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| Chapter I. Troubles on the Eve of War. | [1] |
| A Fair Estimate of the Number of Americans Enslaved by the Press-Gangs—A Braggart British Captain’s Work at Sandy Hook—A Search for the Guerrière—Attack on the British Ship Little Belt—A Feature of the Battle that was Overlooked—When the Constitution Showed her Teeth the British Ship Brailed its Spanker and Headed for Safer Waters—An Eager Yankee Sailor who Couldn’t Wait for an Order to Fire—War Unavoidable. |
| Chapter II. The Outlook Was, at First, not Pleasing | [20] |
| The Silly Cry of “On to Canada!”—The Naval Forces of the United States Compared with Those of Great Britain—The Foresight and Quick Work of Captain Rodgers in Getting a Squadron to Sea—But he Missed the Jamaica Fleet he was After, and when he Fell in with a British Frigate, the Results of the Affair were Lamentable. |
| Chapter III. The First Exhibit of Yankee Mettle | [33] |
| Captain David Porter’s Ideas about Training Seamen—The Guns of the Essex—Taking a Transport out of a Convoy at Night—A British Frigate Captain who was Called a Coward by his Countrymen—Captain Laugharne’s Mistake—A Fight that began with Cheers and ended in Dismay for which there was Good Cause—Work that was Done by Yankee Gunners in Eight Minutes—When Farragut Saved the Ship—An Attack on a Fifty-gun Ship Planned. |
| Chapter IV. A Race for the Life of a Nation | [51] |
| 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. |
| Chapter V. The Constitution and the Guerrière | [71] |
| The British Captain could scarcely Believe that a Yankee would be Bold Enough to Attack him, and was Sure of Victory in Less than an Hour, but when the Yankees had been Firing at the Guerrière for Thirty Minutes she was a Dismantled Hulk, Rapidly Sinking out of Sight—“The Sea never Rolled over a Vessel whose Fate so Startled the World”—Sundry Admissions her Loss Extorted from the Enemy—A Comparison of the Ships. |
| Chapter VI. Fought in a Hatteras Gale | [104] |
| When the Second Yankee Wasp Fell in with the British Frolic—They Tumbled about in the Cross Sea in a Way that Destroyed the British “Aim,” but the Yankees Watched the Roll of their Ship, and when they were Done they had Killed and Wounded Nine-tenths of the Enemy’s Crew and Wrecked his Vessel—the Frolic was a Larger Ship, carried more Guns, and had all the Men she could Use, “Fine, Able-bodied Seamen,” sure enough! |
| Chapter VII. Brought the Macedonian into Port | [120] |
| Story of the Second Frigate Duel of the War of 1812—The Macedonian was a new Ship, and had been Built with a full Knowledge of the Yankee Frigates—Whipped, but not Destroyed—Estimating a Crew’s Skill by the Number of Shots that Hit—Suppose the Armaments of the Ships had been Reversed—Impressed Americans Killed when Forced to Fight against their own Flag—“The Noblest Sight in Natur’”—A First-rate Frigate, as a Prize, Brought Home by Brave Decatur—Enthusiastic Celebrations of the Victory throughout the United States. |
| Chapter VIII. When the Constitution Sank the Java | [152] |
| The British had Plenty of Pluck, and Lambert was a skilful Seaman; but his Gunners had not Learned to Shoot, while the Yankees were able Marksmen—The Java was Ruined beyond Repair—Proof that the British Published Garbled Reports of Battles with the Americans—Though Twice Wounded, Bainbridge Remained on Deck—Wide Difference in Losses—Story of a Midshipman—When Bainbridge was a Merchant Captain. |
| Chapter IX. Whipped in Fourteen Minutes | [178] |
| The Remarkable Battle between the Yankee Hornet and the British Peacock—The British Ship was so Pretty she was Known as “The Yacht,” but her Gunners could not Hit the Broadside of the Hornet when the Ships were in Contact—As her Flag came Down a Signal of Distress went Up, for she was Sinking—The Efforts of two Crews could not Save her—“A Vessel Moored for the Purpose of Experiment could not have been sunk Sooner”—Infamous Treatment of American Seamen Repaid by the Golden Rule—Captain Greene, of the Bonne Citoyenne, did not dare Meet the Hornet. |
| Chapter X. Loss of Lawrence and the Chesapeake | [193] |
| The Yankees had Won so Often that they were Underestimating the Enemy and were Over-confident in Themselves—A Mixed Crew, Newly Shipped, Untrained and Mutinous, Ten Per Cent. of them being British—The Result was Natural and Inevitable—Chivalry a Plenty; Common-sense Wanting—The “Shannons” were Trained like Yankees—A Fierce Conflict—Significance of the Joy of the British over the Shannon’s Victory. |
| Chapter XI. The Privateers of 1812 | [233] |
| Property Afloat as a Pledge of Peace—Foreign Aggression had Taught the Americans how to Build and Sail swift Cruisers—Odd Names—The First Prizes—Commodore Joshua Barney and the Rossie—A Famous Cruise—Some Rich Prizes were Captured, but only a Few of the Privateers made Money—Beat off a War-ship that Threw Six Times her Weight of Metal—A Battle in Sight of La Guayra. |
| Chapter XII. Early Work on the Great Lakes | [259] |
| It was a beautiful Region unmarred by the Hand of Man in those Days—The Long Trail to Oswego—The First Yankee War-ship on Fresh Water—The British Get Ahead of us on Lake Ontario—Good Work of “The Old Sow” at Sackett’s Harbor—A Dash into Kingston Harbor—The Story of the Brilliant Work by which Jesse D. Elliott Won a Sword and the Admiration of the Nation. |
| Chapter XIII. The Battle on Lake Erie | [280] |
| Building War-ships and Gun-boats in the Wilderness—Lifting the Vessels over a Sand-bar—Fortunately the British Commander was Fond of Public Entertainments—The two Squadrons and their Crews Compared—The Advantage of a Concentrated Force was with the British—On the Way to Meet the Enemy—“To Windward or to Leeward they shall Fight To-day”—The Anglo-Saxon Cheer—The Brunt of the Fight Borne by the Flag-ship—A Frightful Slaughter there in Consequence—When Perry Worked the Guns with his own Hands, and even the Wounded Crawled up the Hatch to Lend a Hand at the Side-tackles—An Able First Lieutenant—Wounded Exposed to the Fire when under the Surgeon’s Care—The Last Gun Disabled—Shifting the Flag to the Niagara—Cheers that were Heard above the Roar of Cannon—When the Wounded of the Lawrence cried “Sink the Ship!”—Driving the Niagara through the British Squadron—The White Handkerchief Fluttering from a Boarding-pike—“We have Met the Enemy, and they are Ours.” |
| Chapter XIV. Incidents of the Battle on Lake Erie | [326] |
| Two of the Enemy’s Vessels that Tried to get Away—A Yankee Sailor’s Reason for Wanting one more Shot—When Perry Returned to the Lawrence—The Dead and Wounded—Effect of the Victory on the People—Honors to the Victors—The Case of Lieutenant Elliott—Ultimate Fate of some of the Ships. |
| Chapter XV. the War on Lake Ontario | [339] |
| The Capture of York (Toronto) by the Americans—A Victory at the Mouth of the Niagara River—British Account of the Attack on Sackett’s Harbor—Tales of the Prudence of Sir James Yeo and Commodore Chauncey—The Americans did somewhat Better than the British, but Missed a great Opportunity—Small Affairs on Lake Champlain during the Summer of 1813. |
| Chapter XVI. Loss of the Little Sloop Argus | [356] |
| She was Captured by the Pelican, a Vessel that was of slightly superior Force—A Clean Victory for the British, but one that in no Way Disheartens the Fiercest of the American Patriots—Ill-luck of “the Waggon.” |
| Chapter XVII. the Luck of a Yankee Cruiser | [372] |
| There was never a more fortunate Vessel than the Clipper-schooner Enterprise—As originally Designed she was the Swiftest and Best All-around Naval Ship of her Class Afloat—Men she made Famous in the West Indies—A Glorious Career in the War with the Mediterranean Pirates—Even when the Wisdom of the Navy Department Changed her to a Brig and Overloaded her with Guns so that she “Couldn’t Get Out of her own Way,” her Luck did not Fail her—Her Fight with the Boxer—Even a good Frigate could not Catch her. |
| Chapter XVIII. Gun-boats not Wholly Worthless | [388] |
| Even in the worst View of them they are Worth Consideration—The Best of them Described—The Hopes of those who, like Jefferson, Believed in them—Reasons for their General Worthlessness that should have been Manifest before they were Built—Promoted Drunkenness and Debauchery—They Protected Yankee Commerce in Long Island Sound—A Fight with a Squadron in Chesapeake Bay—When the Braggart Captain Pechell Met the Yankees—Sailing-master Sheed’s Brave Defence of “No. 121”—Commodore Barney in the Patuxent River—When Sailing-master Travis of the Surveyor made a good Fight—A Wounded Yankee Midshipman Murdered—Men who made Fame in Shoal Water below Charleston. |