CH. VIII.] 1812. HULL'S SURRENDER AND DISGRACE. fired, not a word of consultation was had with his officers, not a single stipulation for the honor of his troops; but an unconditional giving up of all to the enemy. The fortress, the garrison, and munitions of war, the detachment under Cass and M'Arthur, and even the soldiers under Captain Brush, were included in the capitulation. Hull's only object seems to have been to escape from the Indian scalping-knife. When he had first entered Canada, the British had at Malden but one hundred regular troops, four hundred Canadian militia, and a few hundred Indians. After General Brock's arrival, their whole force was three hundred and thirty regulars, four hundred militia, and six hundred Indians. Including those who were absent, the whole force surrendered by General Hull amounted to two thousand five hundred men, of whom twelve hundred were militia. Colonels Cass and M'Arthur, with their detachment, arrived in a halfstarving condition, just in time to hear of the surrender, and they hoped to escape; but hunger compelled them to accede to the terms of the capitulation. Captain Brush, when he heard the news of the surrender from some Ohio militia, resolved to treat it with contempt; and so he marched his force back again to Ohio. The amazement and indignation of the whole country, at Hull's surrender, cannot adequately be depicted in words, and charges of not only cowardice and disgraceful inefficiency, but also of treason and collusion with the enemy were freely bestowed upon the unhappy general. His official report, under date of VOL. III-21 161 1812. August 26th, was sent to Washington, and puts the best face upon the matter of which it is capable; but he was contradicted almost flatly in every thing material by Colonel Cass, in a letter to the secretary of war, under date of September 10th; and the name and reputation of General Hull sunk under the fearful explosion of wrath and disappointment which fell upon his devoted head. Few, if any, thought of the mitigation which existed in his behalf; of the inefficiency of the war department; the cutting off his supplies; the undisciplined troops under his command; the number and savage ferocity of the Indians in the British employ; etc. In the present connection, we may mention, that General Hull was tried by a court-martial, which assembled in January, and concluded its labors at the close of March, 1814.* Treason, cowardice, neglect of duty and un-officer-like conduct, were the charges against him. Of the first, he was acquitted; but was found guilty of the two latter, and was sentenced to be shot. The court, nevertheless, recommended him to the mercy of the president, in consequence of his advanced age and his revolutionary services. The president listened to this recommendation, and remitted the punishment of * Hull issued an address to the people of the United States, asking a suspension of judgment till his Vindication could be prepared. This was published in 1824; and in 1848 his grandson gave to the public a large octavo volume, intended as a complete refutation of the charges against him. The reader may consult this vol ume to advantage, and he will probably come to the conclusion that General Hull was more severely dealt with than, all things considered, he rightly deserved. death, but at the same time his name was ordered to be stricken from the roll of the army. The disastrous results of the movements in the north-west, where victory had been counted upon with certainty, were extremely galling to the pride of our countrymen ; and they chafed grievously under the prospect of defeat and disgrace in a matter on which the warparty had entered with most confident expectations of glory and distinction. It is worthy of note, as showing the uncertainty of plans for carrying on war, that, from a quarter whence no one looked for it, the most gratifying and most brilliant successes waited upon the American arms. England had always been counted supreme upon the ocean, and her navy had gained so many illustrious victories, that it was thought to be impossible that any reverses could befall her conquering ships of war. Least of all was it supposed, that the United States, who possessed no navy, and who had at best but a few frigates and smaller vessels, would dare to encounter in battle the lordly masters of the sea. But it was speedily demonstrated to England, as well as to the world, that the gallant little navy of the United States was as able as it was willing to meet the enemy, and to teach them some lessons of value and mo her gallant commander, Lieutenant Crane, doing every thing he could to escape, but unavailingly; she therefore struck, without a conflict, to the Shannon; and this was the first vessel of war captured on either side. The Constitution, forty-four, Captain Hull, had just returned from Europe, where she narrowly escaped an overhauling from the English cruisers, on the pretence of looking for deserters. Proceeding to the north from Annapolis, on the 12th of July, she fell in with the British squadron, and for four days was chased by all the vessels composing it, the Africa, sixty-four, taking the lead. Few such chases have ever occurred in the history of naval warfare, and seldom, if ever, has a vessel escaped from such odds, by dint of seamanship alone. Now towed by boats, and now forced along by hauling at a kedge anchor carried out near half a mile ahead, and let go; using every breath of air that blew fitfully; the Constitution contrived to distance her pursuers, who resorted to the same means, but without coming up to the object of their endeavors. Once and again it seemed as if she must fall into the hands of one or another of her keen enemies; but ever some sudden breeze sprang up, and preserved her. At length, on the fourth day, the wind freshened sufficiently for the American to prove her superior fleetness, and whilst all the five frigates were on the same tack, and under clouds of canvas, from the truck to the water, the Constitution slowly drew ahead of her pursuers; and in fine, a heavy squall in the evening carried her completely out of view. CH. VIII.] THE TAKING OF THE GUERRIERE. We may notice in passing, that, on the 13th of August, off the Grand Bank, the Essex, thirty-two, Captain Porter, fell in with the British sloop-of-war the Alert, of twenty guns. The Alert began the attack, but when the Essex opened upon her, in eight minutes she struck, apparently in a panic at mistaking the Essex for a merchantman. This was the first vessel taken from the English in the present war. 1812. 163 the Guerriere into port, she was set fire to, and blew up in fifteen minutes. The exultation caused by this victory was unbounded, and Hull and his gal lant crew were greeted with enthusiasm wherever they appeared. Congress, beside a vote of thanks, presented him and his men with $50,000 as a compensation for the loss of the prize. In England the astonishment which was caused by the news of this battle was indescribable, and mortification and shame fell justly upon those who had boasted so loudly and insolently of their invincibility on the ocean. Every possible reason was searched for to account for Dacres' defeat. The Constitution was said to be a seventy-four in disguise, to have a picked crew of British seamen, and the like. The truth is, beyond doubt, that she was a somewhat larger and heavier ship than the Guerriere, and that the latter had not a full crew; but after making all the allowances which can be claimed, it was felt then, and truly felt, that the invincibility of the British on the ocean was now destroyed. The United States henceforth were to take their place amongst the foremost maritime powers of the world, and the stars and stripes were now to On the 19th of August, only three days after the disgrace at Detroit, Captain Hull, in the Constitution, brought unequalled glory upon that name which his uncle had rendered a bye-word in the United States, and proved to the world what the American navy was capable of performing in a fair fight with their haughty enemy. In the afternoon of the 19th, the Constitution discovered and gave chase to a large English frigate, the Guerriere, thirty-eight, Captain Dacres, who had been extremely desirous of meeting with an American ship of war, and did not doubt that he would obtain an easy victory. Captain Hull gave strict orders not to return the enemy's fire, until they were so near that every shot was certain to take effect. When in the position he desired, Hull opened. upon the Guerriere, with broadside following broadside, very rapidly and with tremendous force. In half an hour's day, to convey to the reader the full force of the moral impression created in America by this victory of one time, the Guerriere was little better frigate over another. So deep had been the effect prothan a wreck, and Captain Dacres, havduced on the public mind by the constant accounts of the successes of the English over their enemies at sea, ing lost over a hundred men in killed that the opinion, already mentioned of their invincibiland wounded, surrendered to the vic- ity on that element, generally prevailed; and it had torious Hull. The loss of the Consti- been publicly predicted, that before the contest had continued six months, British sloops-of-war would lie tution was only seven killed and seven alongside of American frigates with comparative impuwounded. As it was impossible to get nity."-"Naval History," vol. ii., p. 56. | * "It is not easy," says Mr. Cooper, "at this distant become known and recognized as floating proudly over vessels not inferior to those of England or any other people who " go down to the sea in ships, and do their business in the great waters." Other victories followed that of Hull in the Constitution. On the night of the 16th of October, the British sloopof-war Frolic, eighteen, convoying six merchant ships, fell in with the United States sloop-of-war Wasp, eighteen, Captain Jones. The engagement which ensued was fierce and bloody. The Wasp was much injured in her spars and rigging, but on boarding the Frolic found the deck covered with only the dead and wounded. Thirty were killed and fifty wounded. The Wasp had only five killed and five wounded. Lieutenant Biddle lowered the English flag with his own hands, after a contest of forty-three minutes' duration. Both the Frolic and Wasp were, however, taken, a few hours later, by the Poictiers, a seventy-four. On Captain Jones's return to the United States, he was warmly applauded, and Congress voted him and his crew $25,000. 1812. This victory caused greater exultation in the United States than others of more intrinsic importance, because the force on both sides was more nearly equal; and the credit of the success, in consequence, the greater. It did undoubtedly very effectually dissipate the notion of British invincibility at sea; but the most valuable result, perhaps, was the testimony afforded to the superiority of cool and scientific gunnery in naval combat. Sea-fights had been for the most part decided by mere animal courage and brute force. The only sci ence shown had been in the handling of the ships, and the manoeuvring of the fleets. Our naval officers, not neglecting this department of strategics, took aim when they discharged their guns, and brought these engagements to a speedy decision by not aimlessly squandering their shot. No amount of courage, backed mostly by noise and smoke, and artillery badly aimed, or not aimed at all, is no more,-could stand against the heavy metal, flying true to its mark, of the American guns. The lesson thus terribly impressed upon the British, we are assured by an English writer, was not thrown away. Little more than a week later, Commodore Decatur had an opportunity of adding to his well-deserved laurels. He was now in command of the frigate United States, forty-four, and having captured, a few days before, the British packet, Swallow, with a large amount of specie, fell in, on the 25th of October, with the Macedonian, rated at thirty-eight, but carrying forty-nine. A combat at once commenced, the vessels passing and repassing each other for about an hour, when the mizen-mast of the British frigate fell, and the vessel became almost unmanageable, from the fearful injuries she had received. The superior gunnery of the United States told fearfully against her antagonist, and the larger number of her crew gave her the advantage in manoeuvring. At this period, the United States stood athwart the bows of the Macedonian, and passed out of shot without firing a gun; and her antagonist's crew, supposing she had given up the fight, set a union-jack 1812. CH. VIII.] upon GREAT NAVAL SUCCESSES. in the main-rigging, and gave three cheers. But it was only to refill her cartridges, and she soon came back, and took up a raking position across the stern of her defenceless foe;-wherethe Macedonian struck. She had thirty-six killed and sixty-eight wounded, and had received nearly a hundred shot in her hull; whilst the United States had lost but twelve killed and wounded, and suffered surprisingly little, considering the length of the cannonade. The prize was brought into New London, early in December, and added not a little to the joy and pride of the nation in their gallant navy. The Argus, sixteen, under Captain Sinclair, which had set out on a cruise, at the same time as the United States, was very successful in making prizes; chased for three days and as many moonlight nights, by a squadron of the enemy; and not only escaped, but actually took and manned a prize during the chase! One more naval victory belongs to the record of this year. The Constitution, (Captain Hull having given place to Commodore Bainbridge,) on December the 28th, met with the Java, thirtyeight, and maintained with her for about forty minutes a contest, in which seamanship as much as gunnery or courage was conspicuous. The English captain then resolved to attempt to board his antagonist, and ran down on the Constitution's quarter for that purpose. But before this could be accomplished, the foremast fell with a tremendous crash, the main-topmast came down, the head of the bowsprit was shot away, and the captain 1812. 165 fell, mortally wounded. Lieutenant Chads, who took the command, carried on the fight; but after the American commodore had passed out of the combat, for the purpose of refitting, and returned, he found his vessel a complete wreck, and struck. Finding it impossible to save their prize, after removing the crew, the Java was blown up. A hundred and twenty-four, killed and wounded, were said by the British to have been lost on board the Java; but Bainbridge reckoned their loss as much higher. Thirty-four alone suffered, in both ways, on board the Constitution. The Java had been literally picked to pieces by the fire of the Constitution, spar following spar until there was not one left; while, strange to tell, the American frigate did not lose a single spar. Commodore Bainbridge, landing his prisoners on parole, at San Salvador, left for home, and arrived at Boston on the 27th of February, 1813. During the autumn of this year, the lakes were witnesses of the gallantry of the small force which our country at the time possessed; and it soon became evident, that important results would depend upon proper preparation to meet the enemy there. Captain Isaac Chauncey was actively engaged in this work for forwarding his country's interests, and captured a schooner with $12,000 in specie on board. Turning our attention again to operations on the land, we find them carried on in a way that cannot but excite surprise at the large amount of blundering and bungling on the part of most of those in authority, not un |