Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 122, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 May 1911 — Page 2

The centenary of the War of 1812

The true story oC the opening battle toldfSr the first time ProCß.d.Cigrand.

O' IN May 16, 1811, one hundred years ago, the first shot was fired tn the second war with England. Thus the one hundredth anniversary of the beginning ;■' of "the war of 1812" 18 not ln 1912, but fell on May 16, 19111 n was the beginning of a naval engagement off

the coast of Virginia, and thunder of the opening gun has been referred to as "The second shot which was heard around the world." Indeed the battle might well be known as “the Lexington of the war of 1812.” Yet, strange to say, both the American and British governments have persistently endeavored to eliminate from history’s pages this unique naval combat, and apparently tried to keep the people in ignorance of what actually transpired on the high seas on that memorable occasion. Though nearly a score of sailors were slain, the affair was hushed up as far as possible through govermental influence on both sides of the water, notwithstanding that the incident helped to change the geography of the Western Hemisphere and marked a redletter day in our naval annals. It was the awakening of the new American spirit, the inauguration of the real foreign policy of the United States, the beginning of our international Influence.

The war of the Revolution ended in 1753. England withdrew her troops from New York city and reluctantly admitted the independence of the United States, but in spirit refused to accord the young republic a respected place in the household of governments. She constantly sought opportunities to humiliate her conqueror, and assumed an especially aggravating attitude in Insisting upon the right to take from our vessels, merchant or naval , any sailors who were supposed to have been bora under the British flag. Men made captive thus were forced to enter and serve upon British ships of war. This was a very practical illustration of the edict promulgated by the English cabinet: “Once an Englishman, always an Englishman." A most distressing situation for America grew out of the British kidnaping policy, and such of the impressed men as endeavored to escape, or manifested discontent with their seizure, were severely punished according to the naval standards of the day, which were not remarkable for gentleness. For a score of years the young republic endured these high-handed outrages on the persons of its citizens. Our statesmen, among whom were Adams and Jefferson, seemed

unable to handle the problem, and their endeavors to enlist European sympathy against Great Britain's drastic proceedings were in vain. But what a whole nation seemed powerless to accomplish was at length achieved by a single person equipped with the necessary amount of nerve and a fine disregard of consequences. It was a plain case of “the right man tn the right Tlace at the right time.” On May 16, 1811. this unusual combination of qualities and circumstances was harmonized to cope successfully with a national emergency. Our histories lay little stress on this really important event, and a close investigation of the nation’s unpublished archives reveals certain salient facts concerning it which are now set forth fully in print for the first time.

The British frigate Guerriere stopped an American vessel, the Spitfire. about fifteen miles from New York. English officers went aboard her and arrested for impress a young sailor, whom they declared was an Englishman by birth. The American captain protested in vain. “I have known this lad personally from childhood," he asserted, “and know him to have been bora in the state of Maine.”

"All that may be so,** responded the British captain, "but“what can you do about it—he has no protection?" Under the circumstances the argument was unanswerable, and the lad was carried off in the Guerrlere. The Washington authorities were duly notified of the occurrence, but apparently they had become so accustomed to such happenings that little or nothing was done in the and the documents relating to the inquiry rested in dusty pigeonholes of departmental desks. Finally a genuine sea captain chanced to assume the duty of the hour, and the war department, acting under some pressure the retails of which are not made clear tn the official records open to the public, gave orders for the frigate. The President, to cruise on the AtlanMNh Chesapeake bay.

COPYRIGHT 1911

BY W G. CHAPMAN.

On the evening of May 16 Commo dore Rodgers, in command of The President, sighted a sail on the eastern horizon, and concluded that the strange vessel was none other than the Guerrlere, which had forced the boy from Maine into British service. Rodgers at once gave orders to sail, in pursuit and to ascertain what flag the stranger flew. Several hours passed ere the vessels came within close range of each other. The sun had set and darkness was falling when Rodgers sprang into the rigging and tried to decipher with the aid of his glass the ensign borne by the object of the chase. But the shadow? of night had rendered the colors undistinguishable, and Rodgers, seizing his speaking trumpet, shouted with the full strength of his powerful lungs, “What ship is that?" There was no reply, and again Rodgers repeated his hail. Then a response came from the stranger in the shape of a sheet of flame and a round-shot which hurtled along the upper deck of Tho President and buried Itself in the main mast. Before Rodgers could give the command to "return fire" one of his eager gunners anticipated his leader’s instructions, and the first shot fired by an American vessel in the war of 1812 thundered forth defiance to the foe. The commodore then gave the order to engage, and the broadsides of both craft crashed in unison. A pall of blackness had now descended on the deep, and the battle raged fiercely on by the dim rays of the deck lanterns and red flashes from the cannons' mouths. Suddenly the enemy ceased firing, and Rodgers gave orders to follow suit, believing that she had surrendered. But the momentary’lull was broken by another broadside from the stranger, and the powderbegrimed, cheering Americans replied in kind. Through the darkness of the night they fought on steadily, until again their adversary's fire was silenced. For the third time Rodger’s stentorian voice roared across the waters:

“What ship is that?” The response came back faintly: "We are his majesty's ship—” The wind was blowing strongly and away from The President, and prevented the conqueror from hearing the name of the defeated craft. The rigging of the enemy was badly cut up and shattered and her decks were crimson shambles. At daylight Commodore Rodgers ascertained the name of the battered hulk his guns had hammered so mercilessly through the night to be the Little Bell, a consort of the dreaded Guerriere frigate. When The President reached home and the news of her exploit and victory was made known, the heroes of the battle were everywhere received with tremendous enthusiasm. For a short while Commodore Rodgers was praised and lionized on all sides, but suddenly negotiations were opened between the Washington and British cabinets, and a change of scene took place. The American diplomats saw fit to keep the heroes of the combat from public view, and the people were naturally bewildered by their actions. To climax matters a court of inquiry was appointed by our government as a result of a claim put fbrward by A. B. Bingham, the British commodore, in which he stated that The President had fired the first shot and commenced a sudden and unwarranted attack upon his ship. The unwinding of a vast quantity of diplomatic red tape followed, and both governments were seemingly desirous of hushing up the whole business. But the American people at large believed in Rodgers and his gallant crew and made their protests heard in no gentle tones. A real and not visionary war cloud lowered oh the international horizon, and Rodgers himself, disregarding what were practically orders of silence from the war department, made the following bold declaration:

* “I may be censured, but I was determined not to be the aggressor, nor would I suffer the flag of my country to be insulted with impunity. And that is why I gave a general order to fire, and we have taught England a lesson."

To the foregoing spirited announcement* the American public—contrary to the wishes of President Madison and his peace-loving policy—gave hearty and unstinted applause. It transpired that the British vessel was fearfully damaged during the engagement. besides sustaining a loss of 31 men killed and wounded, while The President escaped almost unscathed, and had but one injured, a boy slightly wounded in the hand. In his recent history Julian Hawthorne devotes less than a page to this initial battle of the war of 1813. and the following sentence is worthy of being quoted:

The story spread that Rodgers had sailed under express orders from our administration to pursue the Gurriere, and to demand our impressed citizen at the mouth of her guns. But the court of inquiry which ensued clearly demonstrated that the American goverahad no special responsibility in the lucky accident for our flag and the prowess of our navy.” These are the only lines which emphasize and indicate the importance of the battle, lines which give the raedlt by inference. where it should be placed by direct statement, to Commodore Rodgers. To the latter belongs the glory of having been bigger than

his government, in- that he would not allow the flag of his county and ensign of his command to be flouted. That Rodgers assumed the entire responsibility is further shown by a diary kept by one of his officers, which reads, in part, as follows: “Yesterday. May 16, while beating down the bay, we spoke to a brig coming up who informed us that he saw the British frigate the day before off the very place where we now are, but she is not in sight. We have made the most complete preparations for battle. Everyone wishes it. She is of exactly our force. Should we see her I have not the least doubt of our engagement. The commodore (Rodgers) will demand the person impressed, the demand will doubtless be refused, and the battle will instantly commence. The commodore has called in the boatswain, gunner, and carpenter, and informed them of all the circumstances, and asked if they were ready for action. 'Ready' was the reply of each." Just why historians treat this essential beginning of our second war with England so lightly, and accord it so little space, practically passing it over as unimportant, is hard to comprehend. Investigation proves it tc have been in <©ur country the cause of a political revolution, and the inauguration of an American protectorate on the oceans, seas. bays, lakes and rivers of the world. Yet the victory won by Rodgers is accorded less than a page in the elaborate twenty volume history of the United States by Guy Carleton Lee; in the twenty volumes by B. J. Lousing it receives half a page; and in Bryant's four huge verfumes a single sentence of two lines is all that Is alloted this most daring naval exploit So intense was the feeling aroused by Rodgers* feat-of-arms that in the fall of 1811 the campaign for congressional representatives both in the senate and house were chosen on the terms voiced in the pertinent question: “Are you for a war with England?” Those who answered in the affirmative were elected, and those who disapproved of martial mqftsures were defeated. Old and tried politi-

cians were sent home and their places taken by youthful enthusiasts who infused fresh blood and spirit into the staid circle at Washington. Among the latter were Henry Clay of Kentucky and John Calhoun of South Carolina. These two became leaders in house and senate, and it was chiefly owing to their fiery eloquence in defense of Rodgers’ action, and in favor of adopting punitive measures with regard to England, that President Madison was finally forced to declare war.

More than one writer baa fallen into the error of declaring Commodore John Rodgers to have been of foreign birth. As a matter of fact, he was American to the core, having been bora in the state of Maryland, July 11, 1771. His favorite vessel was The President and with her he accomplished wonders of naval warfare. When the war with England opened he was sent out on a cruise, and in 148 days captured 11 British merchant ships and the English armed schooner, the Highflyer. The crew of the latter vessel had burned and plundered Havre de Grace, Maryland, the home of Rodgers, so that the commodore may be said to have had private as well as patriotic reasons for wishing to lay The President alongside of her. Before he sailed from Boston Rodgers had obtained from sqme unknown source a partial knowledge of the secret signal code of the British navy, and caused certain flags to be constructed accordingly. When he came in sight of the Highflyer he flew the British ensign, which was immediately hailed, o A signal was then displayed on the English vessel, and Rodgers succeeded in answering it correctly. He then signaled that he was the British ship Seahorse, and the two vessels ranged alongside each other. One of Rodgers* officers donned the uniform of a British lieutenant and went aboard the Highflyer, where be informed the commander that part of the Highflyer’s signal code was lost and asked that he be allowed to make good the deficiency. The permission was graciously granted and taken advantage of, after which the British

officer accompanied his new acquaintance aboard the American vessel. Rodgers greeted him courteously, and then asked: “Do you know what ship you are aboard of?” “Why, yes,” responded the British officer; “it is his majesty’s ship, Seahorse.” “Did you ever hear of a vessel called The President?” inquired Rodgers. "Indeed I have,” replied the unsuspecting Englishman. “That is the craft we are supposed to take.” “Well, The President has taken you,” smiled Rodgers. The full truth of the ruse by which he had been betrayed flashed at once upon ttfe chagrined Briton, but he saw that he was helpless. The crew of Th,e President were at quarters ready for instant action, and the Highflyer lay at their mercy under the frowning muzzles of the American guns. There was nothing for it but to submit as gracefully as possible. Rodgers ordered the British colors struck, and soon the stars and stripes floated in the breeze over both vessels. The sword worn by Hutchinson, the English commander, was the personal property of Rodgers, taken amidst other plunder at the burning of Havre de Grace, but destined to be returned to the owner in token of the surrender of one of his majesty’s crack sea-fighters. The Highflyer was taken captive tc the American shore, and the country once again rang with the praises of the dashing and ingenious Rodgers. To Rodgers and The President also belongs the peculiar distinction of having fought for 80 hours in absolute daylight. This is explained by the fact that the engagement in ques tlon took place in the Norway latitudes where perpetual daylight exists at a certain season of the year. II was Rodgers who broke up the blockade of the port of New York, and who became known to friends and foes alike by the fitting title of “ths swamp fox of the *eas.” He was act ing secretary of the American navy in 1823, and on August 1, 1828, he died at Philadelphia in his fiftyeighth year.

Then They Got It.

It was at the beefsteak dinner of the Rotary club the other night, la the Hermit club, that Tom Goes, the insurance man, commented upon the departure from the regular course eatfest “As for me,’’ be said, “1 prefer the —” , “Table d’hote," broke tn Ferdinand Bliss, the Mazda man, pronouncing the word as if It rhymed with “dotty." ' **l thought that word was pronounced as if it ended like dot, or lot,” said Will Hunkin, the building contractor. •‘You’re both wrong,” continued Tom Goes. “But you can easily learn to pronounce the word If you make it rhyme with what we all most need. 'Now, all together!” And together they pronounced H correctly. They all needed the dough. Cleveland Leader.

REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.

A woman never gets old enough to< express it in years. - w Where a girl takes her mother’s ad-, vice it’s a sign she pretends tp. When a man has a cold it’s next to< Impossible for him to blame it on his wife. • v Maybe tjie reason nearly all women,, are so good is they don’t really liken to be. m You can tell how much one womans hates another by how nice she can bei« to her. ~x...'X r i ... ■_*. ./... ‘.-v By the marriage ceremony a man! is sentenced to needing to hustle for) money. MM A man feels important about mostj anything that seems of no jmportanoer* to others. A costly thing about marriage is* putting it off and spending more being engaged. If a woman can’t be appreciated! she’ll be just as grateful for a of thanks. It’s easy to get money and put it, into your pocket; the hard thing is to> make it stay there. To have it reproach you when it de-< served it the best place for your con-, science to be would be in your —New York Press.

JUST THOUGHTS.

Many a girl goes abroad to finish an education that has never even been begun. We can all draw our own inferences, but we don’t have to colon ’ them. Even when he reaches the top of the ladder a man isn’t always above suspicion. The fellow who is jilted when a girt marries another man is sometimes the . first to get over it. It certainly isn’t the absence of raw materia] that keeps a man from making a fool of himself. There seems to be quite a difference between beginning at the bottom and getting in on the ground floor. rv There is nothing like stacking up against the world to bring out all there is in a man, unless it is an voyage. fl

FROM THE PENCIL’S POINT.

Nothing will throw religion out of gear so quick as the wrath of man. Nothing does more to give men confidence in each other than ready <*' money. What a bright world this would be if we only had eyes to see all the good there is in it. Many a man would have more . money in his pocket if he had a better thinker in his head. Does an undertaker look solemn because he feels that way or because he can charge for it in the bill?

BORROWINGS

Only in the loves we have (or others than ourselves, can we truly live — or dje.—Phillips Brooks. And let him go where he will, he can only find so much beauty or worth as he carries.—Emerson. No two things differ more than hurry and dispatch. Hurry is the mark of a weak mind; dispatch, of a strong one. —Colton. A face that had a story to tell. How different are faces In this particular! Some of them speak not; they are books in which not a line is written, save, perhaps, a date.—Longfellow.

BY THE OFFICE SAGE.

How duty looks depends on whether it's yours or somebody else’s.

Bometlmee a man can learn to understand bls family by trying to understand himself. -

All a woman’s female relatives are mad with her if she doesn't take them along when she goes to buy a gown.

It doesn’t take a woman more thani a Second to make up her mind not Ur like another who is better looking than she Is. —New York Press.

FACT AND FANCY

A good man tries to blacken his enemy’s eye—a bad one his character. -a Only 84 years have elapsed since the t firat railway in the world was finished. a* With the best management it takes two gallons of milk to produce a pound of butter. Nobody knows what is worn i« hehven, but an expression of surprise. <* is probably one thing, "Oh, look who v here!”