. The naval history of the United States. ackened; and she lay upon the water, with her sails cut 5o8 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. from the yards. At that moment Lieut. Howell turned to a midship-man standing at his side, and said gayly, Well, we have whipped thatship, at any rate. A flash from the bow of the Englishman followed ;and he added, No: there she is again. The midshipman turned toreply, and saw Howell stretched dead at his feet, killed by the lastshot of the battle. The enemy was now helpless, and it would have been easy enough forthe President to choose her position and compel her adversa
. The naval history of the United States. ackened; and she lay upon the water, with her sails cut 5o8 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. from the yards. At that moment Lieut. Howell turned to a midship-man standing at his side, and said gayly, Well, we have whipped thatship, at any rate. A flash from the bow of the Englishman followed ;and he added, No: there she is again. The midshipman turned toreply, and saw Howell stretched dead at his feet, killed by the lastshot of the battle. The enemy was now helpless, and it would have been easy enough forthe President to choose her position and compel her adversary to strike;but the presence of two more Englishmen, rapidly coming up astern, forcedthe Americans to abandon their prey and continue their flight. It wasthen late in the evening, and the night was dark and starless. Every lightwas extinguished on the American frigate, in the hope that by so doingshe might slip away under cover of the night. But the British lookoutswere sharp-eyed ; and by eleven oclock two frigates had closed in on the. THE PRESIDENT TRIES TO ESCAPE. crippled ship, and a third was rapidly coming up astern. All were pouringin rapid broadsides, and the dark waters were lighted up like a fiery seaby the ceaseless flashing of the guns. Thus surrounded and overpowered,there remained open to the Americans no course but to surrender; andat eleven oclock at night the President made signal that she hadstruck. Her fate, like that of the Chesapeake, had accorded with the BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 5°9 superstitious sailors notion that she was an unlucky ship. In the longrunning fight, neither the Americans nor the British had escaped withoutsevere loss. On the President were twenty-four killed and fifty-sixwounded; the first, second, and third lieutenants being among the Endymion had eleven men killed and fourteen wounded. The twofrigates were ordered to proceed to Bermuda; but the Presidents badluck seemed to follow her, for on the way she encountered a terrific
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1896
