Page images
PDF
EPUB

418

OTHER CAPTURES; ATTACK ON THE EXPERIMENT.

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

During the summer of 1799, the Portsmouth (Captain Daniel McNeill), accompanied by the Scammel, cruised off the coast of the Dutch Colony of Surinam, occasionally convoying American merchantmen. In July McNeill learned that the French ship the Hussar, 20, which had taken several rich prizes, was lying in the Surinam River, awaiting an opportunity to escape. The Portsmouth and the Scammel blockaded the mouth of the river for a month, at the end of which time the Hussar surrendered. In August an English fleet appeared and took possession of Surinam, whereupon the Hussar was turned over to them. In December the Connecticut captured the French privateer L'Italic Conqueste, 12, off the island of Guadeloupe. She later recaptured two American vessels and ran a valuable French ship on shore. On December 20, in the same vicinity, the Baltimore captured the French brig l'Esperance.

* Allen, Our Naval War With France, pp. 116117.

† Ibid, pp. 125–126. Ibid, pp. 129-130.

Gonaive. Gonaive.

In January of 1800 the schooner the Experiment, of which Lieutenant William Maley was commander and David Porter first lieutenant, lay becalmed with a convoy of merchantmen off the north shore of the Island of She was attacked by ten barges, manned with negroes and mulattoes, armed with muskets, sabres and boarding pikes, the negroes numbering in all about 400 or 500.* Several of the barges carried four pounders and swivels. Captain Maley waited until the enemy had come within musket shot and then poured upon them such a galling fire of grape shot that they were compelled to retire. After receiving reinforcements, the enemy separated into three squadrons of four barges each, in which formation another attack was made on the Experiment. The guns of the latter were well served, however, and the marines kept up a steady musket fire, so that after a smart action of nearly three hours the enemy were again driven off. Two of the barges were sunk and a large number of the negroes were killed in the others. The tide now separated two of the merchantmen from the rest of the fleet, and, being in too shallow water for the Experiment to protect them, they were captured by the natives, after the officers, crews, and passengers had abandoned them because of their in

Cooper (Naval History, vol. i., p. 183) says each of the ten barges contained between 30 and 40 men, thus making the total between 300 and 400.

THE CONSTELLATION AND LA VENGEANCE.

ability to withstand an attack. At last the Experiment and the rest of the convoy succeeded in making a port at Leogane, not far from Port Republicain.*

On January 21, 1800, Commodore Truxtun arrived at St. Christopher to take command of the Guadeloupe

station. On the 30th he left Gaudeloupe with the Constellation and the next morning sighted a sail in the southeast. Supposing it to be a British merchantman from "Martinico," Truxtun hoisted English colors "by way of inducement for her to come down and speak;" but, as the stranger did not attempt to alter her course, Truxtun examined her more carefully and discovered her to be a heavy French frigate of 54 guns. He then hauled down the English colors, cleared the decks for action, and gave chase. "As her metal was in all probability equal to her rate, the only circumstance to equalize this disparity against the Constellation was the fact that the stranger was very deep, which was was accounted for by the practice of sending valuable articles to France, at that time, in ships of war, as the safest means of transmission." Truxtun spread every inch of sail his ship would bear, coming up with the enemy on the evening of

[blocks in formation]

419

February 2. It was eight o'clock before the two ships were within speaking distance of each other, and when Truxtun was about to speak and "to demand a surrender of his ship," the enemy opened fire from his stern and quarter guns, directed at the rigging and spars of the Constellation. Truxtun had ordered his gunners to withhold their fire until he gave the word. He allowed the enemy to fire without replying until he had reached a favorable position on the weather the quarter, when Constellation poured in a broadside that wrought fearful havoc. Then the action began in earnest, continuing until nearly one o'clock in the morning, when the enemy, her fire completely silenced, hauled up and drew out of the com

bat.*

In his report of February 1, Truxtun says:

"It was at that moment that I considered him as my prize and was trimming in the best manner I could my much shattered sails when I found the mainmast was totally unsupported with rigging, every shroud being shot away, and some of them in many places, so as to render stoppers useless, which in fact could not be applied with effect. I then gave orders for all the men to be sent up from the gun deck to endeavor to secure the mast, in order that we might get alongside of the enemy again as soon as possible; but every effort was in vain, for it went over the side in a few minutes after and carried away with it the topmen, among whom was James Jarvis. As soon as the mainmast went, every effort was made to clear the wreck from the ship as soon as poзsible, which was effected in an hour, and as her security was then the great object, it being im

[blocks in formation]

420

THE CONSTELLATION AND LA VENGEANCE.

possible to pursue the enemy, I immediately bore away for Jamaica for repairs, &c., finding it impracticable to reach a friendly port in any of the islands to windward." *

The French ship proved to be the frigate La Vengeance, and, according to the report of her commander, her rigging was so damaged that she was compelled to run before the wind to Curaçoa, working to bend new sails on the stumps of the masts which re mained, by means of which [she was] enabled to reach port on the 18th of the same month." According to another report La Vengeance had nothing left standing "but her bowsprit, fore and mizzen mast; her foreand mizzen shrouds, rattlings, &c., being cut up so that you could scarce see any of them for stoppers. In short there appears no place that has escaped a shot; her starboard side has been hulled, and it is said she had 140 killed and wounded, and when she parted she had eight feet [of] water in her hold." Of the 400 men in the crew of the La Vengeance, 50 were killed and 110 wounded. On the Constellation, the casualties were 14 killed and 25 wounded, of whom 11 subsequently died. The news of this victory was greeted with delight throughout the country. By a vote of 87

* American State Papers, Naval Affairs, vol. i., p. 73; Annals of Congress, 6th Congress, 1st session App., pp. 1423-1427.

† Maclay, History of the Navy, vol. i., pp. 196– 198.

See Cooper, Naval History, vol. i., pp. 173174; Allen, Our Naval War With France, pp. 162177; Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, vol. vii., pp. 365-366.

to 4 (John Randolph being one of the four) Congress rewarded Truxtun with a gold medal and resolved "that the conduct of James Jarvis, a midshipman in said frigate, who gloriously preferred certain death to an abandonment of his post, is deserving of the highest praise, and that the loss of so promising an officer is a subject of national regret." *

In

From January to March of 1800 the Adams made a successful cruise, recapturing the American schooner the Isabella and taking the French corvette Le Berceau and three French privateers the Le Gembeau, the L'Heureuse, and the General Massena. Early in the year the Boston took the Deux Anges, 20, subsequently captured a number of small vessels, and in June captured two French schooners off Jacmel.† May Commodore Talbot sent a party of men under Isaac Hull into the Spanish harbor of Porto Plata, San Domingo, to capture a French frigate (formerly the English ship the Sandwich). Hull performed the task in a splendid manner, but, unfortunately, the capture was illegal, violating the neutrality of a Spanish port, and the prize had to be surrendered after it reached New York.‡ On August 3 the

* See Benton, Abridgment of Debates, vol. ii., pp. 469-472. See also McMaster, vol. ii., pp. 475-476.

† Allen, Our Naval War With France, pp. 177– 180.

Cooper, Naval History, vol. i., pp. 174-176; Allen, pp. 182-186; Maclay, History of the Navy, vol. i., pp. 198-200.

CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE; THE BOSTON AND LE BERCEAU. 421

Trumbull (Captain David Jewett) captured the French schooner La Vengeance, 8, off Jeremie. The prize was sent to New London and condemned, but was surrendered soon afterward on the ground that she was a national vessel according to the treaty concluded with France.* On July 26 the Ganges captured a French privateer off Matanzas, Cuba.

The Guadeloupe station had been a scene of much activity. The Baltimore, the John Adams, and other vessels took a number of privateers and succeeded also in releasing many captured American vessels. On June 17 the Enterprise, 12 (Lieutenant John Shaw), captured the privateer Le Cynge (or Le Seine) of 4 guns and 54 men. Soon afterward the Enterprise captured Le Citoyenne, 6, the L'Aigle, 10 and Le Flandreau, 12+ and later took three other vessels besides making a number of recaptures. On this cruise, according to Shaw's report, the Enterprise. took 13 vessels, made 300 prisoners, killed and wounded 61 men, and captured 42 pieces of artillery and 180 stands of muskets. + Shortly after wards, under a new commander, the Enterprise fell in with a French vessel of 12 guns, but, after doing

[blocks in formation]

considerable damage was compelled

to leave her, as they were near the island of St. Bartholomew, with whose vicinity the Enterprise was unacquainted. On December 24 the Enterprise captured the privateer L'Armour de la Patrie, 6. The Experiment, under Charles Stewart, fell in with and captured the privateer Deux Amis, 8, and on October 1 captured. the three masted schooner La Diane with a valuable cargo (and armed with 14 9-pound carronades), under convoy of a brig of 18 9-pounders. The brig escaped.* The Experiment also recaptured a number of American vessels.

On October 12, 1800, when about 600 miles northeast of Guadeloupe, the frigate Boston sighted a ship and a schooner. The Boston started in pursuit and at about 3.30 o'clock came up with the ship, which then hoisted French colors. At 3.45, when the Frenchman refused to strike his flag, the action began, lasting until 5.24. The sails and rigging of both ships were so shattered that it was impossible to work either of them, and they drifted apart. The Boston hastily repaired her damages, and at 8.30 o'clock the action was resumed, lasting until 10.20, when the French ship

struck her colors. Her fore and main topmasts had been shot away, and went over the side soon after striking. She proved to be the Le Berceau, 46

* Maclay, History of the Navy, vol. i., pp. 205206; Allen, pp. 205-206; Cooper, Naval History, vol. i., pp. 183–184.

422

ACTIONS OF THE PRIVATEERS.

(mounting 24), and during the action had lost 34 killed and 18 wounded. The loss on the Boston was 7 killed and 8 wounded.* The prize was taken to Boston harbor, condemned, and sold to the United States on January 15, but, under the treaty with France, had to be given up. She sailed for home on September 26, 1801.†

During this war there were, strictly speaking, no American privateers, but most merchantmen were armed for defense and a large number were commissioned under the act of July 9, 1798. Though the French privateers were more heavily armed, the American vessels attacked them without hesitancy and generally emerged victorious. On July 5, 1798, the Eliza, of Charleston, was compelled to surrender to a French privateer, after an action lasting an hour and a quarter. On March 8, 1799, the Charming Betsy, of Baltimore, fell in with the French privateer L'Revenge and a warm action ensued. The Betsy sustained considerable damage in her rigging, spars and sails, both topmasts also being shot away. Her captain and three men were wounded.

* See, however, Maclay, History of the Navy, vol. i., pp. 209-212, and Cooper (Naval History, vol. i., p. 181), who give different statistics. Maclay gives the loss on the Boston as 4 killed and 11 wounded, and on the Berceau as 4 killed and 17 wounded.

† Allen, Our Naval War With France, pp. 210216. See also the data regarding this battle in Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. xx., p. 270. The correspondence relating to her release will be found in American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. ii., pp. 428-439.

L'Revenge suffered considerable damage, having had 10 men killed and wounded (four of whom were thrown overboard on her arrival at Curaçoa).* On March 8 the Molly, of Philadelphia, was fired upon by a French ship and, although she compelled the French ship to strike her colors, it does not appear that she took possession of her prize. In June of 1799 the brig the Genius, of New York, captured the French ship Columbus and took her to Tortola, where she was condemned by a British court of admiralty. On July 10 the Planter, 18, was attacked by a French privateer of 22 guns, but finally compelled the enemy to retreat. The Mount Vernon, 20 guns and 53 men, fell in with a fleet of French merchantmen under convoy and was attacked by a French frigate. The American vessel poured in several broadsides and was rapidly gaining the advantage, when the French vessel fled. In July the same vessel met another French ship and compelled her to strike, but did not take her, because they were too near European waters, from which aid might arrive at any moment. On October 2, 1799, when about 40 miles north of Havana, the private armed vessel, the Chesapeake, 20, was attacked by a French privateer of 12 or 14 guns and a desperate encounter followed, lasting three-quarters of

[blocks in formation]
« PreviousContinue »