Very early in the day a sail was seen broad off on the weather beam, and it was not very long after this that the lookout observed that she was making sail in chase of the United States. This stranger was the Macedonian, and her master was coming down the wind with the hope that he was to encounter the Essex of which he had heard. As the Macedonian made sail in chase, the United States made sail to meet her. Private signals were made on the Macedonian, to see whether it really was an enemy and as these were not answered, the crew were called to quarters and the ship cleared for action.
Capture of the Macedonian.
Victory obtained by the U. S. ship United States of 44 guns over his Britannic Majesty’s ship Macedonian of 38 guns. The action continued 90 minutes, in which the United States had 6 men killed, 7 wounded—the Macedonian had 36 killed, 68 wounded.
As the ships approached each other their manœuvres became of great interest to seamen, but a landsman finds them hard to follow. This much, however, is plain, the Macedonian came down with the wind. She could choose her own position. She might have closed with the United States and brought every gun into action. Her first lieutenant wanted to do this, but her captain, either from the belief that he was fighting the Essex, that had short guns only, or because he was afraid the Yankee would luff up to windward of him, or both (the accounts differ), chose to hold on a course almost parallel with the United States, and fight at long range.
Meantime, Captain Decatur had been trying to get to windward, but found the Macedonian too swift and handy to permit that. So he spread his colors from every peak, and prepared to fight where he must.
Soon after 9 o’clock, Captain Carden ordered three of his long guns fired at the United States. The balls skipped over the long waves and fell into the sea harmless. A manœuvre to close the interval between the ships followed. A broadside from the United States was fired back. Most of these fell short, but one whistled over the Englishman. Some minutes of silence followed, during which the Yankees luffed and the Englishman sagged off from the wind, and then the range having been found, the gunners stripped off their shirts, and bare-headed, or with handkerchiefs tied to keep their hair from their eyes, they began to work their long batteries.
For a half hour thereafter that was as hot a fight as two such frigates ever made. So swiftly did the Yankees work their guns that, not only did they envelope their ship in smoke faster than the smart wind could blow it away, but they led the Englishmen to believe that the United States was actually on fire; and this word was passed along the gun-deck of the Macedonian to encourage the men. They cheered at it—all but six or seven did—as they had cheered at every round of their guns.
They thought they saw our ship in flame,
Which made them all huzza, sir;