Four American Naval Heroes Part 9

Decatur's little boat could be plainly seen, and all the vessels and forts opened fire on it. But the Tripolitans were too much excited to do serious damage.

In a short time the fire reached the magazine of the _Philadelphia_ and she blew up with a tremendous crash, leaving the harbor in darkness.

Decatur and his men escaped with but one man wounded.

This is only one of many deeds of bravery done in this war, but we can not tell of them in this story. Lieutenant Perry, in his home in America, heard of them, and longed to be on the scene of action.

He was very glad when, in the following September, he was ordered to return in the _Constellation_ to the Mediterranean.

The American fleet in the Mediterranean was by this time so large that the Bashaw was convinced that the Americans were in earnest.

He was glad to make a treaty of peace and release the prisoners on payment of a small ransom.

In October, 1806, Oliver Perry returned to America. He was greatly disappointed that he had not been able to take a more active part in the war.

He spent most of the next two years in Newport, dividing his time between study and his many friends.

VI.--MORE TROUBLE WITH ENGLAND.

While America was having these troubles with the Barbary States, France and England were still at war. Commerce all over the world was affected, and in some cases almost destroyed by this long war.

The French emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, had forbidden all vessels of other nations to enter British ports. The English, in turn, said that no vessel should enter a port of France, or of any country belonging to France.

But the Americans had to endure still further injuries from the English.

British war vessels claimed the right to stop American s.h.i.+ps on the sea, search them, and carry off American sailors, claiming them as deserters from the English navy.

The French could not do this; for no American sailor could be accused of being a runaway Frenchman.

In 1807, an event took place which nearly led to war.

The British frigate _Leopard_, cruising along the coast, hailed the American frigate _Chesapeake_, and demanded permission to search the s.h.i.+p.

The captain of the _Chesapeake_ refused. Without a word of warning, the _Leopard_ fired into the _Chesapeake_, killing and wounding more than twenty men.

The American captain had not dreamed of such an outrage. His vessel had just put to sea and everything was in confusion. He did not even have a gun in condition to return the fire. So he lowered his flag and surrendered.

The officers of the _Leopard_ then came on board and carried off four men from the crew.

The United States would have declared war at once if England had not apologized.

The President, at this time, was Thomas Jefferson. He was a man of peace. He called a session of Congress to see if the trouble could not be settled without war.

As a result of this session, a law was pa.s.sed known as the Embargo Act.

By this law, no vessel was allowed to sail from the United States to any foreign country.

In order to enforce the law, Congress ordered a number of gunboats to be built. These were to sail up and down the coast, and prevent any vessel from entering or leaving the ports.

Lieutenant Perry was ordered to superintend the building of a fleet of these gunboats at Newport. After they were built, he was put in command of them, and ordered to patrol Long Island Sound.

At this time, the government wanted a map of the harbors in the neighborhood of Newport. On account of his standing as a seaman, and of his education, Lieutenant Perry was selected to visit the harbors and make such a map.

He was given a fast sailing schooner called the _Revenge_. While carrying on this work, he was one day returning from Newport to New London, when a dense fog came on. The _Revenge_ struck upon a reef of rocks, and went to pieces.

By great efforts Lieutenant Perry was able to save, not only all the crew, but the sails, rigging, and cannon.

He then went to Was.h.i.+ngton to explain the loss of the _Revenge_ to the navy department. It was made clear that it was the fault of the local pilot who had charge of the vessel at the time.

Lieutenant Perry was commended for his gallant conduct in this disaster, and was also granted a year's leave of absence. He went to Newport, and on May 5, 1811, he was married to Elizabeth Champlin Mason.

The young couple took a wedding journey through New England. They spent one day in Plymouth, Ma.s.sachusetts. Lieutenant Perry was much interested in visiting the place where his Quaker ancestor had lived so many years before.

During this time, the people of the United States had learned that the Embargo Act was a very unwise law. The men of Congress had thought to injure France and England by thus refusing to trade with them altogether. They soon discovered, however, that the damage to American commerce was far greater.

Trading vessels in the ports were left standing idle at the wharves, while the sailors were forced to find other employment.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JAMES MADISON.]

All over the country, there arose a bitter feeling against this law. In the New England states, where there were the largest s.h.i.+pping interests, there was even talk of secession from the Union.

About this time a new President, James Madison, was elected. Soon afterward the Embargo Act was repealed, and in its place was pa.s.sed a law which satisfied the people for a time. By this law, trade was allowed with every country but England and France.

American vessels now put to sea on voyages to foreign lands. But their old enemies, the English, soon began to annoy them as before.

In May, 1811, the British sloop _Little Belt_ was hailed by the American frigate _President_, under the command of Commodore Rodgers. The reply was a cannon shot. The _President_ then poured broadsides into the _Little Belt_. After the English had lost thirty-two men in killed and wounded, they came to terms.

[Ill.u.s.tration: COMMODORE JOHN RODGERS.]

The American people now saw that war could no longer be avoided. On June 18, 1812, the formal declaration was made.

VII.--WAR ON THE CANADIAN BORDER.

Up to this time the English navy had been called the "Mistress of the Seas." England's vessels could be numbered by the hundred, and the crews by the ten thousand.

When this war of 1812 was declared, the entire United States navy comprised about half a dozen frigates, and six or eight sloops and brigs. Along the American coast alone the English had seven times this number of war vessels.

The first few months of the war were full of naval surprises. In that brief time the Americans captured more British s.h.i.+ps than the French had taken in twenty years.

On August 19th, the American frigate _Const.i.tution_, commanded by Captain Isaac Hull, in one half hour captured the English frigate _Guerriere_. The English lost one hundred men, and the vessel was so disabled that she was left to sink. The Americans lost but fourteen men, and in a few hours the s.h.i.+p was ready for another battle.

Several other victories followed in quick succession. In all this time the Americans did not lose a s.h.i.+p.

In December, Commodore Bainbridge, the same officer who had been taken prisoner years before by the Tripolitans and had afterwards been promoted, was cruising with the frigate _Const.i.tution_ off the coast of Brazil. He there encountered and captured the British frigate _Java_.

But though so successful on the sea, the Americans were defeated many times on land.

The possession of the Great Lakes was of the utmost importance to both the English and the Americans.

Ever since the Revolution the English had kept a naval force on these lakes. They had hoped that some time they might be able to extend the Canadian territory along the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi to New Orleans. This would give them the possession of the great west.