CHAPTER XII.
During the month of April, 1813, four American frigates lay in Boston Harbor fitting for sea. The “President” and “Congress” returned to that port Dec. 31, 1812. The “Constitution,” after her battle with the “Java,” arrived at Boston February 27, 1813. The “Chesapeake” entered in safety April 9, after an unprofitable cruise of four months. The presence of these four frigates at Boston offered a chance for great distinction to the British officer stationed off the port, and one of the best captains in the service was there to seize it. In order to tempt the American frigates to come out boldly, only two British frigates, the “Shannon” and “Tenedos,” remained off the harbor. They were commanded by Captain P. B. V. Broke of the “Shannon.” Broke expected Rodgers with his ships, the “President” and “Congress,” to seize the opportunity for a battle with two ships of no greater force than the “Shannon” and “Tenedos;” but either Rodgers did not understand the challenge or did not trust it, or took a different view of his duties, for he went to sea on the night of April 30, leaving Broke greatly chagrined and inclined to be somewhat indignant with him for escaping.[400]
After May 1, Broke on the watch outside, as he ran in toward Nahant, could see the masts of only the “Constitution” and “Chesapeake” at the Charlestown navy-yard, and his anxiety became the greater as he noticed that the “Chesapeake” was apparently ready for sea.[401] May 25 Broke sent away his consort, the “Tenedos,” to cruise from Cape Sable southward, ostensibly because the two frigates cruising separately would have a better chance of intercepting the “Chesapeake” than if they kept together.[402] His stronger reason was to leave a fair field for the “Chesapeake” and “Shannon,” as he had before kept all force at a distance except the “Shannon” and “Tenedos” in order to tempt Rodgers to fight.[403] That there might be no second misunderstanding, he sent several messages to Captain Lawrence commanding the “Chesapeake,” inviting a combat.
Nothing showed so clearly that at least one object of the war had been gained by the Americans as the habit adopted by both navies in 1813 of challenging ship-duels. War took an unusual character when officers like Hardy and Broke countenanced such a practice, discussing and arranging duels between matched ships, on terms which implied that England admitted half-a-dozen American frigates to be equal in value to the whole British navy. The loss of a British frigate mattered little to a government which had more than a hundred such frigates actually at sea, not to speak of heavier ships; but the loss of the “Chesapeake” was equivalent to destroying nearly one fourth of the disposable American navy. Already the “Constellation” was imprisoned at Norfolk; the “United States” and “Macedonian” were blockaded for the war; the “Congress” though at sea was unseaworthy and never cruised again; the “Adams” was shut in the Potomac; the “Essex” was in the Pacific. The United States Navy consisted, for active service on the Atlantic, of only the “President,” 44, at sea; the “Constitution,” 44, replacing her masts at the Charlestown navy-yard; the “Chesapeake,” 38, ready for sea; and a few sloops-of-war. Under such circumstances, British officers who like Broke considered every American frigate bound to offer them equal terms in a duel, seemed to admit that the American service had acquired the credit it claimed.
The first duty of a British officer was to take risks; the first duty of an American officer was to avoid them, and to fight only at his own time, on his own terms. Rodgers properly declined to seek a battle with Broke’s ships. Captain James Lawrence of the “Chesapeake” was less cautious, for his experience in the war led him to think worse of the British navy than it deserved. Lawrence commanded the “Hornet” in Bainbridge’s squadron at the time of the “Java’s” capture. Bainbridge and Lawrence blockaded the “Bonne Citoyenne,” a twenty-gun sloop-of-war at San Salvador in Brazil. Lawrence sent a message to the captain of the “Bonne Citoyenne” inviting him to come out and meet the “Hornet.” The British captain declined, doubtless for proper reasons; but the reason he gave seemed to Lawrence insufficient, for it was merely that Commodore Bainbridge, in spite of his pledged word, might interfere.[404] Bainbridge sailed about Christmas, and was absent till January 3, capturing the “Java” in the interval. January 6 he sailed for Boston, leaving Lawrence in the “Hornet” still blockading the “Bonne Citoyenne,” which showed no more disposition to fight the “Hornet” in Bainbridge’s absence than before, although the British captain’s letter had said that “nothing could give me greater satisfaction than complying with the wishes of Captain Lawrence” if the single alleged objection were removed.
The conduct of the “Bonne Citoyenne”—a vessel at least the equal of the “Hornet”[405]—gave Lawrence a low opinion of the British service, and his respect was not increased by his next experience. A British seventy-four arrived at San Salvador, January 24, and obliged the “Hornet” to abandon the “Bonne Citoyenne.” During the next month the little vessel cruised northward along the Brazil coast, making a few prizes, until February 24 off the mouth of Demerara River, at half-past three o’clock in the afternoon, Captain Lawrence discovered a sail approaching him. Within the bar at the mouth of the river, seven or eight miles distant, he saw another vessel at anchor. Both were British sloops-of-war. The one at anchor was the “Espiègle,” carrying eighteen thirty-two-pound carronades. The other, approaching on the “Hornet’s” weather-quarter, was the “Peacock,” carrying eighteen twenty-four-pound carronades, two long-sixes, and one or two lighter pieces.
The “Peacock,” according to British report,[406] had long been “the admiration of her numerous visitors,” and was remarkable for the elegance of her fittings; but in size she was inferior to the “Hornet.” Lawrence reported his ship to be four feet the longer, but the British believed the “Hornet” to measure one hundred and twelve feet in length, while the “Peacock” measured one hundred.[407] Their breadth was the same. The “Hornet” carried eighteen thirty-two-pounders, while the British captain, thinking his sloop too light for thirty-twos, had exchanged them for twenty-fours, and carried only sixteen. The American crew numbered one hundred and thirty-five men fit for duty; the British numbered one hundred and twenty-two men and boys.
At ten minutes past five, Lawrence tacked and stood for the brig. Fifteen minutes afterward the two vessels, sailing in opposite directions, passed each other and exchanged broadsides within a stone’s-throw. The British fire, even at point-blank range of forty or fifty feet, did no harm, while the “Hornet’s” broadside must have decided the battle; for although both vessels instantly wore, and Lawrence at thirty-five minutes past five ran his enemy close aboard, the “Peacock” almost immediately struck at thirty-nine minutes past five in a sinking condition, and actually went down immediately afterward, carrying with her nine of the “Peacock’s” wounded and three of the “Hornet’s” crew.
The ease of this victory was beyond proportion to the odds. The British captain and four men were killed outright, thirty-three officers and men were wounded, and the brig was sunk in an action of less than fifteen minutes; while the “Hornet” lost one man killed and two wounded, all aloft, and not a shot penetrated her hull. If the facility of this triumph satisfied Lawrence of his easy superiority in battle, the conduct of the “Espiègle” convinced him that the British service was worse than incompetent. Lawrence, expecting every moment to see the “Espiègle” get under weigh, made great exertions to put his ship in readiness for a new battle, but to his astonishment the British brig took no notice of the action.[408] Subsequent investigation showed that the “Espiègle” knew nothing of the battle until the next day; but Lawrence, assuming that the British captain must have seen or heard, or at least ought to have suspected what was happening, conceived that cowardice was a trait of the British navy.
When Lawrence reached New York he became famous for his victory, and received at once promotion. The “Hornet,” given to Captain Biddle, was attached to Decatur’s squadron and blockaded at New London, while Lawrence received command of the “Chesapeake.” Lawrence was then thirty-two years old; he was born in New Jersey in 1781, entered the navy in 1798, and served in the war with Tripoli. He was first lieutenant on the “Constitution,” and passed to the grade of commander in 1810, commanding successively the “Vixen,” the “Wasp,” the “Argus,” and the “Hornet.” His appointment to the “Chesapeake” was an accident, owing to the ill health of Captain Evans, who commanded her on her recent cruise. The “Chesapeake’s” reputation for ill luck clung to her so persistently that neither officers nor men cared greatly to sail in her, and Lawrence would have preferred to remain in the “Hornet;”[409] but his instructions were positive, and he took command of the “Chesapeake” about the middle of May. Most of the officers and crew were new. The old crew on reaching port, April 9, had been discharged, and left the ship, dissatisfied with their share of prize-money, and preferring to try the privateer service. The new crew was unequal in quality and required training; they neither knew their officers nor each other.