William S. Cox, Lieutenant, U. S. Navy, stood at attention before the members of the General Court Martial, and listened with complete aplomb.
He was a handsome, well-built young man of 25, with the air of a gentleman sailor, characteristic of the self-trained officers of the Old Navy. The high collar of his dress blue coat brushed long sideburns, and on his left shoulder gleamed a mass of gold braid. His sword, in its black leather scabbard, no longer swung against his white breeches as he stood prisoner before the court.
His sentence was read by Commodore Stephen Decatur, President of the Court, on 26 April 1814, on board his flagship United States (44), blockaded by Sir Thomas Hardy and his squadron on the Thames River up above New London.
The Court, after mature deliberation on the evidence adduced,
“... finds the prisoner, Lieutenant William S. Cox, not guilty of the charges, first, of cowardice, and second, of disobedience of orders, exhibited against him.
“Of the third charge, desertion from his quarters and neglect of duty, the Court finds the prisoner not guilty of desertion from his quarters, but guilty of neglect of duty in not doing his utmost to aid in capturing the Shannon, by animating and encouraging, through his own example, the inferior officers and men to fight courageously, and in denying the use of coercive means to prevent the desertion of the men from their quarters, and in not compelling those who had deserted from their quarters to return to their duty.
“Of the fourth charge, unofficer-like conduct, the Court finds the prisoner guilty, in that, while the enemy was boarding, or attempting to board, the frigate Chesapeake, the prisoner accompanied his disabled commander, James Lawrence, Esq., from the quarter-deck, where his presence and command were essential to animate and direct the Chesapeake's crew in repelling the boarders of the enemy; and sentence him to be cashiered with a perpetual incapacity to serve in the Navy of the United States.”
It was a sad end to the career of an officer about whom Captain James Lawrence had once written, " ... a young man deserving promotion, and one who bids fair to make as fine an officer as we have in the service." The loss of the frigate Chesapeake came as a keen disappointment to the Americans, whose small navy had performed such outstanding feats against His Britannic Majesty's Navy, until this particular engagement in the War of 1812. Public opinion demanded the trial of the survivors of the defeated man-of-war. The Chesapeake had returned to Boston for refitting in April 1813, after an uneventful cruise under the command of Captain Samuel Evans. Most of the crew had left, their enlistments having expired, and the Captain had been relieved of command because of failing health.
It was during this spring of 1813 that the New England coast was being watched closely by the British Navy, although a commercial blockade had not as yet been proclaimed. Their frigates patrolled the coastline, and their ships of the line cruised in deep water for support. The British frigate Shannon, with the frigate Tenedos as consort, kept especially close surveillance on Massachusetts Bay.
The Shannon, a frigate of 1,066 tons, carried a crew of 330, including 276 officers and men, 24 boys, eight recaptured seamen, and 22 Irish laborers picked up on the high seas.
From a distance, the Shannon appeared weather-beaten and rusty from months of blockade duty in foul weather. Her once freshly-painted black hull was blistered and salt-encrusted, but she proudly flew her faded blue ensign from her mizzen peak.
Her appearance was deceptive. Captain Sir Philip Broke had been in command of the Shannon for almost seven years, during which time he had trained his crew in gunnery and seamanship to a degree of excellence unusual in the Royal Navy. Many British captains never put shot in cannon until they were involved in actual combat. Their crews turned to for target practice not more than once a year; some crews practiced not more than once every three years.
On board the Shannon, the crew was trained in sighting and servicing the guns for an hour and a half each morning. Each afternoon the schedule called for training in the use of the broadsword, pike, musket, and other small arms for an hour and a half. Twice a week the crew fired on targets with cannon and musket. Captain Broke frequently had a cask thrown overboard and would suddenly order a single gun manned to sink the target. He awarded a pound of tobacco to each crew who scored a bull's-eye.
Thus, after long and careful training, Broke had developed the Shannon to such a degree of perfection that she was generally acknowledged to be one of the finest frigates afloat. This, then, was the British frigate Captain James Lawrence heard about when he arrived in Boston to take command of the frigate Chesapeake on 18 May 1813.
James Lawrence possessed the air and manners of a gentleman, with the frankness of a seafaring man. In critical situations, his coolness was remarkable for one otherwise known to be impatient and impetuous on the quarterdeck. Yet, it was said he had never been known to be intentionally rude to those under his command. He was greatly beloved by all who served under him, because his kindness was as conspicuous as his courage.
He had just been promoted to the rank of captain as the result of his recent victory over the British brig Peacock while commanding the brig Hornet. The engagement had been Captain Lawrence's first encounter with a British man-of-war, and he had outmaneuvered and sunk the Peacock through his outstanding ability and the disciplined skill of his men.
Captain Lawrence immediately started to reconstitute the Chesapeake's crew. Many seamen had not returned to the frigate since the two-year enlistment period had ended. They thought better opportunities could be found on board the privateers and letters of marque, where the discipline was less strict and the chance of prize money infinitely better. None of the crew had yet received wages from the last cruise, nor had they received their share of the prize money. Consequently, the tars felt they could not afford to serve on board the "unlucky" Chesapeake.
In order to solve his manpower problem, Captain Lawrence requested four houses of rendezvous to be opened. When a man walked into one of these recruiting stations to apply for a berth aboard the Chesapeake, he received a dollar; then, accompanied by an officer, he reported to the frigate. Once on board, he was examined for physical fitness and general knowledge of seamanship by a board of officers, including the surgeon. If the man proved satisfactory, he signed the articles and remained on board; if rejected, he was returned to shore.
The response was disappointing. A few of the Chesapeake's former crew were persuaded to sign on again with the promise of back wages and prize money that was due them. The men who did volunteer were generally strong, deep-water sailors, but Captain Lawrence was still a long way from filling his complement.
The Cheaspeake was also short of commissioned officers. Her first lieutenant, Octavius A. Page, was seriously ill and was transferred to the naval hospital ashore, where he later died. Her second on the previous cruise, Lieutenant Joseph Thompson, was absent on sick leave, as also was acting Lieutenant Nicholson. Acting Lieutenant Pierce had been
granted indefinite leave.
Captain Lawrence had given up hope of being relieved of command of the Chesapeake and so decided, characteristically, to make the best of the situation. His orders were to put to sea, harass British shipping bound for the St. Lawrence, and destroy the Greenland whale fishery. He was to cruise in consort with the Hornet to the mouth of the St. Lawrence, there to intercept military store ships and troop transports destined for Quebec and Upper Canada. The convoys usually separated between Cape Race and Halifax, leaving the ships to proceed to the St. Lawrence without a convoy.
Captain Lawrence wrote to Captain James Biddle of the Hornet on 27 May:
“In hopes of being relieved by Captain Stewart, I neglected writing agreeably as promised, but as I have given over all hopes of seeing him, and the Chesapeake is almost ready, I shall sail on Sunday, provided I have a chance of getting out clear of the Shannon and Tenedos, who are on the look-out. My intention is to pass out by Cape Sable, then run out west [east] until I get into the stream, then haul in for Cape Canso, and run for Cape Breton where I expect the pleasure of seeing you; I think your best chance of getting out is through the Sound.”
Midshipman Cox almost burst with anticipation when he heard that Captain Lawrence had requested him to act as third lieutenant on board the Chesapeake.
It was indeed a great opportunity for a young man who had been a midshipman since 1809, and who had trained himself in seamanship by sailing before the mast on two voyages to the East Indies on board the China Packet and the Magdalen, and one voyage to Europe on board the Bainbridge, finally returning in 1811. He had received his assignment on board the brig Argus, commanded by Captain Lawrence, on 4 March 1811, and had been transferred to the Hornet after Captain Lawrence had taken command. He had been prizemaster of the British letter of marquee John, of Lancaster, captured by the Hornet on 26 July 1812, and again prizemaster of the South Carolina, sent in by the Constitution on 8 November 1812. He had been promoted to acting sailing master of the Hornet on 22 October in recognition of the outstanding excellence of his quarterdeck seamanship.
When Lieutenant Cox reported for duty aboard the Chesapeake, he found her newly painted and rigged. A second class, 1,244-ton frigate, she carried a complement of 340 men and officers and was armed with 49 guns.
On her forecastle, the Chesapeake carried four 32-pound carronades and one long 18- pounder as a chase gun. The crew had given each gun a name, engraved on a small square of copper plate. Acting third lieutenant Cox observed the name "United Tars" on the chase gun, and "Jumping Billy" and "Rattler" on two of the carronades. Among the 16 32-pound carronades on the poop deck, he noticed the names "Spitfire," "Towser," and "Willful Murder."
Sunday morning, 30 May, Captain Lawrence cast off from Long Wharf and dropped down to President Roads to rest a few days and shake down before putting to sea. The next afternoon, the Shannon beat up to the mouth of the bay and lay off Boston lighthouse under easy sail. Captain Lawrence heard of the incident while dining at the home of his friend, Charles Loring, and immediately returned to the Chesapeake to prepare for action.
On the morning of 1 June, the rising sun sent long rays of brilliant light sparkling over the quiet blue waters of Boston Bay. The water reflected an early spring sky, and its surface was but gently rippled by a light southwesterly breeze.
The early light revealed a sail on the horizon, and Lieutenant George Budd, the officer of the deck, sent a midshipman below to notify the captain. Captain Lawrence came on deck shortly and went up the main rigging to take a better look at the stranger. "It's Broke," he said to Lieutenant Budd. "Call all hands to unmoor ship."
Captain Lawrence hailed a passing pilot boat and asked her skipper to reconnoiter outside the harbor to determine if the Shannon were alone. He then mustered the crew aft on the quarterdeck for a patriotic speech. He said the Chesapeake would soon stand for the British frigate bearing down on the harbor, and he reminded the crew that he expected every man to do his duty for the honor of the flag, even if it meant death. Lawrence recalled the recent victory of the Hornet: " 'Peacock' her my lads, 'Peacock' her!" he cried.
The speech did not generate much enthusiasm. The crew stood before their captain in a threatening mood. Boatswain's mate Joseph Russell and gunner's mate Henry Thompson both demanded the prize money due them. Captain Lawrence wisely ordered Lieutenant Budd to send the men below in groups of two's and three's to pick up their prize money checks from Purse Thomas Chew. The crew then fell to with a will.
Captain Lawrence went below to write his report to the Secretary of the Navy:
“Since I had the honor of addressing you last, I have been detained for want of men. I am now getting under way to execute your instructions.
“An English frigate is now in sight from my deck; I have sent a pilot boat out to reconnoiter, and should she be alone, I am in hopes to give a good account of her before night. My crew appear to be in fine spirits, and I trust will do their duty.
“Lieutenant Page is so ill as to be unable to go to sea with the ship. At the earnest request of acting Lieutenant Pierce, I have granted him, also, permission to go on shore; one inducement for my granting his request was his being at variance with every officer in his mess.
“Commodore Bainbridge has ordered Midshipmen Cox and Ballard to act until your pleasure is known. They are both fine young men, and I am confident, from their long service, will do everything that can be expected from any commissioned Lieutenant.”
Captain Lawrence then came on deck again to check the situation. The Shannon lay hove to about two miles off Boston lighthouse. She broke out her colors and fired . The Chesapeake replied in kind. Captain Lawrence gave orders to let fall the fore topsail and to run up the fore truck a large white flag bearing the slogan "FREE TRADE AND SAILORS' RIGHTS."
All this naval activity attracted crowds of Boston citizens to the waterfront. The news of the expected engagement had also spread to the nearby towns of Lynn, Salem, Marblehead, and Plymouth. By ten o'clock, many small boats, filled with the curious, were tacking in the harbor. The wharves, housetops, church spires, and any other high point commanding a view, were swarming with interested spectators.
The Chesapeake weighed anchor at 12 noon and stood for sea. Her sails gradually filled with the light southwesterly, and her freshly painted black hull, with the buff streak below the gun ports, glistened and sparkled as she moved easily through the water. Three ensigns unfurled lazily, one in the starboard main rigging, another from the peak, and a third at the mizzen truck.
The Chesapeake passed through the Narrows before the wind. At one o'clock, she rounded the Boston light, her sails drawing smartly, with many small craft and a schooner following in her wake.
The Shannon was almost hull down to northward and eastward. Up in her maintop, Captain Broke studied the sail off the Boston light through his brass telescope, and suddenly realized it was the Chesapeake. He ordered the topsails reefed and the Union Jack run up to the fore as a signal of acknowledgement.
On board the Chesapeake, the officers and men worked feverishly to make ready for the impending engagement. Boatswain Peter Adams and Midshipman John Fisher were supervising preparations on the forecastle. Mr. Adams had been boatswain on board the Constitution when she defeated the Guerriere, and was considered an excellent man. Lieutenant Augustus Ludlow, the first lieutenant, was busy checking the carronades on the main deck. Aft on the quarter deck, conning the ship, stood Lieutenant William White, the sailing master. The two captain's aides, Midshipmen James Curtis and William McKenney, kept their posts close to Captain Lawrence. Chaplain Samuel Livermore's post was also on the quarterdeck, just abaft the mainmast.
Below, on the gun deck, Lieutenant Budd commanded the First division and acting Lieutenant Edward Ballard was in command of the Third division. The Second division was in command of acting Lieutenant Cox, who was desperately trying to familiarize himself with his gun crews and equipment, since it was the first time he had been mustered at his battle quarters. He carefully checked the working condition of the guns, carriages, rammers, sponges, sponge tubs, and deck buckets, and gave instructions regarding the shot stowed in racks around the hatches.
A westerly breeze had sprung up, and the two frigates cut swiftly through the sparkling water between Cape Ann and Cape Cod.
Mid-afternoon found the Chesapeake bearing down under all sail, with a few small boats and a schooner still following in the distance. The Chesapeake hauled up at 4 o'clock, hoisted jib and staysails and fired a signal gun. Whereupon the Shannon hove to about 30 miles east of Boston light and lay to on the starboard tack, her head to the southward and eastward, under topsails, jib, and spanker, waiting for the Chesapeake.
At 4:30 p.m. the Chesapeake took in her studdingsails, topgallant sails and royals, as the wind had shifted to southwest and was blowing fresh. She hove to at 5:00 p.m. and discharged the pilot, then filled her sails again and stood for the Shannon.
Captain Lawrence ordered the crew called to quarters and the batteries cast loose. He then went below to the gun deck to make his personal inspection of the three divisions.
He ordered the guns of each of the three divisions loaded with round shot, grape, canister, and bar shot. He then returned to the upper deck to continue his inspection of the main deck and forecastle. Having satisfied himself that everything was in readiness, he returned to the quarterdeck. At 5:30, he noticed the Shannon fill her main topsail, keeping a close luff, as she bore south southeast.
Captain Lawrence ordered the courses hauled up. The Chesapeake now bore down under topsails, jib, and foretopmast staysail, with yards braced sharp up and the sheets flat aft. Lawrence chose the weather gauge and brought his ship down in brilliant style, bearing straight for the, Shannon's starboard quarter, just abaft her line of fire.
The Shannon waited for the Chesapeake. Captain Broke, as challenger, felt it his bounden duty to give Captain Lawrence every possible advantage. He watched anxiously to see what course the American would take.
Hardly a sound rose from the two frigates. Complete stillness lay across the summer sea, broken only by the gurgle of water around the Chesapeake's rudderposts and the ripple of the waves against her bows as she boiled along her course. Occasionally, the creaking of rigging could be heard, and the slanting rays of the late afternoon sun cast long shadows over the ocean swells.
Two courses of action were open to Captain Lawrence at this time. He could cross the wake of the Shannon and rake her, or he could engage her at two or three hundred yards, exchange broadsides, then lay across her bows and rake her from forward.
"Will we lay across her stern, sir?" asked the sailing master.
"We will not," replied Captain Lawrence. He peered intently at the Shannon for a moment, he turned to the quartermaster at the wheel and barked, "Luff her!"
Not to be outdone in gallantry, Captain Lawrence declined the advantage, and luffed up on the Shannon's weather quarter within pistol shot, to engage her yard-arm to yardarm. The Chesapeake's crew burst forth with a spontaneous cheer.
Suddenly the Shannon opened fire. When her aftermost cabin gun, No. 14, bore into the Chesapeake's second main deck port forward, coxswain Billy Mindham had pulled the lanyard. No. 14 was followed by the Shannon's after quarterdeck carronade. One after another, the 18-pounders and carronades opened fire, as they bore, from aft forward.
The action between the two frigates was witnessed from vantage points in the town of Boston. Captain George Crowninshield and his friends saw it from the high ground above Salem. Nine-year-old John Davenport, on his way home from school, had climbed all the way up to the cupola of the old State House in Boston, where two men still remained to watch. Through their spy glass young John saw "the smoke from the guns of each vessel puff out toward the other, but heard no sound."
The two frigates lay broadside to broadside in a thunderous roar of gunfire. The Chesapeake's crew served their guns rapidly, and their aim was devastating. American shots tore into the Shannon's hull, inflicting serious damage.
The broadside fire of the Shannon was even more crushing. Immediately after the Shannon opened fire, eight Americans were swept overboard from the first and second guns in the First division. Her first round of carronade mangled 100 of the 150 on the Chesapeake's spar deck.
Hammocks, wood splinters, and other debris flew around the Chesapeake's decks, killing and wounding her crew. Midshipmen John Evans and Courtlandt Livingstone were instantly killed. While conning the ship, Lieutenant White dropped to the deck, decapitated. Captain Lawrence received an extremely painful pistol-ball wound in the leg, but he continued to command his ship gallantly.
Below, on the smoke filled gun deck, Lieutenant Cox's men, encouraged by his apparent self-assurance, serviced their guns with rapidity as long as they continued to bear on the enemy. The Third division had lost its commander, Lieutenant Ballard. The First division's guns could no longer be brought to bear as the Chesapeake slowly ranged ahead.
During the fierce cannonading between the two frigates, three seamen were shot away from the Chesapeake's helm in succession. Her headway had carried her to the Shannon's bow, although Lawrence had luffed her close to the wind in an effort to retard her speed. At this time, her fore topsail tie was shot away, allowing the yard to drop, and leaving the sail empty of wind. At the same time she lost her jib sheet and spanker brails, causing her to come up into the wind. Slowly she gathered sternboard and drifted toward the Shannon.
Thus, the Chesapeake lay exposed to raking fire from the Shannon's waist guns and after guns, as well as crossfire from the forward waist guns and bow guns. The Shannon's carronades drove in her sternpost, smashed her boats, and swept her quarterdeck and spardeck with grape, canister, and solid shot. Clouds of splinters and smoke enveloped the Chesapeake, making sharpshooting difficult for the men in the Shannon's tops. Beside the swivel gun in the Shannon's maintop, Marine Lieutenant John Law drew a careful bead on the imposing figure of the Chesapeake's commander and fired .
The shot struck Captain Lawrence near the groin. The impact dropped him to the deck, but with great effort, he regained his footing. Seeing his ship was about to run foul, he limped across the deck to the port side to order the bugleman to blow "Boarders Away." The bugleman, unfortunately, was nowhere to be found. Immediately, Captain Lawrence directed Midshipman McKenney to lay below and pass the word to the men on the gun deck.
Captain Lawrence turned to his other aide, Midshipman Curtiss and said, "Damn it, sir, fetch the bugleman!" Midshipman Curtiss ran to the after end of the booms, where the bugler was usually stationed. He found the bugleman, William Brown, hiding under the stern of the launch, paralyzed with fear and totally unable to sound a note.
British hand grenades began to explode on board the Chesapeake. One grenade blew up the arms chest on the quarterdeck with a deafening roar; fire and smoke shot up into the rigging, adding to the danger and confusion.
The two frigates collided at 6 o'clock. The Chesapeake's mizzen blocks tangled in the Shannon's side just abaft the forechains. When the two vessels fell abroad, Captain Broke passed forward on the Shannon to ascertain the situation. He observed "the enemy flinching from his guns."
The Chesapeake's gun crews, who had stuck by their carronades on the quarterdeck during the deadly raking fire, were not actually "flinching"; but at the call for boarders, they had left their stations to pick up boarding arms, which were stacked around the mast. Nevertheless, their absence gave the British the opportunity to board. At 6:02p.m., sword in hand, Captain Broke led 20 men from the fore end of the Shannon's gangway hammocks to the muzzle of the Chesapeake's after quarterdeck carronade. They climbed over the hammocks and jumped on the Chesapeake's quarterdeck.
As the British climbed over the nettings, Midshipman William Berry and his sharpshooter, stationed in the· Chesapeake's mizzentop, poured down a rain of musket shot, mortally wounding Midshipman John Samwell and slightly wounding First Lieutenant George Watt. Immediately, Lieutenant Watt ordered the nine-pound boat gun turned into the Chesapeake's tops. And, at the same time, from the slings of the Shannon's mainyard, Midshipman Cosnahan effectively cleaned out five of the Chesapeake's seven mizzentopmen.
Below, on the gun deck, Lieutenant Cox heard Lieutenant Ludlow's call for boarders and quickly ordered away his division. As soon as he gained the spar deck, he turned and called down to his men coming up the hatchway, "Rush on!" Then, running ahead of the few who followed, he reached the quarterdeck. Here, the scene was one of complete confusion. Approximately 50 men were milling around in hand-to-hand combat. The deck was slick with blood; men slipped and lurched crazily, trying to keep their footing. A few men were starting to leave the quarterdeck as fast as they could. Notwithstanding the turmoil and his inability to find a face he recognized, Lieutenant Cox made his way to a group of men fighting fiercely to larboard and aggressively put his cutlass to use. "Boarders away; follow me!" he cried, and was utterly astonished to discover the men in his group were British. A sword cut deep into his knee; a boarding pike slammed down on his neck, sending him sprawling to starboard across the quarterdeck. A British marine moved toward him with sword upraised. Suddenly, he stopped and turned to join Captain Broke's boarders as they surged forward. Lieutenant Cox scrambled to his feet and picked up his cutlass. As he started to help repel boarders, he heard Captain Lawrence's voice addressing him, "Mr. Cox, bear a hand, sir."
Captain Lawrence was leaning on the starboard side of the binnacle. His dress uniform was splattered with the gore of the Chesapeake's crew and drenched with his own blood. His handsome features had turned a gray-green color. "Help me below, Bill," he said.
Lieutenant Cox gripped his captain's wrist and, hoisting him on his shoulder, started forward along the starboard side of the quarterdeck. Cox felt the sting of a sword thrust on his left shoulder, but he managed to keep his footing on the blood-slick deck and brought his commander to the gangway, during which time Captain Lawrence repeatedly called out, "Boarders away!" Then, aided by two seamen, Lieutenant Cox carried Captain Lawrence to the main hatchway and down to the gun deck, leaving Lieutenant Ludlow in command.
"Don't give up the ship!" Captain Lawrence shouted, "Fight her till she sinks!" When he saw the batteries on the gun deck, he cried, "Tell the men to fire faster. Fight her till she sinks!"
Stepping over the coamings of the steerage hatchway and stopping to release his burden to the two seamen, Cox said, "Good luck, sir."
"Return to your quarters, Mr. Cox. Fight her till she sinks," replied Captain Lawrence. He then added, "Don't give up the ship!"
Leaving the seamen to carry Captain Lawrence below to the cockpit, Lieutenant Cox ran back to the main hatchway, which was now successfully blocked by the British.
Captain Broke continued to lead his men forward along the larboard side of the Chesapeake. The "Shannons" were slowed for a few moments when Chaplain Samuel Livermore wounded their commander with a pistol shot, but Captain Broke lunged at him with his cutlass and hacked off his arm.
The British boarders were next stopped for several seconds by the detachment of U . S. Marines. Of the original complement of 44 Marines, 14 were dead and 20 were severely wounded, leaving one corporal and nine men to help repulse the boarders. Captain Broke called for reinforcements, and about 60 British seamen swarmed over the bulwarks, led by Third Lieutenant Charles Falkiner.
Lieutenant Ludlow rallied about 20 and led them to the larboard side of the Chesapeake to support the hard-pressed remnants of the marine detachment. Although Ludlow was already severely wounded, he fought valiantly to repel the boarders. Sensing a lack of support, he turned to see the last of his group jumping below down a hatchway. Unable to hold off the boarders alone, he was finally cut down with a deep sabre wound in the head and thrown below.
Lieutenant Budd reached the spar deck through the forescuttle and passed aft over the blood-drenched decks, followed by about 15 men and Midshipman Fisher. He gained the starboard side of the quarterdeck abaft the fife-rail and paused for a moment to get his bearings. Seeing the Chesapeake had fallen foul of the Shannon, he called out to boatswain Peter Adams, "Board the fore-tack and haul aft the head sheets immediately, in order to shoot her head clear of the Shannon."
"I can't do it sir" replied Adams, "They are shot away."
Lieutenant Budd saw a British uniform out of the corner of his eye and realized he had led his men into the midst of the enemy boarders. Without waiting a second more, Budd led his men against the boarders. In a swirl of savage fighting, the defenders were soon routed, and Lieutenant Budd was severely wounded.
As Captain Broke continued to lead his "Shannons" in their devastating sweep of the Chesapeake's decks, the surviving Americans rushed to the forward part of the ship and jumped below in panic. As the British passed forward to storm the forecastle, they secured the gratings to the hatches and thus bottled up the men on the gun deck.
Unable to gain the spar deck again, Lieutenant Cox ran aft on the gun deck to the Third division batteries to see what guns could still be brought to bear. Number 13 still bore on the Shannon, so Cox rallied the remaining men in the gun crew and helped them depress and fire the piece. It was the last gun fired on board the Chesapeake.
Perceiving the futility of this effort, he next tried several ways to gain the upper deck, all of which were unsuccessful. The seamen were jumping down the fore hatchway in a panic stricken mass. Lieutenant Cox approached the crowded hatchway, cutlass in hand, and angrily demanded, with an oath, why they were jumping below.
"Shall I cut them down, sir?" asked Midshipman Delozier Higginbotham, brandishing his cutlass.
"No, sir. It is no use," replied Lieutenant Cox.
Lieutenant Budd appeared, bleeding profusely. "We're carried," he said, and turning to Higginbotham, requestell to be helped to the cockpit.
The gun deck forehatch grating had been removed by boatswain's mate Joseph Russell at the first call for boarders, and was nowhere to be found . In its absence, the frightened men continued to throw themselves through the open fore hatchway to the gun deck, and thence below to the berth deck.
While the British advanced on the forecastle, the Chesapeake's head gradually fell off, her sails filled again, her quarter gallery, to which the lashings were secured, tore away from her hull, and she forged across the bow of the Shannon. The two frigates then became separated.
On the Chesapeake's forecastle, a few remaining Marines and seamen regrouped in a final effort to repulse the boarders. Captain Broke, still leading his men, approached the forecastle and was rushed by a group of Americans. Captain Broke deftly parried a blow from a boarding pike and cut the man down. A second man, swinging a clubbed musket, struck Captain Broke over the head, dragging the scalp over his eyes. The gallant captain dropped to his knees. The third man attacked the British Captain with a broadsword, cleaving him in the head, laying the brain bare. Coxswain Mindham retaliated with his cutlass, killing the third man. Stunned and bleeding, Captain Broke fell over on his first assailant and became locked in a struggle to the death with the man. As they grappled on the deck, John Hill, a British marine, started to thrust his bayonet at Captain Broke, whom he had mistaken for an American. Captain Broke looked up, his face streaming with blood, and said in his normal tone of voice, "Poh, poh, you fool; don't you know your captain?"
While the British were mopping up, the Shannon's first lieutenant, George Watt, had hauled down the American ensign with the intention of raising the British boat flag over the American colors as a signal of victory. Through inadvertence, the Stars and Stripes began to rise again, and the Shannon's No. 7 gun opened fire on the group around the mizzenmast, and Lieutenant Watt was killed instantly.
The last of the Chesapeake's maintopmen were sliding down the topmast backstay to the forecastle, pursued by British Midshipman William Smith and his five foretopmen. The backstay had been shot in two and overhung the deck of the forecastle. A hulking American midshipman, wearing heavy British trawler boots, slid down, followed so closely by Midshipman Smith that he was tumbled to the deck. The American was trying to get back up on feet to defend himself, when his collar was grabbed by Captain Broke as he was being aided aft to the quarterdeck, thus sparing the midshipman's life.
Captain Broke turned over the command of the Shannon to his second, Lieutenant Provo Wallis,* and ordered his third, Lieutenant Falkiner, to secure the prisoners and take charge of the Chesapeake. Then the British commander gave his last order, "Back the mainyard and haul up the foresail till the Shannon closes with us."
Lieutenant Falkiner called down the main hatchway for the Chesapeake's surviving commanding officer. Lieutenant Cox lay up to the main deck and reported. He was grimy and smoke-stained, and his uniform was tattered and stiff with dried blood. He glanced down the deck which was now a shambles. The coils and folds of rope were steeped in gore. Pieces of skin and hair were plastered to the bulwarks. In one place, fingers protruded as though thrust through the sides of the frigate. Forward, the dead were covered with unslaked lime, which had been scattered about when a barrel of lime on the forecastle was smashed.
"Mr. Cox," said Lieutenant Falkiner, "you will consider yourselves prisoners of His Britannic Majesty's Ship Shannon. Now lay below and send up your small arms." Then pointing to the cask of handcuffs on deck, he added with a laugh, "Your men will be ornamented with their own."
Thus ended one of the most extraordinary naval engagements of that era. Fifteen minutes after Billy Mindham pulled the lockstring of the first gun fired, and four minutes after Captain Broke had led his boarders over the rail, the Chesapeake's colors had been struck.
When Captain Lawrence was told of the outcome of the action, he said bitterly, "Then the officers of the deck haven't toe'd the mark; the Shannon was whipt when I left." Then, slipping into a coma, he added, " I could have stood the wreck, if it had not been for the boarding."
Captain Lawrence was carried to the wardroom of the Chesapeake, as his own cabin had been stove in by gunfire. The American surgeons were not able to do anything to lessen his suffering as he grimly fought for his life.
Lieutenant Cox was sent to the Shannon, and Lieutenant Budd was confined on board the Chesapeake. The surviving midshipmen were thrown into a room nine feet by six feet, containing an old sail for comfort.
Having secured the prisoners, and allowing the Chesapeake to be looted of clothing, money, liquor, side-arms, and nautical instruments, the Shannon made sail and stood to sea, followed by her prize. Instead of returning the American wounded to shore, Lieutenant Wallis headed for sea to escape a hostile coast. At midnight, the Shannon hove to, with the Cape Cod light bearing about 17 miles southward and westward, and all hands fell to repairing rigging and stopping shot-holes.
The next morning, the Shannon exchanged some prisoners with the Chesapeake, plugged shot-holes, fished the mizzenmast, and refitted the rigging. Finally, the two frigates got under way for Halifax.
Lieutenant Ludlow appeared to be recovering from his wounds and received the best possible medical aid from the Shannon's surgeon, Doctor Alexander Jack. Lieutenant Wallis took Lieutenant Cox to visit Lieutenant Ludlow. During the conversation, Lieutenant Cox admitted he owed his life to the forebearance of a British marine, but added that the events of the previous day might have been different had the Chesapeake been able to shake down at sea before the engagement. Lieutenant Ludlow interrupted him with, "Let me hear no more of it while we are on board this ship. We were fairly beaten."
On 4 June, as the Shannon and her prize beat up to Halifax, two sails appeared on the horizon to the eastward and southward. As they bore down, they appeared to be men-of-war. Lieutenant Wallis thought the chances excellent that they would be the U. S. frigates Congress and President. Actually, he had expected them before this. He ordered the Shannon cleared for action and the crew called to quarters. The Chesapeake and the Shannon were running with all canvas set when the men-of-war came up from windward and hoisted their signal' flags to exchange numbers. To the immense relief of Lieutenant Wallis, they proved to be His Britannic Majesty's ship of the line Sceptre and the frigate Loire.
As they came up off Sambro light, a dense fog enveloped the Shannon, which prevented her from making Halifax Harbor. To make matters worse, she could not locate her prize. Not a sound was heard in response to her fog horn.
The fog was troublesome to Lieutenant Falkiner, prize-master of the Chesapeake, as, of course he had become separated from the Shannon. To add to his problems, he received a report that the American officers, whom he had allowed on deck, were gathering in groups. Lieutenant Budd and Midshipmen William Weaver and Francis Nichols were seen near the taffrail, in earnest conversation. Lieutenant Falkiner placed sentinels at the mizzenmast with orders to cut down any prisoner found abaft the mizzenmast. He also gave orders to cut down, without hesitation, any prisoners found conversing.
On the night of 4 June, the gallant Captain Lawrence died of his wounds, after three days of extreme pain. Except for the medical attention, he had not been treated with much courtesy by his captors. While lying mortally wounded, he had requested some personal papers, including letters from his wife, but had been refused. He had been able to obtain a bottle of wine from his private sea-stores only through a note from his surgeon to Lieutenant Falkiner.
Sunday, 6 June, the fog burned off, and the Chesapeake fin ally hove in sight at 2:00 p.m. The British men-of-war, anchored in Halifax Harbor, manned their yards in honor of the conqueror, as the Shannon sailed in at half-past three, followed by her prize.
The news of the Shannon's victorious arrival reached Saint Paul's during evening services, and rapidly spread from pew to pew. One by one the members of the congregation left the church to join the crowds racing down to the water's edge, out on the wharves and up to the house tops.
Cheer after cheer went up as the Shannon, rusty, weather-beaten, and battle-scarred, sailed past the docks, clewed up her topsails smartly, and came to with her starboard bower. Following in her wake came her prize, the ill-fated frigate Chesapeake, still glistening with a new coat of paint, and bearing on her quarterdeck the flag-draped body of Captain James Lawrence.