By a little after two o’clock the frigates were within half a mile of each other, and the action then began with great spirit. The Englishman got the range first, and sent in a broadside which hulled the “Constitution” and killed and wounded several of her men. It soon became evident to Bainbridge that Captain Lambert’s guns carried better than his own, so began luffing up repeatedly in order to shorten the distance for an effective broadside. He was sure of his marksmanship if once his men got the range, for the same gun-captains were with him that had helped Hull to her great victory over the “Guerriere.” It was difficult to draw up, as the Englishman was forging ahead with the evident desire to sail close to the wind and keep the weather-gage at all hazards. The “Constitution” could only luff up at opportune moments, for Lambert’s position was one which would enable him to rake the “Constitution” from stem to stern if he luffed when the broadside was ready. But he edged up cautiously, and soon the vessels were but musket-shot apart. A continuous fire now began, and the wind being light, both vessels were soon so shrouded in smoke that only at intervals could the gunners make out their adversaries. Along they sailed, side by side, giving and receiving tremendous volleys. About this time a solid shot went crashing along the quarter-deck of the “Constitution” and, striking her wheel, smashed it to pieces. The gear had been rove below, however, and the ship throughout the remainder of the battle was steered by means of tackles on the berth-deck. The captain’s orders were shouted down through the after-hatch and repeated by a line of midshipmen to the men at the tackles. Bainbridge, in full uniform, stood by the weather-rigging at the time the disabling shot came aboard, and a small copper bolt drove through the upper part of his leg, inflicting a bad wound. But fearing that if he left the deck his men might lose some of the ardor with which they were fighting, he would not go below though frequently urged so to do. Instead of this he bound it up with his handkerchief, and remained at his post, his epaulettes a fair mark for the sharpshooters in the tops of the enemy. His men down in the waist of the “Constitution” looked now and again at the imposing figure by the mizzen-mast, and bent to their work with a will, firing as rapidly as their guns could be loaded. The distance between the ships was now so short that all the smaller guns and carronades could be used, and a rapid and well-directed fire was kept up both upon the hull and the spars of their adversary.