CHAPTER IV

A RACE FOR THE LIFE OF A NATION

STORY OF THE _CONSTITUTION’S_ ESCAPE FROM A BRITISH SQUADRON OFF THE JERSEY BEACH--FOUR FRIGATES AND A LINER WERE AFTER HER--FOR MORE THAN TWO DAYS THE BRAVE OLD CAPTAIN STOOD AT HIS POST WHILE THE SHIP TACKED AND WORE AND REACHED AND RAN, AND THE TIRELESS SAILORS TOWED AND KEDGED AND WET THE SAILS TO CATCH THE SHIFTING AIR--THOUGH ONCE HALF-SURROUNDED AND ONCE WITHIN RANGE, _OLD IRONSIDES_ ELUDED THE WHOLE SQUADRON TILL A FRIENDLY SQUALL CAME TO WRAP HER IN ITS BLACK FOLDS AND CARRY HER FAR FROM DANGER.

As the story of the first cruise of the _Essex_ shows how thoroughly the American seamen were drilled in that day, and, after a fashion, somewhat of their skill in the use of weapons, so the story of an adventure of another American war-ship--an adventure that occurred soon after the _Minerva_ refused to fight the _Essex_--shows in a splendid light their skill and unwearied strength as seamen. This adventure was the escape of the _Constitution_, Captain Isaac Hull, from a British squadron off the Jersey coast--somewhat to the south, indeed, of the modern racing ground between English and American crack yachts, but near enough to be worth mentioning.

The _Constitution_, after the Portsmouth incident, returned to Chesapeake Bay and was there cleaned and coppered. Before this work was done war was declared, but as soon as possible she was floated and a new crew shipped. This crew numbered, including officers, etc., four hundred and fifty. Of them Captain Hull wrote, at the time, to the Secretary of the Navy:

“The crew are as yet unacquainted with a ship-of-war, as many have but lately joined and have never been on an armed ship before.... We are doing all that we can to make them acquainted with their duty, and in a few days we shall have nothing to fear from any single-deck ship.”

That is to say, the crew contained many green hands instead of experienced sailors like those on the British war-ships. But though inexperienced they were intelligent--they could learn readily, and they were to a man _willing_. A most important fact about the American crews at that time was that even the landsmen were willing and able workers. The experienced members of the crews, of course, fought with a will in very many cases because of their hatred of the British press-gang. But that does not account for all the excellent qualities of the American crews. The Yankee was willing and able because he was the best-fed naval seaman in the world. The humane system of treatment, made imperative when the fathers of the nation were careful to provide that canvas for pudding-bags be served out at proper intervals, had been continued wherever American warships were found.

And it is worth noting in connection with this subject that when American and English ship-captains met socially during the interval between the Tripoli war and that of 1812 the English habitually sneered at the American system that gave the men plenty of good food and good pay, and prohibited an officer from striking a forecastleman, and limited the punishment by the lash to a dozen strokes, which could only be inflicted after a court-martial at that.

Leaving the capes of the Chesapeake on July 12, 1812, the _Constitution_ beat her way slowly through light airs up the coast for five days. Then on Friday, the 17th, at 2 P.M., “being in twenty-two fathoms of water off Egg Harbor” (from twelve to fourteen miles offshore) “four sail of ships were discovered from the mast-head, to the northward and inshore--apparently ships-of-war.” Captain Hull thought they were the American squadron under Commodore Rodgers, and so held on his drifting course. Two hours later the lookout saw another sail. The others were northwesterly from the _Constitution_, but this one was in the northeast, and she was heading for the _Constitution_ under full sail. But the fact that she was under full sail must not be taken as indicating that she was making any great headway. In fact, at sundown she was still so far off that her signals could not be made out.

However, this ship in the northeast was manifestly alone, and so Captain Hull stood for her. She might be a friend, but if she and the others were of the enemy it would be safer to attack the single one.

At about this time the breeze shifted to the south, and, wearing around, Captain Hull set studding-sails to starboard to help him along, and then as the light was fading in the west he beat to quarters. And thereafter with the men at their guns and peering through the ports for glimpses of the stranger the two ships drew slowly toward each other.

But they did not get together. At 10 o’clock Captain Hull hoisted his secret night-signal, by which American ships were to know each other, and kept it up for an hour. The stranger being unable to answer, it was plainly an enemy. Captain Hull had correctly concluded that the ships inshore were also of the enemy. So he “hauled off to the southward and eastward and made all sail.”

[Illustration: Isaac Hull.

_From an engraving, at the Navy Department, Washington, of the painting by Stuart._]

As the event proved, the lone ship for which the _Constitution_ had been heading was the _Guerrière_, Captain Dacres, while the squadron in the northwest included the ship-of-the-line _Africa_, the frigates _Shannon_, _Belvidera_, and _Eolus_, and the United States brig _Nautilus_ that the squadron had captured a short time before. The squadron was under Captain Philip Vere Broke, of the _Shannon_, and it had been sent out from Halifax immediately after the squadron of Commodore Rodgers had vainly chased the _Belvidera_.

Now, although Captain Hull headed the _Constitution_ offshore, he did not by any means try to avoid the _Guerrière_. He held a course enough to the eastward to enable her to draw near. What he wanted was to draw her clear of the rest before he fought her. But in this he was not successful. At 3.30 o’clock the next morning (July 18th) the _Guerrière_ was but half a mile from the _Constitution_, and the two were nearing each other hopefully, when the _Guerrière_ saw for the first time the other ships spread out inshore in chase. At that Captain Dacres made the private British signal, but it was not answered because the captains inshore assumed that Dacres knew who they were--and that misunderstanding led these captains to say unpleasant things to each other afterwards.

Supposing that the failure to answer his signals was due to the ships inshore being Yankees, Captain Dacres wore the _Guerrière_ around and ran away from the _Constitution_ for some time before he discovered his mistake. Meantime the ships inshore had had the benefit of enough wind to bring them within dangerous distance of the _Constitution_, so that when the wind failed the _Constitution_, as it did at 5.30 in the morning, her condition was desperate. The _Guerrière_ having once more entered the chase, there were four frigates and a ship of the line all spread out in such fashion as would enable them to take advantage of the slightest change in the direction of the wind, and three of them were less than five miles away. It was then that the most famous race between warships known to the annals of the American navy really began, for up to that time Captain Hull had not tried to avoid the _Guerrière_.

Seeing now that he must fly from all, Captain Hull called away all his boats, and running a line to them, sent them ahead, towing the _Constitution_ away to southward. Although some little air was still wafting on the enemy they very promptly imitated the example of the _Constitution_. In fact, they did better, for the boats of the squadron were concentrated on two ships, and what with their aid and the faint zephyr blowing they gained rapidly on the _Constitution_. In fact, at 6 o’clock the _Shannon_, which was in the lead, opened fire on the _Constitution_, her captain being of the opinion that she was within reach of the long guns.

The shot failed to reach, but the captain of the _Constitution_ “being determined they should not get her without resistance on our part, notwithstanding their force,” ordered one of the long twenty-four pounders brought from the gun-deck up to the poop where it would bear over the stern at the enemy. A long eighteen was brought from the forecastle to do similar service, while two long twenty-fours were run out of the cabin windows below.

[Illustration:

_Africa._ _Constitution._ _Shannon._ _Eolus._ _Guerrière._ _Belvidera._

The _Constitution’s_ Escape from the British Squadron after a Chase of Sixty Hours.

_From an engraving by Hoogland of the picture by Corné._]

At 7 o’clock one of these long twenty-fours was tried on the _Shannon_, but the ball fell short. It did some good, however, for it showed the enemy that their boats were in danger, and so prevented their towing fairly within gunshot.

But this by no means freed the _Constitution_. If they did not dare tow up within range astern, they could with their superior forces tow their vessels out on each side of her, and so far surround her as to absolutely prevent her escape when a wind did come, and the situation was apparently more nearly hopeless for the _Constitution_ than at any time since the chase began.

In this emergency the wit of the “smart Yankee” executive officer of the _Constitution_--Lieutenant Charles Morris--gave the ship a new lease of life. Morris had had experience in towing a ship through crooked channels by means of a light anchor carried ahead with a line attached to haul on. This method of towing is called kedging. Dropping a lead-line over the rail, Morris found that the water was but one hundred and fifty-six feet deep, and suggested at once that they kedge her along.

A few minutes later the _Constitution’s_ largest boat was rowing away ahead with a small anchor on board, and stretching out a half mile of lines and cables knotted together. When that anchor was dropped to the bottom the men on the ship began to haul in on the line--to walk away with it at a smart pace, and the speed of the _Constitution_, which at best had been no more than a mile an hour, was at once trebled. She was literally clawing her way out of trouble, clear of the enemy.

Meantime another kedge and a fresh line were made ready, so that by the time the crew had tracked the ship to the first anchor a second one was in the mud a half mile ahead and ready for them. In this way a substantial gain was made on the enemy, who lagged under the slower work of the men towing with small boats.

[Illustration: Towing a Becalmed Frigate.

_From a picture drawn and engraved by Baugean._]

Finally, at 9.10 A.M., a light air was seen on the oil-smooth water in the south. The yards of the _Constitution_ were at once braced sharp up to meet it, and by the time its breath had filled the sails the willing crew had the boats alongside and hoisted out of the water--some to the davits where they belonged, and some lifted by spare spars, rigged over the rail, just clear of the water, where they could be dropped the instant they were needed.

But if the wind gave the sailors who had been on deck all night long a brief chance to rest, it was after all of more advantage to the enemy than to the _Constitution_. For she had had to change her course when the breeze came, and that change was sending her closer to the _Guerrière_, instead of further away. Worse yet, it seemed to the Yankees that their sails had no more than rounded full under the caress of the zephyr than it failed them again, and once more the canvas rattled and slapped the creaking spars.

The _Guerrière_ now began firing, and there was nothing to do but once more to stretch out the lines with the kedge anchor and begin anew the tracking the _Constitution_ ahead. For an hour the weary men stretched out their tow-line and hauled it in and stretched and hauled again. Captain Hull had lightened the ship by starting nine or ten tons of water, and the _Constitution_ was just beginning to show a fair gain once more over the enemy when Captain Byron of the _Belvidera_ saw how it was that the Yankees were clawing away, and adopted the same tactics.

Immediately this was done the boats from the fleet flocked with men to her deck to help haul in on the line--flocked there with men who were fresh and strong from the decks of the other ships, while the men of the _Constitution_ were worn with the loss of sleep the night before and the fierce efforts of the morning.

By 2 o’clock in the afternoon these fresh men had drawn the _Belvidera_ so near that she opened fire, and, although the shots fell short, Captain Hull now supposed he would surely be captured, and so prepared to make a good fight with the first ship in hope of disabling her before the rest could come to help. But the _Belvidera_, not wishing to risk her anchor-carrying boats within range of the _Constitution’s_ guns, was content to claw forward on the Yankee’s quarter just out of range, while the _Shannon_ and _Eolus_ strove to help partially surround the _Constitution_ once more.

The _Belvidera_ began kedging at 10.30 o’clock in the morning. The _Constitution_ had been at it for an hour already. Steadily the two crews labored at the heart-breaking task until 3 o’clock in the afternoon, when once more a zephyr from the south roughened the oily waves and then lifted first the royals of the _Constitution_ and then the top-gallant sails. The heavy canvas of top-sails and courses would not swell to its weight, but the kites could pull her. It was a fitful, varying breath, but it lasted four hours, and during that time the Americans actually held the braces by which the sails were trimmed constantly in hand, while the brave old captain kept his eyes on the weather-vane and jockeyed her along as a racing skipper handles his yacht. It was a race for a stake such as has never been known on any coast, for it was a race for the life of a nation. Had _Old Ironsides_ been captured while Rodgers was making his fruitless cruise, and imbeciles were leading worthless militia in a day-dream scheme of conquest toward Canada, the result would have been deadly.

As night came on (it was at 7 o’clock) this breeze failed once more. It then lacked less than an hour of a full day since the men had been called to quarters. For twenty-three hours they had stood at their guns, had made and taken in and trimmed sail, had lowered and rowed away and hoisted up boats, had carried out anchors and hauled on the cables till they gasped for breath. It had been a day to wear the life out of any ordinary man, but, as John Paul Jones said on the deck of the _Bonhomme Richard_, these could say now: “We have not yet begun to fight.” In spite of weariness, the instant the zephyr failed them these men once more dropped the boats and carried out the small anchors with the long lines and began again to claw their way clear of the enemy. Until 10.45 P.M. they worked with steady patience, and then another teasing zephyr came to fill the sails of the ship, and the boats except one were all hoisted clear of the water. During all this time the _Guerrière_ and the _Belvidera_ had fairly held their own, being aided by the men from the other ships. The _Shannon_ had dropped back a deal, but the _Eolus_ was not by any means far enough away to be ignored. But when the breeze came, the _Belvidera_ got enough of the flaws of air to forge ahead, so that soon after daylight (at 4 o’clock) on the morning of July 19th she was well forward on the lee beam of the _Constitution_, and, tacking about, she stood for the Yankee. If the _Constitution_ held fast as she was the _Belvidera_ was sure to pass within easy gunshot astern and deliver a raking fire that would play havoc with spars and sails. If the _Constitution_ tacked also, the _Eolus_, off on the Yankee’s weather-quarter, would have a chance of forging within gunshot. The _Constitution_ was cornered and a choice had to be made.

Going about at 4.20 A.M. on the other tack, Captain Hull headed across the bows of the _Eolus_. He was now steering out to sea, and to the joy of the Americans the sails swelled under a faint improvement in the breeze. An hour later they were crossing ahead of the _Eolus_ within range of long guns, but the Englishman did not open fire and the _Constitution_ passed free. The _Eolus_ when in the wake of the _Constitution_ tacked, and then Captain Hull had the satisfaction of seeing the enemy once more all astern of him. It was not that he was out of danger. There were four frigates--the _Belvidera_, the _Eolus_, the _Guerrière_, and the _Shannon_--all after him, but he had escaped being surrounded. The line-of-battle-ship and the smaller craft had been left so far astern as to be out of the race.

For several hours after this the race was without incident, though so far as the eye could judge the _Constitution_ gained slightly in the faint-air race, but at 9 o’clock a strange sail arrived within plain view to the southward. She was evidently bound to New York. To decoy her (for she looked like a Yankee) the _Belvidera_ hoisted American colors, but Captain Hull stopped that game by hoisting the British ensign, whereat the merchantman braced up and escaped, while the _Constitution_ slipped along with every thread drawing and the green water between her and the enemy slowly widening, until at noon the nearest one was estimated to be three and a half miles astern. The wide-beam, shoal-draft ship had the best of the race in a light air, as others have since had in races of less importance near the same ground.

[Illustration: Chase of the _Constitution_ off the Jersey Coast.

_From the painting by Inch at the Naval Academy, Annapolis._]

The crew were now, for the first time, able to get some rest. Officers and men alike stretched out on deck and slept as men may who for thirty-six hours have worked for life, but the brave old sailor who commanded the ship stood to his post. Throughout the afternoon the lead of the _Constitution_ was slightly increased, but at 4 o’clock the wind began to weaken, to the disadvantage of the flying Yankee, for she ran out of the breeze, and the enemy held it for a time after she lost it, and so drew up until within perhaps three miles. There was nothing to do now but get out all the boats to a tow-line, for the water was too deep for kedging.

And then came the last and most stirring event of the long race. A heavy cloud appeared away to southward and eastward, the first sign of one of the black squalls with which American coasters are over-familiar. A fearsome spectacle they are to the unaccustomed, nor do they lack weight of wind at any time, but to the men of the _Constitution_ this squall was a Godsend.

Knowing very well what the Englishmen would think of the looks of the squall, Captain Hull kept his boats at their towing and sent the men about deck to the belaying pins, where sheets and tacks and halyards were made fast, while others stretched out clew-lines and bunt-lines, and downhauls. Standing so with everything in hand, he watched the coming cloud until the frothing spoondrift was within a mile, and the first faint breath of it was lifting the royals, and then to the shrill pipe of the boatswain called the boats alongside. As they were hooking on the tackles the blast struck the ship. Over she heeled as if to go on her beam ends, lifting the boats to windward clear of the water, while the men at the halyards and sheets let go all, and all hands clapped on to the clew-lines and downhauls and boat-tackles. In a moment the last sail had been clewed into a bunt, and the boats to windward and leeward were snatched to the davits and spars rigged to receive them.

Turning then, to look at the enemy, he saw the men climbing aloft and with eager haste _furling_ everything, while their boats were left to shift as they might in the foaming sea. They had supposed from what they saw of the effect of the squall on the _Constitution_ that it was even worse than it looked, and they snugged down their ships accordingly.

And then, as the friendly rain and vapor of the squall veiled the wily Yankee, he spread his sails--sails that had not been furled--to the gale and “went off on an easy bowline at the rate of eleven knots an hour.”

The race was won. At 7.30 P.M., when the squall had passed and the enemy once more came in view, the leading ship, the _Belvidera_, was not only a long way astern, but she had the wind in such fashion as to be unable to hold up within two points of the course the _Constitution_ was steering. And yet in their mad efforts to overhaul the Yankee after they felt the weight of the squall, the British captains had cut adrift their small boats, that they might not be obliged to stop and pick them up or be encumbered with the weight.

The winds proved light and baffling all night, but having observed how much better the sails held the air while they were wet, Captain Hull started his force-pumps at work to keep the lower sails wet, and sent men to the highest yards to draw up water in buckets and keep everything drenched to the highest thread. It was a plan that worked admirably. In spite of the baffling zephyrs, the Yankee gained all night, so that at daylight only the loftier sails of the enemy were visible, and at 8.15 on the morning of Monday, July 20, 1812, the British squadron gave it up and squared away for Sandy Hook, leaving the triumphant _Constitution_ to head away to Boston to obtain another supply of water in place of that she had started to decrease her draft. From Friday afternoon until Monday morning the British frigates, including the swift _Belvidera_ that had eluded the _President_, were in chase of the Yankee clipper. Certainly they showed “great perseverance, good seamanship, and ready invitation,” but “the cool old Yankee” justified the praise which Lord Nelson gave us when he said, in the Mediterranean, that “there is in the handling of those transatlantic ships a nucleus of trouble for the navy of Great Britain.”

[Illustration: The _Constitution_ Bearing Down for the _Guerrière_.

_From an old wood-cut._]

##