USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Walks & talks about historic Boston > Part 25
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
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shall be able to procure that redress which has been sought for, by justice, by remonstrance and by forbearance in vain."
On June 19, 1812, President Madison issued a proclama- tion in which he formally declared war against Great Britain. The chief cause for declaring war was the im- pressment of American seamen by the British, the block- ade of French ports, without adequate force to sustain the act. the orders in Councils, and the incitement of the sav- ages to hostilities. Congress immediately sustained this declaration of War and appropriated $3,000,000 for the Navy. There were many military failures in the War of 1812, but the little American Navy, weak as compared with that of the British, won great honor for itself and the Nation. At that time the British naval force on the American Station consisted of five ships of the line, nine- teen frigates, forty-one brigs, and sixteen schooners, these scattered from Halifax to the Leeward Islands. "The Americans went boldly out upon the ocean in National and privately armed vessels, and won victory after victory." When war was declared a small squadron of American Ships, under command of Commodore Rogers, consisting of three Frigates, the "President," "Congress" and "Unit- ed States," and the sloop of war "Hornet," was cruising off Sandy Hook. He sighted a British squadron, convoy- ing a West India fleet of merchantmen, to England. In his flagship, the "President," he gave chase, and overtook the British off Nantucket Shoals. He had a slight engage- ment with the "Belvidera" and a chase of several hours, but finally abandoned the pursuit. When the news was carried into Halifax, it caused considerable excitement, and a squadron of war vessels under command of Captain Broke, was sent out in pursuit of Rodgers and his frigate. Broke's frigate was the "Shannon" of 38 guns.
"The "Constitution," or "Old Ironsides," as she became familiarly known, was launched October 21, 1797. She was built in Boston, at Edmund Hart's shipyard-where is now Constitution Wharf. At first she was considered an ill-fated ship, as two attempts to launch her failed, but at the third attempt. she slid gracefully into the water. In those days she was the pride of the American Navy. She was designed by Joshua Humphreys of Philadelphia, and constructed under the supervision of Colonel George Clag-
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horne of New Bedford. She was 175 fect long, and car- ried a crew of 400 men. She cost $302,718.84. She was emphatically a Boston ship. A Boston shipwright chose the wood, and Paul Revere, the Revolutionary patriot. fur- nished the copper bolts and spikes, and Ephraim Thayer of the South End made the gun carriages. The sails were made in the Old Granary, which stood on the site of Park Street Church. Her anchors were made in Hanover, Mass. and the duck for her sails was manufactured by a company whose factory stood on the corner of Tremont and Boyl- ston Streets.
She left Annapolis on July 12, on a cruise to the north- ward. When five days out, she fell in with Broke's squad- ron, and then occurred one of the most remarkable naval pursuits and escapes on record. The "Constitution" was not strong enough to fight the squadron with any hope of winning, her only safety was in flight. At the time there was a dead calm, and her sails were flapping idly in the breeze. Captain Hull was determined to escape his pur- suers and his seamanship was equal to the occasion. Her boats were lowered with sweeps, and manned by sturdy seamen. A long 18 pounder was rigged as a stern chaser, and another of the same calibre was pointed off the fore- castle. The cabin windows were sawed, so as to admit of 24 pounders being run out, and everything made ready in case she had to fight. A gentle breeze sprang up and she was getting under headway when the "Shannon" sent a shot, at long range, without effect. Then succeeded an- other calm, when sweeps were again used, and the good ship kept moving along in a way that puzzled her pur- stiers. At last the British captain discovered the secret power that was moving the "Constitution" along, and out of his power, and he adopted the same tactics and be- gan to gain on the "Constitution." The "Guerriere" of 38 guns, Captain Dacres, another of the British Squadron, also joined in the chase. The pursuit was kept up all day and all night.
The second day the whole British Squadron was chas- ing the American frigate, bent on her capture. Every sail on the British ships was set, it was perfect cloud of can- vas, but the expert seamanship of Captain Hull, was con- stantly widening the space between the vessels, and it was useless for the British vessels to try to reach her with
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a shot. In the afternoon she was four miles ahead of the "Belvidera," the nearest vessel of the squadron. Then fol- lowed a terrific storm of wind, lightning and rain, but the gallant ship outrode the tempest, and at twilight she was still ahead of her pursuers, and bounding over the sea at the rate of eleven knots an hour. The British fired two guns at midnight, and at dawn they gave up the chase. The chase lasted 64 hours, and the country rang with praises of Captain Hull and of his gallant ship, the "Con- stitution." The "Constitution" did not long remain idle. She sailed from Boston on the 12th of August, and cruised eastward in search of British vessels. Captain Hull was especially anxious to meet the "Guerriere," whose com- mander had boastfully enjoined the Americans to remem- ber that she was not the "Little Belt." He assembled his crew and told them if they ever met the "Constitution," they would have an easy victory. Captain Hull sailed as far as the Bay of Fundy, and then along the coast of Nova Scotia, where he captured some British merchant vessels on their way to the St. Lawrence river. On the 19th of August, he had his wish, for he fell in with the "Guer- riere." Each commenced firing at long range, but they gradually came closer to each other for a fair yard arm and yard arm fight. Hull walked the quarter deck watch- ing every movement of his antagonist with the keenest in- terest. Hull was a fat man and wore very tight white breeches. When the "Guerriere" began to pour shot into the "Constitution," Lieutenant Morris, Hull's second in command, asked, "Shall I open fire?" The Commander replied quietly, "Not yet." As the shots began to tell seriously on the "Constitution," the question was re- peated. "Not yet," Hull quietly answered. When the ves- sels were very near each other, Hull, filled with intense excitement, bent himself twice to the deck and then shout- ed, "Now, boys, pour it into them!" The command was instantly obeyed. When the smoke of the first broadside cleared away, it was discovered that the Commander, in his energetic movements, had split his breeches, from waistband to knee, but he did not stop to change them during the action.
The vessels fought not fifty yards apart, and the guns of the "Constitution" were double shotted with round and grape and did terrible execution. In fifteen minutes the
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upper works of the "Guerriere" were almost shot to pieces, the mizzen mast gone, her rigging, ropes and sails were in shreds, and her hull bored in many places. Captain Hull, by a skilful movement, ran the bowsprit of the "Con- stitution" into the larboard quarter of the "Guerriere."
The cabin of the "Constitution" was set on fire, but was soon put out. While the guns were roaring with ter- rific noise, Captain Hull tried to board his antagonist, but there was a heavy sea on at the time and it was impossible to pass from one vessel to the other.
As the "Constitution" disengaged herself from the "Guerriere," the mainmast of the latter, shot through and through, fell into the sea, and the British Frigate, shat- tered and helpless, rolled like a log in the trough of the sea. "Her flag, that had been flying on the stump of her mizzen mast was lowered, and Lieut. George C. Read (af- terward Commodore) was sent on board of her." "Captain Hull's compliments," said Read to Dacres, "and he wishes to know if you have struck your flag?" Captain Dacres, who was a jolly tar, looking up and down coolly and dryly, said: "Well, I don't know, our mizzenmast is gone, and main mast is gone, and. upon the whole, you may say we have struck our flag!" In her badly shattered condition it was impossible to save her. Her people and effects were removed to the "Constitution." The "Guerriere" was set on fire and soon blew up. A rhymer at the time, wrote :
"Isaac did so maul and rake her, That the decks of Captain Dacres Were in such an awful pickle. As if Death with scythe and sickle, With his sling, or with his shaft,
Had cut his harvest, fore and aft. Thus in thirty minutes ended. Mischief that could not be mended, Mast and vards and ship descended All to David Jones' locker Such a ship, in such a pucker.
The "Constitution" returned to Boston, carrying the news of her great victory. It was especially gratifying to the citizens of Boston, on account of her having been built here, for they had a love and reverence for the gal- lant old ship. There was a great shout of triumph all
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over the land, and Captain Hull was the hero of the hour. Boston gave him and his officers a grand banquet at the Exchange Coffee House, where plates were laid for over six hundred. New York sent him the freedom of the city in a gold box. Philadelphia presented him with an elegant piece of plate. He was awarded a gold medal by Congress, who also appropriated $50,000 to be distributed as prize money among the officers and crew of the "Constitution."
While the victory of the "Constitution" caused great rejoicing in the United States, it created great amazement in Great Britain. They had considered themselves impreg- nable on the water, and they now had forebodings, not only as to the future of the war, but also in regard to their supremacy on the water. It was so regarded by the Lon- don Times, which said: "It is not merely that one English frigate, has been taken, but that it has been taken by a new enemy, an enemy unaccustomed to such triumphs, and likely to be rendered insolent and confident by them." Af- ter the victory over the "Guerriere," Captain Hull retired from the command of the "Constitution," that some broth- er officer might have a chance to win renown with her.
Captain William Bainbridge was appointed his success- or, and he had a small squadron, consisting of the "Con- stitution." 44, "Essex" 32, and "Hornet," 18. Bainbridge, with the "Constitution" and the "Essex," sailed from Bos- ton, late in October, for the coast of South America, and there, in December, met the "Hornet," which had an Eng- lish Sloop of War, the "Bonne Citoyenne," blockaded at Bahia, Brazil, which was about to sail for England with a very large amount of specie. The "Constitution" kept on her course farther down the coast of Brazil. and on the 29th of December, 30 miles from land, fell in with the British Frigate. "Java," 38, one of the finest vessels in the British Navy. They cleared decks and went into ac- tion at two o'clock in the afternoon, and fought between two and three hours. Both vessels manoeuvred for quite a while for advantage of position, the "Java," trying to run down the "Constitution," and in so doing received much damage, without gaining any advantage. As the "Java" turned. the "Constitution" poured a raking broadside into the stern of her enemy. Another broadside crashed with terrible effect through the "Java," carrying away her jib boom and part of her bowsprit. Then the two vessels lay
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broadside to broadside in deadly conflict. The mizzen- mast of the "Java" went by the board and between five and six o'clock, the "Java" ceased to fire and her colors were haulede down. Her commander Captain Lambert, was mortally wounded. Her crew consisted of 446 men and boys and she had more than one hundred passengers. Hler people were all transferred to the "Constitution" with their baggage, and the "Java" was then set on fire and blew up on the 31st of December.
Bainbridge, after landing and paroling his prisoners, set sail for the United States, where he was awarded the wel- come given to all naval heroes of those days, who did so much for the honor and glory of the country. "From New York and Albany he received the freedom of the City in a gold box. Philadelphia presented him with an elegant service of plate: Congress voted him a Gold Medal, and $50,000 as Prize Money for his officers and crew. This was the fourth brilliant victory over the British won by the American Navy in the space of five months. These achievements of the Navy were the bright spots in that War. Again the press and people of England were raving over the successive victories of the Americans on the water. One of the leading London journals gave vent to its feelings in a most vulgar fashion, by "expressing" its apprehension that England might be stripped of her mari- time supremacy, by a piece of striped bunting, flying at the masthead of a few fir built frigates manned by a hand- ful of bastards and outlaws." Due allowance must be made for the haughty and arrogant Britons. It was a bit- ter pill for them to swallow, that any other nation in a fair fight and evenly matched, could whip them on the sea. In 1830 the "Constitution," then thirty-three years old, was lying at Charlestown Navy Yard. The United States Navy Department, thinking her usefulness at an end, and taking no account of the sentiment that gath- ered around that famous hull, condemned her to be broken up and her remains consigned to the junk pile. Our Bos- ton poet, Oliver Wendell Holmes was then a student at Harvard, of barely legal voting age.
He read the account of this proposed action and it fired his imagination and indignation, and he rapidly wrote with a pencil on a scrap of paper the stanzas now so fa- miliar to every school boy, and sent them to a Boston
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newspaper, that published them. In a few days they had been reprinted in scores of papers all over the land and a storm of protest was aroused against the destruction of the old frigate. The result was that the order was re- scinded and money appropriated for her repair and preser- vation. The young patriotic, poet-student became famous, and in later years became more admired and appreciated for his many gifts to American literature. The old frigate still floats and we hope may be viewed with patriotic pride by future generations :
"Aye, tear her tattered Ensign down! Long has it waved on high ! And many an eye has danced to see, That banner in the sky. Beneath it, rang the battle shout ! And burst the cannons' roar The meteor of the ocean air, Shall sweep the clouds no more !
Nail to the mast that holy flag, Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the God of Storms, The lightning and the gale!
Holmes."
While the Constitution was doing such grand work, other naval vessels were demonstrating the seamanship, skill and fighting qualities of the American sailor, and his ability to cope with any foe on the ocean.
On October 18, the American sloop of war "Wasp," Cap- tain Jones, captured the British brig "Frolic," after a sharp engagement of forty-five minutes, off the coast of North Carolina. The slaughter on the "Frolic" was terrific. Ninety were killed and wounded, while only ten were killed and disabled on the "Wasp." But her victory was of short duration for that very afternoon the British 74-gun ship, the "Poicters," Captain Beresford, appeared, and two hours after the gallant Jones had gained his triumph, he was compelled to surrender his prize and his own ship to another of superior force. Jones was honored for his bravery by public enter- tainments and Congress gave hi ma gold medal.
A week later the frigate "United States," Captain Stephen Decatur, of the squadron of Commodore Rodgers, while cruising off the Canary Islands, gained a great naval victory
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after a fight of two hours. He captured the British frigate "Macedonian," 38 guns, Captain Carden. After a long distance cannonade of half an hour, they came into close contact and here the Americans displayed splendid gunnery, for which, indeed, they have ever been noted. The mizzen mast of the "Macedonian" was first to go overboard, then the main yard was hanging in two pieces, her fore mast was tottering, and her main mast and bowsprit badly bruised, while the "United States" was practically unhurt. The "Macedonian" was so badly crippled that she was obliged to surrender. She received one hundred round of shot in her hull, and many between wind and water. Captain Decatur rigged her as a barque, put a prize crew on board and with his own ship and Captain Carden, sailed for New York, reaching that port January 1, 1813, where she was welcomed as a New Year's gift.
As one of the New York papers of that day said: "She comes with the compliments of the season from Old Neptune." Decatur received similar honors to those which had been bestowed on Hull and Bainbridge.
Captain Porter made a memorable voyage on the "Essex." Sailing southward he crossed the equator December 11, 1812. and the next day captured his first prize, the British packet ship "Norton," with $35,000 in specie on board. He sailed around Cape Horn into the Pacific Ocean with the intention of capturing the English whalers there, and to live on the enemy. He seized twelve British whaleships, with an aggre- gate of 302 men and 107 guns.
In Valparaiso harbor he met with disaster. He had made a consort of one of his prize vessels and called her the "Essex, Jr.," and these two vessels were blockaded by two British men-of-war.
Porter resolved to run the blockade. While seeking for shelter in a bay, Porter's vessel having been damaged in a gale, was attacked by two British war vessels, the "Phebe" and the "Cherub," and a desperate and sanguinary battle followed. Says Lossing. "When at last the "Essex" was a helpless wreck and on fire, and her magazine was threatened, when every officer, but one. was slain or disabled. when, of the two hundred and twenty-five brave men who went into the fight on board of her. only seventy-five effective ones re- mained Porter hauled down his flag. So ended the brilliant cruise of the "Essex." Her gallant commander wrote to the
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Secretary of War: "We have been unfortunate, but not dis- graced." Porter was publicly honored as the "Hero of the Pacific."
On the 18th of February, 1813, the U. S. Sloop of War "Hornet," Commander James Lawrence, fell in with the British brig "Peacock," 18 guns, Captain Peake, off the mouth of the Demerapa river. After a sharp fight of fifteen minutes, the "Peacock" struck her colors and ran up a flag of distress. Before all the wounded could be taken from her she went to the bottom of the sea. Lawrence's exploit created a profound impression. A Halifax newspaper said: "It will not do for our vessels to fight them single-handed. The Americans are a dead nip." Great honors were showered upon Lawrence, but that which he most highly prized, was a public letter of thanks given to him by the officers of the "Peacock" for his kind and generous treatment of them. Lawrence afterwards lost his life while in command of the "Chesapeake." in an engagement with the "Shannon," off Boston Harbor, in which the British were victorious. "As he left the deck he said: "Tell the men to fire faster and not give up the ship. Fight her till she sinks." The words of the dying hero, "Don't give up the ship," became a battle- cry of the Americans.
Commodore Rodgers had a remarkable cruise in the "President." 44 guns. While off the Azores, he fell in with the British armed schooner "Highflyer," the tender to Admiral Warren's flagship, "San Domingo." "The High- flyer" was commanded by Lieutenant Hutchinson, one of Admiral Cockburn's subalterns, when that Admiral plun- dered and burned Havre de Grace, the home of Rodgers. By a clever ruse, Rodgers got the "Highflyer" alongside of the "President" and captured her without firing a gun. Before leaving Boston he attained some British signal books and made use of them with good effect. Rodgers raised the British Ensign, sent one of his lieutenants on board the "Highflyer," dressed in the British naval uniform, with an order to send his signal books on board the "Sea Horse" to be altered. Hutchinson obeyed, and Rodgers was put in possession of the whole correspondence of the British Navy. Lieut. Hutchinson soon after came on board and told Rodgers that the main object of the British Naval Chief was to capture or destroy the "President," which had spread alarm in British waters. "Sir," said Rodgers, "do you know
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what vessel you are on board of?" "Why, yes, sir; His Majesty's Ship "Sea Horse." "Then, sir," said Rodgers, "you labor under a mistake. You are on board the 'President,' and I am Commodore Rodgers." At that mo- ment the band struck up "Yankee Doodle." the American Ensign was displayed, and uniforms were suddenly changed from red to blue. Rodgers carried his prize into Newport. He captured elevent merchant vessels and three hundred prisoners. He made another cruise southward in 1814, with varying fortunes. On his return he dashed through a British blockading squadron off Sandy Hook and sailed into New York harbor.
Early in June, 1814, British naval vessels received orders from Admiral Cockburn, "to destroy the seaport towns and devastate the country." In July, Sir Thomas Hardy sailed from Halifax with a considerable force for service on sea and land. A large portion of the coast of Maine passed under British rule. An attack on Boston was momentarily expected. The city was almost defenceless. Its capture would have been a rich prize and would have had a great moral effect upon the enemy. The inhabitants of all classes turned out with implements of labor to build a fort on Noddles Island ( East Boston). It was built on an elevation, on the crown of the present Webster Street, near Belmont Square, and a heavy battery was placed across the bay on the far famed Dorchester Heights. When the British block- ading squadron learned of these preparations and the en- thusiasm of the people, they decided not to attack Boston. The vandalism of Admiral Cockburn and General Ross is a black and infamous page in English history. "Willingly." said the London Statesman, "would we throw a veil of oblivion over our transactions at Washington. The Cos- sacks spared Paris; we spared not the Capital of America." While the people of England loudly condemned the act, the British Government caused the Tower guns to be fired in honor of Ross' victory ; and on his death a few weeks later. his government decreed him a monument in Westminster Abbey.
While the National vessels were winning victories, the privateers were making prizes in every direction. They swarmed on the sea in the summer and autumn of 1812. "Accounts of their expoits filled the newspapers and helped to swell the tide of joy throughout the Union. It is esti-
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mated that during the year 1812, more than fifty armed British vessels and two hundred and fifty merchantmen, with an aggregate of more than three thousand prisoners, and a vast amount of booty, were captured by the Americans."
Not only was the conflict raging on the ocean, but there was great activity and great victories on the Lakes. Isaac Chauncey, one of America's best naval officers, was busy on Lake Ontario in 1813. With his fleet of war schooners, he co-operated with the brave General Pike in the capture of York, now Toronto.
Later with Commodore Perry and General Winfield Scott he assisted in the 'capture of Fort George, and the Niagara frontier passed into the possession of the Americans. Sackett's Harbor was the chief depot for the military and naval stores of the Americans on that frontier. When the British learned that the place was in a comparatively de- fenceless condition, by reason of the force sent to capture York, a British squadron, under Sir James Yee, sailed from Kingston to capture Sackett's Harbor. On June 28, six British armed vessels and forty batteaux appeared off Sackett's Harbor, bearing over a thousand land troops, the whole armanent under Commander Sir George Prevost.
The appearance of the American flotilla caused the British naval officer to swerve from his purpose for a while, but perceiving the real weakness of the enemy, he again turned the prows of his squadron toward Sackett's Harbor. A heavy gun from the American fort commenced firing upon the British and at the same time a dense smoke arose in the rear of the American troops. The storehouses had been set on fire to prevent their falling into the hands of the British, which turned the fortunes of the day in favor of the Americans, for Sir George Prevost, saw the militia being rallied and concluded they were reinforce- ments, and he sounded a retreat. Sackett's Harbor was never afterward attacked and continued to be the chief basis of supplies for the frontier for the remainder of the War. The great batte on the Lakes was fought by Com- modore Perry on Lake Erie on the toth of September 1813.
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