On one occasion we were at our quarters, exercising in the various evolutions of war; now at our guns, and then going through the forms of boarding an enemy; now running aloft, as if in the act of cutting down our enemy’s rigging, and then rushing below, as if to board her, firing our pistols, stabbing with our boarding-pikes, and cutting on all sides with our cutlasses. In the midst of this excitement, the movements of one of the men not happening to please the captain, he seized a cutlass and struck him a tremendous blow with its flat side; heated with passion, he let it glance as he struck, and the edge, entering the man’s back, made a deep flesh wound, which was very sore a long time. Some of our men swore that if they had been the sufferer, they would have shot the captain dead on the spot! Are men of such brutal tempers fit to command a man of war? Is it not wonderful that mutiny is so rare under such a discipline? Such an officer might do to command a crew of pirates, but not of freemen, such as Americans feel proud to entrust with the keeping of their national honor on the deep.
On reaching New Orleans, our ship was overhauled and repaired. We were sent on board the Louisiana, an old guard-ship, but had to cross the river every morning to assist in working on the brig. Several of our men, and myself among them, were quite sick here, owing to the free use of river water. The Louisiana had a number of men confined on board, for some crime; they wore chains round their legs, which were fastened to a large ball: the nature of their offence I did not ascertain.
The effects of Captain Porter’s severity were seen here in the loss of two of the crew. They belonged to the gig, and ran away while he was on shore. He made a strict, but unsuccessful, search after them. To deter others from a like attempt, or because he wanted an object on which to wreak his vengeance, he gave one poor fellow a cruel flogging for what, in sober fact, was no offence at all. The man was on shore, with some others, fixing the rigging, and, for some purpose or other, had walked a short distance from the rest, without the slightest intention to run away. But the captain wanted a victim, and this served for an excuse.
Our brig being finished, we returned on board, and were soon back at our old station off Ship Island, where we found several other small naval craft. While here I saw a man flogged through the fleet, or, as this might more properly be called, the squadron. His was the only instance of the kind I saw while in the American navy, and, although his back was most brutally mangled, yet I do not think he suffered equal to those who are flogged through an English fleet. Still, the indignity and brutality are the same in kind, though differing in degree: a MAN should never be made to endure it.
Not far from our station, at a place called St. Lewis’ Bay, our captain purchased some land, and actually sent some of our men to make a clearing upon it, and to erect a log house. Whether this was a legal employment of the strength and skill of his men or not, I cannot decide; but it struck me as being a perversion of the national resources to his own private benefit. Why should a captain of a ship of war be permitted to employ the time and energies of his men for private uses, while an officer of the government, who should employ its funds for his own advantage, would be charged with embezzlement and fraud? The cases are precisely alike, except that one uses the public money, the other what costs that money. It is a fraud on the country, and an imposition on the men.
A tragic event occurred at Lewis’ Bay on the 4th of July, which occasioned a fearful sensation throughout the ship. I was sent thither that day in the launch. Feeling fatigued, I remained with another in the boat, which was anchored near the shore. After some time one of the crew, named Thomas Hill, came back for a pistol, for there were several in the boat, and deliberately charged it. My companion, an old Macedonian, named Cox, asked him what he wanted with a pistol. Hill, who was a very desperate fellow, told him to mind his own business, or he would shoot him. Cox, knowing his character, thought it best to let this insult pass, supposing he was only going off to shoot a dog or snake, as the latter creature abounded there. Having loaded his pistol, Hill went off, and we thought no more of the matter. Presently a man came running down to the boat to inform us that two of our men were quarrelling. Just at that moment, we heard the report of a pistol: hurrying to the spot, described by our informant, we found a shipmate, by the name of Smith, bleeding on the ground, with a pistol-shot lodged in his breast by Hill. We gathered round him; in his agony he begged us to shoot him dead, for his suffering was not to be endured. Supposing he was dying, our testimony to his statement that Hill was his murderer, was taken on the spot. The victim was then removed to a suitable place to be taken care of; the next day he was carried on board the brig, and from thence to a sort of hospital on shore, where, after lingering a few days, he died. The murderer was seized and placed in irons on board the brig. He was afterwards removed to another ship, but what was done with him I never heard with certainty; it was reported that he was pardoned.
The cause of this fatal affray was that great instigator of crimes, Rum. The men were both under its influence; fired with its fumes, they lost all discretion, and commenced a quarrel: from words they proceeded to blows. In this struggle Smith had the advantage. Finding himself worsted, the other ran down to the boat for a pistol. With this, he returned and threatened to shoot his adversary. Smith demanded a pistol for himself, that, as he said, he might have fair play. At that instant his cowardly opponent shot him! Had they both been sober, this tragedy would never have been enacted. Who can reveal the effects of alcohol?
From this station we sailed to Tampico, where we lay but a short time, meeting with nothing worthy of remark, except that we found abundance of turtle in the river; during the day we could see their heads peeping up from the river in all directions. At night we used to send our men ashore to take them. This was done by tracking them on the sand, whither they went to deposit their eggs. We used to turn them over on to their backs, and drag them down to the boat. When alongside they were hoisted on board with a tackle; some of them weighing four or five hundred weight. They were then killed, and converted into a soup for the whole ship’s company.
The day after we left Tampico on our passage to Vera Cruz, I was looking out on the cat-head or starboard bow; seeing a sail, I shouted, “Sail ho!” when three other vessels hove in sight. These were all patriot privateers, so we were ordered to our quarters; but the vessels, discovering our character, kept clear of our guns, and we pursued our own course.