The Thibodaux sentinel. (Thibodaux, La.) 1905-1912, 1911-05-20

vi Tie evening -Oi May 10 SOIllut
, dore Rodgers, in command of TIL
l President, sighted a sail on the cas-
| ern horizon, and concluded that tn
strange vessel was none other thai
the Guerrero, which had forced tn
, boy from Maine into British service
Rodgers at once gave orders to sal
in pursuit and to ascertain what f1as
1.-THE stranger flew. Several hour.
passed ere the vessels came within
close range Of each other. The sur
had set and darkness was falling
when Rodgers sprang into the rigging
and tried to decipher with the aid OF
his glass the ensign borne by the OBJ
Eject of the chase. But the shadow
of night had rendered the colors I'M
dtStinguishable, and. Rodgers, Selling
his speaking trumpet shouted with
the full strength of his powerful
lungs: What ship is that?"
| There was no reply, and again
Rodgers repeated his hail. Then a
response came from the stranger in
the shape Of sheet of flame and a
round-shot which hurtled along the
upper deck of The President and
buried itself in the main mast Be
| fore Rodgers could give the command
to return fire" one of his eager gun:
ners anticipated his leaders instruc-
tions, and the first shot fired by an
American vessel in the war of 1912
Numbered forth defiance to the foe.
The commodore then gave the order
to engage, and the broadsides of both
craft crashed in unison. A pail of
blackness had now descended on the
deep, and the battle ragged fiercely on
by the dim rays of the deck lanterns
and red flashes, from the. cannons'
mouths. Suddenly the; enemy ceased
firing and Rodgers gave orders to
follow suit, believing that she had
surrendered But the momentary lull
was broken, by another broadside
from the stranger, and the powder
begrimed, cheering Americans re-
piled in kind. Through the darkness
of the night they fought on steadily,
until again their adtersary's fire was
silenced.' For the third time Rodgers
stentorian voice roared across the
waters:
! What ship lis thatg"ss /. |
The response came back faintl9:
I'VE are his majestys ship"
: The wind Was blowing strongly and
away from The President, and bre-
vented the conqueror from hearing
the name of the defeated craft. The
rigging of the enemy was badly :cut
up and shattered and her decks were
crimson shambles. At daylight Com.
modore Rodgers ascertained the name |
Of the battered hulk his guns had
hammered SO merci1 essly' through the
night to be the Little Bell, consort
OF the" dreaded Guerrero frigate.
: When The President reached home
and the news of her exploit and vic
tory, was made known, the heroes Of
the battle were everywhere received
with Tremendous enthusiasm. For a
short while Commodore Rodgers was
praised and lionizehs on. AN sides, hut
suddenly negotiations were opened
between, the, Washington and British
cabinets; and a change of scene took
place. s:TheEAmerican diplomats saw |.
1T to keep the heroes of the combat
rom public. view and the people
were naturally bewildered by; their
lotions. To climax matters a court b
# inquiry was, Rpointed by ,our gov s
as a result of a claim nut
Onward by Al b. Bingham, the Brit
sh. commodore, in which he stated /
hat The President had fired the first |
shot and coiffmehceed;a sudden and
VAT 9lssd sattack, upon his. ship.
The unwindihg Of a'vast quantity of (
diplomatic red tape followed. and
10th: gov rpn1ents:were seemingly de- {
irous of hushing up the. hole bust. e
less.:'" buts the AnhatfcaH. people at 7
arge believed in Rodgers and his ga,si {
ant crew and made their, protests
leard In no gentle tones, A real and $
lot visionary war, cloud lowered on, liz
he international horizon. and Rodg-Ii
rs himself n NJ. dlisgegarddns What were i
Practically orders of silence from the G
tar department. made the following t
old declaration: p
Il may bel censured, but was de- t
not to be the aggressor, nor. t.
'ould | suffer the flag of my country !;
} be insulted with impunity. And t
1at is why / gave a general order. to c
re- and we have taught England a o
,sson.", :. ~ = (. =. [
To the foregoing spirited announce il
tent the American public-contrary s
} the wishes of President Madison |'B
nd his peace-loving policy-ghve St
earty and .unstinted applause. !, 1t a
anspired that the British vessel Was p
arfully damaged during. the engage
ent, besides sustaining "a loss of b
men killed and wounded. while fa
be President escaped almost I'M 81
athed, and had but one injured, a Sc
" slightly wounded in the hand. In te
$ recent history Julian, Hawthorne til
'votes less than a page to this Ia
itfal battle of the war of 1912, and al
e following sentence is worthy. Of w
ing quoted: w