Class ^ ^'6 2f ^ Copyright N" COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. HEROES OF THE NAVY IN AMERICA BY CHARLES MORRIS AUTHOR OF "HISTORICAL TALES," "HALF-HOURS WITH AMERICAN AUTHORS," ETC. PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 1907 kieRARY6fOON«llE3s| 1 Two Cortes RecetveH t AP^ ?3 ISO? I { pyrlatt .En%y , <CXc„ Ntt' Copyright, 1907 by J. B. Lippincott Company Published April, 1907 CONTENTS PAGE Jeremiah O'Brien and the bold Maine Haymakers. .. 9 Nicholas Biddle, Commander of the First American Frigate 17 John Paul Jones, America's most Famous Naval Hero 22 Richard Dale, Paul Jones's " Right Arm of Strength " 45 John Barry, the Irish Champion of the Delaware... 54 Benedict Arnold and his bold Defence of Lake Cham- plain 65 Samuel Tucker, the bold Mariner of Marblehead. ... 75 Joshua Barney and the Capture of the " General Monk" 84 Thomas Truxton, Victor in the Naval War with France 94 Edward Preble and the War with Tripoli 104 William Bainbridge, a Naval Hero of Three Wars. ... 113 Stephen Decatur and the Burning of the " Philadel- phia " 126 Johnston Blakeley and the Careers of the " Enter- prise " and the " Wasp " 142 Isaac Hull and how he Fought the "Old Ironsides" 153 Jacob Jones and his Victory in a Hatteras Gale 166 James Lawrence, who Died Saying, "Don't Give up THE Ship " 174 Charles Morris and the Cruise of the " Adams " 185 David Porter and the Noble Defence of the " Essex " 195 Oliver Hazard Perry, the Hero of Lake Erie 210 Thomas Macdonough and the Struggle for Lake Champlain 226 Samuel Chester Reid and the Defence of the " Gen- eral Armstrong " 239 CONTENTS—Continued. PAGE Charles Stewart and the Final Victory of " Old Ironsides " 248 Matthew Calbraith Perry and the Opening of Japan 261 David Glasgow Farragut, America's first Great Admi- ral 273 David Dixon Porter and the Opening of the Mississ- ippi 286 William Barker Gushing and the Sinking of the " Albemarle " 294 George Dewey and the Battle of Manila Bay 302 Richmond Pearson Hobson and the Closing of San- tiago Harbor 3^2 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE The " United States " Captures the " Macedonian " From the engraving by S. Seymour of the painting by T. Birch. Frontispiece. The " Bonhomme Richard", and the "Serapis"... 37 Commodore John Barry 55 From the portrait by Gilbert Stuart. The "Constellation" and the French Frigate "Vengeance " 102 From a drawing by George Gibbs. The Danger of the "Intrepid" iii From a drawing by George Gibbs. Decatur Boarding the Frigate "Philadelphia".. 130 From a drawing by George Gibbs. The " Constitution ". Escaping from a British Fleet 159 From a drawing by George Gibbs. Capture of the " Cyane " and the "Levant" by the " Constitution " 255 From the lithograph of the painting by T. Birch. The " Mississippi's " Cutter Forcing its Way through the Japanese Boats 266 From a lithograph by Heine & Brown published in 1855. Admiral Farragut Passing Fort Morgan Lashed " " to the Rigging of the Hartford 283 . From a drawing by George Gibbs. Commodore Dewey Annihilates the Spanish Fleet IN Manila Bay 308 From a drawing by Frank H. Schell. The "Merrimac" Entering the Channel of San- tiago Harbor 316 From a drawing by B. W. Clinedinst. HEROES OF THE NAVY ¥ ¥ ¥ JEREMIAH O'BRIEN AND THE HAY- MAKERS OF MACHIAS The history of naval events in the United States presents us, by way of preface, with two rather amus- ing incidents, in which the colonists showed their detestation of King George III. and his edicts in a contemptuous fashion. The first was that scene in Providence harbor in the early morning of June i8, 1772, when a party of men disguised as Indians attacked the armed schooner " Gaspe " with paving stones for weapons, captured it and burned it to the water's edge. The second was that memorable event on the night of December 17, 1773, when another party of men in Indian garb boarded the tea-ship " Dart- mouth " in Boston harbor and flung her unwelcome cargo overboard to make a tea-party for the fishes. These were not naval events in the true sense. It was landlubbers that did the work. And, for that matter, it was landlubbers still who were the actors in the first scene of actual naval warfare in our coun- try's history—the bold haymakers of Maine and Jerry O'Brien, their gallant leader. We must tell this story, for it is in its way a notable one, as being the first in which the genuine Yankee spirit was shown upon the " briny deep." The 19th of April, 1775, had passed and the " Min- 9 lo HEROES OF THE NAVY ute Men " of New England were swarming in wrath around Boston, to avenge the patriots shot down on Lexington green. The tidings of this event spread rapidly in some quarters, slowly in others, and it was not until twenty days later that rumors of the tale of Lexington crept up to the little town of Machias, on the far nortliern coast of Maine. No proud port was Machias. A seaside village rather, its people mainly haymakers, for it lay amid grassy meadows beside its bay. But there were woodsmen among its population who knew how to swing an axe and bring down the giants of the Maine forests ; and it had, no doubt, its share of men of the sea, for the ports of New England in those days were often busy scenes of ocean ventures. The people of Machias did not love King George. All the tall, straight trees in their woods were reserved to make masts for British ships, and no woodsman dared set axe to one of their giant pines for fear of seizure by the agents of the king. It was not to their liking, then, when, on a May morning in 1775, a small fleet sailed into their quiet harbor, consisting of the " Margaretta," a British armed schooner, and two sloops sent to get lumber for the fortifications at Boston. The news that war had broken out and that the " Minute Men " were in arms around Boston was like a torch to the patriot sons of Machias. They hastened to plant a liberty pole on the village green and were very ill-disposed to supply Captain Moore of the " Margaretta " with the lumber he demanded. As for his order to them to cut down their liberty pole and his threat to fire upon them if they did not, they heard these with defiance. HEROES OF THE NAVY ii There were bold souls in Machias, men more dis- posed to take than to give. Their fellows farther south were besieging Boston. Here lay a king's ship. Why not make a bold stroke for the cause by capturing it? A plot was quickly formed, a group of ardent patriots meeting in the woods near the town and laying plans for their daring enterprise. It was proposed to seize Captain Moore and his officers on Sunday when they were ashore attending the village church and then attack and capture their ship. Prominent among the conspirators were six stal- wart fellows named O'Brien, sons of an Irish resident of the town, and one of these in particular, a daring young colonist named Jeremiah, took a leading part in the events that followed. Messengers were sent to a neighboring settlement for help, every one was pledged to secrecy, and the plotters waited in excited anticipation for the coming Sunday. The looked-for day dawned. All seemed to go well, Captain Moore coming on shore to attend the village church, without a thought that men with arms occu- pied some of the seats, and that some bold fellows sat directly behind him, intent on his capture. But near by was an open window, the river was in plain view, and as the service went on he saw some men crossing it, muskets in hand. He knew the people to be in a dangerous mood. There were other suspicious movements on the shore. Evidently something was afoot. Quick to take alarm, he sprang from his seat, reached the window with a bound, leaped through, and was off for the beach almost before his foes in the church could leave their seats. His waiting boat quickly put him on board, and on : 12 HEROES OF THE NAVY reaching the deck he ordered some shots to be fired over the town to intimidate the people, numbers of whom were now hurrying to the water-side. Not hking the looks of things ashore, Captain Moore had the anchor lifted and sailed several miles down the bay, where he came to anchor again under a high bank. It was not a safe place of shelter, for the townsfolk had followed him along the shore, and one of them called from the bank, bidding him to surrender and threatening to fire if he refused. " " Fire and be hanged ! was his defiant reply, and some shots were exchanged, but the anchor was soon raised again and the " Margaretta " ran out into the bay, where she was beyond the reach of the village conspirators. Here he seemed safe and the project at an end, but there were men in Machias of daring spirit, and the next day told a different tale. There lay the sloops in the harbor. Where a schooner could go a sloop could follow, and on Monday morning four of the venturesome young men of the town, moved by a sudden impulse, boarded one of the lumber vessels and took possession. Their easy feat was followed by three hearty cheers, which roused the people and brought a crowd of them to the wharf where the sloops lay.