The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-01-28
The Early History of the Navy.

attracted much attention. Mr.. Maclay
now follows up this success with His
tory of American Priyateers,' a less
which in a measure supplements the first.
AS he explains in his preface, the early
history of our navy was so intimately
connected with the achievements of our
privateers that full record of the latter
is necessary for complete history of the
former.
The preface. which is quite long and
very interesting, gives complete idea of
the scope and purpose of the book. Mr..
Maelsy believes that the Importance of
naval operations in the war for indepen-
dence and the war of 1872 has hardly been
fully recognized, and II is his intention 10
make as complete a record possible Of
the doings Of the navy, in order that flu
ture historians may take these into &C
count and the general public be informed
on all important points. A paragraph
from his introduction gives a fairly good
idea OF the way in which the achieve
ments OF land forces have been magnified
TO the exclusion OF work done on the sea:
Every reader of American history is familiar
with the capture Of Stony Point and its British
garrison Of five hundred and forty-thrce men; Of
Ticonderoga, with its garrison of fifty men; OF
the battle Of Trenton, with nearly one thousand
prisoners. But il is doubtful II many have heard
OF the capture of three hundred British soldiers,
with their colonel, in two transports by the little
State cruiser Lee of the two hundred llighlanders
and twenty army officers OF the SEVENTY iirst Regi-
ment by our Andrea DORA; OF twenty -four British
army officers by Capt. John Burroughs Hopkins
squadron; of the two hundred and forty Hessians
captured by the priyateer Mars; Of the company
Of dragons taken by the privateer Massachusetts,;
of the fiNty-three Hcssian chasseurs made pris-
oners by the privateer Tyrannicide; of the cap
ture of q colonel. four lieutenant colonies, and
three majors by the privsteer Vengeance. and of
the capture OF hundred soldiers by the
prirsteer Warren. We all know that Washing
ton took about one thousand men at Trenton; that
Gates made some eight thousand prisoners at
Saratoga, and that the Americans and French
cured about thousand at yorktown: but it
IL not generally known that in the period
fully sixteen thousand prisoners were made by
cur sea forces While fewer than six thousand
prisoners were taken by our land forces in the
war Of 1872, fully thirty thousand were taken by
our sea forces.
These figures are Instructive, and viii
probably surprise the average reader con-
eiderably. The reason for This curious dis
position 10 ignore the work OF the navy
and magnify the importance of the army
may lie in the fact tina; to a great extent
the land forces were composed of y0iua-
teers, who afterward returned to private
lie, and that their friends ard chi, Ira IL
kept alive the memory OF their decis. be-
cause these were a part OF the history Of
tie region In which they happened. In
addition TO this, the surrender OF land
forces was witnessed by a consider able
part of the population. while the scarcity
af n
general Information OF Victories at sea,
and those who took part in sea fights were
largely trained seamcn. who spent little of
their time on shore, and hence contributed
comparatively little to the unwritten his
tory Of their country. Hence the historian.
often not too scrupulous or careful in the
collection Of material, gave most space in
his works to the things in which there was
most general interest. But if we are TO
have an accurate and rustworthy history
of this country. II is necessary that later
chronicles should remedy this defect; and
that Is evidently what Mr.. Maclay means
10 90.
After this explanation The historian goes
on to give some extracts from British news
papers and documents OF the period show
ing that England attached far more in,
portance to our sea forces than 10 those
on land. In September. 1918. a meeting of
/
ested in maritime trade was held in Glas-
gov, and others in Liverpool and other
important trade centres, for the purpose OF
protesting against the war with America
AT meeting Of this sort in Glasgow, 1t
was resolved unanimously
That tic number Of privsieers with which o,ir
channels have been infested. the audsciiy with
which they have approached cur coasts and the
Success with which their enterprise has been at
tended have proved injurious to our commerce,
hunibling TO pride. and discroditsble 20 the
directors Of the naval power Of the British nation
whose flag, till 81 late waved over every and
triumphed ovef every rival. That there is reason ,
10 believe that in the sh0rt space Of less than |
twenty -four months above eight hundred vessels I
have been captured by that pover 1hast maritime
strength We have hitherto impoiiNcaly, leld in I
contempt.
This is rather strong language and
proves cOnclusively that Englands ,rlde
was much disturbed BY the operation Of
the little American navy. Mr.. Maclay also
claims that the admiralty Of England /
modified their management by adopting 70
some extent Arneri. an ideas, that We IN /.
trodueed the twenty four pound gun IN our
frigates. and THAI in 1873 some pf the
most famous British line or battieshlps
sofne OF which we're under Nelson's oTders
were cut down as ftigates 10 cope with cur 4
Constitution. President and United States |
Editorials quoted from tho London Times" |
ana other leading English papers prove |
that the American navy was no mean an
tagobist and was, in fact rather more ,
than equal 10 its task. Mr. Maclay says |
in conclusion that his work has necessa- |
s1iy been the more difficult from the fact |
that no complete official record of the |
American privateers and their doings has |
ever been kept. so that be Is compelled TO |
rely upon scattered and more or less i'm |
xn1r fact s.hr rl..1n he knatr oil 10 II
two parts. one dealing with the Revolution, |
she other with the war Of 1872.
The priVdteersman certainly led a far l
more eyentful and picturesque life than the |
average man-o'war's man even Ia those |
haphazard times. A great Part of the book /
Is taken up with stories OF pure adventure
of the most desperate sort. The crews Of |
these vessels were OF a most mixed sort \
the chance OF spoils leading many men of
good birth and some education to enter The |
service These men were not expected TO
do the work Of ordinary sailors, but were
taken on board simply for fighting pur-
poses Some of the marines" thus re-
cruited we're bsckwoodsmen, utterly ignor.
ant OF nautical discipline or etiquette, and !
the mixture OF nationalities, classes, tra1i-
lions and characters was as quaint a one
as could well be imagined. In the course
OF his narrative Mr. Maclay tells a rather
amusing story of the Hyder Ally, a ship
fitted out at the expense of the State Of
Pennsylvania. and under the command of
Lieutenant Joshua Barney. Of the navy. an
soul who had already been
some hair-raising experiences. !
complement of ITO men was shipped, and
the vessel sailed as convoy TO some mer
chantmen, getting as far as Cape May
Roads where IL was met by blockading
force. In the course Of the fight a char
acteristic incident occurred