Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1912-08-16

10, one hundred years ago, Cap
81 tain Isaac Hull, one of Ameri-
A cas- greatest naval command
ers, won wager of hat from
CAPTAIN James Richard Dacres of the
British navy In addition to the hat,
the Englishman lost the first action
between frigates in the war Of 1912,
and his country suffered blow to its
pride and prestige from which it was
long in recovering A few days later
the Constitution, one of the vessels
which the British commanders had
sneeringly called the 'fir-built Yankee
frigates flying piece of striped hunt
ing at their mast-heads, appeared of
Boston lighthouse gaily decked with
flags and proudly passed up the har-
Dor to tell of the capture and destruc-
ton of the Guerrero.
Only a month before this momen-
tous engagement Captain Hull had
had an exciting experience with the
Guerrero and her consorts, the Bevi.
dere and Eeolus. These three vessels
pursued the Constitution for more
than Sc hours and Captain Hull es-
capped only by indomitabIe persever-
ance and most skillful seamanship,
putting into Boston for supplies.
Early in August the Constitution
ltarted out again on a hunt for the
enemy, and on August 10 a sail was
sighted that proved to be a British
frigate which, from her maneuvers,
was evidently DESTROYS of engaging.
When the vessels were three miles
apart Captain Hull sent down his
royal yards, reefed his topsails and
sent the crew to quarters. This crew
was remarkably disciplined and drill
ed at the guns, and more than that,
scarcely man Of them but had a
score to settle with the English. On
the bare backs of most of them were
the scars made by the lashes of the
brutal English press gangs, and many
were descendants of American sailors
who had suffered martyrdom in the
British prison ships during the Revo
luton. Hull himself kept in mind the
fact that his father died in a pest ship
from the cruel treatment he had re
ceived.
Hull Wanted the Hat.
Sooi- after o'clock the two fri
gates exchanged Intellectual broad
sides while maneuvering for position
and constantly drawing closer. About
6 o'clock Hull, becoming impatient
ordered the Constitution to be steered
diractlxy FOR 4I,a o,ax,,,, oad .5,
closed upon his port quarter BY the
orders of Hull the Americans now
ceased firing and made all prepare.
tons for an effective broadside, reload.
ing the guns carefully with round shot
and grape and training them upon the
British ship. The Englishmen were
to be seen working their guns stead.
lily, and their frequent cheers were
plainly heard What followed is thus
told by Edgar s. Maclay in his His.
tory of the Navy:
AS vet no order had come from the
quarterback of the American. frigate
and perfect quiet prevailed along her
decks as the men stood by their guns,
nearly all of them barefooted and
many stripped to the waist, ever and
anon casting inquiring glances at their
officers. At this moment a shot
struck the Constitution bulwarks
and threw innumerable splinters over
the first division of the gun deck
wounding several men. Observing
the effect of this shot. the Englishnen
gave three cheers; but still the Amer
lean frigate remained silent. Firs;
Lieutenant Morris now approached
the quarterback, where Captain Hull
was cooily pacing back and forth, and
said: The enemy has opened fire
and killed two Of our men. Shall we
return it?' Not yet, sir was the
response from the quarterback, and
the men saw their mutilated ship
mates hurried below to the surgeons
table. while they stood silently al
their guns in momentary expectation
OF meeting a similar fate. Nothing
but the perfect discipline in the Amer.
ican-frigate restrained the Impotence
Of the gun crews and prevented them
from returning the Engiishman's car
nonading. Three times Lieutenant