Rebecca Paulding Meade. Life of Hiram Paulding: Rear-Admiral, U.S.N
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PREFACE The United States of America with its extended coast line may well look to its Navy as an important factor in its exist- ence and for its defense; and we, who enjoy the blessings won for us through stormy days of struggle, hold in appreciative remem- brance the names of those who in the infancy of the republic did good and valiant service in their country's cause. Before the memory of the old Navy is effaced by the glories of the new, and the old '4ine-of-battle-ship" is forgotten in the presence of our magnificent floating engines of war, a sketch of one of the officers of the older days may not be without interest. The effect of the strong personality of a brave and just man, with cool head and good judgment to meet the emergencies arising in a public career, is sometimes as potent a factor in the country's hour of need as a leader in battle could be. Hiram Paulding, enrolled on his country's honor list from 1811 to 1878, was one whose vi PREFACE career and example, whether afloat or ashore, are worth remembering. In taking up a work of biography one asks, ^'Who was he?" '^What was he?'^ ''What did he do ? '' ''Why is his past worth recaUing?'' This book, which lays no claim to literary merit, is an attempt, on the part of his chil- dren, to tell to those who care to hear it the story of one of our public men, a chivalrous hero of the old days, ''sans peur et sans reproche,'^ whose official life is interwoven with his country^s history, whose home life was a rarely beautiful one, and whose ex- ample is worthy of imitation. Even in these days bristling with stories of heroes of fact and fiction, of the field and of the sea, this may have interest for some who esteem faithfulness to duty a cardinal virtue. R. P. M. CONTENTS CHAPTEB FAOB I Hiram Paulding's Ancestors .... 1 II Hiram Paulding, the Boy .... 5 Midshipman; Early service on the Lakes. III Maturity 14 Norwich Academy; The Rigging Loft. Lieutenant; Service under Decatur; Under Hull in the Pacific; Volunteer cruise in the schooner Dolphin in search of the mutineers of the whale-ship Globe. IV Paulding's Visit to Bolivar in his Camp . 19 Return to Lima after some years' absence, condition of the people socially and pohtic- ally; Danger to our commerce makes it necessary to communicate with General Simon Bolivar whose location was not known save that it was across the Andes; Orders from Commodore Hull to proceed on horse- back with despatches to the General. Hua- cho; Difficulties in setting out — equipment, passport. Huava; Barranca River; Huaura; Indian mounds; Supe, entertainment there; Patavilca; Huaracanga; Desolate road ap- proaching the apparently impassable moun- tain range of rocks; Chancallain. V In the Midst op the Andes .... 52 Precipitous road along the ravine, fall of the mule; Marca, the last habitable place this side the Andes; GHmpses of the ''vecuna" and the condor, flowers and grass soon ex- viii CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGB change for snow and ice, and the glorious view from " La Punta "; Difficulty of breath- ing at this great altitude. Arrival at Arra- quai at the foot of the Cordillera; At Huaraz, headquarters of General Bolivar; Interview, four days spent with him; Return to the sea- coast; Guide lost his way, danger of starva- tion, reUef at last; Safely at the ship. VI Various Services 86 Lieutenant in the Mediterranean on the Constellation and in command of the Shark; 1837; promoted commander, service on the Levant and at the U. S. Navy Yard, New York. 1844, captain of the sloop of war Vincennes; China. In command of the frigate St. Laiurence, North Sea cruise. Ex- tracts from the Journal; Letter from Count Platen of Sweden. VII Command of the Navy Yard, Washington, D.C 134 Promoted commodore; In command of the North Atlantic or Home Squadron, sailing frigate Potomac. VIII Transferred to the Wabash .... 156 Transferred to steam frigate Wabash, long cruise; Visit of President Pierce. IX The Capture of William Walker . 180 Orders from Navy Department, capture of the filibuster William Walker; Couplet at the theater — "As the burnt child dreads ' scalding, let filibusteros ' beware of Com- modore Paulding." Relieved of his com- mand; Nicaragua in gratitude presents him with a sword and an estate in her country; In retirement at his home during the remain- der of President Buchanan's administration. CONTENTS ix CHAPTER PAGE X Friendships 201 Josiah Tattnall, Siday Hawes, Churchill C. Cambreleng, Joseph Smith, U. S. N. XI The Sailor at Home 219 XII Early Days of the Civil War . 232 Service in Washington; Letters. De- struction of the Navy Yard at Norfolk. XIII Service at the Navy Yard, New York, 1861-63 255 In command of Navy Yard, New York. The Monitor or Ericsson, as she was first called; Riot in New York; Building of the "Cob Dock"; ''Peach Blossom," the home, destroyed by fire. Appendix 272 No. 1 Letter from H. Paulding to Boyce. No. 2 Letter from Boyce to Paulding. No. 3 Letter from J. K. Paulding to Hiram Paulding. No. 4 Sword presentation, Letter from Molina to Admiral Paulding and speech and letter of Admiral Paulding. No. 5 Letter regarding the burning of the old home. No. 6 Letter regarding the presentation of the Italian order of Sts. Mauritius and Lazarus. No. 7 Paulding's letter of acceptance of the order to Cantagalh, Charge d'affaires of Italy. No. 8 Letter written in dark days of the republic, and letters concerning the Monitor. No. 9 Letter from Hiram Barney. No. 10 Letter to a friend. No. 11 Address to the returned veterans at Huntington. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Hiram Paulding, Rear-Admiral, U.S.N., about 1863 Frontispiece From a photograph by Gurney, New York. opposite PAGE John Paulding, born 1758, died 1818 .... 3 From a miniature. Hiram Paulding, Lieutenant, U. S. N., about 1828 17 From a miniature (artiat unknown). Simon Bolivar, The Liberator 69 From an engraving by W. Holl after M. N. Bate, Lenox Library, New York. U. S. Frigate Columbus and U. S. Sloop of War Vincennes, being towed out of port by Jap- anese row-boats, 1844 86 From an old print. Siday Hawes, Coltishall, England, died 1863 . 126 Hiram Paulding, Commodore, U. S. N., about 1857 194 Hiram Paulding, Rear-Admiral, U.S.N., 1862 . 208 From a photograph by Brady. Enlarged and painted in oils by Charles Morse. I\ LIFE OF HIRAM PAULDING CHAPTER I HIRAM Paulding's ancestors The life of Hiram Paulding would be incomplete without a few words concerning his antecedents. The earliest record we have is that during the days when New York was still ^'Nieu Amsterdam '^ and when the dwellings in the town were so sparsely distributed that on Broadway at a short distance from the Bowling Green one passed orchards and gardens, one Joost Pauldinck, a cordwain er and bolter,^ came here from Holland bringing his wife Caterjna, and established himself in the city, where he remained for many years, being made a ''freeman of the city'' in 1683. He ob- tained with Colonel Heathcote and others a 1 As nearly as we can learn, the work of a cordwainer was that of adapting French and Spanish leather to the em- bellishment of walls and the covering of furniture. Bolting had to do with the sifting of flour — as we find from the "Bolter's act" which affected the flour merchants. 1 2 LIFE OF HIRAM PAULDING large grant of land near White Plains, and there is a record that for a time he Hved near Tarrytown and was deacon in the old church at Sleepy Hollow for a year. He was part owner in the privateer Wheel of Fortune, commanded by Abraham Van Lare. Business took him again to New York, but in 1703 and 1706 he sold out his interest there. His sons were Abraham and Joseph and two others, names unknown. Joseph, who was admitted freeman in 1735, married Susannah White, and in 1753 removed to Tarrytown. Previous to this he had leased a part of what was then known as the ''Commons," now City Hall Park, New York, and in 1741 established a brick-yard not far from the poor house erected there in 1736. Only two of his children grew to manhood, Pekt, or Peter, and John, born in 1758, who in 1775 was a private in a militia regiment. Peter was an ensign in the first militia regiment of this country. At the close of the war John was made major in Colonel Van Cortlandt's regiment of militia. This branch of the family are all buried at Sleepy Hollow and have tombstones in the church- yard there. John Paulding Born 1758 — Died 1818 From a miniature HIRAM PAULDING'S ANCESTORS 3 As John was the father of the naval officer, we follow him to his farm in Westchester County, where most of his life was spent.