The War
Department discreetly permitted his disobedience of orders to drop out
of sight.
Hull's victory was not the result of accident, but of long and careful
training. He had begun his sea career in the merchant service at the age
of fourteen, was a captain at the age of twenty, and entered the navy in
1798. He soon gained a high reputation for seamanship, and his genius
for handling a ship under all conditions was one of the most important
factors in his success. He saved his ship on one occasion, when she was
becalmed and practically surrounded by a powerful British fleet, by
"kedging"--in other words, sending a row-boat out with an anchor, which
was dropped as far ahead as the boat could take it, and the ship pulled
up to it by means of the windlass. As soon as the British saw him doing
this, they tried it too, but Hull managed to get away from them by
almost superhuman exertions. He served in the navy for many years after
his memorable victory over the Guerriere, but never achieved another so
notable.
The second capture of a British frigate in the war of 1812 was made by
Stephen Decatur, who had distinguished himself years before by an
exploit which Lord Nelson called "the most daring act of the age."
Decatur, who possessed in unusual degree the dash and brilliance so
valuable in a naval commander, came naturally by his love of the sea,
for his grandfather had been an officer in the French navy, and his
father was a captain in the navy of the United States.
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