CHAPTER XXXI
_Seymour's Desperate Resolution_
Six rather uneventful days passed by, during which prizes to the numberof five fell to the lot of the squadron, one loaded with militarystores, and another with provisions of great value. The lively littleFair American, being far to windward of the fleet, had also a smartaction with a heavily armed British privateer, which struck her flagbefore the others could get within range, and was found to be loadedwith valuable portable goods, the siftings of a long and successfulcruise. Young Wilton had manoeuvred and fought his ship well, and hadbeen publicly complimented in general orders by Seymour for skill andgallantry. The fleet had been exercised in signals and in varioussimple evolutions, the weather was most pleasant, the men in excellentspirits, and all that was necessary to complete their happiness was theappearance of the looked-for squadron of the enemy. The eager lookoutsswept the seas unweariedly, but in vain, until early in the afternoonof the sixth day, the fleet being in Longitude 58 degrees 18 minutesWest, Latitude 14 degrees 30 minutes North, about forty leagues east ofMartinique, heading due west on the starboard tack, it was reported toSeymour, who was reading in the cabin, that the Fair American, againfar in the lead and somewhat to windward, had signalled a large sailahead. A short time should make her visible, if the vessels continuedon the present course, and, after having called his fleet about him bysignal, Seymour stood on for a nearer look at the stranger. An hourlater she was visible from the deck of the Randolph, a very large ship,evidently a man-of-war under easy sail. The careful watchers couldcount three tiers of guns through the glass, which proclaimed her aship of the line. From her motions, and the way she rose before them,she was evidently a very speedy ship, capable of outsailing everyvessel of Seymour's little fleet without difficulty, except possiblythe brig Fair American. It would be madness for the squadron ofconverted and lightly armed merchantmen to attack a heavy ship of thatclass,--all who got near enough to do so would probably be sunk orcaptured; yet the approaching vessel must be delayed or checked, or theresult would be equally serious to the fleet. Seymour at once formed adesperate resolution. Signalling to the four State cruisers and thesix prizes to tack to the northeast, escape if possible, and afterwardmake the best of their way back to Charleston, he himself stood on withthe little Randolph to engage the mighty stranger. At first the olderseamen could scarce believe their eyes. Was it possible that CaptainSeymour, in a small thirty-two-gun frigate, was about to engagedeliberately and wilfully in a combat with a ship of the line, aseventy-four!--the difference in the number of guns giving noindication of the difference in the offensive qualities of the twoships, which might better be shown by a ratio of four or five to one infavor of the ship of the line. It was like matching a bull terrieragainst a mastiff. The men half suspected some wily manoeuvre whichthey could not divine; but as the moments fled away and they saw therest of the fleet and the prizes slipping rapidly away to thenortheast, the Fair American lagging unaccountably behind the rest ofthe fleet, while they still held their even course, they began tocomprehend that they were to fight to save the fleet, and Seymour meantto sacrifice them deliberately, if necessary, in the hope of socrippling the enemy that his other little cruisers, and the prizes,might escape. They were not daunted, however--your true Jack is areckless fellow--by the daring and desperate nature of the plan; quitethe contrary!
In a few moments the familiar tones of Bentley's powerful voice,seconded by the cheery calls of his mates, rang through the frigate,--
"All hands clear ship for action--Ahoy!"
The piercing whistling of the pipes which followed was soon drowned bythe steady and stirring roll of the drums, accompanied by the shrillnotes of the fifes, beating to quarters. The old call, which has beenthe prelude to every action on the sea, ushering in with the samedreadful note of preparation every naval conflict for twice two hundredyears, went rolling along the decks. At the first tap of the drum themen sprang, with the eagerness of unleashed hounds before the quarry,to their several stations.
In an instant the orderly ship was a babel of apparently hopelessconfusion; the men running hastily to and fro about their variousduties, the sharp commands of the officers, the shrill piping of thewhistles, and the deep voices of the gun captains and the boatswain'smates, made the usually quiet deck a pandemonium. Some of the seamenstowed the hammocks on the rail to serve as a guard against shot andsplinters, others triced up stout netting fore and aft, as a protectionagainst boarders. The light and agile sail-trimmers rove extra slingson the yards, and put stoppers on the more important rigging, andtightened and strengthened the boats' gripes. The cabin bulkheads wereunceremoniously knocked down and stowed away, giving a clean sweep foreand aft the decks. The pumps were rigged and tried, and hose led alongthe deck. Arm chests were broken out and opened, and cutlasses andpistols distributed, and the racks filled with boarding-pikes.Division tubs filled with water were placed beside the guns, and thedecks sanded lest they should grow slippery with blood. The magazine,surrounded by a wetted woollen screen to prevent fire, was opened, andgrape and solid shot broken out and piled in the racks about thehatchways near the guns, the heavy sea lashings of which were castloose by the different crews, after which they were loaded and run outand temporarily secured, the slow matches having been carefullyexamined and lighted. The oldest quartermasters took their places nearthe helm, and others, assisted by a small body of men, manned therelieving tackles below, to be used in case, as frequently happened,the wheel should be shot away. The officers, many of whom put onboarding caps of light steel with dropped cheek pieces, and coveredwith fur, fastened on their arms, looked to the priming of theirpistols, and then hastened to their various stations.
Most of the watch officers, under the direction of the first lieutenantor executive officer, were to take charge of the different gundivisions in the batteries; though one of them remained aft near thecaptain, to look after the spars and rigging, command thesail-trimmers, and see that any order of the captain touching themoving of the ship was promptly carried out. The surgeon and his mateswent below into the gloomy cockpit, spreading out the foreboding arrayof ghastly instruments and appliances, ready for the many demandscertain to be made upon them. Some of the ubiquitous midshipmencommanded little groups of expert riflemen in the tops, which were wellprovided with hand grenades; others assisted the division lieutenants;and several were detailed as aids to the commanding officer. Thelittle company of marines, under its own officers, was drawn up on thequarter-deck to keep down the fire of the enemy's small-arm men, and beready to repel boarders, or head an attack, if the ships should come incontact. In that case grapnels, strong iron hooks securely fastened tothe ends of stout ropes or slender iron chains, were provided atconvenient intervals along the bulwarks, ready for catching and lashingthe two ships together.
The men, their other duties performed, gradually settled down at theguns, or about the masts, or in the tops, in their several stations,many of them naked to the waist, and their deep voices could be heardanswering to their names as they were mustered by the officers. In anincredibly short time the whole was done, and the impressive quiet wasbroken only by the excited voice of the first lieutenant, Nason--ayoung officer, and this his first serious battle--reporting to thegloomy captain that the ship was clear and ready for action.
Seymour had of course taken personal charge of the deck himself. Oh,he thought, after scanning closely the approaching ship with greatcare, if he had only a ship of the line under his command, instead ofthis little frigate, how gladly would he have entered the comingconflict! Or if his own small vessel had been, instead, one of thoseheavy frigates which afterward did so much to uphold the glory ofAmerican arms, and exhibit the skill and audacity of American seamen,in their subsequent conflict with Great Britain, he might have had abetter chance; but none realized more entirely than he did himself theutter hopelessness of the undertaking which was before him. At thesame time he was determined to carry it through, seeing, a
s few otherscould, the absolute necessity for the sacrifice, if he were to effectthe escape of his fleet. Calling the men aft, he spoke briefly tothem, pointing out the necessity for the conflict, and the nobility ofthis sacrifice. He entreated them, in a few brave, manly, thrillingwords, to stand by him to the last, for the love of their country andthe honor of their flag. As for him, he declared it to be his fixedpurpose never to give up the ship, but to sink alongside rather,trusting before that happened, however, so to damage his mightyantagonist as to compel her to relinquish the pursuit. The men, filledwith the desire for battle, and inspired by his heroic words, werenerved up to the point where they would cheerfully have attacked notone line-of-battle ship but a whole fleet! They answered him withfrantic cheers, swearing and vowing that they would stand by him to thebitter end; and then, everything having been done that could be done,in perfect silence the taut frigate boldly approached her massive enemy.
For Love of Country: A Story of Land and Sea in the Days of the Revolution Page 32