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The Book of the Navy; THE BOOK OF THE NAVY; COMPRISING A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MARINE; AND PARTICULAR ACCOUNTS OF ALL THE MOST CELEBRATED NAVAL BATTLES, FROM THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE TO THE PRESENT TIME. COMPILED FROM THE BEST AUTHORITIES, BY JOHN FROST, A. M. PROFESSOR OF BELLES LETTRES, IN THE HIGH SCHOOL OF PHILADELPHIA. WITH AN APPENDIX. SPLENDIDLY EMBELLISHED WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS, BY WILLIAM CROOME. AND PORTRAITS ON STEEL OF DISTINGUISHED NAVAL COMMANDERS. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON & CO., 200 BROADWAY. PHILADELPHIA: GEORGE S. APPLETON, 148 CHESTNUT ST. MDCCCXLILI. Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1842, by D. APPLETON & CO. in the office of the clerk of the district court of the United States in and for the southern district of New York. «; THE HONOURABLE ABEL P. UPSHUR, SECRETARY OP THE NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES, THIS VOLUME IS, WITH PERMISSION, l&especUulla KnsctffacU BY THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. It has been well remarked, that " in a nation's career, a glorious past is the best guarantee of a glo- rious future." The preservation of a high-toned national spirit has been an object of especial care with every great and commanding empire, and this object can only be attained by cherishing the fame of the heroes and statesmen who have defended and governed their country, in times of peril and emer- gency. By giving the due meed of praise for great actions, — by recording the history of every brilliant public service, and placing it before the people in a popular and attractive form, — the spirit of noble emulation is kept alive ; and the arm of youthful patriotism is nerved for fresh encounters with toil and danger for the public weal. Convinced of this truth, the author of the follow- ing work has attempted to do justice to the valor and patriotism of the naval heroes of the Republic, by presenting a simple and intelligible narrative of their noble achievements. Of the accomplishment of this task, the people must judge for themselves. VI PREFACE. When war was destroying our commerce and desolating our shores, the Navy was the cherished favorite of the people: for it was felt to be the right arm of national defence. Ten years of peace and prosperity caused the deeds of our gallant tars to be half forgotten ; and fifteen years of political strife succeeding thereto, appear to have thrown them completely in the background. Recently, threats of another war have made men begin to look around them for the means of resenting insult and repelling invasion ; and the Navy is once more rising in popular favor. If the following record of the " glorious past" of our Navy can in any measure aid in speeding it onward to a " glorious future" the author will be amply rewarded for the labor it has cost him. Philadelphia, July, 1842. The Naval Songs in the appendix have heen inserted chiefly with a view to exhibit the state of national feeling with regard to ihe Navy, in the time of the last war. The poetry, to be sure, is not always of the highest order ; but the sentiment is patriotic and fervent. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Sketch of the Early History of the Navy page 9 CHAPTER II. Commencement of the Revolutionary War 15 CHAPTER III. Continuation of the Revolutionary War. Naval Campaign of 1776 continued „- CHAPTER IV. Revolutionary War continued. Naval Campaigns of 1777 and 1778 36 CHAPTER V. Revolutionary War continued. Naval Campaigns of 1778 and 1779 46 CHAPTER VI. Revolutionary War continued. Naval Campaign of 1780 and 1781 63 CHAPTER VII. Resuscitation of the Navy. Difficulties with the Barbary Powers . 71 CHAPTER VIII. French War of 1798 „Q • 7o CHAPTER IX. War with Tripoli •••••• •••••• Jx CHAPTER X. Affairs of the Chesapeake and Little Belt 114 CHAPTER XI. Mr. Jefferson's Gun-boat System. Commencement ofthe War of 1812 120 CHAPTER XII. Cruise of the Essex , _., • lo5s (7) viii CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. Naval Campaign of 1813 continued 176 CHAPTER XIV. Cruise and Capture of the Argus. Capture of the Boxer 188 CHAPTER XV. Perry's Victory on Lake Erie 194 CHAPTER XVI. Commencement of the Naval Campaign of 1814. Capture of the Epervier and Reindeer 221 CHAPTER XVII. M'Donough's Victory on Lake Champlain 230 CHAPTER XVIII. Defeat of the Endymion. Capture of the President Frigate 238 CHAPTER XIX. Capture of the Penguin 244 CHAPTER XX. Services of Captain Stewart, in the Frigate Constitution—Capture of the Cyane and Levant 251 CHAPTER XXI. War with Algiers, 1815 256 CHAPTER XXII. Recent History and Present Condition of the Navy 270 APPENDIX. Naval Anecdotes 277 Naval and Patriotic Songs 301 Chronological Table 329 CHAPTER I. Sketch of the Early History of the Navy. HERE is no species of historical wri- ting more generally interesting, we had almost said, more certainly use- ful, than that which records the heroic deeds, and commemorates the exalted virtues of that hardy and chivalrous race of men " whose home is on the fe deep." t The intense interest excited by the yj: development of traits of individual character, and the display of extra- ordinary personal qualities, is, in this case, greatly heightened by the mag- nificent theatre of action, as well as the uncommon nature of the scenes exhibited. To the lands- man, the ocean, with all its wonders, is a new and unex- plored world, and the men who inhabit it — with their B (3) 10 THE BOOK OF THE NAVY. peculiar language, and singular habits and manners — a strange race, the subjects of never-ending speculation and wonder. When to this is added, that the ocean is the com- mon highway of nations — the great mart where, in times of peace, men of all countries and languages, and of every va- riety of manners, habits and opinions, meet together in har- monious intercourse—and where, in war, the fiercest passions and most exalted virtues of our nature are alternately dis- played — it is not at all to be wondejed at, that naval histories should, at all times, be found to contain deeply in- teresting portions of the annals of mankind. It is nowise surprising that the love of the marvellous, so deeply im- planted in the bosom of man, should find a gratification in contemplating the character of the gallant tar, and should view it, with all its hardihood, indifference to danger, and generosity, as scarcely inferior to any that is produced in the best constructed tales of poetry or romance. We should suppose, reasoning d, priori, that the Ameri- cans, descended from the greatest commercial nation in the world—bringing with them all the propensities of a com- mercial people, and extensively engaged themselves, almost from the first moment of their settlement, in commercial pursuits—would, in imitation of the mother country, as well as from obvious considerations of policy, have seized the earliest opportunity of laying the foundation of a navy, to which they had been accustomed to look, as the only safeguard of commerce, and for the creation of which their country afforded such admirable materials. Why this was not the case, can only be accounted for from the pervading sense of the immense power of the British navy, against the permanent supremacy of which, it was considered altogether hopeless to struggle. Though the framers of the Constitu- tion confided to the Federal Government the power " to pro- vide and maintain a navy," yet there is nothing in the his- tory of the times to induce a belief, that it was in their con- templation, that measures should be immediately taken to create one—certain it is that no such measures were adopted ; ORIGIN OF THE NAVY. 11 or even proposed ; and, on a careful examination, we think it will be found, that until the year 1811, the policy of lay- ing the deep and broad foundation of such an establishment was never decisively adopted by the United States. In taking a retrospect of the history of the country during the Revolution, and for a considerable time afterwards, we are forcibly struck by the fact, that no attempt was made to call forth its naval resources, except for temporary purposes and then only under the pressure of great emergencies. As the most pressing exigencies could alone rouse the country to the employment of naval means, so when these passed away, our vessels of war were suffered to rot, and we re- lapsed into a state of total indifference on the subject. In fact, if the people of the United States had actually set out with the belief that a navy was in all respects useless, we aver that just such a course must have been, as actually was pursued, in relation to " this right arm of the national defence." It will be found on examination, that for a great many years, nothing was ever voluntarily done for the navy. That the navy has, in fact, done every thing for itself, and may almost be said " to have been its own architect." The first measure adopted during the war of the Revolution, for awakening the naval spirit of the country, was the employ- ment of two small vessels, one of 10 and the other of 14 guns, for the purpose of intercepting certain transports la- den with munitions of war, and bound either to Canada or Boston. For the purpose of carrying this object into effect, a committee of three members of Congress, consisting of Messrs. Dean, Langdon, and Gadsden, were appointed in October, 1775. To this committee, subsequently enlarged to thirteen, was committed the general superintendence and direction of the navy.
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