The Fight for a Free Sea: A Chronicle of the War of 1812 The Chronicles of America Series, Volume 17   By: Ralph Delahaye Paine (1871-1925)

The old frigate Constitution as she appears today in her snug berth at the Boston Navy Yard where she is preserved as an historical relic.

Photograph by N. L. Stebbins, Boston.]

THE FIGHT FOR A FREE SEA

A CHRONICLE OF THE WAR OF 1812

BY RALPH D. PAINE

[Illustration]

VOLUME 17 THE CHRONICLES OF AMERICA SERIES ALLEN JOHNSON, EDITOR

1920

CONTENTS

I. "ON TO CANADA!" II. LOST GROUND REGAINED III. PERRY AND LAKE ERIE IV. EBB AND FLOW ON THE NORTHERN FRONT V. THE NAVY ON BLUE WATER VI. MATCHLESS FRIGATES AND THEIR DUELS VII. "DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP!" VIII. THE LAST CRUISE OF THE ESSEX IX. VICTORY ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN X. PEACE WITH HONOR

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE INDEX

ILLUSTRATIONS

"OLD IRONSIDES"

The old frigate Constitution as she appears today in her snug berth at the Boston Navy Yard where she is preserved as an historical relic. Photograph by N. L. Stebbins, Boston.

THE THEATRE OF OPERATIONS IN THE WAR OF 1812

Map by W. L. G. Joerg, American Geographical Society.

OLIVER HAZARD PERRY AT THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE

Painting by J. W. Jarvis. In the City Hall, New York, owned by the Corporation. Reproduced by courtesy of the Municipal Art Commission of the City of New York.

ISAAC CHAUNCEY

Painting in the Comptroller's Office, City Hall, New York, owned by the Corporation. Reproduced by courtesy of the Municipal Art Commission of the City of New York.

COMMODORE STEPHEN DECATUR

Painting by Thomas Sully, 1811. In the Comptroller's Office, owned by the City of New York. Reproduced by courtesy of the Art Commission of the City of New York.

CONSTITUTION AND GUERRIÈRE

An old print, illustrating the moment in the action at which the mainmast of the Guerrière , shattered by the terrific fire of the American frigate, fell overside, transforming the former vessel into a floating wreck and terminating the action. The picture represents accurately the surprisingly slight damage done the Constitution : note the broken spanker gaff and the shot holes in her topsails.

ISAAC HULL

Painting by J. W. Jarvis. In the City Hall, New York, owned by the Corporation.

WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE

Painting by J. W. Jarvis. In the City Hall, New York, owned by the Corporation. Reproduced by courtesy of the Municipal Art Commission of the City of New York.

A FRIGATE OF 1812 UNDER SAIL

The Constellation , of which this is a photograph, is somewhat smaller than the Constitution , being rated at 38 guns as against 44 for the latter. In general appearance, however, and particularly in rig, the two types are very similar. Although the Constellation did not herself see action in the War of 1812, she is a good example of the heavily armed American frigate of that day and the only one of them still to be seen at sea under sail within recent years. At the present time the Constellation lies moored at the pier of the Naval Training Station, Newport, R. I. Photograph by E. Müller, Jr., Inc., New York.

JACOB BROWN

Painting by J. W. Jarvis. In the City Hall, New York, owned by the Corporation.

THOMAS MACDONOUGH

Painting by J. W. Jarvis. In the City Hall, New York, owned by the Corporation.

CHAPTER I

"ON TO CANADA!"

The American people of today, weighed in the balances of the greatest armed conflict of all time and found not wanting, can afford to survey, in a spirit of candid scrutiny and without reviving an ancient grudge, that turbulent episode in the welding of their nation which is called the War of 1812. In spite of defeats and disappointments this war was, in the large, enduring sense, a victory. It was in this renewed defiance of England that the dream of the founders of the Republic and the ideals of the embattled farmers of Bunker Hill and Saratoga achieved their goal. Henceforth the world was to respect these States, not as so many colonies bitterly wrangling among themselves, but as a sovereign and independent nation.