. A history of the United States. e Gulf of St. Lawrence the Constitu-tion sighted the British frigateGuerriere,^ and gave Constitution was the larg-er and better ship, but herprincipal advantage was in theskilful marksmanship of hergunners. After forty minutesthe Guerriere lay a batteredhulk. The Constitution wasalmost unharmed. The rejoicing in Americawas unbounded. Its tinynavy was proving of somevalue. And the joy wasgreater because the people hated the Guerriere for its share in searching American ves-sels along the coast before the war began. Nor was theConstitution, which the
. A history of the United States. e Gulf of St. Lawrence the Constitu-tion sighted the British frigateGuerriere,^ and gave Constitution was the larg-er and better ship, but herprincipal advantage was in theskilful marksmanship of hergunners. After forty minutesthe Guerriere lay a batteredhulk. The Constitution wasalmost unharmed. The rejoicing in Americawas unbounded. Its tinynavy was proving of somevalue. And the joy wasgreater because the people hated the Guerriere for its share in searching American ves-sels along the coast before the war began. Nor was theConstitution, which the people affectionately called OldIronsides,^ the only American ship to win fame. Severalothers fought successfully in one or more sea-duels. Exploits of the Essex. —The Essex, one of the smallestfrigates of the United States, built and given to the govern-ment by the patriotic citizens of Salem, captured ten prizesin the Atlantic, and then sailed around Cape Horn into thePacific to prey on British commerce. Captain David Porter. The Constitution 1 Guerriere, a ship which the British had captured from the French. Thename meant warrior. 2 Holmes poem on Old Ironsides was written when the government plannedto destroy the old worn-out wooden ship. The plan was given up. Theship is now preserved in Charleston Navyyard. 292 THE WAR OF 1812 managed to provide his ship with suppHes, war material, provi-sions, medicines, and even money to pay his officers and men,from the British ships that he captured. Once when his pris-oners outnumbered his own crew two to one and planned toseize the Essex, the timely warning of his young midshipman,David Farragut, saved him.^ In the Pacific Captain Portercaptured a dozen British whaling ships. Porter was finally,after a year and a half of successful fighting, caught on theshore of South America by a superior force, and the Essexwas captured. The Blockade of the Atlantic Coast, 1813.—Long beforePorters eventful voyage had ended, the American coas
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