Successful Broke to you,
And your officers and crew,
Who on board the Shannon frigate
Fought so handy O!
And may it ever prove
That in fighting as in love
The true British tar is the dandy O!
James Lawrence, commander of the Chesapeake, had been fatally wounded early in the action. Until the last, he kept crying from the cockpit, "Keep the guns going! Fight her till she strikes or sinks!" His last words were the famous, "Don't give up the ship!"
DEFEAT AND VICTORY
[June 1, 1813]
Through the clangor of the cannon,
Through the combat's wreck and reek,
Answer to th' o'ermastering Shannon
Thunders from the Chesapeake:
Gallant Lawrence, wounded, dying,
Speaks with still unconquered lip
Ere the bitter draught he drinks:
Keep the Flag flying!
Fight her till she strikes or sinks!
Don't give up the ship!
Still that voice is sounding o'er us,
So bold Perry heard it call;
Farragut has joined its chorus;
Porter, Dewey, Wainwright—all
Heard the voice of duty crying;
Deathless word from dauntless lip
That our past and future links:
Keep the Flag flying!
Fight her till she strikes or sinks!
Don't give up the ship!
Wallace Rice.
Another action which resulted very differently was that between the American 16-gun schooner, Enterprise, and the British 14-gun brig, Boxer. The ships came together off Monhegan on September 5, 1813, and after a fierce fight lasting an hour, the Englishman surrendered.
ENTERPRISE AND BOXER
[September 5, 1813]