Part 7 (2/2)

The British officer was as anxious as Hull for a fight, and they drew near each other, both confident of winning the wager made half in jest a brief time before.

Great interest attaches to this naval battle, for it was the first of its kind and a fair test of the respective prowess of s.h.i.+ps of and crews of that nature. The _Const.i.tution_ was somewhat the superior, carrying 55 guns and four hundred and sixty-eight men, while the _Guerriere_ had 49 guns and two hundred and sixty-three men, but all of the latter were under fine discipline, while most of the Americans were green hands.

Captain Dacres was confident of his superiority, and had no doubt that when the two frigates met the _Const.i.tution_ would be compelled speedily to strike her colors. He waited for the American to come up, each having cleared for action.

A little after four o'clock the two exchanged broadsides, but they were so far apart that no damage was done. Dacres manoeuvred for a raking position, but Hull would not permit it, nor could he obtain one for himself. There was much wearing and manoeuvring, which prevented the firing on either side from being effective. Each was wary of the other and took the utmost pains to prevent his securing any advantage.

When it became certain that the battle was to be one at close range, Hull ordered the firing to cease, in order that the fullest preparation could be made for the next broadside. He knew the skill of his men in marksmans.h.i.+p, and determined to hold his fire until the most advantageous position was reached. As he drew near his enemy, the latter continued firing, and some of her shots were so effective that the crews cheered. The Americans, most of them barefooted and stripped to the waist, were standing beside their guns eager and impatient for the order to fire, but Hull, when appealed to, shook his head. It was a proof of the fine discipline of the American crew that when they saw two of their comrades killed by the fire of the enemy, they silently waited without murmur for the order whose delay they could not comprehend.

Not until about a hundred feet distant and in the exact position desired did Captain Hull give the order to fire as the guns bore. To quote Maclay: ”In an instant the frigate belched forth a storm of iron hail that carried death and destruction into the opposing s.h.i.+p. The effect of this carefully aimed broadside at short range was terrific. The splinters were seen to fly over the British frigate like a cloud, some of them reaching as high as the mizzen top, while the cheers of her men abruptly ceased and the shrieks and groans of the wounded were heard.

The Americans had struck their first earnest blow, and it was a staggering one. The Englishman felt its full weight, and perhaps for the first time realized that this was no child's play.”

The Americans displayed remarkable skill in their gunnery, as it may be said they have always done. The main yard of the enemy was shot away in the slings, and hull, rigging and sails were badly mangled. A shot pa.s.sing through the mizzenmast close to the deck, added to the stress from the sails, caused it to break in two and fall over the quarter. One curious effect of this dragging in the water was to make the wreckage act like a rudder, bringing her up to the wind in spite of the opposition of the helm. While the damage on the _Const.i.tution_ was less, it clogged her action, but she secured a position from which she delivered two raking broadsides. Then as the vessel see-sawed, the jibboom of the _Guerriere_ crossed the _Const.i.tution's_ quarter deck.

Both crews made ready to board, but each found the other so fully prepared that neither attempted it. Meanwhile the riflemen in the rigging were working with destructive energy. In each of the _Const.i.tution's_ tops were seven marines, six loading for the seventh, who was the best marksman. A good many officers were wounded and killed on both sides.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ”CONSt.i.tUTION” AND THE ”GUERRIERE.”]

Although the vessels had been lashed together, their lurching broke them apart, and the Englishman gained a chance to use his broadsides. A fire broke out on the _Const.i.tution_, but it was quickly extinguished, and the shot of the American soon made a complete wreck of the enemy.

When it became clear that the _Guerriere_ could make no further resistance, Captain Hull drew off to repair the damages to his own s.h.i.+p.

Another English frigate was likely to appear at any moment, and she would make short work of the _Const.i.tution_ in her crippled condition.

It took but a short time to complete the work, when she returned to her former position beside the wallowing _Guerriere_. A lieutenant was sent on board to receive the surrender, which Dacres gave with painful reluctance. When brought to the side of the _Const.i.tution_, Hull a.s.sisted him up the rope ladder. Dacres extended his sword.

”No” replied Hull, ”I will not take it from one who knows so well how to use it, but I must trouble you to pay me that hat I have won.”

CHAPTER XII.

Jacob Jones--The _Wasp_ and the _Frolic_--James Biddle--The _Hornet_ and the _Penguin_--A Narrow Escape.

I must now tell you something about another gallant young officer who entered the American navy at the close of the century, when he was hardly thirty years old. He was Jacob Jones, who lived until 1850. He was a lieutenant on the _Philadelphia_ for two years, and was with that frigate when she ran on the rocks in the harbor of Tripoli. He was given command of the 18-gun sloop of war _Wasp_, which sailed from the Delaware in October, 1812, and headed eastward, with the intention of intercepting some of the enemy's merchantmen plying between Great Britain and the West Indies.

About a week after sailing he sighted five merchantmen, several of which were well armed, while all were convoyed by a brig of war. Jones stood toward them, when the brig signalled to her companions to make all sail before the wind, while she dropped back to attend to the stranger. The American came up quite close, and hailing, demanded the name of the other. For a reply, the brig lowered the Spanish colors, ran up the British flag, and let fly with a broadside and volley of musketry.

The _Wasp_ was expecting something of that nature and returned the compliment, the vessels working nearer each other and firing as rapidly as possible. The action had hardly begun when the _Wasp_ lost her main topmast, and a few minutes later the mizzen topgallant mast and the gaff were shot away. These mishaps so crippled her that she became almost unmanageable. The _Frolic_, as the enemy was named, was also damaged, but not so badly as the _Wasp_, but, unfortunately for the _Frolic_, the heavy sea and the twisting about of the hull threw her into position to be raked by the _Wasp_, and Captain Jones was quick to seize the advantage, the vessels being so close that the ramrods were pushed against each other's sides while the gunners were loading. The sea was so heavy that the guns of the _Wasp_ frequently dipped under water.

The intention of the Americans was to board, and Lieutenant James Biddle held himself and men ready to take instant advantage of the moment the roll of the sea brought them near enough to do so.

Captain Jones did not believe himself warranted in boarding, since he held the advantage of position, and he issued orders for the men to wait, but their ardor could not be checked. Among his sailors was one who had been impressed into the British service, where he was brutally treated. Springing upon his gun, he grasped the bowsprit of the brig, swung himself upon the spar and ran as nimbly as a monkey to the deck of the enemy. Imitating his enthusiasm, Lieutenant Biddle and his boarders took advantage of a favorable lurch at that moment and sprang upon the deck of the _Frolic_. There, every man stopped and repressed the cheer that rose to his lips, for the scene was one of the most dreadful that imagination can picture.

The quartermaster stood grimly clutching the wheel, a lieutenant, bleeding from several wounds, was leaning against the companionway, unable to stand without its support, while all along the deck were strewn the dead and dying. Silently the victors stepped over the prostrate forms to the quarter deck, where the officer weakly dropped his sword to signify his surrender. Lieutenant Biddle walked to where the colors were still fluttering and pulled them down. A few minutes later the mainmast and foremast fell.

Maclay gives the strength of the two vessels as follows: _Wasp_, 18 guns, _Frolic_, 22; crew of the _Wasp_, 138, of the _Frolic_, 110. On the _Wasp_ 5 were killed and 5 wounded; on the _Frolic_ 15 were killed and 47 wounded, the latter being completely riddled. The cause of this frightful difference in results was brought about by the Americans discharging their broadsides when their s.h.i.+p was on the downward roll, the shot landing in the hull of the enemy, while the latter fired on the rise, her broadsides mainly pa.s.sing into and through the rigging.

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