Before continuing the story of the frigates, the fate of the little “Wasp” needs to be told. Her career was brief. The “Wasp,” a sloop-of-war rated at eighteen guns, was one of President Jefferson’s additions to the navy to supply the loss of the “Philadelphia;” she was ship-rigged, and armed with two long 12-pounders and sixteen 32-pound carronades. She carried a crew of one hundred and thirty-seven men, commanded by Captain Jacob Jones, a native of Delaware, lieutenant in the “Philadelphia” when lost in the war with Tripoli. The “Wasp” was attached to Rodgers’s squadron, and received orders from the commodore to join him at sea. She sailed from the Delaware October 13, and when about six hundred miles east of Norfolk, October 17, she fell in with the British 18-gun brig “Frolic,” convoying fourteen merchantmen to England. The two vessels were equal in force, for the “Frolic’s” broadside threw a weight of two hundred and seventy-four pounds, while that of the “Wasp” threw some few pounds less; the “Frolic” measured, by British report,[336] one hundred feet in length, the “Wasp” one hundred and six; their breadth on deck was the same; and although the “Wasp’s” crew exceeded that of her enemy, being one hundred and thirty-five men against one hundred and ten, the British vessel had all the men she needed, and suffered little from this inferiority. The action began at half-past eleven in the morning, the two sloops running parallel, about sixty yards apart, in a very heavy sea, which caused both to pitch and roll so that marksmanship had the most decisive share in victory. The muzzles of the guns went under water, and clouds of spray dashed over the crews, while the two vessels ran side by side for the first fifteen minutes. The British fire cut the “Wasp’s” rigging, while the American guns played havoc with the “Frolic’s” hull and lower masts. The vessels approached each other so closely that the rammers of the guns struck the enemy’s side, and at last they fell foul,—the “Wasp” almost squarely across the “Frolic’s” bow. In the heavy sea boarding was difficult; but as soon as the “Wasp’s” crew could clamber down the “Frolic’s” bowsprit, they found on the deck the British captain and lieutenant, both severely wounded, and one brave sailor at the wheel. Not twenty of the British crew were left unhurt, and these had gone below to escape the American musketry. The “Wasp” had only ten men killed and wounded. The battle lasted forty-three minutes.
If the American people had acquired a taste for blood, the battle of the “Wasp” and “Frolic” gratified it, for the British sloop was desperately defended, and the battle, won by the better marksmanship of the Americans, was unusually bloody. Captain Jones lost the full satisfaction of his victory, for a few hours afterward the “Poictiers,” a British seventy-four, came upon the two disabled combatants and carried both into Bermuda; but the American people would have been glad to part with their whole navy on such terms, and the fight between the “Wasp” and the “Frolic” roused popular enthusiasm to a point where no honors seemed to satisfy their gratitude to Captain Jones and his crew.
The “Wasp’s” brilliant career closed within a week from the day she left the Delaware. A week afterward another of these ship-duels occurred, which made a still deeper impression. Rodgers and Decatur sailed from Boston October 8, with the “President,” the “United States,” “Congress,” and “Argus,” leaving the “Constitution,” “Chesapeake,” and “Hornet” in port. Rodgers in the “President,” with the “Congress,” cruised far and wide, but could find no enemy to fight, and after making prize of a few merchantmen returned to Boston, December 31. The “Argus” also made some valuable prizes, but was chased by a British squadron, and only by excellent management escaped capture, returning Jan. 3, 1813, to New York. Decatur in the “United States,” separating from the squadron October 12, sailed eastward to the neighborhood of the Azores, until, October 25, he sighted a sail to windward. The stranger made chase. The wind was fresh from south-southeast, with a heavy sea. Decatur stood toward his enemy, who presently came about, abreast of the “United States” but beyond gunshot, and both ships being then on the same tack approached each other until the action began at long range. The British ship was the 38-gun frigate “Macedonian” commanded by Captain Carden, and about the same force as the “Guerriere.” At first the “United States” used only her long 24-pounders, of which she carried fifteen on her broadside, while the “Macedonian” worked a broadside of fourteen long 18-pounders. So unequal a contest could not continue. Not only was the American metal heavier, but the American fire was quicker and better directed than that of the Englishman; so that Carden, after a few minutes of this experience, bore down to close. His manœuvre made matters worse. The carronades of the “United States” came into play; the “Macedonian’s” mizzen-mast fell, her fore and main top-mast were shot away, and her main-yard; almost all her rigging was cut to pieces, and most of the guns on her engaged side were dismounted. She dropped gradually to leeward, and Decatur, tacking and coming up under his enemy’s stern, hailed, and received her surrender.
The British ship had no right to expect a victory, for the disparity of force was even greater than between the “Constitution” and “Guerriere;” but in this case the British court-martial subsequently censured Captain Carden for mistakes. The battle lasted longer than that with the “Guerriere,” and Decatur apologized for the extra hour because the sea was high and his enemy had the weather-gauge and kept at a distance; but the apology was not needed. Decatur proved his skill by sparing his ship and crew. His own loss was eleven men killed and wounded; the “Macedonian’s” loss was nine times as great. The “United States” suffered little in her hull, and her spars and rigging suffered no greater injury than could be quickly repaired; while the “Macedonian” received a hundred shot in her hull, and aloft nothing remained standing but her fore and main masts and her fore-yard.
Decatur saved the “Macedonian,” and brought her back to New London,—the only British frigate ever brought as a prize into an American port. The two ships arrived December 4, and from New London the “Macedonian” was taken to New York and received in formal triumph. Captain Jones of the “Wasp” took command of her in reward for his capture of the “Frolic.”
Before the year closed, the “Constitution” had time for another cruise. Hull at his own request received command of the Navy Yard at Charlestown, and also took charge of the naval defences in New York harbor, but did not again serve at sea during the war. The “Constitution” was given to Captain Bainbridge, one of the oldest officers in the service. A native of New Jersey, Bainbridge commanded the “Philadelphia” when lost in the Tripolitan war, and was held for eighteen months a prisoner in Tripoli. In 1812, when he took command of the “Constitution,” though a year older than Hull and five years older than Decatur, he had not yet reached his fortieth year, while Rodgers, born in 1771, had but lately passed it. The difference in age between these four naval officers and the four chief generals—Dearborn, Wilkinson, Wade Hampton, and William Hull—was surprising; for the average age of the naval commanders amounted barely to thirty-seven years, while that of the four generals reached fifty-eight. This difference alone accounted for much of the difference in their fortune, and perhaps political influence accounted for the rest.
Bainbridge showed no inferiority to the other officers of the service, and no one grumbled at the retirement of Hull. The “Constitution” sailed from Boston, October 25, with the “Hornet.” The “Essex,” then in the Delaware, was ordered to join the squadron at certain specified ports in the south Atlantic, and sailed October 28, expecting a very long cruise. December 13 Bainbridge arrived at San Salvador, on the coast of Brazil, where he left the “Hornet” to blockade the “Bonne Citoyenne,” a British 18-gun sloop-of-war bound to England with specie. Cruising southward, within sight of the Brazilian coast, in latitude 13° 6´ south, Bainbridge sighted the British frigate “Java,” a ship of the same tonnage as the “Guerriere,” throwing a slightly heavier broadside and carrying a large crew of four hundred and twenty-six men, if the American account was correct. Bainbridge tacked and made sail off shore, to draw the stranger away from a neutral coast; the British frigate followed him, until at half-past one o’clock in the afternoon Bainbridge shortened sail, tacked again, and stood for his enemy. Soon after two o’clock the action began, the two ships being on the same tack, the “Java” to windward and the better sailer, and both fighting their long-range guns. The British frigate insisted upon keeping at a distance, obliging Bainbridge after half an hour to risk the danger of being raked; and at twenty minutes before three o’clock the “Constitution” closed within pistol-shot.[337] At ten minutes before three the ships were foul, the “Java’s” jibboom in the “Constitution’s” mizzen rigging; and from that point the battle became slaughter. In fifteen minutes the “Java’s” bowsprit, fore-mast, and main top-mast were cut away, and a few minutes after four o’clock she ceased firing. Her captain, Lambert, was mortally wounded; the first lieutenant was wounded; forty-eight of her officers and crew were dead or dying; one hundred and two were wounded; little more than a hulk filled with wreck and with dead or wounded men floated on the water.
The “Constitution” had but twelve men killed and twenty-two wounded, and repaired damages in an hour. Owing perhaps to the death of Captain Lambert the reports of the battle were more contradictory than usual, but no one disputed that although the “Java” was to windward and outsailed the American frigate, and although her broadside counted as nearly nine against her enemy’s ten,—for the “Constitution” on this cruise carried two guns less than in her fight with the “Guerriere,”—yet the “Java” inflicted no more damage than she ought to have done had she been only one fourth the size of the American frigate, although she was defended more desperately than either the “Guerriere” or the “Macedonian.”
With this battle the year ended. Bainbridge was obliged to blow up his prize, and after landing and paroling his prisoners at San Salvador sailed for Boston, where he arrived in safety, February 27, 1813. During the six months the war had lasted the little United States navy captured three British frigates, besides the 20-gun “Alert” and the 18-gun “Frolic;” privateers by scores had ravaged British commerce, while the immense British force on the ocean had succeeded only in capturing the little “Nautilus,” the 12-gun brig “Vixen,” and the “Wasp.” The commerce of America had indeed suffered almost total destruction; but the dispute was to be decided not so much by the loss which England could inflict upon America, as by that which America could inflict upon England.