Sustained honor: The Age of Liberty Established

  CHAPTER XVI.

  ON WATER.

  The English navy was the pride of that great nation in 1812, as it isnow. When war with the United States was discussed, the idea thatAmerica without a navy, and with but few if any trained naval officerscould cope with England, caused the Briton to smile; but a greatsurprise was in store. The first American victories were on the highseas. Tradition, discipline, ships and training seemed all of no avail.While the English were carrying everything on land, where it wassupposed they were weakest, they were losing everything on water, wherethought to be strongest. Everybody was surprised. They supposed thefirst three or four American victories were accidents; but as successafter success continued to follow the American arms at sea, they weredumfounded. England's boasted navy had lost its power.

  The first naval engagement of any consequence was on August 19, 1812.Captain Hull of the United States frigate _Constitution_ captured anEnglish frigate, _The Guerriere_, after a hard fought battle. _TheGuerriere_ had made herself very obnoxious in her way of challengingAmerican vessels. In this engagement she lost seventy-nine killed andwounded, while the _Constitution_ lost but thirteen. There were tenimpressed Americans on _The Guerriere_. On the 7th of September, theUnited States frigate _Essex_ captured the _Alert_ in a fight of eightminutes. The American sloop-of-war _Wasp_, on the 18th of October,encountered the British sloop-of-war _Frolic_, a much larger andstronger ship. The fight was terrible, and only three officers and oneseaman on the _Frolic_ remained unhurt; almost a hundred were killed andwounded, while the Americans lost but ten. The _Wasp_ did not long enjoyher triumph, however. On that same evening the British man-of-war_Poicters_, Captain Beresford, captured the _Wasp_ and her prize.

  The phrase "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights," borne on the banner at themasthead of the _Essex_, soon became the war-cry of the American seaman.

  The 25th of October, 1812, one week after the victory and loss of thegallant _Wasp_, dawned bright and clear on the English frigate_Macedonian_ sailing westward of Canary Islands. Little change had cometo the _Macedonian_ since Fernando Stevens had been transferred from herto the sloop. At this time there were but three impressed Americans onthe _Macedonian_, Sukey, a negro sailor called Tawney and a mannamed Rogers.

  Notwithstanding their difference in race and social standing, Sukey andTawney were attached to each other. Both were Americans, and both lovedthe star-spangled banner.

  It was a holy Sabbath morning, and every sailor, according to CaptainGarden's orders, was dressed in his best, when the cry of, "Sail ho!"rang out from the masthead. It was ascertained that the stranger was anAmerican, and the ship was cleared for action. As the _Macedonian_ boredown on the American--her men at their quarters--Sukey and Tawney, whohappened to be stationed at the quarter-deck battery, respectfullyaccosted the captain, as he passed them in his rapid promenade, hisspyglass under his arm.

  "Say, look here," said Sukey, "we are not Englishmen; we don't want tobe in the game. It's a bitter thing to lift a hand against the flag ofthat country which harbors our parents. Please release us from thiscontest and let us remain neutral during the fight; I tell you, I don'twant to be in the game."

  When a ship of any nation is running into action, there is no time forargument, small time for justice, and not much for humanity. Snatching apistol from the belt of a boarder standing by, the captain leveled itat the heads of the sailors, and commanded them instantly to theirquarters, under penalty of being shot on the spot. So, side by side withtheir country's foes, Sukey, Tawney and Rogers toiled at the guns, andfought out the fight to the last; with the exception of Rogers who waskilled by one of his country's balls.

  The conflict was terrible. Sukey was stationed on the gun deck, abreastthe mainmast. This part of the ship they called the slaughter-house, formen fell five and six at a time. An enemy nearly always directs his shotat this point in order to cut away the mast. The beams and carlines werespattered with blood and brains. About the hatchways it looked like abutcher's stall; bits of human flesh were sticking in the ring-bolts. Apig that ran about the deck, though unharmed, was so covered with blood,that the sailors threw it overboard, swearing it would be rankcannibalism to eat it. A goat, kept on board for her milk, had her legsshot away, and was thrown into the sea.

  The sailors who were killed were, according to the usual custom, orderedto be thrown overboard as soon as they fell; for the sight of so manycorpses lying around might appall the survivors at the guns. A shotentering one of the portholes cut down two-thirds of a gun's crew. Thecaptain of the next gun, dropping his lock string, which he had justpulled, turned over the heap of bodies to see who they were; when,perceiving an old messmate, who had sailed with him in many cruises, heburst into tears, and, taking the corpse up in his arms and going withit to the side, he held it over the water a moment, gazed on the silentpale face and cried:

  "Oh, God! Tom--Tom, has it come to this at last----"

  "D--n your prayers! over with that thing! overboard with it and down toyour gun!" roared a wounded lieutenant. The order was obeyed, and theheart-stricken sailor returned to his post.

  At last, having lost her fore and maintopmasts, her mizzenmast havingbeen shot away to the deck, and her foreyard lying in two pieces on hershattered forecastle, having been hulled in a hundred places with roundshot, the _Macedonian_ was reduced to the last extremity. Captain Gardenordered his signal quarter-master to strike the flag.

  Never did Sukey hear a command with greater joy. Never was a sailor sohappy at being defeated. When the order was given to strike the flag,one of Captain Garden's officers, a man hated by the seamen for histyranny, howled the most terrific remonstrances, and swore he wouldrather sink alongside than surrender. Had he been captain, probably hewould have done so.

  Sukey and Tawney were among the boat's crew which rowed Captain Gardento the enemy. As, he touched the deck, Captain Garden saluted hiscaptor, Captain Decatur, and offered him his sword; but it wascourteously declined. The victor remembered the dinner parties he andCaptain Garden had enjoyed in Norfolk, previous to the breaking out ofhostilities, and while both were in command of the very frigates nowcrippled on the sea. The _Macedonian_ had gone into Norfolk withdespatches; while Decatur was in that port. Then they had laughed andjoked over their wine, and a wager of a beaver hat was said to have beenmade between them upon the event of the hostile meeting of their ships.

  This was their next meeting. Sukey and Tawney went home in the Americanfrigate _United States_. With Sukey's return to his native country, thereader's interest in the naval operations perhaps ceases. Naval battlesare the same, bloody and desperate, and the details of the fight withthe _Macedonian_ are the details of all others. After briefly noticingthe principal victories and defeats on sea, we shall take up again thecharacters in our story.

  On November 22d, the United States brig _Vixen_ was captured by theEnglish frigate _Southampton,_ and both were subsequently shipwreckedon December 29th, the United States frigate _Constitution_, underCommodore Bainbridge, captured the British frigate _Java_, off the coastof Brazil. The American loss was 44 and the British 151. The Americanvictories of the year of 1812 with such little loss produced muchexultation in America and surprise and mortification in England.American seamen had been the greatest sufferers at the hands of theBritish, and they had long burned to avenge the insults of the EnglishNavy. They fought for patriotism, glory and vengeance.

  The year 1813 was noted for the continued success of the American Navy.On February 24th, the _Hornet_ captured the British brig _Peacock_ onthe coast of South America. On June 1st, the British frigate _Shannon_captured the _Chesapeake_ after a terrible battle, in which theAmericans lost 133 and the British half as many. Captain Lawrence of the_Chesapeake_ was mortally wounded, and his dying command, "Don't give upthe ship!" has been the motto for many worthy enterprises.

  In August, Captain Porter, with the American frigate _Essex_, cruisingin the Pacific Ocean, captured twelve armed British whalers. In the samemonth, the American sl
oop-of-war _Argus_, cruising in the Englishchannel, captured twenty-one British merchantmen, but on the 13th washerself captured by the British man-of-war _Pelican_ after a severeengagement. On the 3d of September, the American brig _Enterprise_captured the British _Boxer_ off the coast of Maine. Perry's victory onLake Erie, which occurred on the 10th of this month, has alreadybeen noticed.

  The year 1814 was not a line of unbroken success, though Americanvictories were many and brilliant. On the 28th of March, the brilliantcareer of the United States frigate _Essex_, in the Pacific Ocean, wasterminated by her capture by two British war vessels at Valparaiso. OnApril 21st, the United States sloop-of-war _Frolic_ was captured by theBritish frigate _Orpheus_. On the 27th of the same month, the UnitedStates sloop-of-war _Peacock_ captured the British brig-of-war_Epervier_ with $118,000 in specie on board. On June 9th, the UnitedStates sloop-of-war _Rattlesnake_ was captured by a British man-of-war.This reverse was followed by the loss of the United States sloop _Syren_on the 12th. On the 28th, the American sloop _Wasp_ captured the Britishsloop _Reindeer_, in the British channel. On the 1st of September, the_Wasp_ captured the British sloop _Avon_, and after taking three otherprizes, this remarkably successful vessel mysteriously disappeared. Herfate was never known, though it is supposed she was lost at sea.

  On January 15, 1815, the United States frigate _President_ was capturedby four English vessels. On the 28th of February, although peace wasdeclared, the United States frigate _Constitution_ captured two Britishvessels of war, off the island of Madeira. In March, the United Statesfrigate _Hornet_ captured the British brig _Penguin_, off the coastof Brazil.

  The last hostile act at sea took place in the Straits of Sunda, in theEast Indies, where the United States brig-of-war _Peacock_ captured the_Nautilus_, a British sloop-of-war. The three American vessels at seawhen the war closed each came home crowned with laurels. The part takenby the American privateers during the war was considerable and adetailed history of them would fill a volume larger than this. Duringthe war there were I,750 British vessels captured, against a loss ofI,683 American ships. The spirit and energy of the American seamen,under all their embarrassments, gave an unmistakable indication of thefuture greatness of the power of the United States Navy.

  On the first night after Sukey and Terrence joined Fernando, the threesat about the bivouac fire, while all save the sentries slept, talkingover the past which, to Fernando, seemed like a troubled dream.

  "Did either of you ever meet Captain Snipes?" asked Fernando.

  "Bad luck to him, I did not," said Terrence. "It's bad it would havefared with the spalpeen if I had."

  At mention of Captain Snipes, there came an expression over Sukey's facewhich is indescribable. His face grew pale, and his brow contracted, histeeth set, and his eyes seemed to have the glitter of steel, while heshrugged his shoulders, as if he again felt the cat-o'-nine-tailsabout them.

  "Did he never come aboard the _Macedonian_ again?" asked Fernando.

  "No."

  "Did you hear of him?"

  "Yes."

  "Where was he?"

  "He was transferred to the _Xenophon_."

  "The _Xenophon_? was not Lieutenant Matson in command of that vessel?"

  "For awhile."

  "Was he not promoted?"

  "No; it seems his affair with you got to England."

  "Just in time to spoil a nate little promotion, too," put in Terrence."I heard all about it from the captain of the merchantman I captured. Hetold me when we were playing poker one night."

  Fernando looked sadly into the smouldering bivouac and heaved a sigh.Almost five years had elapsed since he had seen Morgianna, and he hadnot heard a word from her since he left her in the great stone house onthe hill that night,--she laughing at his misery.

  After a long silence Fernando asked:

  "Is he married?"

  "Who?" asked Sukey.

  "Faith, the captain's absent minded," put in Terrence.

  "I mean Lieutenant Matson."

  "Not as I know of."

  "Did you see him after we left Mariana?"

  "Yes."

  "When?"

  "Only six days before we were captured by Decatur. We touched at theCanary Islands, and the _Xenophon_ was there. He came aboard ourvessel."

  "Did he recognize you?"

  "No," Sukey answered. "Had he known me he wouldn't a-talked with acommon sailor."

  "Was he married then?"

  "No; I heard him tell Captain Garden that he was still single."

  Fernando heaved another sigh and asked:

  "Did he say--did he say anything about her?"

  "Who?"

  Fernando heaved another sigh and asked:

  "Did he say--did he say anything about her?'7

  "Who?"

  The conversation was not interesting to Terrence and he had gone toanother part of the camp, to engage in a game of cards with a sentry.

  "Morgianna," Fernando said.

  "Morgianna? no--she is the girl at Mariana, isn't she?"

  "Yes."

  "I didn't hear him mention her name."

  "They are not married yet?"

  "No."

  "Perhaps I was mistaken after all," said Fernando thoughtfully. "May beshe don't care for him."

  Then Fernando sighed again and gazed into the smouldering fire. Afterseveral minutes more, he said:

  "Sukey, she must be in love with him."

  "I thought so."

  Fernando sighed and remarked:

  "She may have married some one else, though."

  "No, she ain't."

  "Have you heard of her?"

  "I saw her!" Sukey declared.

  "When?"

  "When I was in Baltimore last winter."

  "Did you talk with her, Sukey?"

  "No."

  "Then how did you know she was not married?"

  "When I was in Baltimore last winter."

  "Did you talk with her, Sukey?"

  "No."

  "Then how did you know she was not married?"

  "I was in a store and overheard two women who knew her gossiping. Oneasked the other if Morgianna Lane was married yet. One said:

  "'I thought she would marry the English lieutenant.'

  "The other said:

  "'No, not yet. I suppose they are waiting till the war is over.'

  "'Has she no other lover?' asked the other. Then the other woman saidshe believed not, at least none ever came to see her."

  Fernando was quite sure she must have lovers by the score. Such aglorious woman as Morgianna could not but have an abundance tochoose from.

  "You saw Morgianna, Sukey, how did she look?"

  "Just as when we left. Not a day older."

  "You knew her at sight?"

  "Of course; but she didn't know me. I suspect I was a hard-looking casethen; for I had just come from the ship and had on my Englishpea-jacket, and my linen was not the cleanest."

  Fernando sat silent for such a long time, that Sukey, who was tired,nodded awhile in silence, then, rolling up in his blanket, lay downunder a tree and slept. Fernando still sat gazing into the fire andsaying to himself:

  "Oh, if it could have been, if it could have been!"

  A young woman does a rash thing when she rejects such a warm, manlyheart as that of Fernando Stevens. Not all men are capable of suchunselfish devotion as his, and Morgianna little dreamed how much she wascasting aside.

  He was still gazing into the smouldering fire, when Terrence, who hadwon all the money from the soldier with whom he was playing cards, cameto him and said:

  "Captain, are ye goin' to spend the night gazing into the fire?"

  "No, Terrence; I am not sleepy; but I will lie down."

  "Captain, do ye remember the little girl at Mariana five years ago, theone yersilf and the Englishman were about to break heads over?"

  "You mean Morgianna Lane, Terrence?"

  "To be sure I do. I saw the swate craythur not two months since."Fernan
do, who was anything but sleepy, asked:

  "Where did you see her, Terrence?"

  "In Baltimore. She is prettier than whin you used to stroll over thebeach in the moonlight with her."

  "Is she married?"

  "Divil a bit. I talked with her, and, d'ye belave me, almost the firstquestion she asked me was about yersilf. Aye, Fernando, it was a grandstory I told her about ye making a hero of yersilf. I told her how yedefeated Tecumseh and killed the thief with yer own hand, and how yeconquered at Chippewa and Lundy's Lane."

  Fernando's heart gave a tremendous bound. Had she really asked abouthim? Then she had not forgotten him in five long years. Could this betrue? Terrence had not the strictest regard for truth, and he might beonly telling this out of mischief.

  "Terrence, are you telling me the truth?" he asked.

  "Ivery blissid word of it is the gospel truth, me frind," Terrenceanswered. "The little girl still lives at the village beyant Baltimore,and if ye want her, ye kin win her."

  "Terrence, you are trifling with me; Morgianna cares nothing for me."

  "Don't ye belave it. If she didn't, why did she ask about ye the veryfirst chance she had? Me boy, whin a girl remembers a fellow after fiveyears, it's some sign. Now if ye want that blushin' damsel, lave itall to me."

  "Terrence, let us go to sleep, we have a hard march before usto-morrow."

  "I take it at yer word, captain."

  In less than ten minutes the light-hearted Irishman was buried inslumber.