Enlisting in 1798, he was
with Preble at Tripoli, and was given command of the Constitution, after
Bainbridge's successful cruise in her, and started out in search of
adventure on December 17, 1814. Two months later, off the Madeira
Islands he sighted two British ships-of-war and at once gave chase. He
overhauled them at nightfall, and, running between them, gave them
broadside after broadside, until both struck their colors. They were the
Cyane and the Levant. Stewart got back to New York the middle of May to
find out that peace had been declared over a month before his encounter
with the British ships.
He was received with enthusiasm, and "Old Ironsides" got the reputation
of being invincible. Her career had, indeed, been remarkable. She had
done splendid work before Tripoli, escaped twice from British squadrons
and seven times run the blockade through strong British fleets; she had
captured three frigates and a sloop-of-war, besides many merchantmen,
and had taken more than eleven hundred prisoners. From all of these
engagements she had emerged practically unscathed, and in none of them
had she lost more than nine men. Stewart was the last survivor of the
great captains of 1812, living until 1869, having been carried on the
navy list for seventy-one years.
Johnston Blakeley was a South Carolinian, and won renown by a remarkable
cruise in the Wasp.
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