While thus engaged, a sudden and violent squall came on, which, in a measure, slackened the engagement, and rendered the aim uncertain. As the squall ceased, it was discovered that the convoy had scattered in all directions, and were doing their utmost to escape. The other armed vessels now hastened to the assistance of their crippled companion. Yet the Raleigh continued to deal out her thunder, nor did she haul off until the other vessels were almost within gun-shot of her. Thus compelled, she ran to leeward, and joined the Alfred. Hoping, however, that the commodore might be induced to renew the engagement, she shortened sail, thus giving her antagonist an opportunity to restore his wounded honor; but, instead of this, he hauled in among his convoy. For several following days the American ships continued to follow the fleet, but they were not so fortunate as to receive the respects of any of the vessels of war.
The Druid, which was of twenty guns, was so much disabled as to be obliged immediately to return to England. Her loss was six killed and twenty-six wounded; among the latter, was her commander, Captain Carteret. Five of the wounded subsequently died. The Raleigh had three men killed and wounded.
During the year 1777, David Bushnell, a native of Connecticut, made several attempts to blow up the ships of the enemy by means of torpedoes. This mode of warfare had employed his thoughts during his collegiate course, so that on graduating in 1775, his plans were in a good degree matured. An account of some of his early plans he gave to the world himself. The following is a description of his celebrated torpedo: "It bore a resemblance to two upper tortoise shells of equal sizes, placed in contact, leaving, at that part which represents the head of the animal, a flue or opening sufficiently capacious to contain the operator, and air to support him thirty minutes. At the bottom, opposite to the entrance, was placed a quantity of lead for ballast. The operator sat upright, and held an oar for rowing forward or backward, and was furnished with a rudder for steering. An aperture at the bottom with its valves admitted water for the purpose of descending, and two brass forcing-pumps served to eject the water within, when necessary for ascending. The vessel was made completely water-tight, furnished with glass windows for the admission of light, with ventilators and air-pipes, and was so ballasted with lead fixed on the bottom as to render it solid, and obviate all danger of oversetting. Behind the sub-marine vessel was a place above the rudder for carrying a large powder magazine; this was made of two pieces of oak timber, large enough, when hollowed out, to contain one hundred and fifty pounds of powder, with the apparatus used for firing it, and was secured in its place by a screw turned by the operator. It was lighter than water, so that he might rise against the object to which it was intended to be fastened.
"Within the magazine was an apparatus constructed to run any proposed period under twelve hours; when it had run out its time, it unpinioned a strong lock, resembling a gun-lock, which gave fire to the powder. This apparatus was so pinioned, that it could not possibly move, until, by casting off the magazine from the vessel, it was set in motion. The skillful operator could swim so low on the surface of the water, as to approach very near the ship in the night, without fear of being discovered, and might, if he chose, approach the stem or stern above water, with very little danger. He could sink very quickly, keep at any necessary depth, and row a great distance in any direction he desired, without coming to the surface. When he rose to the top, he could soon obtain a fresh supply of air, and, if necessary, descend again and pursue his course."
With a torpedo of the above construction, Bushnell made an experiment on the Eagle, a sixty-gun ship, then lying in the harbor of New York, and under command of Lord Howe. A sergeant of one of the Connecticut regiments conducted the operation. General Putnam, standing on the wharf, was a witness of the proceeding.
The sergeant, having under cover of night proceeded to the ship, attempted to fasten the torpedo to her bottom by means of a screw. But in this he failed, striking, as he supposed, a bar or bolt of iron, which resisted the screw. In attempting to move to another place, he passed from under the ship, and soon rose to the surface. By this time, daylight had so far advanced as to make any further experiments hazardous. He therefore concluded to return to New York. On passing Governor's island, supposing himself discovered by the British stationed there, he cast off his magazine, and proceeded without it. The internal apparatus was set to run one hour; at the expiration of which, it blew up, in a tremendous explosion, throwing a vast column of water to a great height, to the no small wonder of the enemy.
This experiment was followed in the course of the year by an attempt from a whaling-boat against the frigate Cerebus, off New London. The expedient adopted in this case was to draw a machine, loaded with powder, against her side by means of a line, to be exploded by a gun-lock. But failing to attach itself as intended, against the frigate, it became attached to a schooner, at anchor astern of the frigate, which, on exploding, it demolished.
In a letter addressed to Sir Peter Parker, by Commodore Simmons, at the time of the explosion on board the Cerebus, he gave an account of this singular disaster. Being at anchor to the westward of the town with a schooner which he had taken, about eleven o'clock in the evening he discovered a line towing astern from the bows. He believed some person had been veered away by it, and immediately began to haul in. A sailor belonging to the schooner taking it for a fishing-line, laid hold of it, and drew it in about fifteen fathoms. It was buoyed up by small pieces tied to it at regular distances. At the end of the rope a machine was fastened, too heavy for one man to pull up, for it exceeded one hundred pounds in weight. The other people of the schooner coming to his assistance, they drew it upon deck. While the men, to gratify their curiosity, were examining the machine, it exploded, blew the vessel into pieces, and set her on fire. Three men were killed, and a fourth blown into the water, very much injured. On subsequent examination, the other part of the line was discovered buoyed up in the same manner; this the commodore ordered to be instantly cut away, for fear (as he termed it) of hauling up another of the "infernals!"
The above mode of warfare cannot but be considered too shocking and inhuman to be encouraged by civilized nations, and we do not regret that the experiment of Bushnell, and the more recent experiments of Fulton, failed. But it is said that the failure of his efforts cast a deep and permanent gloom over the mind of Bushnell.
On the 10th of April, 1778, the celebrated John Paul Jones sailed on a cruise from France, having the Ranger placed under his command by the American commissioners, Franklin, Deane, and Lee. In consideration of his previous valuable services, he was allowed to cruise wherever he pleased. Accordingly, he directed his course along the British coast, and for a time kept the people of the maritime part of Scotland, and part of England, in a state of great alarm and excitement.
Among his exploits on this cruise, previous to that in which he engaged the Serapis, his descent upon Whitehaven was of the boldest character. Two forts, with thirty pieces of cannon, guarded this port, in which, at the time, were a hundred vessels at anchor.
"Two parties landed in the night; the forts were seized and the guns spiked; the few look-outs that were in the works being confined. In effecting this duty, Captain Jones was foremost in person; for, having once sailed out of that port, he was familiar with the situation of the place. An accident, common to both the parties into which the expedition had been divided, came near defeating the enterprise in the outset. They had brought candles in lanterns, for the double purpose of lights and torches, and, now that they were about to be used as the latter, it was found that they were all consumed. As the day was appearing, the party under Mr. Wallingford, one of the lieutenants, took to its boat without effecting any thing, while Captain Jones sent to a detached building, and obtained a candle. He boarded a large ship, kindled a fire in her steerage, and by placing a barrel of tar over the spot, soon had the vessel in flames. This ship lay in the midst of more than a hundred others, high and dry, the tide being out; Captain Jones took to his boats, and pulled towards his ship. Some guns were fired on the retiring boats without effect; but the people of the place succeeded in extinguishing the flames before the mischief became very extensive."
During this cruise, another bold enterprise was undertaken. This was an attempt to seize the Earl of Selkirk, who had a seat on St. Mary's Isle, near the point, where the Dee flows into the channel. Jones was well acquainted with the place, his father having been gardener to the earl, but he was not himself immediately engaged in the attempt, that being entrusted to a subordinate officer. The party landed, demanded and took possession of the house, but, to their great disappointment, the duke himself was absent. One unauthorized act of the party, Captain Jones condemned, viz: the seizure of about one hundred pounds value of plate. This, however, he afterwards purchased of the crew, and returned to Lady Selkirk, with a letter expressive of his regrets at the occurrence.
He next steered towards the coast of Ireland, where he encountered the Drake, twenty, a ship which he had a sincere desire to meet. On approaching the Ranger, the Drake hailed, and received the name of her antagonist, by way of challenge, with a request to come on. As the two ships were standing on in this manner, the Drake a little to leeward and astern, the Ranger put her helm up, a manœuvre that the enemy imitated, and the former gave the first broadside. The wind admitted of but few changes, but the battle was fought running fire, under easy canvas. It lasted an hour and four minutes, when the Drake called for quarter, her ensign being already cut down.
The English ship was much cut up, both in her hull and aloft, and Captain Jones computed her loss at about forty men. Her captain and lieutenant were both desperately wounded, and died shortly after the engagement. The Ranger suffered much less, having Lieutenant Wallingford and one man killed, and six wounded. The Drake was not only a heavier ship, but she had a much stronger crew than her antagonist. She had also two guns the most.
With this prize, Jones returned to Brest, where for a time he remained in hope of receiving a more important command, and which had brought him to Europe.
After many delays, the king of France purchased for him the Duras, an old Indiaman, which name Jones exchanged for Le Bon Homme Richard.[51] To this were, added by order of the French ministry, the Pallas, Cerf, and Vengeance, and, by Dr. Franklin, commissioner, the Alliance, thirty-two, then in France. The Cerf and Alliance were the only vessels of the squadron fitted for war.
With this squadron, Commodore Jones, on the 19th of June, 1779, sailed from the anchorage under the Isle of Groix, off l'Orient, bound southward; but, finding it necessary to return, he left the anchorage a second time, on the 14th of August. About the 23d of September, he fell in with a fleet of merchantmen, of more than forty sail, under convoy of the Serapis, forty-four, Captain Richard Pearson, and the Countess of Seaborough, twenty-two.
The Serapis was a new ship, mounting on her lower gun-deck, twenty eighteen-pound guns, on her upper gun deck, twenty nine-pound guns, and on her quarter-deck and forecastle, ten six-pound guns; making an armament of fifty guns in the whole. Her crew consisted of three hundred and twenty men. The Bon Homme Richard was a single-decked ship, with six old eighteen-pounders mounted in the gun-room below, and twenty-eight twelve-pounders on her main or proper gun-deck, with eight nines on her quarter-deck forecastle, and six in the gangways, making in all a mixed, or rather light amount of forty-two guns. Her crew consisted of three hundred and eighty men, of whom one hundred and thirty-seven were marines or soldiers.
Our narrative will be confined to the action between the Richard and the Serapis, which proved one of the most terrible and hotly-contested engagements recorded in the annals of naval warfare.
About half-past seven in the evening, the Richard came up with the Serapis. Captain Pearson hailed. The answer of Commodore Jones was designedly equivocal, and, in a moment after, both ships delivered their entire broadsides. A sad and destructive catastrophe befel the Richard. Two of her eighteen guns burst, blowing up the deck above, and killing or wounding a large proportion of the people stationed below. This disaster caused all the heavy guns to be deserted, the men having no longer sufficient confidence in them to use them. The loss of these reduced the Richard one-third below that of her rival; in short, it became a contest between a twelve-pounder and an eighteen pounder, a species of contest in which it has been said the former has never been known to prevail. Captain Jones, however, more than most men, was fitted for desperate circumstances, and in a moment determined to make up in rëdoubled activity what was wanting in power of metal.
Nearly an hour was consumed in different manœuvres—shifting, firing—each endeavoring to obtain the advantage of position; till, at length, the vessels came close together, but not in a manner which permitted either party to board. The firing ceased for a few minutes. Captain Pearson, imagining the enemy had surrendered, demanded, "Have you struck your colors?" "I have not yet begun to fight!" vociferated the intrepid Jones.
The ships again separated, and the firing was renewed. Again they fell upon each other, and in the moment of collision, Captain Jones, with his own hands, lashed the enemy's head-gear to his mizen-mast. This brought them more entirely side by side, and it being desirable on the part of Captain Jones to retain the enemy in that position, additional lashings were employed to effect that object. This was a disappointment to Captain Pearson, but he determined to be first in boarding, and now made a vigorous attempt with that object in view, but was repulsed.
"All this time, the battle raged. The lower ports of the Serapis having been closed, as the vessels swung, to prevent boarding, they were now blown off, in order to allow the guns to be run out; and cases actually occurred in which the rammers had to be thrust into the ports of the opposite ship, in order to be entered into the muzzles of their proper guns. It is evident that such a conflict must have been of short duration. In effect, the heavy metal of the Serapis, in one or two discharges, cleared all before it, and the main guns of the Richard were in a great measure abandoned. Most of the people went on the upper deck, and a great number collected on the forecastle, where they were safe from the fire of the enemy, continuing to fight by throwing grenades and using muskets.
"In this stage of the combat, the Serapis was tearing her antagonist to pieces below, almost without resistance from her enemy's batteries, only two guns on the quarter-deck, and three or four of the twelves, being worked at all. To the former, by shifting a gun from the larboard side, Commodore Jones succeeded in adding a third, all of which were used with effect, under his immediate inspection, to the close of the action. He could not muster force enough to get over a second gun. But the combat would now have soon terminated, had it not been for the courage and activity of the people aloft. Strong parties had been placed in the tops; at the end of a short contest, the Americans had driven every man belonging to the enemy below; after which, they kept up so animated a fire, on the quarter-deck of the Serapis in particular, as to drive nearly every man off it, that was not shot down.
"Thus, while the English had the battle nearly all to themselves below, their enemies had the control above the upper-deck. Having cleared the tops of the Serapis, some American seamen lay out on the Richard's main-yard, and began to throw hand-grenades upon the two upper-decks of the English ship; the men on the forecastle of their own vessel seconding these efforts, by casting the same combustibles through the ports of the Serapis. At length, one man in particular became so hardy, as to take his post on the extreme end of the yard, whence, provided with a bucket filled with combustibles and a match, he dropped the grenades with so much precision, that one passed through the main-hatchway. The powder-boys of the Serapis, had got more cartridges up than were wanted, and, in their hurry, they had carelessly laid a row of them on the main-deck, in a line with the guns. The grenade just mentioned, set fire to some loose powder that was lying near, and the flash passed from cartridge to cartridge beginning abreast the main-mast, and running quite aft.
"The effect of this explosion was awful. More than twenty men were instantly killed, many of them being left with nothing on them but the collars and wristbands of their shirts, and the waistbands of their duck trowsers; while the official returns of the ship, a week after the action, show that there were no less than thirty-eight wounded on board still alive, who had been injured in this manner, and of whom thirty were said to have been then in great danger. Captain Pearson describes this explosion as having destroyed nearly all the men at the five or six aftermost guns. On the whole, nearly sixty must have been disabled by this sudden blow.
"The advantage thus obtained by the coolness and intrepidity of the topmen, in a great measure restored the chances of the combat; and, by lessening the fire of the enemy, enabled Commodore Jones to increase his. In the same degree that it encouraged the crew of the Richard, it diminished the hopes of the people of the Serapis. One of the guns, under the immediate inspection of Commodore Jones, had been pointed some time against the main-mast of his enemy, while the two others had seconded the fire of the tops, with grape and cannister. Kept below decks by this double attack, where a scene of frightful horror was present in the agonies of the wounded, and the effects of the explosion, the spirits of the English began to droop, and there was a moment when a trifle would have induced them to submit. From this despondency, they were temporarily raised, by one of those unlooked-for events that ever accompany the vicissitudes of battle.
"After exchanging an ineffective and distant broadside with the Scarborough, the Alliance kept standing off and on, to leeward of the two principal ships, out of the direction of their shot, when, about half-past eight, she appeared crossing the stern of the Serapis and the bow of the Richard, firing at such a distance as to render it impossible to say which vessel would suffer the most. As soon as she had drawn out of the range of her own guns, her helm was put up, and she ran down nearly a mile to leeward, hovering about, until the firing had ceased between the Pallas and Scarborough, when she came within hail, and spoke both of these vessels. Captain Cottineau, of the Pallas, earnestly entreated Captain Landais to take possession of his prize, and allow him to go to the assistance of the Richard, or to stretch up to windward in the Alliance himself, and succor the commodore."[52]
At length, Captain Landais determined to go to the assistance of the Richard, but on reaching the scene of engagement, he opened a fire which did as much damage to friend as foe. He was hailed, and informed that he was firing into the wrong ship. At the time, it was supposed to be a mistake; but afterwards it was more than conjectured to have been a wanton and cruel act of revenge on the part of Landais, who had for some time exhibited strong feelings of hostility to Captain Jones, and had neglected on several occasions to follow out his orders.
"Let the injuries have been received," continues Mr. Cooper, "from what quarter they might, soon after the Alliance had run to leeward, an alarm was spread in the Richard that the ship was sinking. Both vessels had been on fire several times, and some difficulty had been experienced in extinguishing the flames; but here was a new enemy to contend with, and as the information came from the carpenter, whose duty it was to sound the pump-wells, it produced a great deal of consternation. The Richard had more than a hundred English prisoners on board, and the master-at-arms, in the hurry of the moment, let them all up below, in order to save their lives. In the confusion of such a scene at night, the master of a letter-of-marque, that had been taken off the north of Scotland, passed through a port of the Richard into one of the Serapis, when he reported to Captain Pearson, that a few minutes would probably decide the battle in his favor, or carry his enemy down, he himself having been liberated in order to save his life. Just at this instant, the gunner, who had little to occupy him at his quarters, came on deck, and not perceiving Commodore Jones, or Mr. Dale, both of whom were occupied with the liberated prisoners, and believing the master, the only other superior he had in the ship, to be dead, he ran up the poop to haul down the colors. Fortunately, the flag-staff had been shot away, and, the ensign already hanging in the water, he had no other means of letting his intention to submit be known than by calling out for quarters. Captain Pearson now hailed to inquire if the Richard demanded quarter, and was answered by Commodore Jones himself in the negative. It is probable that the reply was not heard, or if heard, supposed to come from an unauthorized source; for encouraged by what he learned from the escaped prisoner, by the cry, and by the confusion that prevailed in the Richard, the English captain directed his boarders to be called away, and, as soon as mustered, they were ordered to take possession of the prize. Some of the men actually got on the gunwale of the latter ship, but finding boarders ready to repel boarders, they made a precipitate retreat. All this time the topmen were not idle, and the enemy were soon driven below again with loss.
"In the mean while, Mr. Dale, who no longer had a gun that could be fought, mustered the prisoners at the pumps, turning their consternation to account, and probably keeping the Richard afloat by the very blunder that had come so near losing her. The ships were now on fire again, and both parties, with the exception of a few guns on each side, ceased fighting, in order to subdue this dangerous enemy. In the course of the combat, the Serapis is said to have been set on fire no less than twelve times, while towards its close, as will be seen in the sequel, the Richard was burning all the while.
"As soon as order was restored in the Richard, after the call for quarter, her chances for success began to increase, while the English, driven under cover almost to a man, appear to have lost, in a great degree, the hope of victory. Their fire materially slackened, while the Richard again brought a few more guns to bear; the main-mast of the Serapis began to totter, and her resistance, in general, to lessen. About an hour after the explosion, or between three hours and three hours and a half after the first gun was fired, and between two hours and two hours and a half after the ships were lashed together, Captain Pearson hauled down the colors of the Serapis with his own hands, the men refusing to expose themselves to the fire of the Richard's tops."
Thus ended a conflict as murderous and sanguinary as the annals of naval warfare have recorded. Each ship lost about one hundred and fifty men, or nearly one-half of the whole number engaged.
At the time of the surrender, the Richard was on fire, and apparently sinking. So imminent was the danger, that the powder was hastily removed from the magazine, and placed on the deck, to prevent explosion. Men from the other ships were sent on board, and the pumps were kept in motion, and water raised and dashed around until ten o'clock the next day, before the fire was got under. An examination of the ship followed, the result of which was, that it was necessary to abandon her. The wounded were consequently ordered to be removed, and on the following day, about ten o'clock, this gallant ship settled slowly into the sea.
The squadron now left the scene of mortal combat, with the Serapis and Scarborough, the latter having struck to the Pallas. The former having lost her main-mast, jury masts were obliged to be rigged; after driving about in the rough sea until the 6th of October, the squadron and prizes entered the Texel, the port to which they had been ordered to repair.
The action between these two vessels, next to that of the Richard and Serapis, is supposed to have been the most severe during the war of the Revolution.
The Trumbull, of thirty-two guns, was commanded by Captain James Nicholson, a spirited and skillful officer. During a cruise in June, 1780, a large ship was perceived bearing down upon the Trumbull's quarter. At half-past eleven, she hauled a point more to stern of her. The Trumbull now made sail, hauling upon a wind towards her, upon which she came down upon the Trumbull's beams. The latter then took in all her small sails, hauled her courses up, hove the main-topsail to the mast, cleared for action, end waited the approach of the enemy.
After several manœuvres on the part of each vessel, Captain Nicholson discovered that his adversary had thirteen ports on each side, and eight or ten on her quarter-deck and forecastle, and of course mounted thirty-six guns. At twelve, the Trumbull, finding her great superiority as to sailing, and having gotten to windward, determined to avail herself of the advantage to commence the engagement.
The stranger, observing the design of Captain Nicholson, fired three shots, and hoisted British colors as a challenge. The Trumbull wore after her, hoisting British colors, with an intention of getting alongside. A private signal was made in turn by the British ship, which not being answered she opened a broadside at a hundred yards distance. The Trumbull, upon this, run up the continental colors, and returned the fire.
Such was the commencement of an action of three hours' continuance. There was bravery, determination, on both sides. During the greater part of the action, the vessels were not fifty yards apart, and at one time, they were nearly enlocked.
Twice was the Trumbull set on fire by means of wads from the other vessel. Her masts and rigging were greatly injured. Observing, at length, that her masts were in imminent danger of going by the board, the first lieutenant informed Captain Nicholson of the danger, and begged him to abandon further attempt to take the enemy's ship, as without masts they should be at his mercy.
It was with great reluctance that Captain Nicholson adopted the course suggested. He was confident that with one half-hour more, he should have been able to have achieved the victory. But yielding to stern necessity, and the dictates of humanity, he gave up the contest. He lost his main and mizen-top-mast, when only musket-shot distant from the other vessel. At length, only her fore-mast was left, and that was badly wounded and sprung. She had eight men killed, and twenty-one wounded, nine of whom died after the action. Her crew consisted of one hundred and ninety-nine men. The English ship proved to be the Watt, letter-of-marque. She had upwards of ninety men killed and wounded. Not less than one hundred balls struck her hull.
In February, 1781, Captain Barry, of the frigate Alliance, of thirty-two guns, sailed from Boston for l'Orient, having on board Colonel Lawrence, destined to France on an important embassy to the French court. Having landed Mr. Lawrence, he sailed on a cruise.
On the 28th of May, two sail were discovered on the weather-bow of the Alliance, standing towards her. After having approached sufficiently near to be discovered by Captain Barry, they hauled to wind, and stood on the same course with the Alliance. On the 29th, at day-break, the wind lulled. At sunrise, the Alliance displayed the American colors, and preparations were made for action. The men look their stations.
The vessels with which the Alliance was now to contend were a ship and a brig, displaying English colors—the Atalanta, Captain Edwards, carrying twenty guns and one hundred and thirty men, and the Trepassey, of fourteen guns and eighty men, under command of Captain Smith.
The advantage was, both as to men and guns, on the side of the British; but more than this, as the Alliance must necessarily engage both at the same time. But Captain Barry, no way daunted, determined to do his duty as an officer and a patriot. He, therefore, summoned them to strike their colors. To such a summons they had, of course, no inclination to accede, and the engagement opened with a spirit corresponding to the interest at stake. Unfortunately for the Alliance, a perfect calm prevailed—and on the bosom of the water she lay, in respect to motion, as a thing devoid of life. The opposing vessels had sweeps, and were therefore able to choose their positions. And the most advantageous positions they did choose—they lay on the quarters, and athwart the stern of the Alliance. Consequently, but few of her guns could be brought to bear.
Added to these untoward circumstances, there soon occurred, on board the Alliance, a still greater misfortune. A grape-shot struck the shoulder of Captain Barry, inflicting a severe and dangerous wound. But he neither heeded its pain nor its danger, but continued on the quarter-deck, marking the progress of the action, and giving his orders as occasion required. At length, however, by reason of loss of blood, he was obliged to be borne below. At this time, the American flag was shot away, and fell. There was a momentary pause on board the Alliance, which the enemy construing into a surrender, they filled the air with loud rejoicings.
But they mistook. The flag had been shot down, not hauled down. The supposed pause was only the needful interval occupied in rëloading. The colors were soon rëinstalled, and again floated as proudly as before; and a full broadside from the Alliance showed to her foes how the interval had been occupied. That broadside rëcalled them to their quarters. Fortunately, about this time, a welcome breeze, though still light, sprung up. The sails of the Alliance, which had scarcely served any purpose during the engagement, and seemed destined to acquire no honor in the coming victory—the sails were no longer idle. They soon brought the vessel into a more favorable position. This circumstance added to the confidence and rëdoubled the efforts of the seamen. Broadside followed broadside in quick succession, and did all desirable execution. At three o'clock in the afternoon the action terminated: the Alliance was the victor.
On being ushered into the presence of Barry, Captain Edwards presented his sword; which, however, the former declined taking, observing, "that he richly merited it, and that his king ought to give him a better ship."
The importance of firmness and perseverance, in a commander, was well illustrated during the above engagement. Soon after Barry received his wound, and had been obliged to go below, one of his lieutenants, disheartened by the misfortune which had befallen his commander, and appalled by the fearful devastation which seemed to be making by the enemy with the ship's spars and rigging, repaired to him, and proposed that the colors should be struck.
Barry started. The colors be struck! no such thought had entered his mind. The colors be struck! "No!" said he; "if the ship can't be fought without me, carry me at once on deck." The lieutenant, if ashamed, was also rëanimated. He repaired on deck, went round among the crew, and made known Barry's courage and determination. There was but one response among the brave tars. They decided to "stick to him manfully." And they did. From that moment "the ship was fought"—and fought without the presence of Barry. But no sooner was his wound dressed, than he insisted on being aided in ascending to the deck; before reaching it, however, the enemy had struck. Brave seamen! brave commander!
The Alliance had eleven killed during the action, and twenty-one wounded. Among the latter, were several officers. She had suffered terribly in her spars and rigging. The loss of the enemy was eleven killed and thirty wounded.
The Savage was a British sloop, carrying twenty guns and about one hundred and fifty men. In September, 1781, while on a cruise along the Southern coast of the United States, she entered the Potomac, and plundered the estate of Washington, then in another quarter, commanding the American army. It was an expedition unworthy a high-minded and honorable officer, and a well-merited rebuke was soon after meted out to him.
On leaving the Potomac, the Savage fell in with the American privateer Congress, Captain Geddes, off Charleston. The vessels were of the same force. On board the Congress, at the time, was Major McLane, a distinguished American officer, who with a part of his command had volunteered to serve as marines. As the crew of the Savage were all seamen, she had decidedly the advantage, in respect to the Congress, whose crew, in part, were landsmen, unacquainted with marine warfare.
The vessels were now within cannon distance. The Congress commenced by firing her bow-chasers. This was at half-past ten in the morning. At eleven, they had approximated so near each other, that the landsmen employed their musketry, and with effect. A sharp and destructive cannonade followed on both sides.
At the commencement of the engagement, the advantage lay with the Savage. Her position being on the Congress' bows, was favorable for raking. But a closer engagement followed, and the tide turned in favor of the privateer. So well did she manœuvre, so promptly, so dextrously, that she soon disabled her enemy. At the expiration of an hour, the braces and bowlines of the Savage were shot away. Not a rope was left by which to trim the sails. The musketry of the Americans had cleared her decks. In this situation, it was deemed impossible that she could much longer continue the contest. Indeed, she was already nearly a wreck—her sails, rigging, and yards were so shattered as to forbid her changing her position, but with the greatest difficulty. She would not, however, surrender, but rëcommenced a vigorous cannonade. Again her quarter-deck and forecastle were cleared by the fatal musketry of the American landsmen. Three guns on her main deck were rendered useless. The vessels were now so near each other, that the fire from the guns scorched the men opposed to them in the other. At length, the mizen-mast of the Savage was shot away. At this instant, the boatswain of the Savage appeared forward, with his hat off, calling for quarter. But it was half an hour before the crew of the Congress could board her, by reason of the loss of their boats. But, on reaching her, she was found to be scarcely more than a wreck. Her decks were covered with blood, and killed and wounded men.
The Congress had thirty men killed and wounded. The Savage had twenty-three killed and thirty-one wounded. Among the latter, was her commander, Captain Sterling.
The marine service often furnished examples of great heroism and most patriotic endurance. Such an instance occurred on board the Congress. After the action terminated, Major McLane went forward to ascertain what had become of his sergeant, Thomas. He found the poor fellow lying on his back in the netting, near the foot of the bowsprit, with his musket loaded, but both legs broken. "Poor fellow!" thought the major, as he beheld him; "poor fellow!" But the poor fellow began huzzaing lustily for the victory achieved; and followed his exulting and even vociferous huzzas by a corresponding exclamation addressed to his major: "Well, major, if they have broken my legs, my hands and my heart are still whole."
Sergeant Thomas was terribly wounded, but the kind-hearted major did not neglect him. The best care was taken of him; ultimately, he recovered; and, nothing deterred by the painful experience he had had of the sometimes ill-fortune of war, he entered on board the Hyder Ali, commanded by Captain Barney.
It is ever delightful to record instances of high-minded and magnanimous conduct on the part of victors towards the vanquished. This engagement furnishes one most honorable to the American character. The officers and crew of the Savage were treated with the greatest kindness and attention. Major McLane even accompanied Captain Sterling into Pennsylvania, to secure him from insult, his treatment of American prisoners having rendered him highly obnoxious to the patriots.
Such is a brief account of some of the exploits of the American marine during the war of the Revolution. There were others perhaps equally honorable to the skill and enterprise of our naval officers, but which our limits forbid us to notice. On the breaking out of the war, the country was poorly prepared to enter the lists with the mistress of the ocean. Indeed, it was not until 1776, that the forbearing policy of congress was abandoned, and the nautical enterprise of the country was let loose upon British commerce. From that time, however, American valor was exhibited in its true and persevering spirit, and contributed, as far as it had scope, in inducing the mother-country to acknowledge the independence of her wayward child—which she did on the 20th of January, 1783.
Upon this most desirable event, orders of recall were issued to all naval commanders; and the commissions of privateers and letters of marque were annulled. On the 11th of April following, a proclamation from the proper authorities announced the cessation of hostilities. From this time, as the glad intelligence spread, the helms of our warlike ships were turned towards our home ports, leaving the merchantmen again to the peaceful possession of that element, which for years they had traversed, if at all, at the greatest hazard.
George III. King of England—General Burgoyne—Sir Henry Clinton—Colonel Barre—Charles Townshend—Lord Cornwallis—William Pitt—Marquis of Bute—George Grenville—Duke of Grafton—Lord North—Colonel Tarleton—Sir Peter Parker—Sir William Meadows—Sir Guy Carlton—General Gage—Marquis of Rockingham—Edmund Burke—Kosciusko—Count Pulaski—Baron de Kalb—Baron Steuben—Count Rochambeau—Count D'Estaing.
In the preceding pages, we have had occasion to trace the causes and events of that struggle which resulted in the independence of the United States; and, in so doing, incidental mention has been made of some of the leading men of England, who figured in the cabinet, in the field, and on the ocean; with the part they acted either in favor of, or in opposition to the grand object of the colonies in their contest with the mother-country. Judging from his own early desires, the author persuades himself that he will be conferring a favor upon his readers by giving some brief sketches, in this place, of those distinguished men, and of others, who contributed to retard or accelerate the final result. Such notices of the most prominent, we proceed to give, beginning with the monarch, the great fountain of power and law, then on the throne of Great Britain.
George III. was born in 1738, and succeeded to the throne on the death of his grandfather, George II., October 25, 1760, about the time the troubles with America began. At this period, principally through the lofty spirit and political sagacity of Pitt, afterwards Earl of Chatham, who was, and for some time had been, at the head of the administration, the affairs of the nation were in a most prosperous state. The army and navy were highly efficient, and flushed with recent conquests; the revenue flourished; commerce was increasing; the people were loyal; and, perhaps, no prince had ascended the throne of his ancestors with more flattering prospects than George the Third.
Soon after ascending the throne, the king evinced a determination to procure a general peace. In this measure he differed from his great minister, Pitt, who, on that account, retired from office, October 5, 1761. Peace, however, contrary to the wishes and designs of the king could not be obtained on a just basis, and the war proceeded.
In May, 1762, Lord Bute, a particular favorite of the king, who had contrived to gain a remarkable ascendancy over him, succeeded the Duke of Newcastle, as first lord of the treasury. Preliminaries of peace between England, France, and Spain, were signed on the 3d of November, and the definite treaty followed, February 10th, 1763. The people, however, were by no means pacifically inclined, or contented with the political ascendancy of Lord Bute, whose administration was attacked with unsparing severity by several popular writers, particularly by the celebrated John Wilkes, in his periodical paper, called the North Briton. The arrest of Wilkes, and the seizure of his papers under a general warrant, issued by the secretary of state for the home department, increased the indignation and clamors of the people; Lord Bute was execrated throughout the country, and the king himself became exceedingly unpopular. The removal of the favorite, and the appointment of George Grenville to the head of the treasury, having failed to allay the national irritation, Pitt, it is asserted, was at length summoned to court, and requested to make arrangements for forming a new ministry; but he presumed, it is added, to dictate such arrogant terms, that, rather than submit to them, the king said he would place the crown on Pitt's head, and submit his own neck to the axe.
In 1764, the king suggested to Grenville the taxation of America, as a grand financial measure for relieving the mother-country from the heavy war expenses, which, it was unjustly claimed, had chiefly been incurred for the security of the colonies. The minister was startled, and raised objections to the proposal, which, however, were overruled by the king, who plainly told him that, if he were afraid to adopt such a measure, others might easily be found who possessed more political courage. At length, Grenville reluctantly brought the subject before parliament; and, in spite of a violent opposition, the stamp act, so important in its consequences, was passed in the following year. The most alarming irritation prevailed among the colonists of America.
The Rockingham party, which now came into power, procured the repeal of the stamp act; but, notwithstanding this and some other popular measures of the new cabinet, it was dissolved in the summer of 1766. The Duke of Grafton succeeded Lord Rockingham, as first lord of the treasury, and Pitt (then Earl of Chatham) took office as lord privy seal. In the following year, Charles Townshend, chancellor of the exchequer, proposed the taxation of certain articles imported by the American colonists; and, early in 1768, Lord Chatham retired in deep disgust from the administration, which, during the preceding autumn, had been weakened by the succession of Lord North to Charles Townshend, as chancellor of the exchequer. Some other official changes took place; one of the most important of which, perhaps, was the appointment of Lord Hillsborough to the new colonial secretaryship.
The aspect of affairs in America grew more serious every hour: the deputies of Massachusetts declared taxation by the British parliament to be illegal; a scheme for a general congress of the different states was proposed, and an open rupture with the mother-country was evidently approaching. Blind to the consequences of their fatal policy, the king and his ministers, however, persisted in those measures, with regard to the trans-Atlantic colonies, which eventually produced a dismemberment of the empire.
In January, 1770, the Duke of Grafton resigned all his employments; but, unfortunately for America, he was succeeded by Lord North, who increased rather than alleviated the national calamities, and was decidedly with the king in his determination never to yield to the demands of the colonists, but to coerce them to submission, however unjustly, by the arm of power.
In 1782, Lord North was compelled to resign, and the Rockingham party, friendly to the independence of America, came into office; but the new administration soon afterwards broke up, on account of the sudden death of the premier. Lord Shelburne was now placed at the head of the treasury, and Pitt, son of the great Earl of Chatham, became chancellor of the exchequer.
In 1783, a general peace was concluded, and the United States procured a formal acknowledgment of their independence. When Adams, the first American envoy, attended at the levee, the king, to whom he was personally disagreeable, received him with dignified composure, and said, "I was the last man in England to acknowledge the independence of America, but having done so, I shall also be the last to violate it." This was highly honorable to the king. America was a jewel in the British crown which was increasing in lustre, to part with which was truly painful to royal ambition. Nor did George III. consent to any acts which tended to this relinquishment, only as he was compelled to it by the ill success of his armies in America, and the clamorous demands for peace by his subjects at home. But having, at length, parted with this jewel, and having acknowledged the independence of America, he nobly declared his intention to live in peace with this newborn empire.
General Burgoyne was the natural son of Lord Bingley. At an early age he entered the army; and while quartered with his regiment at Preston, married Lady Charlotte Stanley, whose father, the Earl of Derby, was so incensed at the match, that he threatened utterly to discard her; but a reconciliation at length took place, and the earl allowed her three hundred pounds a-year during his life, and, by his will, bequeathed her a legacy of twenty-five thousand pounds. The influence of the family to which Burgoyne had thus become allied, tended materially to accelerate his professional advance. In 1762, he acted as brigadier-general of the British forces which were sent out for the defence of Portugal against France and Spain.
In 1775, he was appointed to a command in America; whence he returned in the following year, and held a long conference with the king on colonial affairs. Resuming his post in 1777, he addressed a proclamation to the native Indians, in which he invited them to his standard, but deprecated, with due severity, the cruel practice of scalping. The pompous turgidity of style, in which this address was couched, excited the ridicule of the Americans, and procured for General Burgoyne the soubriquet of "Chrononhotonthologos." His first operations were successful: he dislodged the enemy from Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, and took a large number of cannon, all their armed vessels and batteries, as well as a considerable part of their baggage, ammunition, provisions, and military stores. But his subsequent career was truly disastrous; his troops suffered much from bad roads, inclement weather, and a scarcity of provisions; the Indians, who had previously assisted him, deserted; and the Americans, under General Gates, surrounded him with a superior force, to which, although victorious in two engagements, he was, at length, compelled to capitulate at Saratoga, with the whole of his army. This event, which rendered him equally odious to ministers and the people, was, for some time, the leading topic of the press; and numberless lampoons appeared, in which the general's conduct was most severely satirized. The punsters of the day, taking advantage of the American general's name, amused themselves unmercifully at Burgoyne's expense; but of all their effusions, which, for the most part, were virulent rather than pointed, the following harmless epigram, poor as it is, appears to have been one of the best: