A few days later, the two ships
sailed into the harbor of Halifax, Lawrence's body, wrapped in his
ship's flag, lying in state on the quarter-deck. He was buried with
military honors, first at Halifax, and then at New York, where Hull,
Stewart and Bainbridge were among those who carried the pall. His cry,
"Don't give up the ship!" was to be the motto of another battle, far to
the west, where Great Britain experienced the greatest defeat of the
war.
Before describing it, however, let us speak briefly of four other
valiant men, whose deeds redounded to the honor of their country--Edward
Preble, Charles Stewart, Johnston Blakeley, and Thomas Macdonough. It
was said of Preble that he had the worst temper and the best heart in
the world. At sixteen years of age he ran away to sea, and two years
later, he actually saw a sea-serpent, a hundred and fifty feet in length
and as big around as a barrel, and got close enough to fire at it. He
saw service in the Revolution, and in 1803, was appointed to command the
expedition against the Barbary corsairs, of which we have already
spoken, and which resulted in bringing those pirates to their knees.
The trials of that expedition ruined his health, and he survived it but
a few years.
To Charles Stewart belongs the remarkable exploit of engaging and
capturing two British ships at the same time.
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