PERRY 
 
 the Detroit and the Queen Charlotte with fearful 
 effect. These two vessels, after an heroic defence, 
 were compelled to strike, while the seven smaller 
 American gunboats soon overpowered the four 
 British ones. The Detroit, however, before strik- 
 ing had forced the Lawrence to haul down her 
 colors; and the fight, as all the others during this 
 war, was as creditable to British as to American 
 valor. 
 
 The first news of the victory was in Perry's 
 celebrated despatch : " We have met the enemy, 
 and they are ours." The news from the Canadian 
 border had not always been gratifying, and on 
 that account the American people were the more 
 delighted at this success. Perry was given a 
 gold medal and promoted to be a post-captain ; 
 for although he had been called commodore by 
 courtesy, such was not his real rank at the 
 time. 
 
 Perry had no further opportunity of distinguish- 
 ing himself before peace was declared, in January, 
 1815. He obtained afterward some of the best 
 commands in the navy, and in March, 1819, he 
 became a commodore in fact, by being given the 
 command of a squadron in South America des- 
 tined to protect American trade in those quar- 
 ters. He hoisted his broad pennant on the John 
 Adams, and sailed in June. He reached the 
 mouth of the Orinoco River in August, and, al- 
 though it was in the midst of the sickly season, 
 
 189 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 he determined to go up the river to Angostura. 
 He shifted his flag to the Nonesuch, schooner, 
 and sent the frigate to Trinidad. 
 
 After reaching Angostura he remained twenty 
 days. Yellow fever was raging, and Perry seems 
 to have been singularly indifferent to this fact. 
 Fever broke out on the schooner, and it was then 
 determined to get back to the sea as soon as pos- 
 sible. As they dropped down the river with the 
 powerful current two days after leaving Angos- 
 tura, Perry got into his gig, and amused himself 
 shooting wildfowl on the banks. He was exposed 
 to the sun, and that night, after going aboard the 
 schooner, which was anchored on the bar at the 
 mouth of the river, the weather grew bad, with a 
 heavy sea, which washed over the side and leaked 
 down into Perry's cabin, drenching him. Next 
 morning he was very ill. 
 
 From the first he felt that he should not re- 
 cover, and, although calmly preparing for death, 
 spoke often of his young wife and little children 
 at home. He was very anxious to live until the 
 schooner could reach Trinidad and he could, at 
 least, die upon his ship. At last, on the 23d of 
 August, the Nonesuch reached Port Spain, Trini- 
 dad, where the John Adams was at anchor. A 
 boat put off at once from the frigate carrying 
 the first lieutenant and other officers, in response 
 to the signal from the schooner. They found 
 Perry in the agonies of death on the floor of 
 
 190 
 
OLIVER HAZARD PERRY 
 
 the little cabin. He survived long enough to 
 show satisfaction at seeing them, and asked feebly 
 about the ship ; but in a little while the anxious 
 watchers on the frigate saw the flag on the 
 Nonesuch slowly half-masted, — Perry was no 
 more. 
 
 He was buried at Trinidad with full military 
 honors. Some years afterward a ship of war was 
 sent by the government to bring back his remains 
 to his native country. He sleeps at Newport, 
 Rhode Island, near the spot where he was born ; 
 and the reputation he left behind him is that of 
 a gallant, capable, and devoted officer. 
 
 191 
 
THOMAS MACDONOUGH. 
 
 Thomas Macdonough may be called the Young 
 Commodore ; for he was an acting commodore at 
 the age of thirty-one, when the modern naval 
 officer is still in subordinate grades of rank. It 
 is truly astonishing what wonders were accom- 
 plished by men in their first manhood in the 
 early days of the American navy, and Macdonough 
 had seen as much service as most veterans before 
 his twenty-first birthday. He was a son of a 
 Revolutionary officer, and was born in Delaware 
 in 1783. His diffident and retiring disposition 
 was early marked. Fenimore Cooper speaks of 
 him in his midshipman days as " the modest but 
 lion-hearted Macdonough." The words describe 
 him admirably ; for this quiet, silent midshipman 
 was always to be found leading the forlorn hope, 
 — " the lost children," as the French expressively 
 call it. 
 
 Indeed, Macdonough's character as an officer 
 and a man is as nearly perfect as can be ima- 
 gined ; and when his great talents are considered, 
 he may well be held as a type of what the Amer- 
 ican naval officer should be. He entered the 
 navy in 1800, when he was seventeen, which was 
 
 192 
 
Thomas Macdonough 
 
THOMAS MACDONOUGH 
 
 rather old for a midshipman in those days. He 
 had enjoyed a good education for his years, and 
 remained a close student all his life. He was 
 deeply but not obtrusively religious, and no hu- 
 man being ever heard a low or profane word 
 from his lips. 
 
 Such a young man as Thomas Macdonough 
 must make his mark early, and from the first his 
 commanding officers reposed the greatest confi- 
 dence in him. He was ordered to the Philadel- 
 phia, under Captain Bainbridge, when Commo- 
 dore Preble went out in 1803 to reduce the Afri- 
 can pirates. He happened to have been detached 
 from the Philadelphia and in command of a 
 prize at Gibraltar when the unfortunate ship went 
 upon the rocks near Tripoli, October 31, 1803, 
 and he thus escaped the long captivity of his 
 shipmates. He reported promptly to Commo- 
 dore Preble, and was assigned to the Enterprise, 
 schooner, under Decatur, then a young lieutenant 
 commandant of less than twenty-five years. It 
 may be imagined that no officer in the Mediter- 
 ranean squadron felt a more ardent desire than 
 Macdonough to rescue Bainbridge and his men 
 and to destroy the Philadelphia. 
 
 At last Decatur organized his celebrated ex- 
 pedition in the ketch Intrepid, and among the 
 eleven officers he selected for that glorious enter- 
 prise was Macdonough. At that time Macdonough 
 was still a midshipman. He was tall and very 
 
 13 193 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 slender, never having been physically strong ; but 
 he was, even then, a man for the post of danger. 
 
 The ketch set off on the 3d of February from 
 Syracuse and returned on the 19th, having in 
 that time entered the well-guarded harbor of 
 Tripoli by night, burned the Philadelphia at 
 her moorings, and escaped without losing a man. 
 Macdonough was the third man on the Phila- 
 delphia's deck, and was especially active in his 
 work of distributing the powder for the ship's 
 destruction in her storerooms aft. No officer in 
 that glorious expedition conducted himself better 
 than Macdonough ; and when it is remembered 
 that Decatur commanded it, that James Lawrence 
 was one of his lieutenants, and Charles Morris, 
 who was afterward Captain HulPs first lieutenant 
 in the escape of the Constitution and the capture 
 of the Guerriere, was one of the midshipmen, it 
 will be seen that Macdonough was measured by 
 no common standard. 
 
 Macdonough shared in all the glory of those 
 splendid campaigns, and received the thanks and 
 commendations of his superiors, besides promo- 
 tion. In 1806 he was made first lieutenant of the 
 Siren, one of the smart brigs that had done 
 good service during the Tripolitan war. She was 
 at Gibraltar, where the British navy is always 
 very much in evidence ; and Macdonough, the mild 
 and forbearing, soon had a chance of showing the 
 stuff that was in him. One day, while his com- 
 
 194 
 
THOMAS MACDONOUGH 
 
 manding officer, Captain Smith, was on shore, 
 Macdonoiigh noticed a boat going from a heavy 
 British frigate that lay close to an American 
 merchant vessel. When the boat repassed the 
 Siren, on her way back to the frigate, she car- 
 ried one more man than she had on leaving the 
 frigate. In those days, if a British captain sus- 
 pected an American merchant vessel of having a 
 British subject among the crew, it was common 
 enough to seize the man, and when once on board 
 a British ship, it mattered little whether he were 
 American or British, there he had to stay. Mac- 
 donough suspected this to be the case, and sent 
 a boat to the brig to ask if a man had been 
 taken and if he were an American. Such was 
 actually reported. Macdonough at once ordered 
 the first cutter lowered, and although she pulled 
 only four oars and the British boat pulled eight, 
 he set off in pursuit. He did not catch up with 
 the British boat until she was directly under the 
 frigate's quarter, and the man in the bow had 
 raised his boat-hook. Suddenly Macdonough 
 reached forward, and, catching hold of the pris- 
 oner, who sat in the stern sheets, lifted him 
 bodily into the American boat, and before the 
 British could believe their eyes, was well started 
 on his way back to the Siren. 
 
 The captain of the frigate had seen the whole 
 affair, and in a rage he jumped into a boat and 
 headed for the Siren. When he reached her the 
 
 195 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 men of the cutter had gone aboard, and the 
 young lieutenant was calmly walking the quarter- 
 deck. The captain angrily demanded the man, 
 and asked if Macdonough knew the responsibility 
 he was taking upon himself in Captain Smith's 
 absence. 
 
 " I will not give up the man, and I am account- 
 able only to the captain of this ship," replied 
 Macdonough. 
 
 *' I could blow you out of the water at this 
 moment," said the captain. 
 
 " No doubt you are perfectly able to do it," an- 
 swered Macdonough ; " but I will never give up 
 that man as long as this ship will float." 
 
 *' You are a very indiscreet and a very young 
 man," continued the captain. " Suppose I had 
 been in the boat just now ? " 
 
 " I would have taken the man or lost my life." 
 
 " What, sir ! " cried the captain ; " would you 
 dare to stop me now if I were to get hold of the 
 man ? " 
 
 " I would, and you have only to try it," was 
 Macdonough's undaunted reply. 
 
 The captain, seeing nothing was to be got out 
 of the resolute young lieutenant, left the ship, 
 but was pulled toward the merchant ship. Mac- 
 donough had a boat lowered which followed the 
 British boat, watching her until she returned to 
 the frigate. This action not only won the good 
 opinion of the captain and other officers and men 
 
 196 
 
THOMAS MACDONOUGH 
 
 of the Siren, but of many of the British officers 
 as well, who knew how to respect a man of such 
 resohite courage. 
 
 Macdonough was ever afterward treated with 
 the utmost consideration and politeness by all the 
 British officers at Gibraltar, including the officers 
 of the overbearing captain. 
 
 At the outbreak of the war with Great Britain 
 Macdonough was what was then termed a master 
 commandant. His was not the fortune of Deca- 
 tur, Stewart, and others of his brave shipmates 
 to seek for glory on the wide ocean, but he was 
 sent into the wilderness, as it were, to create a 
 navy, and to fight the British on the great lakes. 
 He established himself with his seamen and work- 
 men on the shores of Lake Champlain, and be- 
 gan immediately the construction of a fleet. 
 Officers and men worked with the greatest ardor, 
 and the commodore, as Macdonough was now 
 called by courtesy, might often have been seen 
 handling the saw and plane. A corvette, called 
 the Saratoga, and meant for the commodore's 
 flagship, was begun, with several smaller vessels ; 
 and so rapidly did they advance that only a few 
 weeks from the time the trees were cut down in 
 the forest the vessels were launched and being 
 made ready for their guns. These had to be 
 dragged many hundreds of miles through a path- 
 less wilderness, such as the northern and western 
 part of New York was then. It was difficult, but 
 
 197 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 still it could be done. When it came to trans- 
 porting the cables, though, a point was reached, 
 about forty miles from the lake shore where the 
 vessels were building, when it seemed impossible 
 to move a step farther. There were no roads, 
 and the cables had been brought in ox-wagons, 
 which now came to a complete standstill. No 
 one knew what to do until an old sailor proposed 
 that they should stretch each cable its whole 
 length, and men, stationed ten yards apart, should 
 shoulder it and carry it the forty miles remaining ; 
 and this was actually done. 
 
 Meanwhile the British had not been idle, and 
 they too, on the other side of the lake, had built 
 a frigate, called the Confiance, that was heavier 
 than the Saratoga, and they had other smaller 
 vessels. Their commanding officer, Captain 
 Downie, was a worthy antagonist of Commodore 
 Macdonough, and about the same age, while the 
 British vessels were manned by seasoned sailors, 
 many of whom had served under Nelson and 
 CoUingwood. 
 
 Early in September, 1814, both squadrons being 
 ready to fight. Commodore Macdonough chose his 
 position with a seaman's eye, in Plattsburg bay. 
 He knew that his enemy would hunt for him 
 wherever he might be, and he chose to fight 
 at anchor, rightly supposing that the British, 
 through their greater experience, could conduct 
 the evolutions of a squadron better than the 
 
 198 
 
THOMAS MACDONOUGH 
 
 Americans ; for, while none could be more dar- 
 ing in action than Macdonough, none was more 
 prudent beforehand. The exact knowledge he 
 had of the elements for and against him explains 
 much of his success. 
 
 On the night of the 9th of September, in the 
 midst of storm and tempest, the American squad- 
 ron made its way up the lake to Plattsburg har- 
 bor. The next morning saw it anchored in the 
 admirable order devised by Commodore Mac- 
 donough's genius. The flagship, Saratoga, the 
 heaviest ship in the squadron, was in the middle 
 of the line. Ahead of her was ranged the gun- 
 brig Eagle, commanded by Captain Cassin, who 
 had been one of Commodore Preble's midship- 
 men with Macdonough, eleven years before. The 
 Eagle had shoal water off her beam, so that the 
 head of the line could not be turned. On the 
 other side of the Saratoga was the Ticonderoga, 
 a small sloop-of-war, while beyond her was the 
 little Preble, named for the great commodore, 
 who was no more. There were, besides, ten 
 small gunboats, of which the Eagle was sup- 
 ported by two, the Saratoga by three, the Ticon- 
 deroga by two, while the remaining two were to 
 assist the Preble in defending the end of the line. 
 All of the vessels were riding easily at anchor, 
 and all of them were provided with springs to 
 their anchors and kedges, to enable them to 
 change their position at will. The wisdom of 
 
 199 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 this precaution was shown on the great day for 
 which they were prepared. 
 
 On the 11th of September. 1814, a brilliant 
 Sunday morning, just at sunrise, the dazzling 
 white topsails of the British fleet were seen pass- 
 ing along the neck of land called Cumberland 
 Head, which juts into the bay. The American 
 guard-boat pulled in, all hands were called to 
 quarters in the American squadron, and an Amer- 
 ican ensign was set at every masthead. Then on 
 board the flagship was made the signal for divine 
 service, and Commodore Macdonough, kneeling 
 upon his quarterdeck, surrounded by his officers 
 and in hearing of his men, with every head bared, 
 read the prayers appointed to be read before a fight 
 at sea. After this brief but solemn act all awaited 
 the onset with steadiness and cheerfulness. 
 
 It had been suggested to him that he should 
 issue an extra allowance of grog to the men, but 
 he replied, — 
 
 " No. My men shall go cool into action ; they 
 need no stimulant beyond their native valor." 
 
 The American vessels were so skilfully moored 
 that no matter from what quarter the wind was, 
 the British were obliged to approach them " bows 
 on," a very dangerous way to attack a bold and 
 skilful enemy. 
 
 The British rounded the headland in noble 
 style. The Confiance was leading, her brave 
 commander. Captain Downie, fatally conspicu- 
 
 200 
 
THOMAS MACDONOUGH 
 
 ous on her deck, his breast covered with medals 
 gloriously earned. Following her, came three 
 smaller vessels, the Finch, the Chubb, and the 
 Linnet, and twelve gunboats, carrying both sol- 
 diers and sailors, and each armed with a single 
 long eighteen-pound carronade. 
 
 As the four British ships, each on the same 
 tack, neared the American line, the Eagle sud- 
 denly roared out a broadside. The shot fell 
 short, and the British squadron came on, with 
 majestic steadiness, without replying, until the 
 Linnet was abreast of the Ticonderoga. Then 
 the Linnet let fly a broadside, of which every 
 shot dropped into the water except one. This 
 one shot, though, struck a chicken-coop on the 
 Ticonderoga's deck and smashed it, letting out 
 a young game-cock, a pet with the Ticonderoga's 
 men. The game-cock, delighted to get his 
 liberty, jumped upon a gun-slide and uttered 
 a long, loud, and defiant crow at the British 
 vessel, which he seemed to think had directed 
 her whole broadside at him. The Americans 
 burst into three ringing cheers, that shook the 
 deck, delighted with the game-cock's courage, 
 which he proved further by flying up into the 
 rigging and crowing vociferously all the time the 
 British were advancing. 
 
 The Confiance came on steadily until just 
 abreast of the Saratoga, when Commodore Mac- 
 donough himself, sighting a twenty-four pounder, 
 
 201 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 fired the first effective gun of the battle. It struck 
 the Confiance near the hawse-hole, and ranged the 
 whole length of her deck, doing fearful damage 
 and splintering her wheel. A terrible broad- 
 side followed; but the Confiance as if disdain- 
 ing to answer, moved proudly on to engage at 
 close quarters, and not until the wind became 
 light and baffiiug did she port her helm about two 
 cables' length from the Saratoga. Then she 
 opened upon the corvette. Her guns were double- 
 shotted, and their effect at close range, in a per- 
 fectly smooth sea, was frightful. Meanwhile the 
 Linnet and the Chubb had taken position abeam 
 of the Eagle, and attacked her w^ith great fury. 
 The gunboats had fallen upon the little Preble, 
 and soon drove her out of line, when with the 
 Finch they concentrated their fire upon the Ti- 
 conderoga. The gallant little brig gave them 
 plenty to do, and stubbornly defended the end 
 of the line. At one moment the gunboats would 
 advance upon her, the men standing up ready 
 to board her, and would be beaten off in the 
 act of entering her ports or springing upon her 
 decks. Then they would haul off and pour round 
 after round of grapeshot into her. Still the little 
 vessel held out. Captain Cassin was seen coolly 
 walking the taff'rail, a target for every shot, but 
 he escaped without a wound, as if by a miracle. 
 At one time all the matches gave out in the divi- 
 sion of guns commanded by midshipman Pauld- 
 
 202 
 
THOMAS MACDONOUGH 
 
 ing.i This young officer, who was an acting lieu- 
 tenant, although only sixteen years old, had the 
 wit and readiness to fire his guns by snapping his 
 pistol at the touch-hole. 
 
 Nothing could exceed the determined valor with 
 which the Saratoga and the Confiance kept up 
 the fight. The Linnet presently turned her 
 attention to the Saratoga, and poured one rak- 
 ing broadside into her after another, besides 
 what she had to take from the Confiance. The 
 brave Captain Downie had been mortally wounded 
 early in the engagement, but the ship was still 
 admirably fought. On the Saratoga three times 
 the cry went up that Commodore Macdonough 
 was killed, for three times was he knocked 
 senseless to the deck ; but each time he rose, 
 none the worse except for a few cuts and 
 bruises. 
 
 The guns on the engaged side of the Sara- 
 toga became disabled one by one, by the long 
 twenty-fours in the main-deck battery of the 
 Confiance, which, though suffering from the 
 musketry fire of the Americans, was yet doing 
 magnificent work. At last but a single gun of 
 the starboard batteries of the Saratoga remained 
 serviceable, and in firing it the bolt broke, the 
 gun flew off the carriage, and actually tumbled 
 down the hatchway. 
 
 The ship was afire in several places, due to the 
 
 1 Afterward Kear-Admiral Paulding. 
 203 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 hot shot poured into her by the Confiance, one- 
 fourth of her men were killed, and she had not a 
 gun available on her engaged side ; while both 
 the Confiance and the Linnet were giving her 
 one raking broadside after another. In this 
 awful extremity Commodore Macdonough deter- 
 mined to wind his ship, which means to turn 
 the ship completely around so that she could use 
 her uninjured batteries. This difficult but bril- 
 liant manoeuvre was executed with the utmost 
 coolness, and soon she sprung a new broadside 
 on the Confiance. The Confiance attempted 
 the same manoeuvre, but she only got partly 
 round, when she hung with her head to the 
 wind, in a terrible position, where the fresh bat- 
 teries of the Saratoga raked her fore and aft. 
 No ship could stand this long and live ; and after 
 two hours of as desperate fighting as was ever 
 seen, the Confiance was forced to haul down 
 her colors. 
 
 By that time the Finch had been driven out 
 of the fight, and the Chubb had been shot 
 wholly to pieces. The little Linnet, though, 
 alone and single-handed, undauntedly sustained 
 the fight, hoping that some of the gunboats 
 might be able to tow her off. But when the 
 Saratoga had finished with the Confiance, with- 
 out a moment's loss of time, she turned her 
 broadside on the Linnet, and soon forced her to 
 strike, with her hull ridd^led like a sieve, her 
 
 204 
 
THOMAS MACDONOUGH 
 
 masts gone, and the water a foot deep in her 
 hold. By midday all was over, and of the six- 
 teen British ensigns that had fluttered proudly in 
 the morning air, not one remained. It was one 
 of the most destructive naval engagements ever 
 fought. In Commodore Macdonough's official 
 report, he says there was not a mast left in either 
 squadron on which sail could be made. Some of 
 the British sailors had been at Trafalgar, and they 
 all agreed that the fighting of that 11th of Sep- 
 tember had been more severe than at Trafalgar. 
 
 The American sailors fought with extraordi- 
 nary coolness, and many amusing as well as 
 terrible and inspiring things occurred. One old 
 sailor on the Saratoga, who had worked and fought 
 all during the battle and had been slightly wounded 
 several times, was seen mopping his face de- 
 lightedly while calling out to one of his messmates, 
 " Ay, Jack, this is the best fun I 've had this war." 
 
 Another, getting a shot through his glazed hat, 
 took it off, and, turning to an officer, said in a 
 tone of bitter complaint, " Look a-here, sir ; them 
 Johnny Bulls has spiled my hat. Now, what am 
 I going to do for a hat ? " 
 
 As soon as the Linnet struck, the British 
 officers, led by Captain Bring, who succeeded 
 Captain Downie in command, came aboard the 
 Saratoga to deliver their swords. All the Ameri- 
 can officers were assembled on her quarterdeck, 
 and as^the British officers approached Commo- 
 
 205 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 dore Macdonough with their swords extended, 
 he said, with deep feeling, — 
 
 " Gentlemen, your gallant conduct makes you 
 the more worthy to wear your swords. Return 
 them to their scabbards," 
 
 At once every attention was given the wounded, 
 the officers working side by side with the men. 
 Captain Pring, in his report, says : — 
 
 " I have much satisfaction in making you ac- 
 quainted with the humane treatment the wounded 
 have received from Commodore Macdonough. 
 They were immediately removed to his own hos- 
 pital at Crab Island, and furnished with every 
 requisite. His generous and polite attention to 
 myself, the officers, and men, will ever be grate- 
 fully remembered." All this was quite character- 
 istic of Macdonough, who united the tenderness 
 of a woman with a lion-like courage. 
 
 The night of the battle the commodore visited 
 every ship in the squadron, and personally ex- 
 pressed to the officers and men his appreciation 
 of their gallant services that day. 
 
 The news of the victory was received all over 
 the country with manifestations of joy. Congress 
 passed the usual resolution of thanks to Mac- 
 donough, his officers and men, gave him and 
 his two commanding officers gold medals, silver 
 medals to the lieutenants, and a handsome sword 
 to each of the midshipmen, with a liberal award 
 of prize money to the men. Macdonough was 
 
 206 
 
THOMAS MACDONOUGH 
 
 made a post-captain, his commission dating from 
 the day of the battle. 
 
 The State of Vermont gave him an estate over- 
 looking the scene of his victory, and many States 
 and towns made him presents. Macdonough bore 
 all these honors with characteristic modesty and 
 simplicity, and, instead of being elated by them, 
 tears came into his eyes in speaking of what his 
 country had bestowed upon him. 
 
 Soon after this peace was declared, and Mac- 
 donough returned again to service on the ocean. 
 His health had always been delicate, and as years 
 passed on, it grew more so. But he continued to go 
 to sea, and did his full duty as always. In 1825 
 he was in command of the glorious old Consti- 
 tution, as his flagship on the Mediterranean 
 station. She had been splendidly refitted, sailed 
 admirably, both on and off the wind, and, as the 
 sailors said, " looked like a new fiddle." He 
 made his last cruise in this noble ship. His 
 health rapidly declined, and on his way home 
 from the Mediterranean he died and was buried 
 at sea on the 10th of November, 1825. 
 
 Few men have enjoyed more national esteem 
 and affection than Macdonough. His career 
 shows that a man may have the softest manners 
 and mildest disposition along with an invincible 
 courage and a high spirit. Macdonough may be 
 taken as the type of a great seaman and a pure 
 and perfect man. 
 
 207 
 
JAMES LAWRENCE. 
 
 The name of Lawrence, like that of Somers, 
 is associated with youth, with gallantry, and with 
 misfortune. It was his fate, after many brilliant 
 and heroic successes, to lay down his life and lose 
 his ship ; but his colors were hauled down, not by 
 himself, but by the enemy, and his last utterance, 
 " Don't give up the ship," which has become the 
 watchword of the American navy, was literally 
 obeyed. It is remarkable that this unfortunate 
 vessel, the Chesapeake, never was formally sur- 
 rendered, but was taken possession of and her 
 flag struck by her captors. 
 
 James Lawrence was born in Burlington, New 
 Jersey, in 1781. His family were persons of 
 consideration and property, and Lawrence was 
 destined to be a lawyer. He was a remarkably 
 handsome, gentle, and docile boy, and it was a 
 surprise to his family when, at twelve years of 
 age, he developed a passionate desire to enter the 
 newly created navy. He never wavered from this 
 wish, but, being a singularly obedient boy, he 
 agreed to try the study of the law for a time, and 
 applied himself seriously to it for a year or two. 
 In 1798, however, when he was in his eighteenth 
 
 208 
 
James Lawkexce 
 
JAMES LAWRENCE 
 
 year, and when his natural bent was fully indi- 
 cated, his inclination toward the navy became 
 overpowering. His family wisely released him 
 from the law, which was so distasteful to him, 
 and got him a midshipman's warrant in the navy. 
 His first service was in the Ganges, a small 
 twenty-four-gun frigate. At the time of his 
 entrance into the navy he was of a noble and 
 commanding figure, of captivating manners, and 
 although somewhat impatient in temper, at heart 
 entirely amiable and generous. From the begin- 
 ning he was remarkable for his kindness and 
 consideration toward his inferiors. When it was 
 necessary to punish the sailors, and Lawrence 
 had to superintend the punishment, his eyes 
 would fill with tears; and when he became a 
 lieutenant, his popularity with the midshipmen 
 was unbounded. It is told of him that once 
 the midshipmen in Commodore Rodgers's squad- 
 ron determined to give the commodore a dinner, 
 to which none of the lieutenants were to be in- 
 vited. All were agreed to leave out the lieuten- 
 ants, when one of the midshipmen cried, " What ! 
 not ask Mr. Lawrence ! " The impossibility of 
 leaving Lawrence out seemed patent to all of 
 them ; and to make the compliment more marked, 
 he was the only lieutenant asked to meet the 
 commodore. 
 
 Lawrence's first service in the Ganges was 
 during the troubles with France. The Ganges 
 
 u 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 patrolled the seas, and caught several French 
 privateers which made a good resistance, but 
 never got alongside a vessel of equal force. 
 
 In 1802 Lawrence went out to the Mediter- 
 ranean in the Enterprise, as first lieutenant. 
 This gallant little schooner fully sustained her 
 reputation in the operations of Commodore 
 Morris's squadron, which preceded Commodore 
 Preble's by a year. Although the war had just 
 begun, and had not yet assumed the fierce and 
 determined character of the following year, 
 yet the Bashaw had a foretaste in 1803 of what 
 was to befall him in the way of bombardments 
 and boat attacks in 1804. In one of the boat 
 attacks Lawrence volunteered, and his conduct 
 on the occasion won high praise. 
 
 The force was under the command of Lieuten- 
 ant David Porter, first lieutenant of the New 
 York, flagship, who had already distinguished 
 himself against the French, and was destined to 
 make one of the most daring cruises in the his- 
 tory of navies. 
 
 The New York, with the Adams, frigate, and 
 the little Enterprise, began the blockade of 
 Tripoli in May, 1803. A number of merchant 
 vessels, protected by gunboats, ran under the 
 batteries of the old part of the town, where they 
 were comparatively safe from ships of the draught 
 of the American squadron. Every preparation 
 was made to defend them, but Porter, Lawrence, 
 
 210 
 
JAMES LAWRENCE 
 
 and other brave and daring young spirits deter- 
 mined to make a dash for them and destroy them 
 if possible. Having got the commodore's per- 
 mission, an attacking party was organized under 
 Porter, with Lawrence as second in command, 
 with three other officers and a number of picked 
 men. On the morning of the attack the boats 
 advanced boldly, in the face of a sharp musketry 
 fire, and succeeded in making a landing. The 
 Tripolitans adopted their usual style of hand-to- 
 hand fighting, but in spite of it the vessels were 
 fired and the Americans retired with slight loss. 
 The Tripolitans, by the most tremendous efforts, 
 put out the fire and saved their vessels ; but they 
 discovered that the Americans were disposed to 
 come to close quarters with them, which policy 
 finally brought down the power of the Barbary 
 States. 
 
 Lawrence, as well as Porter, was particularly 
 distinguished in this dashing little affair. The 
 next adventure in which Lawrence was engaged 
 was a few weeks after; the Enterprise being 
 under the command of Hull, then a lieutenant 
 commandant. It had been determined to hunt 
 up the Tripolitan ships of war wherever found. 
 The Enterprise was engaged in this service, 
 and on a June morning, very early, the lookouts 
 from the Adams, frigate, observed a signal flying 
 from the Enterprise of " Enemy in sight." A 
 Tripolitan frigate, supported by nine gunboats, 
 
 211 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 trying to get to sea from Tripoli, had been penned 
 up in a narrow bay by the Enterprise, which, 
 too weak to attack, signalled for her more pow- 
 erful consort to come to her assistance. The 
 Adams responded promptly, the Enterprise mean- 
 while maintaining her station with as much dar- 
 ing as if she were a forty-four-gun frigate instead 
 of a twelve-gun schooner. As soon as the wind 
 permitted the Adams to get within range, she 
 opened with terrible effect upon the corsair, 
 which replied vigorously, and did not strike until 
 she had received the fire of the Adams, in smooth 
 water and at short range, for three quarters of an 
 hour. Soon after her colors were hauled down, 
 fire readied her magazine, and she blew up. 
 
 It was Lawrence's extreme good fortune, after 
 serving under such a captain as Isaac Hull, 
 to serve next under Decatur. The Argus, one 
 of the four handsome little vessels built for the 
 war with Tripoli, had been sent out under Decatur, 
 who was to exchange her for the Enterprise, Hull's 
 superior rank entitling him to the larger vessel. 
 Yet it is remarkable that the little Enterprise, 
 although distinctly inferior to the other four small 
 vessels, survived every one of them, and had an 
 unbroken career of success both in running and 
 fighting. 
 
 As soon as Decatur took the Enterprise, and 
 had got a good look at Tripoli on the reconnoi- 
 tring expedition made by Commodore Preble in 
 
 212 
 
JAMES LAWRENCE 
 
 the early winter of 1803, the idea of the destruc- 
 tion of the Philadelphia and the release of Bain- 
 bridge and his companions possessed his mind. 
 It may be imagined that Lawrence ardently sym- 
 pathized with him, and in his young first lieuten- 
 ant Decatur recognized a daring and steadfast 
 spirit akin to his own. It was Decatur's habit, in 
 speaking of Lawrence, to say, " He has no more 
 dodge in him than the mainmast," which was 
 true. 
 
 In the same month of December the Enter- 
 prise captured the ketch Meshouda, which, re- 
 named the Intrepid, was to take part in one of 
 the most glorious successes, and afterward in 
 one of the most heart-breaking tragedies, of the 
 American navy. 
 
 In the preparation of the ketch, and in work- 
 ing out the details of his plan, Decatur was ably 
 seconded by his first lieutenant. The expedition 
 for the destruction of the Philadelphia was ex- 
 actly suited to a man of Lawrence's vigorous and 
 imaginative temperament. 
 
 If a precise record remained of that immortal 
 expedition, — the six days of storm and tempest, 
 in which the ketch, ill ventilated and crowded with 
 men who were wet to the skin most of the time 
 and half starved because their provisions were 
 spoiled by salt water, was blown about the African 
 coast, — how surpassingly interesting it would be ! 
 It is known, however, that both ofiicers and men 
 
 213 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 not only kept up their determination, but their 
 gayety. On that February evening when the 
 ketch stole in and made fast to the Philadel- 
 phia to destroy her, Lawrence, next to Decatur, 
 bore the most active part. It was he who com- 
 manded the boat that put out from the ketch 
 and coolly fastened a hawser to the forechains 
 of the doomed frigate ; and it was he who in- 
 tercepted the frigate's boat and took the fast 
 from it and passed another line from the Phila- 
 delphia's stern into the ketch. When Decatur 
 shouted, " Board ! " Lawrence was among the first 
 to land on the quarterdeck, and as soon as that 
 was cleared, he dashed below, accompanied by 
 two midshipmen, as intrepid as himself, — Mr. 
 Laws and the indomitable Macdonough, — with 
 ten men, and fired the berth-deck and all the 
 forward storerooms. Nothing is more extraor- 
 dinary than the quickness and precision with 
 which every order was carried out on that night 
 of glory. Lawrence and his party were in the 
 ship less than twenty-five minutes, yet they were 
 the last to drop into the ketch.^ On their return 
 after this celebrated adventure, Lawrence received 
 his due share of praise. 
 
 There was much hard work to be done by every 
 officer in the squadron before it was ready to 
 attack Tripoli in August, 1804, and Lawrence, as 
 first lieutenant, did his part. Once before Tripoli, 
 
 ^ See the biography of Decatur. 
 2U 
 
JAMES LAWRENCE 
 
 there was severe fighting as well as hard work. 
 The fact that Decatur was taken out of his ship 
 so often to lead a division of the boats, left the 
 command of the Enterprise much to Lawrence, 
 and he handled the little schooner in the most 
 seamanlike manner. 
 
 In the winter of 1804-5 the government deter- 
 mined to build a number of small gunboats, to 
 renew the attacks on Tripoli in the summer. 
 Some of the lieutenants who had returned to 
 the United States in the changes necessary in the 
 squadron, were selected to take them out to the 
 Mediterranean. Lawrence, who had come back 
 to the United States after spending two years in 
 the Mediterranean, was given the command of 
 one of these little vessels, Number Six, — for they 
 were thought to be too insignificant to name and 
 consequently were merely numbered. They car- 
 ried a large spread of canvas, but their gunwales 
 were so near the water that they looked rather 
 like rafts than boats. On the way over, 
 Lawrence was sighted by the British frigate 
 Lapwing, which sent a boat to rescue them, sup- 
 posing them to be on a raft after a shipwreck. 
 Lawrence thanked the officer in charge of the 
 boat, but proceeded on his way. 
 
 Commodore Rodgers was then in command of 
 the American force which again appeared before 
 Tripoli in May, 1805 ; and without firing a gun 
 a treaty of peace and the release of the Phila- 
 
 215 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 delphia's officers and men were secured. The 
 squadron then sailed for Tunis, where it intim- 
 idated the Tunisians into good behavior and 
 negotiated a treaty of peace under the threat of 
 a bombardment. 
 
 Soon after most of the vessels returned home. 
 Lawrence recrossed the ocean again in his gun- 
 boat, and commanded her for some time after. 
 
 On the 22d of June, 1807, occurred the pain- 
 ful and mortifying rencounter of the Chesa- 
 peake, frigate, with the British frigate Leopard, 
 one of the most far-reaching events in the 
 American navy. As the name of Lawrence will 
 ever be connected with the unfortunate Chesa- 
 peake, the story of that unhappy event can be 
 told here. 
 
 The Chesapeake was a comparatively new 
 ship, carrying thirty-eight guns, and was put 
 in commission to relieve the Constitution in the 
 Mediterranean. She seems to have been an 
 unpopular ship from the first, as she was thought 
 to be weak for her size, and was a very ordinary 
 sailer. She was to wear the broad pennant of 
 Commodore James Barron, who had Captain 
 Gordon as his flag captain. Both of these men 
 were esteemed excellent officers. 
 
 The Chesapeake was fitted partly at the 
 Washington Navy Yard and partly at the Norfolk 
 Navy Yard. There had been a charge that she 
 had among her crew three deserters from the 
 
 216 
 
JAMES LAWRENCE 
 
 British frigate Melampus. The charge had been 
 investigated, however, and found to be a mis- 
 take. It was known that the Leopard, of fifty 
 guns, was hanging about outside the capes of 
 Virginia, but it was not suspected that she would 
 attempt to stop the Chesapeake. The British 
 government, arrogant in its dominion over the 
 sea, had claimed and exercised the right of 
 searching merchant vessels; and the United 
 States, a young nation, with a central govern- 
 ment which was still an experiment as well 
 as an object of jealousy to the State govern- 
 ments, had submitted from not knowing exactly 
 how to resist. But with a ship of war it was 
 different, and neither the authorities nor the 
 people of the United States dreamed that any 
 attempt would be made to violate the deck of a 
 national vessel. 
 
 There seems to have been great negligence in 
 preparing the Chesapeake for sea, and when she 
 sailed she was in a state of confusion, her decks 
 littered up, and none of the apparatus used in 
 those days for firing great guns was available. 
 Neither was her crew drilled, having been at 
 quarters only three times. Her officers were 
 men of spirit, but there seems to have been a 
 fatal laxness in getting her ready for sea. 
 
 The Chesapeake, with a good wind, dropped 
 down to Hampton Roads, and was soon stretch- 
 ing out to sea. About noon the Leopard was 
 
 217 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 discerned, and from the first seemed to be fol- 
 lowing the Chesapeake. At three o'clock the 
 two, still making for the open ocean, were near 
 enough to speak, and the Leopard hailed, saying 
 she had despatches for Commodore Barron. 
 This was not remarkable, as such courtesies 
 were occasionally exchanged between ships of 
 friendly nations. The Chesapeake hove to, as 
 did the Leopard, close to each other, when the 
 Chesapeake's officers noticed that the British 
 frigate had her guns run out, and was evidently 
 perfectly ready for action. Very soon a boat 
 put off from her, and a lieutenant came aboard 
 the Chesapeake. He went below into the great 
 cabin, and handed Commodore Barron a letter 
 from Vice-Admiral Berkley, dated at Halifax, 
 directing him on meeting the Chesapeake to 
 search her for the three alleged deserters, and 
 offering to allow the Leopard to be searched if 
 desired. 
 
 Commodore Barron was a brave man and a 
 good officer in general, but he appears to have 
 been seized with one of those moments of inde- 
 cision which in a few minutes can wreck a 
 whole life. It is difficult, though, to imagine 
 how one could act judiciously in an emergency 
 so terrible, when the choice lies between sub- 
 mitting to a frightful insult and provoking a 
 conflict which must result in the loss of many 
 gallant and innocent men. The commodore's real 
 
 218 
 
JAMES LAWRENCE 
 
 fault was in going to sea in an unprepared 
 condition. 
 
 Commodore Barron took about half an hour to 
 deliberate before sending a reply; and as soon 
 as the British boat put off, orders were given to 
 clear the ship for action and get the people to 
 quarters, and Commodore Barron himself went 
 on deck. While this was being done, the 
 Leopard hailed, and fired a gun toward the 
 Chesapeake, followed by a whole broadside, and 
 for about twelve minutes she poured her fire 
 into the helpless Chesapeake. Commodore Bar- 
 ron, a marine officer, and sixteen men were 
 wounded, and three men were killed. Commo- 
 dore Barron repeatedly ordered a shot to be fired 
 before the ensign was lowered, but there were 
 no means at hand for igniting the powder. At 
 last a young lieutenant named Allen ran to the 
 galley, and, taking a live coal in his fingers, 
 rushed back to the gun-deck and succeeded in 
 firing one of the guns in his division. At that 
 moment the American ensign touched the 
 taffrail. 
 
 The Leopard then sent a boat and took pos- 
 session of the three alleged deserters, and made 
 off, while the disgraced Chesapeake returned 
 to Norfolk. 
 
 It is not easy to describe the outburst of 
 indignation which followed this mortifying 
 event. Commodore Barron was court-mar- 
 
 219 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 ti ailed, but as it was proved that his mistake 
 was one of judgment, and that he conducted 
 himself well after the danger became imminent, 
 he was merelj^ sentenced to five years' suspen- 
 sion from the navy. 
 
 The British government disavowed the action 
 of Captain Humphries of the Leopard, although 
 it did not punish him ; but Vice-Admiral Berkley 
 was never again employed in the British navy. It 
 also restored the three men it had taken from the 
 Chesapeake to the deck of the American frigate. 
 
 After this affair it began to be plain that the 
 United States must either boldly repulse the 
 efforts of Great Britain in her claims to right of 
 search, or else tamely submit. The latter was 
 not to be thought of. The war of 1812 was 
 fought for the principle of protecting sailors in 
 American ships, and for the right to carry goods 
 in free bottoms; hence its motto was: "Free 
 trade and sailors' rights." 
 
 These were agitating times for the navy, as 
 officers of intelligence realized that war was 
 coming and it would be chiefly a naval war; and 
 they therefore strove diligently to perfect them- 
 selves in their profession, so that when they 
 came in conflict with the seasoned sailors of 
 England the American navy might give a good 
 account of itself. 
 
 Lawrence was among the most earnest and 
 ambitious of these young officers, and he 
 
 220 
 
JAMES LAWRENCE 
 
 acquitted himself so well in those intervening 
 years that it was plain he would do well in 
 whatever situation he was placed. 
 
 In 1808 he was made first lieutenant of the 
 Constitution, and that was the last subordinate 
 place he held. In 1809 he got the Vixen, which 
 he exchanged for the Wasp, and finally the 
 Argus. In 1811 he got the Hornet, a fast and 
 beautiful little cruiser, carrying eighteen guns, 
 and was in command of her when the long- 
 expected declaration of war came in 1812. 
 
 The Hornet and the Essex, under Captain 
 Porter, were ordered to cruise with Captain 
 Bainbridge in the Constitution. But after get- 
 ting out from Boston in October, 1812, and cruis- 
 ing a few weeks with the Constitution, they 
 separated. The Hornet, being off San Salva- 
 dor, challenged the Bonne Citoyenne, a vessel 
 of about her own strength, to come out and fight. 
 As the Bonne Citoyenne had a large amount of 
 specie on board which her captain was under 
 orders to deliver, he very properly declined to 
 fight, and was blockaded by the Hornet for 
 nearly three weeks. The Montagu, ship of the 
 line, appearing however, Captain Lawrence 
 thought it time to be off, and managed to slip 
 out to sea in the darkness of an autumn night. 
 He cruised some time, taking a few prizes, 
 and on the 24th of February came in sight of 
 a large man-of-war brig, the Peacock. She was 
 
 221 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 called " the yacht " from the beautiful bright- 
 ness and order in which she was kept, and 
 was commanded by Captain Peake, a gallant 
 and skilful officer. The Peacock showed a per- 
 fect willingness to fight, and the two vessels 
 stood for each other at once. About five 
 o'clock, being very near each other, their en- 
 signs were hoisted, and the battle began by 
 exchanging broadsides as they passed. After 
 one or two rounds the Hornet came down, her 
 batteries a sheet of flame, and her fire fright- 
 fully destructive to her adversary. The Pea- 
 cock stood the blast of fire a very short time, 
 fifteen minutes being the longest time esti- 
 mated, — Lawrence afterward said it was eleven 
 minutes by his watch, but, his clerk having put 
 it down fifteen minutes, he allowed it to stand, 
 — when the Peacock lowered her colors and 
 displayed signals of distress in her forerigging. 
 She was in a sinking condition, when a prize 
 crew was thrown aboard ; and in spite of every 
 effort on the part of the officers and men of 
 the Hornet, the Peacock went down, carrying 
 nine of her own people and three of the 
 Hornet's. The prize-master of the Hornet and 
 his boat's crew saved themselves with difficulty 
 in the launch. 
 
 The Peacock was well handled and fought by 
 her commander, who lost his life in the engage- 
 ment. But the Hornet was so skilfully manoeu- 
 
 222 
 
JAMES LAWRENCE 
 
 vred, and her gunnery, besides being extremely 
 accurate, was so rapid, that she had the advan- 
 tage from a few minutes after the beginning of 
 the combat. She was slightly superior to the 
 Peacock both in men and metal, but the damage 
 she did was far beyond the small difference of 
 strength between her and her antagonist. When 
 the Peacock surrendered, her mainmast had gone 
 by the board, her hull was riddled, and she had 
 six feet of water in her, which soon carried her 
 to the bottom; while, by nine o'clock that night, 
 every injury to the Hornet had been repaired, 
 and she was ready to go into action again. 
 
 Lawrence treated his prisoners with charac- 
 teristic generosity, and his example was not lost 
 on his men. The Peacock's crew had lost 
 everything by the sinking of the ship, and the 
 Hornet's men took up a subscription among 
 themselves to provide each of the prisoners with 
 two shirts, a blue jacket, and trousers. 
 
 Finding himself crowded with prisoners, 
 Lawrence stood for home, and arrived at New 
 York late in March, 1813. The officers of the 
 Peacock, on being paroled at New York, ad- 
 dressed him a very handsome letter of thanks, 
 in which they said, " We cannot better express 
 our feelings than by saying that we ceased to 
 consider ourselves prisoners." 
 
 The city of New York, anticipating the 
 thanks of Congress, and the gold medal for 
 
 223 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 Lawrence, with prize money for the crew, gave 
 Lawrence the freedom of the city and a hand- 
 some piece of plate. On the 6th of April a 
 great dinner was given at Washington Hall, 
 then a splendid place of entertainment in New 
 York, to Lawrence and his officers, while in the 
 ball-room of the building the petty officers, 
 sailors, and marines of the Hornet were enter- 
 tained. The sailors landed at Whitehall, and 
 with music playing, marched up Pearl Street, 
 Wall Street, and Broadway to Washington Hall 
 amidst the greatest enthusiasm on the part of 
 the inhabitants. After a fine dinner Captain 
 Lawrence and his officers, accompanied by the 
 members of the city government of New York, 
 visited them, and the party was received by the 
 sailors rising and giving three times three for 
 their commander. The whole body of sailors 
 was afterward invited to occupy the pit at the 
 theatre, with Lawrence and his officers and their 
 hosts in the boxes. The audience cheered the 
 sailors vociferously, and the sailors seem to 
 have cheered everything; and they were highly 
 pleased with their entertainment. 
 
 This was the last glimpse of brightness in 
 Lawrence's short life. He had a prospect of 
 getting the Constitution, but his hopes were 
 dashed by being ordered to command the Ches- 
 apeake, then fitting at Boston. 
 
 The ship had become more and more an object 
 
 224 
 
JAMES LAWRENCE 
 
 of dislike in the navy since her unfortunate 
 experience in 1807. Sailors hated her, and 
 would not enlist in her if they could help it. 
 No officer would serve in her if he could get 
 any other ship; consequently she was officered 
 by juniors who had to take her because they 
 could do no better. She had lately returned 
 from a cruise in which she had sailed many 
 thousands of miles, under an active and enter- 
 prising captain, without once meeting a chance 
 to distinguish herself, and capturing only a few 
 trifling prizes. Lawrence was dismayed at the 
 offer of this command. He begged to remain 
 in the Hornet rather than go to the Chesa- 
 peake. He told his friends that the frigate 
 was a worthless ship, and he would not have 
 her if he could honorably refuse; but this he 
 could not do. In May, 1813, he took command 
 of her. Up to the last moment he hoped to be 
 relieved by Captain Stewart, but it was not 
 to be. 
 
 He found the ship short of officers, and those 
 he had very young. His first lieutenant, Augus- 
 tus Ludlow, was a brilliant young officer, but 
 twenty-one years of age, who had never served 
 before as first lieutenant in a frigate. His 
 other sea lieutenants were midshipmen acting 
 as lieutenants. His crew was largely made 
 up of foreigners; and one, a Portuguese boat- 
 swain's mate, was doing what he could to spread 
 
 15 225 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 dissatisfaction among the* men because they had 
 not been paid the small amount of prize money 
 due from the last cruise. The marine guard 
 was made up wholly of Americans, and there 
 were a few men from the Constitution. These 
 men afterward gave a good account of them- 
 selves. 
 
 Outside the harbor of Boston it was known 
 that the Shannon, a fine thirty-eight-gun frigate, 
 lay in wait for the Chesapeake. Her commander, 
 Captain Philip Broke, was one of the best offi- 
 cers in the British navy, and had had the ship 
 seven years. He had not followed the example 
 of so many British captains who neglected gun- 
 nery practice with their crews, and paid dearly 
 for their rashness with their ships and some- 
 times with their lives. Captain Broke was a 
 chivalrous man, and, desiring to engage the 
 Chesapeake on equal terms, wrote Captain Law- 
 rence a letter, proposing a meeting any time 
 within two months in any latitude and longi- 
 tude he might choose. Unfortunately, this let- 
 ter never reached Lawrence. On the first day 
 of June, 1813, the Shannon stood in toward 
 President's Roads, expecting an answer from 
 Lawrence to Captain Broke 's challenge. Law- 
 rence, however, took the Shannon's appear- 
 ance as a challenge, and, lifting his anchor, 
 made sail to meet her. 
 
 As soon as the anchor was up, Lawrence 
 
 226 
 
JAMES LAWRENCE 
 
 had a flag hoisted with the inscription "Free 
 trade and sailors* rights.'* He then made a 
 short address to his men, which was coldly 
 received, not a cheer being raised at the prospect 
 of meeting the enemy. 
 
 The ship was cleared for action, and as she 
 passed out, the Shannon was waiting for her on 
 an easy bowline. Both ships proceeded under 
 a good breeze until about thirty miles beyond 
 Boston Light. They then came together under 
 short fighting canvas, and in the manoeuvring 
 for a few moments Lawrence was in position to 
 rake his enemy; but whether it escaped him, or 
 he preferred to fight it out alongside, is not 
 known. 
 
 A few minutes before six, the ships being 
 fairly alongside, and not more than fifty yards 
 apart, the Shannon fired her first broadside, and 
 was immediately answered by the Chesapeake. 
 The effect of these first broadsides in smooth 
 water and close range was terrific. Three men 
 at the Chesapeake's wheel were shot down one 
 after another. Within six minutes her sails 
 were so shot to pieces that she came up into 
 the wind and was raked repeatedly. In a short 
 while Captain Lawrence was shot in the leg, 
 but kept the deck. Mr. White, the sailing- 
 master, was killed, and Mr. Ludlow, the first 
 lieutenant, Lieutenant Ballard, Mr. Brown, the 
 marine officer, and the boatswain were all mor- 
 
 227 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 tally wounded. The Shannon had not escaped 
 scatheless, although the execution aboard of her 
 was not to be mentioned with the Chesapeake's. 
 Some of the British frigate's spars and sails 
 being shot away, she fell aboard her antagonist, 
 and the two ships were prevented from drifting 
 apart by the fluke of an anchor on the Shannon 
 hooking in the Chesapeake's rigging. Captain 
 Broke immediately ordered the ships lashed to- 
 gether. This was done by the Shannon's boat- 
 swain, who had his arm literally hacked off in 
 doing it, but who did not flinch from his 
 task. 
 
 As soon as Captain Lawrence saw the ships 
 were fast, he ordered the boarders called away. 
 But instead of this being done by the boatswain, 
 the bugler, a negro, was called upon to sound his 
 bugle. The man, in a paroxysm of terror, had 
 hid under a boat, and when found was perfectly 
 unable to sound a note. The remaining officers 
 on the Chesapeake's deck shouted for the 
 boarders, and at this moment the gallant 
 Lawrence, conspicuous from his commanding 
 figure, and wearing his full uniform, fell, shot 
 through the body. As he was being carried 
 below, he uttered those words which are a part 
 of the heritage of the American navy, "Don't 
 give up the ship." 
 
 The carnage on the Chesapeake's deck was 
 now frightful, and the men began to flinch from 
 
 228 
 
JAMES LAWRENCE 
 
 their guns. Captain Broke, seeing this, gave 
 the order to board, and, himseli' leading the 
 boarders with great intrepidity, sprang upon 
 the Chesapeake's quarterdeck. At this the Por- 
 tuguese mate and some other mercenaries threw 
 the berth-deck gratings overboard, and ran be- 
 low, crying, " So much for not paying men prize 
 money ! " 
 
 A young lieutenant, coming up from the gun- 
 deck, was seized with a panic, and, throwing his 
 pistol down, ran below in a cowardly manner.^ 
 But there were still gallant souls left upon the 
 unfortunate frigate's deck. Mr. Livermore, the 
 chaplain, — the only officer on deck when the Brit- 
 ish entered the ship, — advanced boldly, firing his 
 pistol at Captain Broke, and made a brave defence, 
 although his arm was nearly cut from his body by 
 Broke in defending himself. The few marines who 
 were left fought desperately, and severely wounded 
 Captain Broke. All of these men were Ameri- 
 cans, and were cut down to a man. The officers 
 of the gun-deck tried to rally the men below, and 
 succeeded in inducing the few Americans to 
 follow them above ; the brave Ludlow, in fearful 
 agony from his wounds, struggled up the hatch- 
 way. But it was too late, and they were soon over- 
 powered. The flag had been hauled down by the 
 triumphant enemy ; the ship was theirs. The 
 
 1 He was promptly dismissed the navy for cowardice on this 
 occasion. 
 
 229 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 battle lasted only about ' fifteen minutes, and 
 seldom in the history of naval warfare has there 
 been more dreadful slaughter. The Chesapeake 
 suffered most, her captain and three lieutenants, 
 her marine officer, her sailing-master, boatswain, 
 and three midshipmen being killed, and her few re- 
 maining officers wounded. She lost, besides, one 
 hundred and thirty-six men killed and wounded. 
 The Shannon had her captain badly wounded, 
 and lost several officers, and had seventy-five men 
 killed and wounded. 
 
 The English ensign was immediately hoisted 
 over the American, and as soon as possible sail 
 was made for Halifax. Lawrence and his wounded 
 officers lay together in the ward room of the Chesa- 
 peake, the cabin having been much shattered. For 
 four days Lawrence lingered in extreme anguish. 
 He bore his sufferings with silent heroism, and it 
 is remarkable that he never spoke except to make 
 known the few wants that his situation required. 
 On the Shannon Captain Broke lay, raving with 
 delirium from his wounds, and only occasionally 
 rational. At these times he would ask anxiously 
 after Lawrence, muttering, " He brought his ship 
 into action in gallant style," and other words of 
 generous admiration. When it was known that 
 Lawrence was no more, it was thought best to 
 keep it from Broke, as it was known it would 
 distress him greatly. 
 
 On Sunday, the 6th of June, the two ships 
 
 230 
 
JAMES LAWRENCE 
 
 entered Halifax harbor, the body of Lawrence 
 wrapped in the battle flag of the Chesapeake, and 
 lying on her quarterdeck. The people took the 
 Chescipeake for the President, and shouting multi- 
 tudes lined the shores and docks. But when it 
 was known that it was Lawrence's ship, and her 
 brave commander lay dead upon her, an instant 
 silence fell upon the people. They remembered 
 Lawrence's kindness to the officers and men of 
 the Peacock, and they paid him the tribute of 
 silent respect. 
 
 The funeral was arranged for the 8th of June, 
 and was one of the most affecting ever wit- 
 nessed. The British naval and military authori- 
 ties omitted nothing that could show their esteem 
 for a brave and unfortunate enemy. The gar- 
 rison and the fleet turned out their whole force, 
 the officers wearing crape upon the left arm. 
 The coffin, wrapped in the Chesapeake's flag, 
 with the dead officer's sword upon it, was brought 
 ashore in an admiral's barge, the men rowing 
 minute strokes, and amid the solemn booming of 
 minute guns. It was followed by a long proces- 
 sion of man-of-war boats. It was landed at 
 King's Wharf, where six of the oldest British 
 captains acted as pall-bearers. The procession 
 to the churchyard of St. Paul's was very long. 
 The American officers were chief mourners, fol- 
 lowed by the officers of the Shannon ; and the 
 presence of the wounded among both the Ameri- 
 
 231 
 
TWELVE NAVAL CAPTAINS 
 
 can and English officers was touching in the 
 extreme. Admiral Sir Thomas Saumerez, one 
 of Nelson's captains, and the officers of the fleet, 
 and the general of the forces, with the officers of 
 the garrison, came next in the procession, fol- 
 lowed by a large number of the most respectable 
 citizens of Halifax. The route was lined with 
 troops, and the funeral was like that of a great 
 and distinguished British admiral, — so great is 
 the respect all generous minds must feel for a 
 character like Lawrence's. 
 
 His young first lieutenant, Ludlow, survived 
 several days after landing ; but he, too, soon fol- 
 lowed his captain to a hero's grave. Great honors 
 were also paid him at his interment. 
 
 The Americans, however, could not allow the 
 British to pay all the honors to the dead Law- 
 rence, and in August his remains and those of 
 his faithful lieutenant were transferred to Salem, 
 in Massachusetts, where they were temporarily 
 buried until they could be transferred to New 
 York. Lawrence's pall was carried then by six 
 American captains, among whom were Hull, 
 Stewart, and Bainbridge, — all men who had 
 known Lawrence, and served with him when he 
 was a dashing and brilliant young midshipman. 
 Eventually, both Lawrence and Ludlow were 
 buried in Trinity churchyard. New York, where 
 they still rest. Lawrence left a young wife and 
 two children, for whom the country provided. 
 
 232 
 
JAMES LAWRENCE 
 
 A poignant regret for Lawrence's misfortunes 
 and death was felt by the country generally. 
 His youth, — he was but thirty-one years of age, 
 — his brilliant career, the charming generosity 
 of his nature, and the graces of his person and 
 manner made him beloved and admired. His 
 fault — if fault it was — in seeking an action 
 when his ship was new to him and ill manned 
 and scantily officered, was that of a high and 
 daring spirit, and was readily condoned ; while 
 to this day the story of the Chesapeake is painful 
 to a true American. 
 
 At the battle of Lake Erie Perry's flagship 
 bore the name of Lawrence ; but, like Lawrence 
 himself, was unfortunate, and, after being cut to 
 pieces, was forced to strike. Another vessel was 
 named the Lawrence ; but ships whose names 
 are associated with harrowing events are not 
 favorites with either officers or men, and she 
 was borne upon the navy list for only a few years. 
 But the name and fame of Lawrence will last 
 with his countrymen as long as the American flag 
 flies over a ship of war, and the pity of his fate 
 will ever be among the most moving incidents in 
 American history. 
 
 233 
 
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