There exists no Englishman today whose heart is not moved at the word “Trafalgar,” or whose feelings are not stirred by the sentence “England expects every man to do his duty.” The slight, one-armed figure of Admiral Nelson has been before the Briton’s eyes as boy and man, surrounded always with the glamour that will never cease to enshroud a nation’s hero. Has it kept alive a feeling of animosity against France to dwell on such a man as this, and to keep his deeds alive? So it may be. But no Englishman would hide the cause in order to lose the supposed effect of it. In searching the history of our own country, when it stood together as a united nation, waging just war, we find England, our mother country, whose language we speak, arrayed against us. But, on account of this bond of birth and language, should we cease to tell about the deeds of those men who freed us from her grasp and oppressions, and made us what we are? I trust not. May our navy glory in its record, no matter the consequences! May our youth grow up with the lives of these men--our Yankee commanders--before them, and may they profit by their examples! This should not inculcate a hatred for a former foe. It should only serve to build up that national _esprit de corps_ without which no country ever stood up for its rights and willed to fight for them. May the sons of our new citizens, whose fathers have served kings, perhaps, and come from other countries, grow up with a pride in America’s own national history! How can this be given them unless they read of it in books or gain it from teaching? But it is not the intention to instruct that has caused the author to compile and collate the material used in the following pages. He has been influenced by his own feelings, that are shared by the many thousands of the descendants of “the men who fought.” It has been his pleasure, and this alone is his excuse. Mr. Carlton T. Chapman, whose spirited paintings are reproduced to illustrate this volume, has caught the atmosphere of action, and has given us back the old days in a way that makes us feel them. CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 I The United States frigate _Constitution_, on July 17th, 1812, falls in with a British squadron, but escapes, owing to the masterly seamanship of Captain Isaac Hull 23 II The _Constitution_, under command of Captain Hull, captures the British frigate _Guerrière_, under command of Captain Richard Dacres, August 19th, 1812 35 III The United States sloop of war _Wasp_, Captain Jacob Jones, captures the English sloop of war _Frolic_, October 18th, 1812; both vessels taken on the same day by the English seventy-four _Poictiers_ 47 IV