The Shining Sea (55 page)

226
    
On March 14, Porter began a paper war:
Porter,
Journal
, 253–54.

226
    
An opportunity arose on March 28:
J. Fred Rippy,
Joel R. Poinsett, Versatile American
(Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1935), 54.

226
    
At that moment,
Phoebe
and
Cherub:
A piece of the Log Book of U.S. Frigate
Essex
, printed in the
New York Evening Post
, July 8, 1814 in Crawford, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 3:725–26; David G. Farragut, “Some Reminiscences of Early Life,” in Crawford, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 3:748–59.

227
    
Being in neutral territory did not put a check:
Alfred Thayer Mahan,
Sea Power in Its Relationship to the War of 1812
(Boston: Little Brown, 1905), 2:248.

228
    
Despite the significant advantage he now had:
Rippy,
Joel R. Poinsett
, 54; Porter,
Journal
, 462.

228
    
The men from all the ships were ready for a fight:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut
, 35.

228
    
They hoped in vain:
Hillyar to Croker, March 30, 1814, in Graham and Humphreys, eds.,
The Navy and South America
, 140.

229
    
Farragut was stationed beside the captain:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut
, 40.

230
    
When he wasn't employed otherwise, Farragut:
Ibid., 41.

230
    
Hillyar soon returned to the attack:
Porter,
Journal,
455.

230
    
The
Cherub
was forced to haul off:
Ibid., 455–56.

231
    
At this moment, Lieutenant Downes appeared:
Ibid., 456.

231
    
All the while, fires continued to threaten:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut
, 45.

232
    
Roach's conduct puzzled Farragut:
Ibid.

232
    
The
Essex
had now drifted to a point:
Porter,
Journal
, 457.

232
    
Farragut received orders to bring gun primers:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut
, 41.

233
    
Not long afterward, Farragut saw:
Ibid., 43.

233
    
The
Essex
's condition had now deteriorated:
Porter,
Journal
, 457–58. 233
In spite of the American flag having come down:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut
, 41.

Chapter Twenty: The Butcher's Bill

235
    
Porter and Farragut, although remaining exposed:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut
, 42.

236
    
The dying men—ordinary jack tars:
Ibid.

236
    
A young Scot named Bissley:
Ibid., 42–43.

236
    
Porter said of his crew:
Porter,
Journal
, 458.

236
    
Captain Hillyar reported only four killed:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut
, 39–40.

237
    
Some months later, when Porter wrote:
Porter to Jones, July 3, 1814, in Crawford, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 3:730–39; Porter,
Journal
, 459–60.

237
    
Looking back many years later, Farragut:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut
, 38.

238
    
“I had done all the injury that could be done”:
Porter,
Journal
, 452.

238
    
At length, a boarding officer arrived:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut
, 41–42.

238
    
Somewhat absent-mindedly, Hillyar accepted:
Hillyar to Porter, April 4, 1814, in Porter,
Journal
, 463.

238
    
Much controversy arose over Hillyar's conduct:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut
, 39.

239
    
It was said that William Ingram:
Ibid.

239
    
Theodore Roosevelt, in his study:
Theodore Roosevelt,
The Naval War of 1812
(New York by Putnam, 1882; New York: Random House, 1999), 167.

239
    
Hillyar, as might be expected, heatedly denied:
Captain James Hillyar to First Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker, June 26, 1814, in Crawford, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 3:719–20.

239
    
“In justice to Commodore Hillyar”:
Porter,
Journal
, 461.

240
    
Porter did not expect to receive any comfort:
Ibid., 490.

240
    
Farragut volunteered to assist:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut
, 44.

240
    
By April 4, 1814, Hillyar:
Hillyar to Porter, April 4, 1814; Porter to Hillyar, April 5, 1814, in Porter,
Journal
, 466–67.

241
    
Porter suspected that Hillyar:
Ibid., 491.

241
    
Once their business was completed in England:
Stephen W.H. Duffy,
Captain Blakeley and the Wasp: The Cruise of 1814
(Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2001), 265–73.

242
    
Now it was time for Porter to take his leave of Hillyar:
Porter,
Journal
, 491.

242
    
When
Essex Junior
stood out from Valparaiso:
One of the 130 was John Maury. He eventually went back to the United States after the Battle of Valparaiso and was assigned to Commodore Macdonough on Lake Champlain, but he arrived just after his historic fight. Frances Leigh Williams,
Matthew Fontaine Maury, Scientist of the Sea
(New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1963), 22–25.

242
    
Two of the wounded were left behind:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut
, 45.

243
    
As late as July 1814, when he was reporting to Secretary of the Navy Jones:
Captain David Porter to Secretary of the Navy Jones, July 3, 1814, in Crawford, ed.,
Naval War of 1812, 3:730-39
.

243
    
Hillyar, on the other hand, was always confident:
Log Book of HM Frigate
Phoebe
, April 27, 1814, in Crawford, ed.,
Naval Documents
, 3:745; Hillyar to Croker, March 30, 1814, in Graham and Humphreys, eds.,
The Navy and South America,
142.

243
    
Hillyar was not exaggerating:
Hillyar to Croker, May 11, 1814, in Graham and Humphreys, eds.,
The Navy and South America
, 145.

243
    
Since the great war with France:
Robotti and Vescovi,
USS
Essex
and the Birth of the American Navy,
255–58.

243
    
Soon after his victory over Porter, Hillyar:
Hillyar to Don Francisco de la Lastra, Supreme Governor and Director of the State of Chile, April 21, 1814, in Graham and Humphreys, eds.,
The Navy and South America,
143–44; Galdames,
History of Chile
, 181–82.

244
    
Given the new political situation, the American consul general:
Long,
Nothing Too Daring
, 163.

244
    
The peace that Hillyar arranged:
Galdames,
A History of Chile
, 186–200. O'Higgins had been badly wounded at Chacabuco but recovered.

Chapter Twenty-One: The Heroes Come Home

247
    
David Farragut reported that the passage home:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut
, 45.

247
    
The weather in early May at these latitudes:
David G. Farragut, “Some Reminiscences of Early Life,” in Crawford, ed.,
Naval War of 1812,
3:757;
Boston Gazette
, July 14, 1814; Porter,
Journal
, 490–92.

249
    
Meanwhile, the redoubtable Downes:
Farragut, “Some Reminiscences of Early Life,” in Crawford, ed.,
Naval War of 1812,
3:757–58.

250
    
The night was dark and squally:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut
, 46–48.

251
    
The
Boston Gazette
spoke for most of the country:
Boston Gazette
, July 11, 1814.

251
    
Although Porter and Downes were reunited:
Boston Gazette
, July 25, 1814.

251
    
He later wrote, “On my arrival”:
Porter wrote this in the second edition of his
Journal
. It is found on p. 493 of the Naval Institute Press edition.

252
    
Although Porter and his crew were enormously grateful:
Members of
Essex
's Crew to Captain David Porter, July 20, 1814, in Crawford, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 3:369–70.

252
    
Given the country's widespread appreciation of his efforts:
See Daughan,
1812,
353–59, 413–17.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Lieutenant Gamble at Nuku Hiva

255
    
“The frigate had scarcely got clear of the Marquesas”:
Gamble to Crowninshield, Aug. 28, 1814, in Crawford, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 3:774.

255
    
Porter had assumed that the Taiohae:
Gamble to Porter, Aug. 30, 1815, in Abel Bowen,
The Naval Monument, Containing Official and Other Accounts of All the Battles Fought Between the Navies of the United States and Great Britain During the Late War; and an Account of the War with Algiers
(Boston: Cummings and Hilliard, 1816), 12.

256
    
To underscore his determination:
Ibid.

257
    
“My attempt to pursue them”:
Ibid.

257
    
The deserters made their way to Santa Christiana:
Gamble to Crowninshield, Aug. 28, 1815, in Crawford, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 3:776.

258
    
Midshipman Feltus had a different view:
Journal of Midshipman William W. Feltus
, May 7, 1814.

258
    
When the mutineers were moving slowly out of the bay:
Porter,
Journal
(1822 ed.), 519.

258
    
Two days later, Gamble and his remaining men:
Gamble to Crowninshield, Aug. 28, 1815, in Crawford, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 3:777.

259
    
To make matters worse, just six cartridges remained:
Gamble to Porter, in Bowen,
Naval Monument,
128; Gamble to Crowninshield, Aug. 28, 1815, in Crawford, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 3:777.

259
    
“In that state,” Gamble recorded:
Gamble to Crowninshield, Aug. 28, 1814, in Crawford, ed.,
Naval War of 1812,
3:778.

259
    
After struggling out of Taiohae Bay:
Gamble to Porter, in Bowen,
Naval Monument
, 128.

260
    
On May 30, Gamble came to anchor:
Gamble to Crowninshield, Aug. 28, 1814, in Crawford, ed.,
Naval War of 1812,
3:778.

260
    
Hawaiians supplied Gamble with fresh meat:
The mutineers in the
Seringapatam
, in the meantime, succeeded in reaching Australia.

260
    
Unfortunately, on the passage to the Big Island:
Hillyar to Tucker, Aug. 14, 1814, in
The Navy and South America, 1807–1823,
147.