CII. IX.] RAVAGES ON THE SEA COAST. sea coast. With the same mistake in judgment which was made in the Revolution, it was determined, to devastate the coast, and lay waste the towns and villages in every accessible direction. The necessary effect in such cases, must be, of course, to rouse the spirit of any people; and in the result, we find, that the outrages of the British under Cockburn, and his willing assistants, stirred up intense indignation, and incited the Americans to deeds of revenge. 191 and Fredericktown, a few days later. Admiral Warren soon after arrived in the Chesapeake, which increased the enemy's force to seven ships of the line, and twelve frigates, with a proporEarly in February, a squadron ap- tionate number of smaller vessels. The peared in Delaware Bay, which de- appearance of this formidable armastroyed many vessels and blockaded the ment created much alarm in the more Bay. On the 10th of February, Lewis- considerable towns along the neighborton, in Delaware, was bombarded, be- ing coast. Baltimore, Annapolis, and cause the inhabitants refused to supply Norfolk were threatened; and it soon the enemy with fresh provisions; and became evident, that the latter of these a month later, the militia succeeded in places was selected to receive the first driving away a number of barges which blow. Commodore Cassin, on the 20th | had been sent to obtain water. It was, of June, aided by Captain Tarbell with however, in the Chesapeake principally, a number of gunboats, made a gallant that this new and discreditable species attack upon a British frigate at Craney of warfare was carried on by the British Island, but did not succeed in capturingships. Admiral Cockburn was in com- her. On the 22d, it having been demand of the squadron here, and he termined to open the way to Norfolk, rendered his name and character noto- a large British force was detailed against rious, on account of the numerous pirat- Craney Island. They were bravely ical incursions in which he indulged, met by the Americans, some six hunthe houses he robbed, the families he dred in number, partly marines and plundered, the wanton destruction of Virginia volunteers, and after a sharp property he authorized, and the shame- fight, they were completely defeated, ful insults and injuries he inflicted upon with a loss of over two hundred killed defenceless women and children. The and wounded. Enraged at this unmilitia did good service in meeting the looked-for result, the British deterinvaders whenever possible, but they mined to fall upon Hampton and dewere not able, of course, to do much in stroy it, so as, if possible, to cut off the the way of effectual resistance. French- communication between Norfolk and town was assaulted, and plundered; Havre de Grace, early in May, shared the same fate; as did also Georgetown | burn advanced against the town with the upper part of Virginia. 1813. On the 25th of June, Cock May, but finding the force at the Hook much superior to theirs, they put back and passed through Hell Gate, with the intention of getting out by the Sound. In this they were also frustrated; and on the 1st of June, after another attempt, they were chased into New London. Six hundred militia were immediately called in from the surrounding country, for the protection of the squadron; and Commodore De 1813. his barges, and kept up a constant cannonade, while about two thousand men, under Sir Sidney Beckwith, landed below intending to attack the Americans in the rear. The force stationed at IIampton was not more than four hundred, and though they made a gallant resistance, they were compelled to give way, and the enemy took possession of the town. Contemporary accounts are full of details of the shocking and detestable conduct of the law-catur, landing some of his guns, mounted less and inhuman invaders. Neither age nor sex was spared; and we cannot wonder that the feelings of the people were wrought up almost to frenzy, in the prospect of war to be carried on in this manner by the British commanders. During the summer, other places, as Washington, Annapolis, Baltimore, etc., were threatened, but with no material result. Cockburn, in July, proceeded further south, and exercised his peculiar ability in marauding expeditions on the coast of North Carolina, where, beside the usual plunder, he inveigled a number of slaves on board his ship, and afterwards sold them in the West Indies. At the north, attacks on the coast were conducted by the blockading force whenever practicable, but in a manner much more to the credit of the British name. This was due, no doubt, to Commodore Hardy, who was in command north of the Chesapeake, and who was a manly and generous-hearted enemy. The city of New York was strictly blockaded. The frigates United States and Macedonian, and the sloop Hornet, attempted to sail on a cruise from that port about the beginning of a battery on the shore, and at the same time so lightened his vessels, as to enable them to ascend the river out of the reach of the enemy. This town was so well fortified, however, that no attempt was made upon it, although the blockade was kept up for several months. Incensed by the depredations committed on our coasts by the blockading squadrons, Congress passed an act, by which a reward of half their value was offered for the destruction of ships belonging to the enemy by means other than those of the armed or commissioned vessels of the United States. This measure was intended to encourage the use of torpedoes, of which, it will be remembered, Bushnell was the inventor during the Revolution. (See vol. i., p. 518.) On the 18th of July, and during several nights subsequently, attempts were made to blow up the Plantagenet, a British seventy-four, at anchor in Lynnhaven Bay; but without success. The last effort was made on the 24th, when, within a hundred yards of the ship, the torpedo was dropped into the water, and the same moment the sentinel cried "all's well:" the tie CH. IX.] THE HORNET TAKES THE PEACOCK. swept it towards the vessel, but it exploded a few seconds too soon. A column of water fifty feet in circumference was thrown up thirty or forty feet. Its appearance was a vivid red, tinged with purple at the sides. The summit of the column burst with a tremendous explosion, and fell on the deck of the Plantagenet in torrents, while she rolled into the yawning chasm below, and nearly upset. She however received no material injury. Other attempts of the kind were made in different quarters, the principal result of which was to cause the enemy to be very cautious in approaching our harbors and selecting stations for their ships. The use of this mode of destroying an invading force was strongly condemned by Commodore Hardy, and by a number of our own people, as dishonorable and unmanly; but, as Mr. Hale says, no one was able to show why it was more dishonorable or unfair than the resort to surprizes, ambushes, and mines. rara. 193 first shaped his course to Pernambuco; and on the 4th of February, captured the English brig Resolution, of ten guns, with $23,000 in specie. He then ran down the coast of Maranham, and thence off Surinam, where he cruised for some time; and on the 22d, stood for DemeThe next day, he discovered an English brig of war lying at anchor outside of the bar, and on beating around the Carabana bank, to come near her, he discovered, at half past three in the afternoon, another sail on his weather quarter, edging down for him. This proved to be a large man-of-war brig, the Peacock, Captain Peake, somewhat superior to the Hornet in force. Lawrence immediately ordered his men to quarters, and had the ship cleared for action. He kept close by the wind, in order, if possible, to get the weathergage of the Peacock. At ten minutes Mr.gage past five, finding he could not weather the enemy, he hoisted American colors and tacked. About a quarter of an hour after this, the ships passed each other, and exchanged broadsides within half pistol shot. Lawrence, observing the enemy in the act of wearing, bore up, received his starboard broadside, and ran him close on board on the starboard quarter. From this position he kept up a most severe and well-directed fire. So great was its effect, that, in less than fifteen minutes, the British vessel struck. She was almost cut to pieces, and hoisted an ensign, union down, from her fore rigging, as a signal of distress. Shortly after, her mainmast went by the board. The signal of distress was answered with praiseworthy humanity by the brave Amer The naval affairs of the year 1813 demand our attention in this place. When Commodore Bainbridge left San Salvador, in January, for home (p. 166) he directed Captain Lawrence, in the Hornet, to blockade the Bonne Citoyenne, a British vessel in that harbor. Lawrence challenged his opponent to meet him outside the port; but his challenge was not accepted. The Hornet continued the blockade until the 24th of January, when the Montague, seventy-four, hove in sight, and compelled her to escape into port. She ran out, however, the same night, and proceeded on a cruise. Her commander VOL. III.-25 icans, and every effort was made by the crews of both vessels to save the disabled ship. But, notwithstanding all their efforts, she went down in a few minutes, with thirteen of her own crew and three of the Hornet's, who were engaged in the noble act of striving to save their enemies. The captain of the Peacock and four men were killed, and thirty-three wounded; whilst there were but one man killed, and two wounded, on board the Hornet. Only one shot fired by the Peacock struck the hull of her adversary; and it did no more damage than that of indenting a plank beneath the cat-head. The conduct of Captain Lawrence towards his prisoners was such as deserved the highest applause. So sensibly affected were the officers of the Peacock by the treatment they received, that, on their arrival at New York, they made a grateful acknowledgment in the public papers. To use their own expressive phrase, "they ceased to consider themselves prisonAnd the brave tars, emulating the magnanimous spirit of their commander, divided their clothes with the prisoners who were left destitute by the sinking of the Peacock.* 1813. ers." * The intensely bitter opposition to the war, of a large party in New England, was exhibited in connection with the victory of the Hornet over the Peacock, On the 10th of April, shortly after the return of the Hornet, the Chesapeake arrived at Boston, after a cruise of four months. Her commander, Captain Evans, having been appointed to the New York station, the Chesapeake was assigned to Lawrence. He accepted the post with reluctance, for the Chesapeake was looked upon as an unlucky ship, a circumstance of much moment with sailors, and her crew was ill assorted and in a disaffected and complaining state. He entered with alacrity, however, upon the duties of his post, and, had time been allowed him, he might have rendered the Chesapeake worthy of a better fate than that which befell her and her gallant commander. The frequent and annoying disasters at sea had impressed the British government with the necessity for the most vigorous efforts, both to retrieve their naval losses, and to prevent the recurrence of mortifying defeat. "Several vessels," as Alison states, "were commenced on the model of the American frigates and sloops, which had been found by experience so swift in sailing, and so formidable in action; and secret instructions were given to the commanders of vessels on the North American station, not to hazard an encounter with an opponent nominally of the same in a resolution adopted by the Senate of Massachusetts, class, unless there was something like on the motion of Mr. Quincy, June 15th, 1813, in these words: "Resolved, as the sense of the Senate of Massachusetts, that, in a war like the present, waged without a justifiable cause, and prosecuted in a manner that indicates that conquest and ambition are its real motives, it is not becoming a moral and religious people to express any approbation of military or naval exploits which are not immediately connected with the defence of our sea coast and soil." a real, as well as an apparent, equality between them. Greater care was, at the same time, taken in the selection of crews; a larger proportion of men was given to the cannon on board; and orders were issued for the frequent exercise of the men in ball practice, both CH. IX.] THE CHESAPEAKE AND SHANNON. with small arms and great guns;-a point of vital importance in naval warfare, but one which had hitherto been in an unaccountable manner neglected, with a very few exceptions, in all the departments in the British navy." 1813. The result of these efforts was soon after displayed. Captain Broke, an able officer, commanded the Shannon, a frigate pierced for thirty-eight guns, but really mounting fifty-two; and, contrary to the general practice in the British navy, he had for many years trained the crew, whom, by admirable management, he had brought to the highest state of discipline and subordination, to the practice of ball firing with great guns. In the case of the Chesapeake, however, she was not in a fair condition to meet the Shannon on any thing like equal terms. Her crew were dissatisfied on account of unpaid prize money. She had also an unusual number of landsmen and mercenaries on board; several of her officers were inexperienced, or on the sick list; and altogether, she labored under serious disadvantages in the way of fitness for fighting the Shannon. In the number of guns, the vessels were as nearly equal as was possible. Captain Broke, hearing that the Chesapeake was ready for sea, stood in to the mouth of the harbor, and dispatched to Captain Lawrence a courteous invitation to single combat, "to try the fortunes of their respective flags." But before this cartel could be received, the American captain, seeing the British vessel lying close in to the lighthouse, with colors flying, determined to chastise its commander for so daring a defiance, and weighing 195 anchor, on the 1st of June, went gallantly down, with three flags flying, on one of which was inscribed, "Free trade and sailor's right." Numerous barges and pleasure boats, amidst loud cheers, accompanied her some way out, to what they deemed a certain victory. It was twelve, meridian, when the Chesapeake weighed; and Broke, deeming his challenge accepted, at once stood out to sea. When about thirty miles from the light, at about five, P. M., the Chesapeake signalled the Shannon to heave to, and with three cheers, ran up alongside her, at the distance of about two hundred yards. As she passed not more than a stone's throw off, the Shannon's guns, beginning with her cabin guns, were fired in succession, from aft forward; and as they were heavily loaded, with two round shot, and a hundred and fifty musket balls, or one round and one double-headed shot, in each, they did fearful execution. The Chesapeake did not fire till all her guns bore, when she delivered a very destructive broadside. Two or three broadsides were then exchanged; and so far as the general ef fect of the fire was concerned, the Chesapeake had the best of it; but some of her rigging had been shot away, and in attempting to haul her foresail up, she fell on board the Shannon, whose starboard bower anchor locked with her mizzen channels; and she lay exposed to a raking fire from the enemy, who swept her decks with the contents of two thirty-two pounder carronades, beat in her sternposts, and drove the men from their quarters. The boatswain of the Shannon lashed the two 1813. |