Transcriber’s Note: Italic text is enclosed in _underscores_. Superscripts are shown as ^x. Other notes will be found near the end of this eBook. THE HISTORY OF OUR NAVY [Illustration: THE _CONSTITUTION_ AND _GUERRIÈRE_. _From a French water-color drawing in the possession of Mr. W. C. Crane._] THE HISTORY OF OUR NAVY FROM ITS ORIGIN TO THE PRESENT DAY 1775–1897 BY JOHN R. SPEARS AUTHOR OF “THE PORT OF MISSING SHIPS,” “THE GOLD DIGGINGS OF CAPE HORN,” ETC. WITH MORE THAN FOUR HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS MAPS AND DIAGRAMS _IN FOUR VOLUMES_ _VOLUME II._ NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 1897 COPYRIGHT, 1897, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS MANHATTAN PRESS 474 W. BROADWAY NEW YORK TO ALL WHO WOULD SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER I. TROUBLES ON THE EVE OF WAR. 1 A Fair Estimate of the Number of Americans Enslaved by the Press-Gangs--A Braggart British Captain’s Work at Sandy Hook--A Search for the _Guerrière_--Attack on the British Ship _Little Belt_--A Feature of the Battle that was Overlooked--When the _Constitution_ Showed her Teeth the British Ship Brailed its Spanker and Headed for Safer Waters--An Eager Yankee Sailor who Couldn’t Wait for an Order to Fire--War Unavoidable. CHAPTER II. THE OUTLOOK WAS, AT FIRST, NOT PLEASING 20 The Silly Cry of “On to Canada!”--The Naval Forces of the United States Compared with Those of Great Britain--The Foresight and Quick Work of Captain Rodgers in Getting a Squadron to Sea--But he Missed the Jamaica Fleet he was After, and when he Fell in with a British Frigate, the Results of the Affair were Lamentable. CHAPTER III. THE FIRST EXHIBIT OF YANKEE METTLE 33 Captain David Porter’s Ideas about Training Seamen--The Guns of the _Essex_--Taking a Transport out of a Convoy at Night--A British Frigate Captain who was Called a Coward by his Countrymen--Captain Laugharne’s Mistake--A Fight that began with Cheers and ended in Dismay for which there was Good Cause--Work that was Done by Yankee Gunners in Eight Minutes--When Farragut Saved the Ship--An Attack on a Fifty-gun Ship Planned. CHAPTER IV. A RACE FOR THE LIFE OF A NATION 51