The Fight for a Free Sea

The Fight for a Free Sea: A
Chronicle of
by Ralph D. Paine

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Title: The Fight for a Free Sea: A Chronicle of the War of 1812 The
Chronicles of America Series, Volume 17
Author: Ralph D. Paine
Release Date: July 30, 2006 [EBook #18941]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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FOR A FREE SEA: A ***

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[Illustration: "OLD IRONSIDES"
The old frigate Constitution as she appears today in her snug berth at
the Boston Navy Yard where she is preserved as an historical relic.
Photograph by N. L. Stebbins, Boston.]

THE FIGHT FOR A FREE SEA
A CHRONICLE OF THE WAR OF 1812
BY RALPH D. PAINE
[Illustration]
VOLUME 17 THE CHRONICLES OF AMERICA SERIES ALLEN
JOHNSON, EDITOR
1920

CONTENTS
I. "ON TO CANADA!" II. LOST GROUND REGAINED III. PERRY
AND LAKE ERIE IV. EBB AND FLOW ON THE NORTHERN
FRONT V. THE NAVY ON BLUE WATER VI. MATCHLESS
FRIGATES AND THEIR DUELS VII. "DON'T GIVE UP THE
SHIP!" VIII. THE LAST CRUISE OF THE ESSEX IX. VICTORY
ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN X. PEACE WITH HONOR
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE INDEX

ILLUSTRATIONS
"OLD IRONSIDES"

The old frigate Constitution as she appears today in her snug berth at
the Boston Navy Yard where she is preserved as an historical relic.
Photograph by N. L. Stebbins, Boston.
THE THEATRE OF OPERATIONS IN THE WAR OF 1812
Map by W. L. G. Joerg, American Geographical Society.
OLIVER HAZARD PERRY AT THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE
Painting by J. W. Jarvis. In the City Hall, New York, owned by the
Corporation. Reproduced by courtesy of the Municipal Art
Commission of the City of New York.
ISAAC CHAUNCEY
Painting in the Comptroller's Office, City Hall, New York, owned by
the Corporation. Reproduced by courtesy of the Municipal Art
Commission of the City of New York.
COMMODORE STEPHEN DECATUR
Painting by Thomas Sully, 1811. In the Comptroller's Office, owned by
the City of New York. Reproduced by courtesy of the Art Commission
of the City of New York.
CONSTITUTION AND GUERRIÈRE
An old print, illustrating the moment in the action at which the
mainmast of the Guerrière, shattered by the terrific fire of the
American frigate, fell overside, transforming the former vessel into a
floating wreck and terminating the action. The picture represents
accurately the surprisingly slight damage done the Constitution: note
the broken spanker gaff and the shot holes in her topsails.
ISAAC HULL
Painting by J. W. Jarvis. In the City Hall, New York, owned by the
Corporation.

WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE
Painting by J. W. Jarvis. In the City Hall, New York, owned by the
Corporation. Reproduced by courtesy of the Municipal Art
Commission of the City of New York.
A FRIGATE OF 1812 UNDER SAIL
The Constellation, of which this is a photograph, is somewhat smaller
than the Constitution, being rated at 38 guns as against 44 for the latter.
In general appearance, however, and particularly in rig, the two types
are very similar. Although the Constellation did not herself see action
in the War of 1812, she is a good example of the heavily armed
American frigate of that day--and the only one of them still to be seen
at sea under sail within recent years. At the present time the
Constellation lies moored at the pier of the Naval Training Station,
Newport, R. I. Photograph by E. Müller, Jr., Inc., New York.
JACOB BROWN
Painting by J. W. Jarvis. In the City Hall, New York, owned by the
Corporation.
THOMAS MACDONOUGH
Painting by J. W. Jarvis. In the City Hall, New York, owned by the
Corporation.

CHAPTER I
"ON TO CANADA!"
The American people of today, weighed in the balances of the greatest
armed conflict of all time and found not wanting, can afford to survey,
in a spirit of candid scrutiny and without reviving an ancient grudge,
that turbulent episode in the welding of their nation which is called the

War of 1812. In spite of defeats and disappointments this war was, in
the large, enduring sense, a victory. It was in this renewed defiance of
England that the dream of the founders of the Republic and the ideals
of the embattled farmers of Bunker Hill and Saratoga achieved their
goal. Henceforth the world was to respect these States, not as so many
colonies bitterly wrangling among themselves, but as