An Inspirational Historical Sketch
OUT OF notes made from some old letters which once passed through my hands I have reconstructed this little historical sketch and believe it will prove inspiring as well as interesting.
Not many years after our War of 1812, the United States Navy was called upon to perform service in keeping the peace as arduous as that in maintaining war. The great revolt of Spanish America against Spain broke out, and spread over all Spain’s possessions in America except Cuba and Porto Rico. From these two bases, therefore, Spain tried to fit out naval forces to blockade the ports of Venezuela and Colombia, through which the “patriots” received their supplies. Not having an adequate regular navy, she commissioned privateers. Lawless adventurers owning vessels took advantage of this to such an extent that the blockade was soon transformed into outrageous piracy on the high seas, by which United States commerce with the West Indies, and South and Central America was almost paralyzed. Our government then sent a squadron to the West Indies under Captain James Biddle, who visited the captain general of Cuba and asked him to coöperate in suppressing piracy so far as to allow our vessels to run into Cuban waters and land in pursuit of pirates. The captain general refused, saying with grandiloquent vagueness that he was taking ample measures himself for the suppression of piracy.
In Captain Biddle’s squadron were several schooners of twelve guns and 100 men each, which were kept cruising between Porto Rico and the Spanish Main to protect our commerce on the high seas. One of these, the Porpoise, Lieutenant James Ramage commanding, sailed from the island of St. Bartholomew, July 6, 1822, intending to run down before the trade wind along the usual sailing route to Curaçao, looking out for pirates. About sunrise the next morning, Lieutenant Ramage saw in his path two fine brigs. They had hoisted the new Mexican colors and were apparently waiting for him. Feeling sure that their colors were false, and despite the fact that, if armed, they were vastly superior to him, he hoisted the Stars and Stripes, cleared ship for action, manned his guns on both sides and shaped the Porpoise’s course so as to run directly between the two waiting vessels. The brigs probably took the Porpoise for an American merchant schooner running with blind confidence right into their jaws, for, as she came between them, the one to windward fired one gun only and hoisted Spanish colors instead of Mexican. To his surprise, no doubt, his gun was instantly returned by one from the Porpoise. The leeward brig then changed to Spanish colors and fired. She got not only a shot in return, but the American changed course and ran directly for her. Such a turn of affairs proved quite demoralizing. Her crew fell into great confusion, firing grape shot and musketry in quite a harmless manner until they realized they were confronted by a whole broadside of guns on the schooner, and that these were about to be fired at close quarters. Then they abruptly desisted and awaited developments. Lieutenant Curtis of the Porpoise boarded the nearer vessel and found by her papers that they claimed to be two Spanish brigs of war, the Palmyra, of fourteen guns and 130 men, and the G. Boves, of eight guns and 100 men, both from Cadiz. The senior officer in command wrote Lieutenant Ramage the following letter in explanation of his conduct:
S.N.B. G. Boves,
At Sea, July 8, 1822
M. Ramage, U.SSc. Porpoise,
Sir: I am sorry you will be incommoded with me by firing you this morning, being the case that we thought you were “patriots,” and we have commission from our government to blockade all the men ports, and happened that must all the vessels from the men hoisted and fight with the American flag, we took you to be one of them.
I remain your sincear, etc.,
Pablo Fluager
The letter becomes intelligible by reading “main” for “men” and “most” for "must.” Lieutenant Ramage felt obliged to accept the apology and let the brigs proceed, but as a precautionary measure he bore up for St. Thomas, where he arrived next day and communicated his action and suspicions to the Secretary of the Navy; he then resumed his course for Curaçao.
Just one month later, the American trading schooner Coquette, of Georgetown, D.C., Captain John Souther, was en route from St. Bartholomew to St. Thomas. At daylight on August 9, Captain Souther was aroused by the boom of a gun and found a vessel crowding on sail in chase of him. As the shot came dangerously near, he obeyed its summons with alacrity and hove the Coquette to. The chasing vessel, a handsome hermaphrodite brig with a red streak around her hull, ranged up near him and sent a boat alongside flying Venezuelan colors. An officer and some men came on board the Coquette, demanded the ship’s papers, searched the vessel, including her cabin, berths, chests, etc., taking what they pleased of the cargo as well as the clothing and other personal effects of the captain and crew.
The looted vessel, when released, hastened to St. Thomas (whither, Captain Souther knew, the U. S. Schooner Grampus had preceded him from St. Bartholomew with a convoy on August 7), arriving next morning. Captain Souther, to his great joy, found the Grampus there and immediately told his story to her captain, Lieutenant Commander Gregory, U.S.N.
Commander Gregory had already learned of other depredations by the same brig or vessels like her. On the fourteenth he sailed from St. Thomas for Curaçao with two valuable merchant vessels in convoy and with his mind made up to avenge the Coquette if he got the chance. A keen lookout for the vessel described was kept and, sure enough, just before dark on the following evening, when to the southward of St. Croix, he saw a hermaphrodite brig, apparently armed, coming down on his weather quarter. It was too near nightfall to make certain of her character, so the Grampus was kept on her course with her convoy until morning, when the first light of day showed the same strange vessel right ahead. Commander Gregory saw his advantage in a moment, and leaving his convoy safely hove to to windward, crowded on sail and chased to leeward after the suspicious looking stranger. By half past nine he had gained considerably upon her and she hoisted English colors. At ten the chased vessel, evidently realizing she was sure to be brought to bay, hauled down her British flag, hoisted Spanish colors and fired a gun defiantly to windward. Half an hour later she hove to and hoisted a white flag at the fore. With inexpressible delight Commander Gregory noted, as he neared her, that she had a red streak around her hull. At twenty minutes past eleven he laid the Grampus within pistol shot under the brig’s lee and demanded her surrender as a pirate. Her captain replied that he did not understand the hail and asked that it be repeated. As Commander Gregory was doing so the brig poured a whole broadside, both from cannon and musketry, into the schooner, but the treachery availed nothing. The Grampus’ gunners, lock-strings in hand, were waiting with almost uncontrollable eagerness for just such an outcome. The broadside was returned even as it flashed from the brig’s ports.
The battle lasted three minutes and a half. At the end of that brief fight the brig struck her colors, a complete wreck and in a sinking condition, with one man killed and six wounded. Three large shot had pierced her between wind and water, one of which had disabled her pumps. The Grampus received some trifling injury in her sails and rigging but not a man hurt.
Lieutenant Voorhis of the Grampus was sent to the sinking brig and by almost superhuman effort succeeded in stopping her leaks. She proved, as expected, to be the notorious Palmyra, still carrying her plunder from the Coquette. Her captain acknowledged the robbery of that schooner and naively remarked that they could not help those things happening now and then.
Commander Gregory took his prize back to St. Thomas, patched her up, and then took her to the United States, arriving safely with brig and prisoners in Charleston, South Carolina, September 12, where the latter were lodged in jail and the former libeled and turned over to the United States district attorney.
When the action of the Grampus became known the fury of Spanish officials was unbounded. The captain general of Porto Rico, Don Francisco Gonzales y Linares (possibly an ancestor of the general commanding at Santiago in our war with Spain) wrote Captain Spence of the Cyane, then conducting our operations in the Caribbean, letters white hot with invective. Extracts from Captain Spence’s replies will fittingly close this narrative.
We require that our lawful commerce shall be unmolested; that our vessels shall not, from frivolous causes, be intercepted.
What armed vessel could expect to fire at an American ship of war with impunity?
There must be safety in peace, or its best objects are defeated; there must be security on the great thoroughfare of all nations, otherwise its best purposes are perverted.