'Tis not enough to be brave."
CHAPTER V. WAR ON THE OCEAN.
The President and the Little Belt—The President and the Belvidera—Hull's Race—The Constitution and the Guerriere—Effect of the Victory—The Wasp and the Frolic—The United States and the Macedonian—The Constitution and the Java—Nelson's Prediction.
While the year 1812 brought nothing but disaster to the land forces of the United States, on the ocean it was fruitful of victories that astonished the world. It is greatly to the credit of President Madison that he followed the advice of Captains Stewart and Bainbridge, in opposition to his entire Cabinet, to develop and use the navy, instead of laying it up. That was not only the wise but the appropriate thing to do. This was pre-eminently a sailors' war, entered upon chiefly for the purpose of protecting American seamen from impressment in a foreign service, and its ultimate result would be a settlement of the question whether American ships were to be at liberty to sail the high seas at all, or whether, as a poet of our day puts it, the Atlantic Ocean was to be considered merely John Bull's back yard. It was the wise thing to do, because, if a nation determines to go to war at all, it should do it in earnest; and the most effective war is made when the earliest and most persistent blows are directed at the enemy's vital part. Of all Great Britain's possessions that could be reached by balls or bayonets, her ships at sea were the most important to her. Canada might be overrun, or even conquered, and she would hardly feel its loss—or at least she could exist without it; but anything that weakened her navy and deranged her commerce would make every Englishman feel the penalties of war.
A slight foretaste of what American seamanship and gunnery might do had been afforded by an affair that took place a year before the war broke out. The American frigate President, of forty-four guns, with Commodore John Rodgers on board, was cruising off Sandy Hook in May, 1811, searching for an English frigate that had taken a sailor from an American brig, when she sighted a strange craft. In answer to her hail, the stranger fired a shotted gun, and the shot struck the mainmast. The President promptly returned the fire, and in a few minutes broadsides and musketry blazed out from both vessels. As soon as Rodgers perceived the inferiority of his antagonist, he ordered his gunners to cease firing; but no sooner were his guns silent than the stranger opened again. With another broadside or two the President completely crippled her, and then hailed and got an answer. As darkness now came on, Rodgers lay to for the night, keeping lights displayed, in case the stranger should need assistance. In the morning he sent an officer on board, who learned that she was the British ship Little Belt; that she was badly damaged, and had lost thirty-one men killed or wounded. But she declined receiving any assistance. On board the President one boy had been slightly wounded. Each vessel sailed for home, and each commander told his own story, the two accounts being widely different. The version here given is that of the American officers. According to the English captain, the President began the action by firing a broadside into the unoffending Little Belt. Each government accepted the statement of its own officers, and there the matter rested.
It was this same vessel, the President, that fought the first action of the war. With news of the declaration came orders to Commodore Rodgers, then in New York, to sail on a cruise against the enemy. Within one hour he was ready. The Hornet, of eighteen guns, Captain Lawrence, was ready at the same time, and the Essex, of thirty-two guns, Captain Porter, a few hours later.