Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1840-01-24


prepared her decks for action. AT the first
tap of the drum. the crew came pouring up
for muster, aud ere the drummers had bea-
ten he cali, they stood IN silence at their
guns
At s. p. NJ. The chase boisled three En-
gl,sh cpsgns, and opened her fire at loug
shot wearing several times to rnke aud to
avoid rak'ng III return. The Constltu.
iIun sllll caInc down IN deai h-lke silence,
waving occasionally to balk the English
commander N his rakish intentions. ond
heuvIng ahead like her inmilable sell
alone. AT SIX. the enemy, who seemed to
be very grnIemanly fellow, bore up, and
ran up under his three topsals and jib.Wllh
wind on his quarter. which IN PLAN Eng
IIsh meant. a one Of the captains Of the
guns whispered 10 The first sponger-" Come
along ,de as geek as you please. and take /,
yard.afm and ya,d'arm, aud be DID to yOu!
AT I,ltle oatter six, the bows Of Old
Ironsdes began TO double on the quarter of
the English ship, and as she came full upon
her, al pistol shot distance, Captain Hull,
who had stood, trumpet IN hand upon the
horseblock waiting for the favorable mo-
ment. sprang upon deck and gave he long
expected order, FIRE !"
At the word, the entire brondsde went
off as one gun and careened the Consi,iu.
tlon'o her bearing IL was a broadslde
Of destrucl lon-lls shot pierced the enemy
through and through, and carried away his
mizzeDmast, while Captain Hull roured
through his trumpet
We'll done, my lands, you have made u
brig Of her !!
You have carried away a streak of cop.
per, sir, SAID an old tar. pointing to an
enormous rent IN the Captains Dankeen
tights with one hand, and touching his ha /
with the other.
'Ha ! SAID Hull. examining his damaged
| unmen,ona bles, 'is true the stuff has Civ
en- awav,but never mind, burnt powder will
soon color v'ry thing. Give them anolb-
royal saIute,my boys
For thirty minutes, one incessant roar
| Of artillery filled The ears of the combalanus
| A vast field of white smoke spread upon
| the face of The waters to leeWard, and the
hollow waves echoed mournfully to the
thunder speaking gun.
| The frIgate now passed slowly ahead.
keeping up an unm''galed fire. aud lufied
short around the Englishman's bows, to
prevent being vaked. 10 performing this
manoeuvre. the ship shot into wind, got
sternway upon her, and backed on to her
antagonist. The cabin of the Constitution
now caught fire from the close explosion of
The forward guns Of he enemy. The ex-
erllons Of lieutenant V. b. HnfFmao, who
'''''''' w. - IT., Il ''-inn hn.Sa"""
| stored order land he gun of the enemy that
had caused the injury and threatened to do
still greater damage. was lsabled and 81
fenced. As the vessels touched, the sound
of bnues and the cry Of FIRST DIVISION OF
boardets away = issued from the smoke
that covered each vessel, aud the heavy
cannon had an opportunity 10 cool awhile
The English mustered at the bows while
the Americans assembled at the tatf'aI
The musketry was now dreadful. Lieu.
tenant Morris was shot through the body
out maintained his post The bullet having
fortunately missed his vi'als. Sailing mas
ter A.my was wounded IN the shoulder
and lieutenant Bush, the marine officer
having received bullet IN the head ie
upon his face and died with the cry of en-
enlargement upon ms lips. The Eng isl
suffered the most by The fire.
1t being found impossible for either par
| " 10 DouIu III me p'tscUCt u suCn Il III
and during the continuance of the heav,
sea, the sails were filled. As The trigat
shot ahead, the ioremast Of the enemy fe
by the board.
'Huzza " said Captain Hull, we hav
made sioop Of her. my boys =
AT This moment, down came The main
mast OF no Gurriere with a tremendou
crash, and she lay helpless wreck wa
loving IN the trough of the encrmsone
sea, 4 cock that had been knocked on
Of his coop by shot, row flew INTO tn
mlzen rigging. and crowed like banar
on his dunghll 1t was the cry of victory
and was followed by three loud huzza
from the CONSTITUTIONS crew.
The conQueror now ran off short dis
lance. secured her mast wove new rlggn
, aud wiped her bloody decks. At seven
she wore round aud took favorable pos
>. ton for rakIng. The enemy having la
sufficient amusement for one uf ernoor
, lowered jack that had been kept flyn
on the stump Of the mlzzermasl; aud Iron
SIDES victory was complete,
An officer was now sent On board tn
prize,who returned immediately e. repor,e
her to be His BrnIanlc Mojesly'S ship GuI
rlere. of thlrty'eight guns, Capt. Dacres
4, The Constitution, having put prize mas
ter and crew on board, lowered around duI
ing the night The next morning. III
pr'ze officer having declared the Gurrer
4 to be IN sinking condition, the prisoner
were removed and the prlza crew recalled
4 At three, p NJ. Captain Hull ordered III
wreck Of the beautiful frIgale to be set o
! fire, and IN quarter of an hour. brgl
, flash ut up the heavens awful roa
Q rang along the blows--a mighty cloud I
. lmpenerabe smoke slowly moved along III
? ocean, and when The evening sun locke
D down upon tn" clear waters, nothing wa
Q TO be seen of he noble cruiser but bac
a and bubbl'ng fragments dancing upon the
2 waves.
| The Constitution, having her decks um
0 bored with wounded prisoners. shaped he