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been killed on board of an American coaster, near Sandy Hook, by a shot from a British armed ship (April, 1806), and the indignation of the people was very hot. It soon burst into a flame.

The belligerent powers, in efforts to damage each other, ceased to respect the rights of neutral nations, and employed measures destructive to American commerce and subversive of the most sacred rights of those not engaged in war. In these measures Great Britain took Early in 1807 the frigate Chesapeake, 38, was the lead. An order in council issued in May, put in commission for the Mediterranean. She 1806, declared the whole coast of Europe, from left Hampton Roads on the morning of the 22d the Elbe to Brest, in a state of blockade. Bo- of June, under the broad pennant of Commonaparte retaliated in November by issuing a de- dore James Barron.* At that time a squadron cree from Berlin, declaring all the ports of the of British ships of war were lying in Lynn HaBritish Islands to be in a state of blockade At ven Bay, on the coast of Virginia, watching for that time "paper blockades" were respected, and some French frigates at Annapolis. They were this was a severe blow against England's mari- watching for American vessels also. On the time superiority. In January following, the lat- day when the Chesapeake sailed the Leopard, ter prohibited all coast trade with France; and one of the British squadron, went to sea, and thus these desperate gamesters played with the in the afternoon came alongside the former with world's commerce, peace, and prosperity. Un- an order from Vice-Admiral Berkeley, at Halder these orders and decrees both English and ifax, to search for deserters. It was alleged French cruisers seized American vessels, and that the Chesapeake had British seamen of that our commerce dwindled to a coast trade. Our kind among her crew, and the right to search neglected navy was too small to protect it on the for them was claimed. The Leopard came with ocean or to inspire the belligerents with much her ports triced up and otherwise prepared to respect, and the swarms of gun-boats authorized use the argument of cannon, if necessary. by Congress, from time to time, as a coast-guard, were inefficient.

Hard pressed for seamen for her navy, Great Britain now revived her offensive policy of taking sailors from American vessels and impressing them into her naval service. She defended her practice by the theory of her laws, which declares that no subject can expatriate himself "once an Englishman, always an Englishman"-and that she had a right to search every where for suspected deserters from her navy. The government of the United States stoutly denied this right, and gave the British Ministry to understand that such practices were too offensive to be borne in silence. The intimation was treated with contempt, and an open rupture soon followed. Already a seaman had

The insulted Barron refused to have his vessel searched. He was utterly unprepared for combat, yet he gave orders to make immediate preparation. In a few minutes the Leopard hailed, and then sent a shot before the Chesapeake. This was followed in a few seconds by

* James Barron was a son of the commander-in-chief of the naval forces of Virginia during the Revolution. He entered the United States Navy in 1798, as Lieutenant, under Barry. In 1799 he was promoted to the highest grade in the navy, and ordered to the Mediterranean, under the command of his brother, Samuel Barron. He was esteemed as one of the most efficient officers in the service. After the affair of the Chesapeake and Leopard he never engaged in sea duty, but remained in the service. He was SeniorCaptain of the navy at the time of his death, which occurred at Norfolk, Virginia, in April, 1851, when he was eightytwo years of age.

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a broadside; then another, and another, for the | President, by proclamation, ordered all British space of about twelve minutes, killing three of the Americans and wounding eighteen. So unprepared was the Chesapeake that she could not fire a gun until too late, and was compelled to strike her colors. Four seamen, claimed as deserters from one of the vessels in Lynn Haven Bay, were taken from her, and that evening she returned to Hampton Roads.

This outrage produced a blaze of excitement throughout the United States. Many were anxious to declare war against Great Britain. The

JOHN RODGERS

armed vessels to leave the waters of the United States immediately, and forbade any entering them until full satisfaction should be made. The British Government, in an equivocal way, disavowed the act, and made reparation; and yet there were Americans so filled with partisan malignity against the Administration in power as to justify the conduct of the Leopard!

The civil history of the United States during the next four or five years, while the Nation was being driven into a war with Great Britain, is exceedingly interesting; but we must pass over these events, and notice only those which belong to the subject of this paper.

The Government of Great Britain, during this period, acted more honorably, but not less wickedly, than that of France. It continued its hostile orders in council, and sent ships of war to cruise near our coast to capture American merchant vessels and send them to England as lawful prizes. While engaged in this nefarious business, the British sloop of war Little Belt, Captain Bingham, was met in the evening off the coast of Virginia, in May, 1811, by the American frigate President, Commodore Rodgers.* The latter hailed the former, and received

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John Rodgers was born in Maryland, in 1771. He served in the merchant service for several years and entered the navy in 1797. At the time of the massacre at St. Domingo he was of great service in saving the white population from destruction by the blacks. He was active in the war with the Barbary States, and in that with Great Britain in 1812-'15. He died in August, 1838.

a cannon shot in reply. Rodgers immediately | The President finally gave up the pursuit. She gave a similar response. A short action en- lost twenty-two men in killed and wounded, sued, when Bingham, having eleven men killed sixteen of them by the bursting of a gun. and twenty-one wounded, gave a satisfactory

answer.

The Essex, 32, Captain David Porter, led the van in the column of victories. On the 13th of August, 1812, she was sailing in disguise when a strange vessel appeared and gave chase. The following brief dispatch of Porter to the Secretary of the Navy gives the sequel:

This outrage again raised a violent war spirit in the United States. Notwithstanding the British navy consisted of almost nine hundred vessels, and an aggregate of one hundred and forty-four thousand men, and that of the United "SIR,-I have the honor to inform you that, States only twelve vessels and about three hun- upon the 13th, his Britannic Majesty's sloop of dred guns, besides a large number of inefficient war Alert, Captain T. L. P. Langhame, ran gun-boats, the people were willing to accept war down on our weather-quarter, gave three cheers. as an alternative for submission, and to measure and commenced an action (if so trifling a skirstrength on the ocean. It is proper to remark mish deserves the name); and after eight minthat the British navy was necessarily scattered, utes' firing struck her colors, with seven feet because that Government had interests to pro-water in her hold, much cut to pieces, and three tect in various parts of the globe. men wounded."

Time after time the American flag was insulted by British cruisers, and the British press insolently boasted that the United States "could not be kicked into a war." Forbearance became no longer a virtue. On the 19th of July, 1812, the President of the United States, by the authority of Congress, formally declared war against Great Britain. Now was the opportunity for the little American navy to display its valor. It consisted of only twenty vessels besides gun-boats. Nine of these were of a class less than frigates. Two of them were unseaworthy, and one was on Lake Ontario. Yet they boldly defied the armed marine of Great Britain, then more than a thousand vessels strong.

The first hostile shot fired after the declaration of war was by Commodore Rodgers of the President, who, on the 23d of June, discharged a chase-gun after the British ship Belvidera, 36, not far from Sandy Hook. A running engagement ensued, and both vessels were injured.

ISAAC HULL

This was the first British national vessel that struck her colors after the declaration of war. That humiliation was soon followed by another of greater importance.

On the 19th of August the Constitution, 44, Captain Hull,* had a severe engagement with the Guerriere, 38, Captain Dacres, off the American coast, in the present track of ships to Great Britain. After much manoeuvring to obtain the weather-gage the hostile vessels, at six o'clock in the evening, came within half pistol-shot of each other, and engaged in deadly conflict with the entire force of each vessel. The guns of the Constitution were double-shotted with round and grape, and her execution was terrible. The rigging of the two vessels finally became entangled, and both parties prepared to board. The fire from small-arms became exceedingly severe, and Lieutenant Morris, of the Constitution, endeavored to lash the vessels together. At this moment the sails of the Constitution filled, and she shot ahead, instantly exposing

the shattered condition of her antagonist. The foremast of the Guerriere fell, carrying with it her mainmast. She was thus left a helpless wreck upon a rough sea. The combat had continued for an hour, and the Constitution was about to pour a raking fire into her disabled antagonist, when the latter discharged a gun to the leeward, in token of surrender. At daylight the Guerriere was found to be sinking. The prisoners and some movables were soon transferred to the Constitution, and at three o'clock in the afternoon, the battered hulk having been fired, she blew up. The Constitution carried the intel

Isaac Hull was born in Derby, Connecticut, in 1775. He was first in the merchant service, and in 1798 entered the navy as Lieutenant. In May, 1800, he was First-Lieutenant of the Const.tution, under Talbot. In 1804 he commanded the brig Argus at the storming of Tripoli. After the war with Great Britain Commodore Hull held various commands; and he enjoyed the rank of Captain in the service for thirty-seven years. He died in Philadelphia in February, 1843. His remains repose in Laurel Hill Cemetery.

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ligence of her own triumph to Boston. It pro- Very soon after the victory was secured, the duced a profound sensation in both hemispheres. Poictiers, a British seventy-four gun ship, apThe insolent tone of the British press was low-peared, and captured both the Wasp and her ered, and the prestige of Britain's hitherto naval prize. supremacy lost much of its power. Congress voted thanks and a gold medal to Hull.

The gallant conduct of Jones gave great joy to the Americans. Congress honored him with thanks and a gold medal. His praise was upon every lip. A caricature was issued, entitled "A Wasp on a Frolic," and the affair became a theme for wit and song. Many a gray-haired survivor of the war remembers the following lines of a popular song of the day:

"The foe bravely fought, but his arms were all broken, And he fled from his death-wound, aghast and

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affrighted:

But the Wasp darted forward her death-dealing sting,
And full on his bosom like lightning alighted.
She pierced through his entrails, she maddened his brain,
And he writhed and he groaned as if torn with the

colic;

And long shall John Bull rue the terrible day
He met the American Wasp on a Frolic."

e often heard of your Wasps and Marnets but little thought such diminetee facets could giveme Such a Sting!!!

JACOB JONES.

A WASP ON A FROLIC.

The victory of the Constitution was soon followed by the brilliant exploit of the United States schooner Wasp, 18, Captain Jones,* in capturing a British sloop off the coast of North Carolina. The Wasp was in Europe when the war was declared. She returned to the Delaware with a prize, and sailed on a cruise toward the middle of October, 1812. She fell in with a squadron of British merchantmen, convoyed by a vessel of war. It was on Sunday morning, October 18, 1812. The convoy was the Frolic, 18, Captain Whinyates. When the Wasp had come within fifty or sixty yards of the enemy, the latter opened her fire. It was A week after Jones's victory, another was returned by the Wasp with great energy. The achieved by Captain Decatur, in command of sea was very rough, and it required much nau- the frigate United States, 44. On Sunday; the tical skill to manage the vessels. At one time 25th of October, Decatur discovered an English they were so near that they touched each other, ship, and gave chase. At the distance of about and the destruction wrought by their guns was a mile Decatur opened a broadside upon the enterrible. At length the Americans boarded the emy. His shot fell short. This was soon folenemy, but they found no man to oppose them. lowed by another at a shorter distance; when a The decks were covered by the dead and wound-heavy cannonade from the long guns of both ed, and every man who was able had gone below vessels commenced, and continued for half an except the old seaman at the wheel. The offi- hour. The fire of the United States was by far cers cast down their swords in token of submis- the most effective. The mizen-mast and main sion, and Lieutenant Biddle hauled down the Frolic's colors. "Not twenty persons remained unhurt" in the Frolic, her commander reported. Jacob Jones was born in Delaware, in 1770. He was educated for a physician, but in 1799 he entered the navy, under Captain Barry. He was with Bainbridge at Tripoli; and at the beginning of the war, in 1812, was commander of the Wasp. He went through the war with honor, and when peace came he retired to his farm in his native State, where he died in July, 185).

and fore top-masts of the enemy were speedily shot away, and his colors disappeared. When the United States came within hailing distance the firing on both sides had ceased. The British vessel had surrendered, and it was announced that she was the Macedonian, 38, Captain Carden. She was fearfully wounded, having received no less than one hundred round shot in her hull alone. She mounted 49 guns.

Decatur took his prize into New London. The victory made his name immortal. The city of Philadelphia voted him a sword; the city of New York its freedom; and the States of Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland their thanks. Pennsylvania and Virginia each gave him their thanks and a sword; and the Congress of the United States thanks and a gold medal. These victories of the American navy, in quick succession, deeply moved the public mind of Great Britain, and filled the hearts of the people there with great anxiety.

WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE.

guns were disabled, her hull was terribly shattered, and her bowsprit was shot away; while the Constitution did not lose a spar.

The Java was one of the best vessels in the British service. She was bound to the East Indies, and had on board upward of one hundred officers and men destined for service in the East. Among these was Lieutenant-General Hyslop, Governor of Bombay. Her officers and crew numbered over four hundred, and of these twenty-two were killed and one hundred and two were wounded. Captain Lambert was mortally wounded during the action. The Constitution lost nine killed and twenty-five wounded. Finding the Java incapable of floating long, Bainbridge burned her, and then returned to Boston. He was received with great rejoicings by his countrymen. The city of Philadelphia presented him with an elegant piece of plate, and the Common Council of New York voted him the freedom of the city in a gold box, and ordered his portrait to be painted. The Congress of the United States voted him their thanks and fifty thousand dollars. They also ordered a gold medal to be presented to him, and a silver one to each of his officers.

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Thus, gloriously for the honor of the American navy, closed the year 1812. The Americans were greatly elated by the victories on the ocean, and were in a measure consoled for their defeats on the land. At the same time the ocean swarmed with active American privateers, who made conquests and seized prizes in every direction. Accounts of their exploits filled the newspapers, and a history of that service occupies a volume. It is estimated that during the first seven months after the declaration of war, AmerThe magnanimous Hull, in order to give other ican cruisers captured more than fifty British officers an opportunity to share in the honors of armed vessels, and two hundred and fifty merthe naval warfare (there being more officers than chantmen, with an aggregate of more than three vessels), left the Constitution after his victory thousand prisoners, and a vast amount of booty. over the Guerriere, and she was placed in com- By these achievements British pride was woundmand of Commodore Bainbridge. She left Bos-ed in a tender part; for England had long boastton toward the close of October on a cruise off ed that she was "mistress of the seas." They the coast of Brazil, in company with the Hornet, also strengthened the Administration; and at 18, Captain Lawrence. Leaving the Hornet to the close of 1812 naval armaments were in prepblockade the British sloop of war Bonne Citoy-aration on the lakes to assist in a projected invaenne in the port of San Salvador, Bainbridge proceeded down the coast, and on the 29th of December fell in with the British frigate Jara, 38, Captain Lambert. After considerable manoeuvring they commenced an engagement, which lasted almost three hours. The action was very spirited, both vessels in their movements exhibiting great nautical skill. In the course of the action the Java was reduced to a wreck. She was entirely dismasted, a large number of her

sion of Canada the following spring.

We have already observed that the Hornet, Captain Lawrence,† was left by Bainbridge to blockade the port of San Salvador. She was compelled to leave there by a superior British force. On the 24th of February, 1813, while cruising off the mouth of the Demerara River, she encountered the British brig Peacock, 18, Captain Peake. At a little past five o'clock in

See COGGESHALL'S American Privateers.

William Bainbridge was born at Princeton, New Jer- † James Lawrence was born at Burlington, New Jersey, sey, in May, 1774. He entered a counting-house in New in 1781. He was partly educated for the law, but studied York as an apprentice, but soon went to sea. He entered navigation, and at the age of 17 he entered the navy. His the navy in 1798, as Lieutenant, and made his first cruise first voyage was to the West Indies, in the Ganges, Capin command of the Retaliation. His services in the Med-tain Tingey. He was attached to the Enterprise in the iterranean were very useful. He was in command of the bombardment of Tripoli. His cruise in the Hornet gave Constellation at the beginning of the war of 1812. He him great honor, and in the spring of 1813 he was placed went through the war with distinction, and at its conclu- in command of the Chesapeake. In a contest with the sion went again to the Mediterranean. He died at Phila-Shannon, soon afterward, he was mortally wounded, and delphia in July, 1833. died on his way to Halifax.

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