# The History of Yachting/Chapter 7

CHAPTER VII
GREAT BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES
New York in 1679—The earliest American schooner—American origin of the term—The first American lighthouse—New York in 1717—The yacht Fancy—New York in 1746—The American lumber trade restricted to sloops—Influence of this rule upon shipbuilding—Captain Schank's sliding keel—American independence—First appearance of the American flag in the Orient—Stephen Girard—The Enterprise—American sloop—Voyage to China and back—Captain Shackford crosses the Atlantic alone—First American vessel to circumnavigate the globe—Discovery of the Columbia River—Voyage of the sloop Union round the world—North River sloops—The leeboard—First American yacht, the Jefferson—Evolution of the centre-board—Centre-board patent of 1811—Baltimore clippers—Privateers—Frigates—The Constitution—Exploits of the American Navy—Life on the ocean.
AFTER the occupation of New York by the British in 1664, most of the Dutch settlers continued their residence, and exerted a considerable influence upon the social customs of the time. To this day, many of their names and the names of their old landmarks are familiar about New York. Hence, it seems probable that they continued also to build and own yachts, although no record of them has been preserved.
The first schooner built in America, and, no doubt, in the world, was constructed by Andrew Robinson at Gloucester, Massachusetts, in the year 1713. As we have seen, two-masted vessels with fore-and-aft sails were built in Holland early in the ​seventeenth century; but they were not called schooners, and they were not schooners as we understand the rig. In fact, prior to the above date no trace can be found of a schooner.
Babson's History of Gloucester contains an interesting account of this vessel: "A current tradition of the town (Gloucester) relates the origin of the 'schooner'; and abundant testimony, of both a positive and negative kind, confirm the story so strongly, that it is unnecessary to take further notice here of the verbal account. Dr. Moses Prince, brother of the annalist, writing in this town September 25, 1721, says: 'Went to see Capt. Robinson's lady, etc. This gentleman was the first contriver of schooners, and built the first of the sort about eight years since; and the use that is now made of them, being so much known, has convinced the world of their conveniency beyond other vessels, and shows how mankind is obliged to this gentleman for this knowledge.' Nearly seventy years afterwards, another visitor gives some further particulars of this interesting fact. Cotton Tufts, Esq., connected with us by marriage, being in Gloucester, September 8, 1790, writes: 'I was informed (and committed the same to writing) that the kind of vessels called "schooners" derived their name from this circumstance; viz., Mr. Andrew Robinson of that place, having constructed a vessel which he masted and rigged in the same manner as schooners are at this day, on her going off the stocks and passing into the water, a bystander cried out, "Oh, how she scoons." ​Robinson instantly replied, "A scooner let her be." From which time, vessels thus masted and rigged have gone by the name of "schooners"; before which, vessels of this description were not known in Europe or America.' This account was confirmed to me by a great number of persons in Gloucester. The strongest negative evidence corroborates these statements. No marine dictionary, no commercial record, no merchant's inventory, of a date prior to 1713, containing the word 'schooner,' has yet been discovered; and it may, therefore, be received as an historical fact, that the first vessel of this class had her origin in Gloucester, as stated by the respectable authorities above cited.
"The result of my explorations in these fields may interest some readers. Let us begin at home. In the ten years immediately preceding 1713, more than thirty sloops were built in the town, but no schooner. The first mention of a vessel of this class in our records occurs in 1716, when a new schooner belonging to the town was cast away at the Isle of Sables. In the inventory of the estate of John Parsons, who carried on the fishing business, we have, in 1714, '⅓ of a fishing vessel, £19; ½ of a shallop, £15; of an open sloop; £20'; but among the effects of Nathaniel Parsons, deceased, in 1722, are given 'Scooner Prudent Abigail; £180; scooner Sea Flower, £83; and scooner Willing Mind, £50.' The notes of my examination of the Essex Probate Records show, from the inventory of Capt. Beamsley Perkins of Ipswich, 1721, a 'skooner, £200; small ditto, £22'; the ​first mention of the name I could find there. In the next year appears, in the inventory of Capt. John Stacy, late of Marblehead, 'a skooner called Indian King, £250.' A day's examination of several volumes of the Suffolk Probate Records ended at 1714 with the desired result. No schooner was found. In that year was entered the inventory of John Wilson, shopkeeper, of Boston, from which I copied as follows: 'A sloop lying at Cape Anne (¼) £45; a quarter of another sloop at Cape Anne, £45; 1 quarter of the sloop Society, £40; the sloop Sea Flower, £20; one half of a sloop, £75; ⅛ part of a sloop, £25.' The early Boston newspapers do not always mention in their marine intelligence the class to which a vessel reported belongs. In looking over imperfect files of these papers, the first schooner I found was the Return, outward bound (June, 1718) for Great Britain; the next (March, 1720), the Hope, for Virginia; and the Phœnix, for Terceira. In 1722 were the schooner Hope, for Virginia; a schooner of about fifty tons, taken by pirates at the eastward; the schooner Mary, and schooner Samuel, taken by Captain Edward Low, a pirate, near Cape Sable; and the schooner Milton, and schooner Rebeckah.
"One can imagine the eagerness with which the active and inventive mind of Robinson seized upon the strange word applied to the peculiar motion of his vessel as she glided from the stocks, and the delight with which he exclaimed, as—according to the custom of the time—he dashed a bottle of rum against her bow 'A schooner let her be.' Tradition ​points to a spot on the wharf of Messrs. Samuel Wonson and Sons, then owned by Capt. Robinson, as the place where this vessel was built. The name given to her was meant at first, probably, to be her particular appellation; but after she was 'masted and rigged' in a peculiar manner, which was soon adopted by others, she became the type of a class, and the designation passed from a proprietary to a common use. That she was so 'masted and rigged,' is evident from the fact that she became the type of a class."
BOSTON LIGHT, 1717
Although the foregoing evidence, both positive and negative, appears conclusive, it has been questioned by some writers; yet they have failed to produce any record of the existence of a schooner prior to 1713. ​The word Schoon, however, is Dutch, and from the Dutch-Latin dictionary already referred to, published in 1599, we find Schoon—beautiful, fair, lovely; and then follow some thirteen applications of the word, but nothing to indicate that it was at that time applied to a rig or a vessel.
In 1716 the first lighthouse built in North America was erected on the Little Brewster, an island at the entrance of Boston harbor; it is known throughout the maritime world as Boston Light. During the following year William Burgis of London, published an engraving of this lighthouse, in which the tender appears. From it we can form an idea of a large sloop of that period.
In 1717 an engraving of New York harbor also was published by William Burgis, dedicated "To his Excellency, Robert Hunter, Esq., Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of the Provinces of New York, New Jersey, and the Territories depending thereon in America, and Vice-Admiral of the same." The engraving shows several yachts, one of which is evidently a Government yacht saluting, while the other, the index informs us, is "Colonel's Morris's Fancy, turning to windward with a sloop of common mould."
This yacht is mentioned in the Memorial History of New York, as follows: "Racing on the water was not much in fashion, though the gentry had their barges, and some their yachts or pleasure sail-boats. The most elaborate barge, with awning and damask curtains, of which there is mention, was that of the Governor Montgomerie, and the most ​noted yacht was the Fancy belonging to Colonel Lewis Morris, whose Morrisania Manor, on the peaceful waters of the Sound, gave fine harbor and safe opportunity for sailing."
In another view of New York in 1746 the portraits of two small sloops appear; one with, what may be termed, the old style of rig-staysail and jib; the other with only one head-sail; so that we may infer that about that period the American sloop rig was introduced.
EARLY AMERICAN SLOOPS, 1746
It has previously been mentioned that the sloop originated in Holland, and, like the yacht, was introduced into America and England from that country. It eventually developed into the British cutter and American sloop, and from being a ship's boat, it became a seagoing vessel of considerable tonnage. Up to the beginning of the nineteenth ​century the only difference between a cutter and a sloop in England was that, while a cutter carried a running bowsprit and her jib was set flying, a sloop had a standing bowsprit and her jib was set on a stay. The evolution of the cutter rig in England we shall deal with later.
In the eighteenth century a large number of sloops were built in America, both for trading and the fisheries. Some of the larger sloops carried a square topsail, topgallant-sail and flying jib.
In 1714 the sloop Hazard was sent from England to America to carry the news of the accession of King George I. to the throne, and orders for the Colonial Government. After crossing the Atlantic, she was wrecked and lost off Cohasset, Massachusetts, November 12th of the same year. Before the Revolution, England allowed lumber to be imported from her American colonies in sloops only. This naturally led to the building of sloops of large tonnage; consequently, in 1772, a sloop of 140 tons register was built on the Kennebec River for the timber trade. No doubt, too, there were other sloops of almost the same tonnage engaged in the Atlantic trade.
In 1771 there were 125 sloops sailing on the Hudson River between New York and Albany, engaged in carrying freight and passengers.
In 1774 Captain John Schank, R. N. (afterward admiral), while stationed at Boston, Massachusetts, "in consequence of a hint from his Grace the Duke of Northumberland" (Naval Chronicle), built the first boat, or vessel, fitted with a sliding keel, as he ​termed it. It worked vertically through a trunk, or well, and the keel of the boat, thus embodying the principle of the Balsa and lee-board of Holland.
An illustration of Captain Schank's first boat with a sliding keel is here given; taken from Charnock's History of Marine Architecture, published in 1802. Captain Schank's invention was not adopted in America; and more than a third of a century elapsed before the centre-board was devised.
In the year 1776 a series of troubles, growing out of unjust taxation and other causes, culminated and resulted in thirteen of Great Britain's most prosperous colonies declaring their independence of the Mother Country, and founding the United States of America.
It is a matter of history that the rule of Great Britain over her American colonies was oppressive and at the same time weak, without being conciliatory; the loyalty and affection of the colonists therefore naturally changed into feelings of anger and revolt. And yet, when the last act of injustice had been committed, when the last bitter word had been spoken, and the last venomous drop of ink had stained the page of history, when the last gun had been fired, and the white stars of hope and ​peace had replaced the red cross of St. George, even then, there remained a bond of union that no human power could put asunder—a common birthright in the same laws, language, religion, and an equal heritage in art, literature, and science. These have endured, while all else has been as the tides and currents of the ocean, that divide yet still unite, the English-speaking race.
The close of the War of Independence found the financial resources of the young republic in a depleted condition. While able men guided the affairs of State, the merchants, shipbuilders, and seamen turned their attention toward developing commerce, and creating a mercantile marine, the cheerful ring of the top-maul and the caulking-iron soon enlivening the seaports along the Atlantic coast; each in turn became famous for her ships and seamen. And although shipbuilding had been carried on, to some extent, in colonial times, yet with the birth of the new Nation, men wrought with new energy and with new purpose. Still, we find no record of yachts built or owned in the United States until the beginning of the nineteenth century. Notwithstanding, the industry of the merchants, and the skill of the shipbuilders and the seamen of that period, became the heritage of their descendants, enabling them to produce the swiftest clipper-ships and yachts that ever sailed the seas.
The Harriet of Georgetown. 1793
Stephen Girard, who was born near Bordeaux in 1750,—and who had advanced from cabin-boy to captain,—having settled in Philadelphia, built in 1791 four beautiful ships for the East India and China trade; the Helvetia, Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Voltaire. They were long the pride of Philadelphia, and greatly enriched their owner.
A portrait of the ship Harriet of Georgetown,—here given,—done by Groenewegen at Amsterdam in the year 1793, may be taken as a type of the early American merchant ship.
American history abounds in records of the exploits of the sloops of that period, and these able single-masted vessels navigated every sea and ocean on the globe.
In 1783 a Hingham sloop of 40 tons, commanded by Captain Hallet, sailed from Boston for China, laden with a cargo of ginseng root. It was the custom in those days for vessels bound to and from India and China, to call in at the Cape of Good Hope for wood, water, and fresh provisions. Hallet, accordingly, arriving at the Cape, found there a fleet of English East Indiamen, homeward bound. The captains all combined and offered him two pounds of hyson tea for every pound of ginseng root. Hallet at once accepted their offer, and sailed for Boston, where he arrived in due course, the voyage turning out a very profitable one for the owners of the little sloop.
The first vessel to make the direct voyage to ​China from the United States was the sloop Enterprise, of 80 tons, built at Albany, N. Y., and commanded by Captain Stewart Dean. She sailed from New York, December 15, 1785, having a crew of seven men and two boys. She returned to New York during the following year, and, notwithstanding the then recent war and natural interests of trade, it is pleasant to record that the officials of the English East India Company at Canton, impressed by the novelty and boldness of the expedition, received Dean and his companions with every kindness and hospitality.
In 1786 Captain Josiah Shackford of Portsmouth, N. H., was engaged to take a vessel from Surinam to Bordeaux; and upon his arrival the owners were so pleased with his management of their interests, that they presented him with a sloop of 15 tons in which to return to Surinam.
Shackford, it appears, shipped a crew of two men, and, accompanied by his dog, sailed from Bordeaux; but when outside the harbor, his crew became alarmed, and were put on board of a pilot boat. Happily rid of these useless Abraham men, Shackford and his dog continued their voyage in peace, arriving at Surinam—a distance of about 3600 miles—in thirty-five days.
September 30, 1787, the ship Columbia, 212 tons, commanded by Captain John Kendrick, and the sloop Washington, or Lady Washington, as she was later named, of 90 tons, commanded by Captain Robert Gray, sailed from Boston, bound round Cape Horn to the northwest coast of America. A ​
The Columbia and Washington, 1787.
great rejoicings,—the first American vessel to circumnavigate the globe. The Washington, under command of Captain Kendrick, crossed the Pacific several times, visiting China and the Hawaiian Islands, where Kendrick was accidentally killed in 1793. After many adventures the Washington was wrecked and lost during the same year in the Straits of Malacca. A portrait of these two vessels is here given; copied from a sketch by Robert Haswell, third officer of the Columbia. During the latter part of her career the Washington was rigged as a brigantine; and on a subsequent voyage ​the Columbia, still under command of Grey, discovered "the great river of the West," which bears her name.
August 28, 1794, the sloop Union, 98 tons, commanded by Captain John Boit, sailed from Newport, R. I., for a voyage around the globe. It was successfully accomplished. Boit had been an officer on board the Columbia during her second voyage of discovery, and when he took command of the Union was only twenty-one years of age. The following is an extract from his journal written at the time:
"The sloop Union was fitted out in Newport, R. I., for a voyage to the North West coast of America, China, Isle of France and back to Boston. She was completely overhauled during the months of July and August, and on the 28th of August dropped into Coasters Harbor. Stores and provisions were taken aboard for a three years' cruise, besides a cargo of sheet copper, bar iron, blue cloth, blankets, trinkets, and other articles suitable for traffic with the North West Indians for furs. The sloop was completely fitted out for the voyage with a crew of 22 in number. Had good quarters, mounting 10-carriage guns, 6 & 3 pounders & eight swivels on the rails."
The Union. Nootka Sound, 1795.
The Union arrived at Boston July 8, 1796. She was owned by Crowell Hatch and Caleb Gardner, merchants of Boston. Captain Boit was born in Boston, 1773; he was the son of John Boit, a well-known Boston merchant and ship-owner.
The Union was the first, and probably the only sloop that has ever circumnavigated the globe—it will be remembered that the Spray made the greater part of her voyage rigged as a yawl, when commanded by that justly-famous seaman and navigator, Captain Joshua Slocum. ​Other instances might be cited showing the excellent seagoing qualities of the sloops of this early period—the worthy ancestors of the famous American centre-board sloops of the nineteenth century.
In 1780 five Albany capitalists formed a company and built the sloop Experiment. She was handsomely fitted for carrying passengers between Albany and New York, and proved so successful, that in 1787 the company built another sloop of the same type and for the same purpose. In 1810 there were 206 sloops running regularly between New York and Albany.
At this period, nearly all the Hudson River sloops carried lee-boards. The centre-board had not then come into existence; and in the keen and continual rivalry on the river these sagacious old-time traders availed themselves of the lee-board, it being especially adapted to the navigation of the Hudson.
In the year 1801 the yacht Jefferson, 22 15/95 tons, was built at Salem, Massachusetts, by Christopher Turner, for Captain George Crowninshield, of Salem. Her length was 35 feet 10 inches; breadth, 12 feet 4 inches; depth, 6 feet, and was first rigged as a schooner and afterward as a sloop. She was used by Captain Crowninshield as a yacht until the breaking out of the War of 1812, when she was armed and was the second vessel commissioned by the United States Government as a privateer. The Jefferson was commanded by Captain John Kehew, and carried a crew of thirty men. She captured the Nymph—the second prize of the war​—and two other prizes, but was found too small for this service. She remained the property of the Crowninshields until 1815, when she was sold for a fishing vessel and finally broken up at Lynn. This little vessel is believed to have been the first yacht that sailed under the American flag.
Here we find the beginning of a custom that continued both in the United States and Great Britain until the last quarter of the nineteenth century—the disposing of yachts after their days of giving pleasure had ended—to fishermen and pilots. They proved useful vessels; for, though built for speed, they were well constructed and rigged and safe for sea-voyages—the type of vessel a seaman likes.
There has been a good deal of controversy as to who first devised the centre-board. Whoever it was he really is not entitled to much credit for originality, as the centre-board is simply the lee-board of Holland substituted for the sliding keel in the trunk, or well, used by Schank. It seems highly probable that many different persons may have adopted this idea at the same time, and that a number of small boats and skiffs were probably fitted with the centre-board; but the first authentic record of the centre-board is a model made by Mr. Molyneux Shuldham, R. N., in 1809 while a prisoner of war at Verdun—still to be seen in the museum at Ipswich, England. This "revolving keel," as Shuldham called it, is hung on a bolt like the lee-board, and works in a trunk similar to Schank's, the trunk being lined with copper ribs, thereby adding ​strength and reducing friction. For decked vessels Shuldham proposed a revolving keel of lead, which, of course, was to be lowered and raised by a purchase attached to the after-end. At that time it does not appear that any vessel constructed in Europe was fitted with the revolving keel.
In 1811 Jacocks Swain, Henry Swain, and Joshua Swain, of Cape May, N.J., applied for and received a patent for the centre-board, or, as they called it, "a lee board through the bottom." The following are the official papers relating to the matter:
"THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
"To all to whom these Letters Patent shall come:
"Whereas, Jacocks Swain, Henry Swain and Joshua Swain, citizens of the United States, have alleged that they have invented a new and useful improvement in the lee board, which improvement they state has not been known or used before their application, and have affirmed that they do verily believe that they are the true inventors or discoverers of said improvement, have paid into the Treasury of the United States the sum of $30, delivered a receipt for the same, and presented a petition to the Secretary of State signifying a desire of obtaining an exclusive property in the said improvement and praying that a patent may be granted for that purpose.
The David Porter.
"In testimony whereof, I have caused these letters to be made patent and the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed.
"Given under my hand at the City of Washington, this tenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the thirty-fifth.
"James Madison.
"By the President, Jas. Monroe, Secretary of State."
"City of Washington, to wit:
"I do hereby certify that the foregoing letters patent were delivered to me on the tenth day of April, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and eleven, to be examined; that I have examined the same and find them conformable to law; and I do hereby return the same to the Secretary of State within fifteen days from the date aforesaid, to wit: on this tenth day of April, in the year aforesaid.
"C.A. Rodney, Attorney-General of the U.S."
The schedule referred to in these letters patent, ​and that makes part of the same, contains a description, in the words of the same Jacocks Swain, Henry Swain, and Joshua Swain themselves, of their new invented lee-board:
The Dolphin.
"The lee board is made as follows: It is to be made of two thicknesses of plank, laid together crossing each other enough to make it sufficiently strong, and thick enough to play through the aforesaid mortise and haul up into the said sheath whenever necessary, and wide enough to fill up said sheath from near the bottom of the keel to the beam that passes across the top of the said sheath, and the length agreeable to the length of the said sheath, with the after end swept off on a true sweep from the bolt hole that it hangs on; said bolt hole to hang it by, is to be four-fifths from the after end and near enough to the bottom for a true sweep that strikes, the forward end to strike the bottom and worked off to the same; it is to be hung on a bolt sufficiently strong, passing through one pair of the aforesaid knees, with a head on one side and a forelock on the other, high enough to fetch the bottom within the keel with a clasp and thimble riveted on the upper side of the after end for the purpose of a lanyard or tackle to be made fast to hoist it into the sheath and when necessary the top of the sheath, the after part to pass through the deck with a check fitted at the after end of the frame, with a sheave in it for the lanyard to pass through for the purpose of hoisting it up, and to make the said sheath sufficiently strong there must ​be a keelson run on each side of the frame and bolted through the aforesaid knees into the keel.
Jacocks Swain, Henry Swain, Joshua Swain.
Witnesses: Elijah Townsend, John Townsend."
This so-called "lee board through the bottom" is the centre-board very much as it exists to-day, and is the first record to be found in America in which it is described. Shuldham and the Swains, who, no doubt, worked quite independently of one another, seem fairly entitled to whatever credit may be due to this combination of the Dutch lee-board and well, or trunk, of Schank.
In the history of Rockland County, New York, Dr. Green, the author, states that the first centre-board vessel of any size built in America, if not in the world, was constructed at Nyack-on-the-Hudson, in 1815, by Henry Gesnor, for Jeremiah Williamson; and notwithstanding the predictions that her failure would be certain and immediate, the sloop, which was named the Advance, was in active service for many years, and proved a good and fast vessel.
A Baltimore Clipper. 1812.
The Baltimore clippers of that period, usually rigged as topsail schooners, enjoyed a well-earned reputation for speed and weatherly qualities. And the enormous profits resulting from the slave-trade, became an incentive to improvements in model and rig. Many of these schooners sailed under the flags of Spain and Portugal, but the war of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain furnished in privateering an irresistible stimulant to the shipowners, shipwrights, and seamen of the seaports along the Atlantic coast. It was during this war that the Baltimore clippers achieved a world-wide reputation. Their models and rig were adopted at home; and after the war they became the standard of excellence in the Royal Navy and in the Yacht Club of England. Allusions to their long, low, black hulls and slender, raking masts have embellished and enlivened many a song and story.
The portraits of three of these famous vessels are here given: the David Porter showing the fore-and-aft rig; and the topsail schooner Dolphin,—both privateers,—and an unknown brigantine, probably a slaver or a privateer, to judge from the sail she has set to keep out of range of the guns of the frigate chasing her.
The lines of a Virginia privateer of 1812-1815 are here given, and may be taken as a type of the Baltimore clipper of that period, showing a round, easy bow and midship section, with a long, clean ​afterbody, raking masts and stern post; also the lines of a Chesapeake pilot boat of 1812, showing the same type. The dimensions of the privateer are as follows: Length on deck, 81 feet 4 inches; keel, 60 feet 7 ½ inches; breadth (extreme) 22 feet inches; (moulded), 21 feet 10 inches; depth of hold, 8 feet 6 inches; burden in tons, 158 42/94. Dimensions of the pilot boat: length on deck, 56 feet; keel, 42 feet 9 inches; breadth (extreme), 15 feet inches; (moulded), 15 feet; burden in tons, 52 83/94.
The War of 1812 demonstrated, as probably nothing else could, the wonderful progress the United States had made during the thirty-six years of its independence. And the exploits of her frigates, together with the skill and daring of her seamen, became the wonder and admiration of Europe as well as of her own people. In addition, these splendid vessels became object lessons for the British Admiralty.
The Constitution.
A VIRGINIA PRIVATEER, 1812-15
A CHESAPEAKE PILOT BOAT, 1812
This famous vessel may be taken as a representative type of the American frigate of that period, six of which were ordered by Congress to be constructed at different ports, as follows:
Constitution, 44 guns, Boston; President, 44 guns. New York; United States, 44 guns, Philadelphia; Chesapeake, 38 guns, Portsmouth, Va.; Constellation, 38 guns, Baltimore; Congress, 38 guns, Portsmouth, N. H.
All were built from models and designs by Joshua Humphreys of Philadelphia, and the most capable shipbuilders in the country were consulted and employed. At the breaking out of the War of 1812 the United States Government owned a small fleet, consisting of the following vessels:
New York, 36 guns; Essex, 32 guns; Adams, 28 guns; Boston, 28 guns; John Adams, 28 guns; Wasp, 18 guns; Hornet, 18 guns; Argus, 16 guns; Siren, 16 guns; Oneida, 16 guns; Vixen, 14 guns; Nautilus, 14 guns; Enterprise, 14 guns; Viper, 12 guns; in all twenty vessels including a few small gunboats.
Of the foregoing, the New York and the Boston were unseaworthy; the Oneida was on Lake Ontario; while the Adams required extensive repairs before she could proceed to sea, thus reducing the effective fleet of the United States Navy to sixteen vessels. At this period the Royal Navy of Great Britain numbered one thousand and sixty ​sail. Of these, between seven and eight hundred were well-equipped sea-going vessels. Opposed to this gigantic naval power, the little squadron of the United States was in almost the same relative position that the scanty navy of England had found itself in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when it was threatened by the imposing Armada of Spain. And, like England in her defense against Spain, the United States gathered her gallant sons and sent them out upon the ocean to attack the flag of Great Britain whenever and wherever it could be found upon the sea. Side by side with the memorable naval battles that illumine the pages of American history, on the lakes and on the sea, stand the heroic exploits of the privateers and their intrepid commanders and crews. From the record of Lloyd's, London, it appears that the American privateers captured during this short war of three years one thousand three hundred and forty-five British vessels. And Mr. Baring, M.P., rose in his place in the House of Commons and complained that "American privateers came into the Chops of the Channel and carried off British vessels, without the ability of the Admiralty Board to stop them." It also was stated that Captain Allen, in the brig Argus, committed more devastation in the English and St. George's channels than any hostile squadron that ever sailed out of a French port. And although this is but one instance of the skill and daring of these unique American seamen, many more could be cited.
The American sea-captains of that period were ​men of intelligence and refinement. They were accomplished seamen, navigators, and merchants; and many of them, after retiring from the sea, rose to eminence and wealth. They were the first to demonstrate that the command of a merchantman was a position that any gentleman might be proud to hold. Of the same type were their officers and crews: bright, clean-minded, clear-eyed young fellows, learning to become captains, with cousins and aunts to welcome them when they returned home after their India and China voyages. And this high character among American merchant seamen continued until the breaking out of the Civil War in 1861, the names of some of the oldest and best families in the United States being found up to that time on the shipping articles of Indiamen and China clippers sailing from the ports of Boston, New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. Among the old families of New England it was by no means uncommon for one son to be an undergraduate at Harvard or Yale, while another was either far away in India or China before the mast, or an officer on board a crack New York or Boston clipper ship.
The ships, too, were worthy of their officers and crews, and held the record for speed; while the reputation of both were so high that underwriters were eager to have them on their books, and shippers were content to pay from twenty to thirty per cent, higher rates for freight than to the ships of other nations.
Those were the days when canvas, hemp, and ​wood had reached their highest limit of development upon the ocean; when captains with speaking trumpets commanded their ships from the quarterdeck. In those days ships carried single topsails with four reef-bands, studding sails, ringtails, water-sails and sky-sails, when
"A yankee clipper and yankee crew, A yankee mate and captain too"
were picturesque and even romantic objects of interest, which so many New England boys were unable to resist, and whose influence continued strong in after life; for the love of a ship and the sea once implanted is rarely, if ever, uprooted.
In what, then, does this pleasure of being on the ocean in a finely-equipped, well-manned and commanded sailing vessel really consist? One might answer: In what does the pleasure of anything really consist? Speaking broadly, and in a general way, it may be said that freedom from the countless vexations and worries of land is a negative pleasure; while in the comparatively small community of a ship, system, order, and the relative duties, rights and privileges of every person on board are defined, and the friction, the everlasting scramble, and the hurly-burly of land are unknown. Yet this life of social repose is enlivened by adventure; by the strong contrasts of work and rest, and by hardships even; which, ended, enhance the moment of happiness; while the ever changing conditions of the winds and waves are a constant interest. The nearness to the forces and glories of nature, the awful majesty of the hurricane is inspiring, as the ​ship, stripped of her canvas, with naked spars, held between earth and sky in the strong grasp of the mighty ocean, wages her battle amid the wild waves and pitiless blast of the whirlwind. And this sublime solitude is never loneliness; for, on the ocean one is never less alone than when alone, and the absolute stillness and quiet when the winds and waves are at rest are peace to the soul. After months passed on the ocean the sweetest joy the seaman ever knows is the first faint perfume from the land, sweetening the odor of the brine. If his ship be homeward bound—shortening the distance and cleaving her way from horizon to horizon with all the canvas her spars and rigging will stand,—the first green water, coasting craft, taking a pilot, the lighthouse, the rattling of the cable through the hawse-pipe as the anchor grasps the land, laying aloft for the last time to stow the sails, the church bells of his native town, are joys to the seaman's heart no words can tell. "Home"—it is a word no landsman can ever know the full meaning of.