The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1917-06-20
OUR NAVY WAS BUSY
Early Half of Nineteenth Century
Crowded With Stirring Events.

O'o"dSd WIN SLlfTIUQ ENcUlS.
The downfall of Spanish power in
America was swiftly followed by the
outeroppings of a system of piracy in
American waters, spreading from Por.
to Rico south to the estuaries OF the
rivers in the new state of Buenos Air
es. For a time armed merchantmen.
on account of the small size of the
pirate craft were fairly safe, but by
1921 the situation had become so Sc
rious that it demanded action by the
American government. Ten vessels.
armed schooners and gunboats. were
detailed for West Indian service in the
fall Of that year, and in 1922 this
squadron was augmented by the Ma
cedonian, thirty-eight guns; the Con
gress, thirty-siX guns, and several 9th
er of the best fighting ships of the
navy under the command of Capt.
James Biddle. In 1928 the command
passed to Capt. David Porter. Midship-
man David Glasgow Famagut received
his first taste of fire in these "speculi-
arly hazardous and eXhausting" cam
paigns against ruthlessness at our
very doors. The principal incident of
these operations was the capture of
the port and fort of Foxardo on the
island of Porto Rico in October. 1924.
the alcade of the town having refused
to deliver supplies plundered by the
pirates from the American consulate
at st. Thomas. Throughout these years
numerous engagements, many Of them
extremely bloody, occurred both at
sea and on land. between the pirates
and American naval forces. The Ma
Wy patroled the West Indian waters
against pirates until well along in the
Jackson administration.
1t was also in Jac6sons time that
the armed forces" Of the United
States registered their effective pro
test against lawlessness on the Pacific.
Since the day in 1884 when the great |
ship Empress of India had first carried
the Stars and Stripes into Canton har-
Dor, American vessels in the Far Eas. |
tern trade had found their twelve and |
siXteen-gun batteries sufficient protec- |
ton against the pirates who swarmed |
The sultry coasts of the Indian Ocean. |
But on February 7. 1881. the ship /
Friendship of Salem. while taking on /
cargo Of pepper at Qualia Battoo on
the northwestern coast of Sumatra.
was captured in a surprise attack by /
Ter Moorish stevedores, and most of
he crew murdered
The next day, with the assistance of
iome armed merchantmen lying near
~ those of the crew who ESCAPED. re-
'ovsred the Friendship. Nevertheless,
Andrew Jackson was no sort of n
person to let such an outrage against
american rights go unpublished. The |
orty-fourgun frigate Potomac, Capt. |
'ohn Downes, waiting in New York
larbor to take Minister Martin Van
3uren to London, was hastily detailed
or service in East Indian waters. She
lrriyed off Qualla Battoo in February.
S32. Just year after the Friendship |
massacre and at once dispatched a |
anding party to attack the town The
'attle lasted from dawn until early
yening when the rulers of the city
nder flag of truce came on board |
he Potomacs deck and humbly |
egged Captain Downes for peace o
ny terms. IF only the big guns
he Potomacs new thirty
would cease their lightning and
lunder.' All the stockades had fall
n on shore. One hundred Malays lay
cad, and 200 wounded. The Ameri.
ans had lost two killed and eleven
ounded The Malays gave their
lodges to be good and for the future,
it'll the aid of the merchantmen's big
kept Thanksgiving
ED Republican.