Captain Lambert was one of the last wounded brought from the Java. He was delirious at the time, but eventually recovered consciousness. On learning this, Commodore Bainbridge took the sword of the dying captain in hand, and, supported by two officers (for he was now unable to walk alone), he hobbled to Lambert’s bedside, and placing the weapon in that officer’s hand, told of his pleasure in returning the sword of one who had so bravely and efficiently defended his ship.
A curious story of the transfer of the unhurt is also worth repeating, even though it borders on the realm of superstitions. It is a matter of record that a few nights before the battle Commodore Bainbridge “dreamed that he had a long encounter with a British vessel and finally captured her. On board were several officers, and among them a general. It made such an impression on him that he entered the facts in his journal, and spoke of them to his officers. After the engagement, as he was standing on deck, surrounded by his officers, waiting to receive the commander of the Java, he saw the boat carrying General Hislop approach. Turning to Lieutenant Parker, he said:
“That is the man I saw in my dream!”
Having transferred all the living from the Java to the Constitution, a survey of the Java’s hulk was made. The conclusion was that, considering the great distance from the United States (a sailing passage from Bahia to New York will commonly average sixty days), and the serious injuries the Java had received, it was useless to think of carrying her home. So she was set on fire on the 31st day of December, 1812, and when, at about three o’clock in the afternoon, the fire reached her magazine, she was blown to pieces, leaving only her splintered spars and deck to drift with the scud of the waves to the evergreen shore.
A Yankee ballad maker celebrated the victory with a song that was for a long time popular. The following is a stanza:
Come, lads, draw near, and you shall hear
In truth as chaste as Dian, O!
How Bainbridge true, and his bold crew,
Again have tamed the lion, O!
’Twas off Brazil, he got the pill,