Isaac Hull was a nephew of General William Hull, who, on
August 16, 1812, surrendered Detroit and his entire army to the British
without striking a blow. Three days later, Isaac Hull, having sailed
from Boston without orders, in his anxiety to meet the enemy and for
fear the command of the Constitution would be given to some one else--a
breach of discipline for which he would probably have been
court-martialled and shot, had the cruise ended disastrously--fell in
with the powerful British frigate Guerriere. Inscribed across the
Guerriere's mainsail in huge red letters were the words:
All who meet me have a care,
I am England's Guerriere.
She was a powerful vessel, but neither the vessel nor the menace
frightened Hull, and he sailed straight for her, holding his fire until
he was within fifty yards, when he let fly a broadside and then another,
which sent two of her masts by the board, and the third soon followed,
leaving her unmanageable. Within a very few minutes, under Hull's raking
fire, she was reduced to a "perfect wreck"--so perfect, in fact, that
she had to be blown up and sunk, as there was no chance of getting her
back to port. The Constitution was practically uninjured, and Hull
sailed back to Boston, with his ship crowded with British prisoners. He
was welcomed with the wildest enthusiasm, banquets were given in his
honor, swords voted him by state legislatures, New York ordered a
portrait painted of him, and Congress gave him a gold medal.
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