by Dean King
While it lost some high-profile battles, the Royal Navy effectively limited the amount of damage the upstart United States Navy could inflict. But one warship escaped the Royal Navy’s long arms, at least for a while. Commanded by Captain David Porter, the small but powerful frigate Essex, which had been ordered to the Pacific along with the Constitution and Hornet, carried on with her mission.
1 In modern-day Venezuela.
David Porter
A Yankee Cruiser in the South Pacific
1813
COMMANDING THE FRIGATE Essex, armed with forty 32-pounder carronades and six long 12-pounders, Captain David Porter rounded the Horn in early 1813, becoming the first warship of the U.S. Navy to cruise in the Pacific. (A thirteen-year-old midshipman and the captain’s adopted son, the future admiral David Farragut, was also on board.) Arriving at Valparaiso on March 14, 1813, Porter is momentarily the most powerful force in the South Pacific. Still, the shifting politics of the Spanish American states and the inevitable arrival of British warships make his position tenuous.
ONTHE MORNING of the 25th, at daylight, we discovered a sail to the northeast, which we gave chase and soon came up with. She proved to be the American whale-ship Charles, Captain Gardner, belonging to Nantucket, about four months from Lima, where she had been sent for adjudication by a privateer belonging to that port, and was liberated after paying costs. Captain Gardner informed me, that, two days before, he had been in company with the American whale-ships Walker and Barclay, near the port of Coquimbo; that he had been chased and fired at by a Spanish and an English ship; and that he saw them take possession of both the Walker and Barclay. I consequently crowded all sail, in company with the Charles, for Coquimbo, with an expectation of falling in with them. At eight o’clock descried a sail to the northward, to which I gave chase, and at meridian we were near enough to discover her to be a ship of war, disguised as a whaler, with whale-boats on her quarters. She shortly afterwards hoisted the Spanish flag, when we showed English colours, and fired a gun to leeward, which she shortly returned, and run down for us. The Charles, agreeably to directions I had previously given Captain Gardner, hoisted an English jack over the American ensign; the Spaniard, when at the distance of a mile, fired a shot at us which passed our bow. I immediately, from her appearance and the description I had received of her, knew her to be one of the picaroons that had been for a long time harassing our commerce, and felt so exasperated at his firing a shot, that I was almost tempted to pour a broadside into him; but reflecting that we were under British colours and that the insult was not intended for the American flag, I contented myself with firing a few shot over him to bring him down. Shortly afterwards, a boat was lowered down from her, and sent to the Essex: but perceiving her crew to be armed, I directed her to return immediately to the ship, with orders for her to run down under our lee, and for her commander to repair on board with his papers, and to apologize for firing a shot at us. She soon returned with the second lieutenant, who brought her commission and stated that the captain was too unwell to leave his ship.
She proved to be the Peruvian privateer Nereyda, of fifteen guns. The lieutenant informed me that they were cruising for American vessels and had captured the Barclay and Walker in the port of Coquimbo, but that the British letter of marque Nimrod, Captain Perry, had driven their people from on board the Walker and taken possession of her; that they were in search of the Nimrod, to endeavour to recover their prize; that seeing us, with the Charles in company, they had supposed us to be the vessels they were in search of, and this had been the cause of their firing a shot. He stated that the Peruvians were the allies of Great Britain; that he had always respected the British flag; and that his sole object was the capture of American vessels; that he had been out four months and had only met the aforesaid vessels; and that the crew of the Barclay, and the captain and part of the crew of the Walker, were now detained as prisoners on board the Nereyda.
I informed him that I wished to see the captain of the Walker and one of the prisoners from the Barclay; and informed him that if his captain was too unwell to come on board, it would be necessary for the first lieutenant to repair on board and make the apology required. On this, he despatched his boat to the Nereyda, which returned with Captain West, of the Walker, and one of the crew of the Barclay, as well as the first lieutenant of the Nereyda. On taking Captain West into the cabin and assuring him that he was on board an American frigate, he informed me that he, as well as the rest of the Americans on board the Nereyda, amounting to twenty-three, had been plundered of every thing; that the Spaniards had not assigned any other motives for the capture of the vessels than that they were Americans; that both his ship and the Barclay were employed solely in the whale-fishery and not concerned in any mercantile pursuit whatever; that both ships had full cargoes of oil, were about returning to America, and had put into Coquimbo for refreshments; and that the first intelligence they had received of the war was at the time of their capture.
The Nereyda was now under the muzzle of our guns, and I directed the American flag to be hoisted, and fired two shot over her, when she struck her colours. I then sent Lieutenant Downes to take possession of her, with directions to send all the Spaniards on board the Essex; and as I had reason to expect that the Nimrod and the other ships were somewhere in our neighbourhood, I stood in shore with a view of looking into Tongue Bay and Coquimbo, sending Lieutenant M’Knight to take charge of the Nereyda for the night. Next morning had all her guns, ammunition and small arms thrown overboard, as well as all her light sails. What surprised us very much was that all the shot of this vessel, round, bar, and star-shot, were made of copper; and I have since been informed that this metal is in such abundance, and so cheap in Peru and Chili, as to be held in very little estimation, there being no comparison between the value of that and iron. Wanting a few nails while at Valparaiso, I found they could not be procured for less than one dollar per pound. But it seemed equally curious that, although copper was in such abundance, and brass guns are so far preferable to iron, yet all the guns of this vessel, except one, were cast of the latter metal, differing in this respect from the customs of every other part of the world. After I had completely dismantled her, leaving her only her topsails and courses to take her back to Callao, which is the port of Lima, I liberated all the Americans from on board of her, sent back all the Spaniards, and directed her commander to proceed to Lima with the following letter to the viceroy.
United States frigate Essex, at sea, March 26, 1813.
Your Excellency,
I have this day met with the ship Nereyda, mounting fifteen guns, bearing your excellency’s patent, and sailing under the Spanish flag.
On examination of said ship, I found on board her, as prisoners, the officers and crews of two vessels belonging to the United States of America, employed solely in the whale-fishery of those seas, captured by her, and sent for Lima after being plundered of boats, cordage, provisions, clothing, and various other articles; and was informed by her officers that they were cruising, as the allies of Great Britain, to capture and send in for adjudication all American vessels they should meet with, alleging, at the same time, that they had not your excellency’s authority for such proceedings.
I have, therefore, to preserve the good understanding which should ever exist between the government of the United States and the provinces of Spanish America, determined to prevent in future such vexatious and piratical conduct; and with this view have deprived the Nereyda of the means of doing the American commerce any farther injury for the present, and have sent her to Lima in order that her commander may meet with such punishment from your excellency as his offence may deserve.
I have the honour to be, with the highest respect and consideration, your excellency’s obedient humble servant,
(Signed) D. PORTER.
His excellency the viceroy of Peru, Lima.
I then left the Nereyda and looked into Tongue Bay; but perceiving no vessels, I stood on for Coquimbo
and at sundown arrived within five miles of some small rocks called the Chinques, which lay off the mouth of the bay. I then caused one of the whale-boats to be manned (both of which I had taken from the Nereyda, as they belonged to the captured ships) and sent her in with Lieutenant Downes and Captain West to reconnoitre the harbour, lying off and on with the ship until they returned, which was not until eleven o’clock that night. I had fixed on signals, by which Lieutenant Downes was to inform me whether the ships were in the port, as well as such by which the boat could find the Essex: the latter were observed from the shore; for immediately after we had made them, several alarm guns were fired from the battery, which consisted, as I was informed, of six guns, without platform or breastwork. The boat had entered the harbour and gone all around it, and had approached so near the shore and battery as to hear the people talking, without being discovered. Finding that the Nimrod was not at this place, I thought it probable that she had proceeded with a view of intercepting the Barclay on her way to Lima; and this I was the more strongly induced to believe, as the captain of that ship had stated his determination of taking the Barclay from the Spaniards, alleging that, as she had not been engaged in any contraband or illicit trade, they had no right to capture her and that the Peruvian government would certainly liberate her on her arrival at Callao, by which means he should be cheated out of a prize. I therefore determined to lose no time in endeavouring to get to the northward, on the coast of Peru, where I hoped to arrive in time not only to frustrate the views of the captain of the Nimrod, but to recapture the Barclay and the Walker, I considered the capture of the Nimrod of the greatest importance to our national interests in those seas, and while there was a chance of effecting this object, provided it did not interfere too much with my other views, I thought the pursuit of her should not be abandoned. To Captains Gardner and West I intimated my intentions, advising the former to run into Coquimbo, and there demand for his vessel the protection of government. The latter I advised to proceed with all expedition to St. Jago and lay his claim for damages before the government.
I gave the Americans whom I had liberated from the Nereyda their choice, either to remain in the Essex or be landed at Coquimbo. Nine of them preferred remaining; the remainder, with Captain West, were put on board the Charles, who made sail in for the harbour, and I steered to the northwest with all the sail we could crowd.
Prior to leaving Captains Gardner and West, I requested them to give me a list of all the whale-ships, both English and American, that they could recollect and were certain of being now in this sea. They both agreed that the Gallipagos was the most likely place to find them, and confirmed in every particular the account given by Captain Worth. The list they gave me was as follows:
AMERICAN SHIPS ON THE COAST OF PERU AND CHILI.
Ship Captain
Fame Coffin
Lion Clarke
John and James Clasby
John Jay Coffin
Criterion Clark
Samuel Coleman
Sterling Swain
Henry Gardner
William Venn W. Gardner
President Folger
Sukey Macey
Perseverando Paddock
Monticello Coffin
Atlas Joy
Gardner Ray
Chili Gardner
Lima Swain
Renown Barnard
George Worth
Charles Gardner
Barclay Randall
Walker West
Thomas Whipple, (doubtful)
BRITISH SHIPS ON THE COAST OF PERU AND CHILI.
Ship Captain
Nimrod Perry, no figure head
Perseverance King, a figure head
Seringapatam Stivers, a figure head
Carleton Allero, a figure head
Catharine Folger, a figure head
Thames Bomon
Greenwich ———
Montezuma Baxter
Rose Monroe, has a poop
Sirius Has a figure head, is a low ship
These were all the vessels the names of which they could at the moment recollect; but they assured me that the number of British whalers now on the coast of Chili and Peru did not amount to less than twenty, all fine ships of not less than four hundred tons burthen; and that their cargoes in England would be worth two hundred thousand dollars each, which, agreeable to this estimate, would be upwards of four millions of British property now exposed to us; for I did not conceive that their whole force united would be a match for the Essex. Besides the capture and destruction of those vessels, I had another object in view, of no less importance, which was the protection of the American whale-ships; and if I should only succeed in driving the British from the ocean and leaving it free for our own vessels, I conceive that I shall have rendered an essential service to my country, and that the effecting this object alone would be a sufficient compensation for the hardships and dangers we have experienced, and be considered a justification for departing from the letter of my instructions. That I can effect this, no doubts exist, provided the Standard1 has left Lima; and this it is necessary I should be informed of before I make my attack on the Gallipagos, for I have knowledge of letters having been written to Lima by an active English merchant (perhaps an agent of the British government) residing at Valparaiso. They were sent by the ships which sailed four days before us; but as they had the reputation of being bad sailers, and calculating some on Spanish indolence, and much on our own activity and industry, I am in hopes of looking into.
Lima before they can arrive there; and shall so disguise the ship that she cannot be known there from any description that the aforesaid letters may contain. Until information respecting the Standard can be obtained, all my proceedings must be governed by views toward that vessel, she being the only vessel of war the British have in those seas, and I can have but little apprehension of being pursued by any from the Atlantic for some months, or at least until I have time to do them much injury. Although information had been sent from Buenos Ayres to Valparaiso of my being on the coast of!
Brazils, and this information had reached Valparaiso two weeks before my arrival, yet they could not have had an idea of my intention of coming into this sea, as it was unknown to every person but myself until after passing the River of Plate. The same mail that brought intelligence of my being on the coast of Brazils, also gave an account of an action having been fought off Bahia between the American frigate Constitution and the British frigate Java of forty-four guns, in which the latter was sunk; also of the capture of her convoy; and of some small place on the coast of Africa having been laid under contribution by the squadron under the command of Commodore Rodgers. It was also stated that the Wasp, an American sloop of war, had captured a British sloop of war after a hard-fought action, but had afterwards been captured by a frigate; and that the Constitution was repairing her damages at St. Salvador, where the British admiral ([Vice-Admiral Sir Manley] Dixon) had proceeded, with a determination of destroying her. This news of the operations of our little navy makes us pant for an opportunity of doing something ourselves. We have, however, a wide field for enterprise before us and shall shortly enter on the scene of action; and although, perhaps, we shall neither have an opportunity of laying towns under contribution, nor sinking frigates, still we hope to render a service to our country no less essential, to wit: the protection of our commerce, and the destruction of that of the enemy.
On the 28th I made all sail to the northward, and on the 3d of April made the high lands of Nasia, on the coast of Peru. The interval between these two periods was not marked by any extraordinary occurrence. We were employed in taking all advantages of the winds in getting to the northward, and in disguising our ship, which was done by painting her in such a manner as to conceal her real force and exhibiting in its stead the appearance of painted guns, &c; also by giving her the appearance of having a poop and otherwise so altering her as to make her look like a Spanish merchant vessel. The winds were constantly fair;
the weather remarkably clear, fine, and temperate; the sea smooth; and every thing favourable for making such little repairs and alterations as the ship required.
Immediately on passing the tropic, we met with flying-fish: this is the first we met with since we left the coast of Brazil.
At six o’clock of the 28th, we were abreast the island of Sangallan, or St. Gallan, when I hauled off to the northwest, with a view of crossing the track of vessels bound to Callao. On the morning of the 29th, to the great joy of all on board, we discovered three sail standing in for the harbour, two to windward and one to leeward. I consequently made all sail for the port to cut them off, and, as I approached the headmost vessel, she seemed to answer the description I had received of the Barclay. As she was nearest to the port, I determined to turn all my attention to her and to use every effort to prevent her getting in: but as she approached the island of St. Lorenzo, which lies off the port of Callao, I began to despair of succeeding. I however directed all the light sails to be wet, in order to make them hold wind the better, and prepared my boats to send in to bring her out of the harbour, if she should succeed in getting past the island. As I approached St. Lorenzo, I discovered that she would be becalmed so soon as she doubled the point of the island, as she eventually was. We were, at the moment of her turning the point, at the distance of two miles and a half from her, but shot in with the breeze to within one hundred yards of her, then lowered the boats down and sent on board to tow her out, which was not effected without considerable labour, in consequence of an indraught. As we were but a short distance from the shipping in the harbour, and perceiving the two Spanish vessels had not arrived from Valparaiso, I hoisted English colours on board the Essex and directed the officer of the captured vessel (which proved to be the Barclay) to hoist English colours over the American. The vessels in port, which were numerous, now hoisted their colours, which were all Spanish except one British flag hoisted on board an armed ship, which did not answer the description of the Nimrod.