After the British frigate struck, the Constitution wore, and reefed topsails. One of the only two remaining boats out of eight was then hoisted out, and Lieutenant Parker of the Constitution was sent to take possession of the frigate. She proved to be His Britannic Majesty’s frigate Java, rating 38 but carrying 49 guns. She was manned by upwards of four hundred men, and was commanded by Captain Lambert, a very distinguished naval officer. He was mortally wounded. The action continued, from the time the firing commenced till the time it ceased, one hour and fifty-five minutes.
The Java was on fire and leaking; nothing could have saved her or the souls on board if the Constitution had been disabled.
The Constitution had 9 men killed and 25 wounded. The Java had 60 killed and 101 certainly wounded; but by a letter written on board the Constitution by one of the officers of the Java, and accidentally found, it is evident her loss must have been much greater. The unknown writer states it to have been 60 killed and 170 wounded.
The Java had her own full complement of men, and upwards of one hundred supernumeraries for British ships in the East Indies. Her force in number of men, at the commencement of the action, was probably much greater than the officers of the Constitution were enabled to ascertain. Her officers were extremely cautious in giving out the number of her crew, but by her quarter bill she had one man more stationed at each gun than the Constitution. The Java was an important ship. She had been fitted out in the most complete manner to carry Lieutenant-General Hislop and staff to Bombay, of which place he had been appointed governor, and several naval officers for different vessels in the East Indies. She had despatches for St. Helena, the Cape of Good Hope, and for every British establishment in the Indian and Chinese seas. She had in her hold copper for a 74 and for two brigs, building at Bombay.
The great distance from the United States and the disabled state of the Java precluded any attempt being made to bring her to a home port. The commodore therefore determined to burn her; she was set on fire, and the Constitution sailed away. Shortly after dark the British ship blew up. The prisoners were all landed at San Salvador and paroled, and, sad to tell, the commander of the Java, Captain Lambert, died soon after he was put on shore. The British officers paroled were: 1 lieutenant-general, 1 major, and 1 captain of land service; in the naval service, 1 post-captain, 1 master and commander, 5 lieutenants, 3 lieutenants of marines, 1 surgeon, 2 assistant surgeons, 1 purser, 15 midshipmen, 1 gunner, 1 boatswain, 1 master, 1 carpenter, and 2 captain’s clerks; likewise, 323 petty officers, seamen, andmarines—making altogether 361 men; besides 9 Portuguese seamen liberated, and 8 passengers, private characters, who were permitted to land without restraint.
Lieutenant Aylwin, of the Constitution, was severely wounded during the action. When the boarders were called to repel boarders, he mounted the quarter-deck hammock cloths, and, in the act of firing his pistol at the enemy, he received a ball through his shoulder. Notwithstanding the severity of his wound, he continued at his post until the enemy struck. A few days afterwards, when an engagement was expected with a ship, which afterwards proved to be the Hornet, he left his bed and repaired to quarters, though laboring under a considerable debility, and under the most excruciating pain. He died on the 28th of January, at sea. The following is the official account that Commodore Bainbridge made to the Secretary of the Navy. It is as concise and dramatic as all the reports of our naval heroes were in those days, and as he wrote Bainbridge was suffering from serious wounds and in danger of his life:
“I have the honor to inform you that on the 29th of December, at 2 P.M., in south latitude 13° 6´, west longitude 38°, and about ten leagues distant from the coast of Brazil, I fell in with, and captured, His Britannic Majesty’s frigate Java, of 49 guns, and upwards of four hundred men, commanded by Captain Lambert, a very distinguished officer. The action lasted one hour and fifty-five minutes, in which time the enemy was completely dismantled, not having a spar of any kind standing.
“The loss on board the Constitution was 9 killed and 25 wounded. The enemy had 60 killed and 101 wounded (among the latter, Captain Lambert, mortally), but, by the enclosed letter, written on board this ship by one of the officers of the Java, and accidentally found, it is evident that the enemy’s wounded must have been much greater than as above stated, and who must have died of their wounds previous to their being removed. (The letter stated 60 killed and 170 wounded.)...
“Should I attempt to do justice, by representation, to the brave and good conduct of my officers and crew, I should fail in the attempt; therefore, suffice it to say that the whole of their conduct was such as to meet my highest encomiums. I beg leave to recommend the officers, particularly, to the notice of the government, as, also, the unfortunate seamen who were wounded, and the families of those brave men who fell in action.
“The great distance from our own coast, and the perfect wreck we made of the enemy’s frigate, forbade every idea of attempting to take her to the United States. I had, therefore, no alternative but burning her, which I did on the 31st, after receiving all the prisoners and their baggage, which was very hard work, only having two boats left out of eight, and not one left on board the Java.
“On blowing up the frigate Java I proceeded to St. Salvador, where I landed all the prisoners on their parole, to return to England, and there remain until regularly exchanged, and not to serve in their professional capacities in any place or in any manner whatsoever against the United States of America until their exchange shall be effected.”
Upon the return of Commodore Bainbridge to the United States he was everywhere received with the greatest joy. Congress voted $50,000 to him and his crew, and ordered a gold medal to be struck for him and silver ones for each of his officers. New York presented him with the freedom of the city, and many banquets were given in his honor.
A pathetic and dramatic incident occurred when the wounded Captain Lambert was being moved off the ship at San Salvador. He lay on the deck suffering intense pain, when Bainbridge, supported by two officers, approached. Bending down with great difficulty, he placed Captain Lambert’s side-arms on the cot on which the latter lay, saying that the sword of so brave a man should never be taken from him; then the two wounded commanders grasped hands in mutual respect and admiration. The correspondence between Lieutenant-General Hislop and Commodore Bainbridge, after Lambert’s death, shows plainly the lofty spirit that existed then between great-minded enemies.