March 6, 1823, and addressed to an early friend and schoolmate:* "I hope you will excuse my negligence in not writing before this time, for I assure you that it did not proceed from want of affection, but on account of the inconvenience in writing while at sea on board of a vessel of this tonnage. To my great astonishment and satisfaction I received a midshipman's appointment, which you probably recollect I applied for a short time before going to West Point. We left the port of New York on the 1st of January, 1823, and filled away for Tampico; and we have made the ports of Matanzas, Havana, Tampico, and New Orleans. When we left Havana for Tampico, and had made the land, the wind commenced blowing a heavy gale from the northeast, so that it carried away our topmast studding-sail boom, and sprung our mainmast. She took in hogsheads of water in the wardroom and steerage; liferopes were rove on the windward side of the vessel, and one of the officers observed that we were going to with studding-sails set.' This gale was much more severe than it was in September, about sixteen months since. I am very well pleased with the service. I had a desire to visit foreign nations. The duty of the officers is nearly as hard as that of the men, as we have to be on the watch one third of the time day and night, four hours on and eight off." He was, above all, in this first cruise, introduced to the most severe perils and hardships of the naval service in the pursuit of pirates among the reefs of the Gulf. These pirates were the lineal descendants of the freebooters who at the end of the seventeenth century established themselves in the West India seas to prey upon Spanish commerce. The unquiet spirits of all countries resorted to them. Issuing from their strongholds the island of Tortuga, on the west coast of St. Domingo, and Port Royal, in Jamaica-they committed such audacious and successful robberies on the Spanish-American cities as to win almost the honors of legitimate heroes. The original buccaneers, however, who had some show of legaliza *William A. Browne, of Cheshire, Connecticut. + Hildreth's History of the United States, vol. ii., p. 38. Among the Pirates of the Gulf. 27 tion, degenerated into regular pirates, who, later in the eighteenth century, in Captain Kidd's time, were the terror of the seas, and who with waning power continued their depredations until their final extinction by the American Navy. With picked crews in open boats the officers cruised among the innumerable islands of the Cuban archipelago, where many a bloody sea-fight had taken place: "The scream of rage, the groan, the strife, The blow, the gasp, the horrid cry, The dying's heaving sigh, The murderer's curse, the dead man's fixed, still glare, Our poet Dana's sombre fancy did not overdraw those horrid scenes when the reign of these desperadoes was at its height. The phantom of the "long, low, black-hulled" craft lingers in these seas even to this day. The American Navy has prided itself on the thoroughness of the work it did in abolishing the whole thing. It swept this curse from the seas. Not unfrequently the wily foe, who eluded pursuit in a thousand ways, turned and challenged the avengers of blood to hand-to-hand conflict. For six months of the time officers were out boating on these stormy waters, and it is said that young Foote personally distinguished himself in this service. He certainly acquired those habits of discipline, skill, and daring which afterward were so useful to him, and which could not have been learned under the best masters on shore. On the 6th of December, 1823, he was transferred from the Grampus to the Peacock, commanded by William Carter, master commandant; and on the 11th of the same month he was warranted as midshipman. The Peacock belonged to the Pacific squadron, under Commodore Hull. Before sailing, in a letter, dated January 29, 1824, he gives vent to a thoughtless, ambitious wish for action: "We are ready for sea, and only waiting for sailing orders from the Department; but we hear little from Washington except the next Presidential election, the Greek cause, and the Holy Alliance, which I sincerely hope may produce a war. Then the prospect of the naval officer would brighten, and in the space of a few years would elevate us who are now in service to the highest rank, which will take some time if the country remain at peace with all nations much longer." The Peacock sailed from Norfolk for the Pacific on the 29th of March, 1824. During the period of this South American cruise, which covered three years of service, our Navy was compelled to observe a strict neutrality in the wars of liberation of the South American republics with old Spain, which was a difficult and certainly not an enviable position for Americans, although there seemed to be lacking the elements of that high morality and that capacity for self-government which dignified our own struggle for independence. Foote was detached from the Peacock and transferred to the frigate United States, Commodore Isaac Hull commanding, September 8, 1824. A letter written during this period to his Cheshire friend and schoolmate is worth transcribing, not as containing any thing brilliant, but as being the letter of a manly youth: . "DEAR FRIEND, I have so much to communicate that this small sheet will admit of giving no more than a concise detail of circumstances which have fallen to my observation. "Until our arrival at Callao we experienced in our little ship every pleasure and hardship incident to a mariner's life. A few days after our departure from the United States we had a very heavy thunder-storm, and one flash of lightning struck the ship, killing four men instantly and wounding several others dangerously, who, however, have recovered partially; yet the greater part of them will never perfectly be restored. From that time to our arrival at Rio Janeiro nothing worthy of mention took place. For a description of that city, I refer you to John's letters. After spending ten pleasant days at Rio, we weighed anchor and stood In South America. 29 to the southward and westward, shaping our course round Cape Horn. The weather as we made southing grew cold very sensibly, owing to the winter having already set in. We were as far south as 60° 15'; and, in the winter month of January, it is useless to add we suffered from the inclemency of the weather. You know by experience the cold weather which prevails in the mild climate of 41°; then judge its severity in that of 60°, adding to this the constant heavy gales prevalent off the Cape. However, our time would have been rather more pleasant had the smallpox not have paid us a long and exterminating visit. We lost twelve valuable men by this disease, and at a time when the ship appeared to be at the mercy of the waves. Their loss was severely felt, owing to the fact that the vessel was then too short-manned. But after an unpleasant run of fifty-six days, we arrived at Valparaiso, as light-hearted and in rather better spirits than when we left Rio. Owing to Commodore Hull being at Callao, our stay at Valparaiso was short. We left with a convoy for Callao, first, however, landing the American consul at Coquimbo; we then made the harbor of Callao on the 15th of August, and here saw the broad pendant of Commodore Isaac Hull. We saluted him with the usual number of guns that his rank was entitled to. Our time was now pretty actively employed, the revolutionary state of the country rendering it necessary for us to keep on the alert, owing to the advantage the privateers took of seizing and condemning our merchant ships, under pretense of their being engaged in smuggling arms to the Patriots. A few days after our arrival the Peruvian admiral entered the harbor with a frigate and two brigs, and blockaded the harbor, the Spaniards having at the time one frigate, two brigs, and ten gun-boats. No signs of an attack were made by the Spaniards until Sunday, the 5th of this month, when the gun-boats pulled for the brig, which unfortunately came out of gun-shot of the frigate. The attack commenced with every prospect of crowning the Royalists victors; but their want of courage enabled the brig to haul under cover of the frigate before she received any serious injury. After a spirited engagement of one hour, the Spaniards retreated with the loss of about thirty men killed, and nearly the same number wounded; two boats sunk, and seven others badly injured. The loss of the Patriots was one killed on board the brig, and two in the frigate. The Spaniards, since their unsuccessful attack, seem to be little disposed to hazard another engagement. The Royalists at the time were in constant expectation of a heavy naval reinforcement from Spain. The 12th of this month the Asia and Constantia arrived, the former a 74-gun ship, the latter a 22-gun brig. The Patriots' force at this time consisted of a 36-gun frigate, and one small 10-gun brig. The Spanish force, you will perceive, was greatly superior. Notwithstanding, Admiral Grey slipped his cable, stood out of the harbor, hove to, and fired three 44's at the Spaniards; hauled up his courses, and waited for the Spanish frigate; but she most cowardly made sail, and declined an engagement. As she passed, we were at quarters, and it would have taken little provocation from her to have been complimented with a broadside from Uncle Isaac. I will now pass over the strife between the two hostile parties, and mention my object in becoming attached to the flag-ship. On the arrival of the Peacock, some difficulty took place in regard to Captain Carter, which terminated in his return to the United States. Several of the officers left the Peacock, and joined other ships; and I was induced to send to Commodore Hull an application for his ship, it being larger than the Peacock, and the accommodation better. I came on board on the 8th. The commodore has his wife and Miss Hart with him. We get a glance at them occasionally. Excuse haste and deficiencies, and believe me your friend, "ANDREW H. FOOTE." In another letter to the same friend, dated Chorilos, August 12, 1825, he further speaks of his Pacific coast experiences: "We are now lying in an open roadstead unprotected from the sea, consequently the motion is very troublesome, and the surf at times so heavy as to render landing dangerous. It is necessary to make this the port of entry, as Callao is blockaded by a squadron consisting of seven sail, two of which are frigates. As soon as Callao falls we shall return to that port; but when she will capitulate is uncertain, as the city expends from two to three hundred shot daily, and is well provisioned. "We have less opportunity for enjoying ourselves on shore than we had in Chili, as Lima is nine miles distant, and Chorilos a small place containing but a few huts. A party of us visited Lima a short time since, where we spent four days very pleasantly. The city may still be styled one of the richest cities in the world, although poor to what it was before the revolution. During the struggle it has alternately been in possession of Royalists and Patriots, who have robbed the churches of vast quantities of plate. From a single altar was coined one hundred thousand dollars. We saw the grand palace where Pizarro resided; also the apartment in which he was assassinated. I forgot to mention the walk |