Chapter XVIII: Story of the New Navy (1)

THE FOLLY OF ALLOWING OTHER NATIONS TO EXPERIMENT FOR US--IN SPITE
OF WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THEIR MISTAKES, WE WERE UNABLE, WHEN WE
FIRST BEGAN FOR OURSELVES, TO BUILD EVEN A FIRST-CLASS CRUISER--THE
RESULT OF TEN YEARS OF EARNEST WORK--BATTLE-SHIPS WHOSE POWER IS
CONCEDED BY FOREIGN WRITERS--CRUISERS THAT AWAKENED THE PRIDE OF
THE NATION--THREE “NEWFANGLED NOTIONS”--A YANKEE ADMIRAL AT RIO
JANEIRO AND A YANKEE LIEUTENANT ON THE COAST OF MEXICO--THE ONE
IMPORTANT FACT ABOUT THE NEW NAVY.

The naval history of the United States during the period since the Civil War has been not a little like that of the period following the War of the Revolution. When the Civil War was ended and the acute complication with our over-sea neighbors during 1865 was past, we sold off our ships as a merchant disposes of his shelf-worn goods. It is true we did not sell every ship as we did in 1785, but in 1885 we were relatively in as helpless a condition as, and actually in a more shameful condition than, we were when we had not a ship that belonged to the nation; for the wooden hulks on the naval list in 1885 and their smooth-bore Dahlgren shell guns were, for the purpose of carrying the flag in the face of an enemy having ironclads and rifles, absolutely useless. And as to the shame of it, we know that in 1785 the nation was poor, and even the few dollars needed to keep a frigate or two in commission seemed a large sum, while the nation in the later years, when the navy was neglected, was spending enough money in dredging out commerceless channels to have built squadrons of several times the needed force. It is the usual thing for writers who refer to that period to say, because we slipped through it without a more serious foreign complication than the murder of a few American citizens by the Spanish government at Santiago de Cuba, in 1873, it was really to our advantage that we built no ships. The European governments were experimenting at great cost, and we were saved all of that. We got the benefit of their experience and saved the dollars. But the fact is we could not and did not benefit by their experience to any degree worth serious consideration. Neither the individual man nor the aggregation of men called a nation can take advantage of the apprenticeship which another man or nation has served. I do not hope to have this statement believed by people to whom the only fruition of labor and life is a dollar. But there are some who understand that national character, like individual character, is of more importance than dollars; that the very chuckling over the dollars we saved “while other nations were experimenting for us” is contemptible; that, to take another and more material point of view, what we lost in the development of the brains of our mechanics and inventors by letting the other nations do the “experimenting for us” was of infinitely greater value than the whole revenue of the nation. It is not the loss of a product of ships that is to be deplored, but the loss of a product of men.

_From an old engraving._]

The building of the new navy actually began, one may say, when Secretary of the Navy William H. Hunt appointed a board of naval officers, with Rear-admiral John Rodgers at its head, “to determine the requirements of a new navy.” These officers considered the matter jointly for a proper time, and then reported that the United States should have twenty-one battle-ships--ships fit to meet the best floating forts of the world; seventy unarmored cruisers of various sizes, twenty torpedo boats, five torpedo gunboats, and five rams.

_From an old engraving._]

It was not an extravagant estimate, and it was approved, in a way, by the nation. Did we build them, or any considerable part of them, straightway? Not at all. We could not build even one of the armored ships. We had saved the expense of experimenting; we had allowed other nations to do our experimenting for us. “Right smart” economists we were. When European experiments had fairly shown what European practice was likely to be, we started in to adopt the European ideas, and suddenly learned, what had never occurred to us as a nation, that the foundation of all sea power is a shipyard. We had been able in the old days to set afloat efficient wooden fighting machines in four months, but when we started in to build an ironclad navy of the modern style, we found that we could not roll even the thinnest of modern armor-plates, and that we could not make a gun that would pierce even the cheap armor carried by the old-fashioned monitors we had lying up in ordinary. The opportunity for showing how easy it was to take advantage of the experiments of other nations was at hand. We had a book knowledge of everything that had been done abroad, but instead of starting in with a ship that should excel, or even equal, say, the _Téméraire_ of the British navy, not to mention the contemporary (in design) _Edinburgh_, we found we must do a little experimenting and gain a little experience for ourselves.

_From a drawing by R. F. Zogbaum._]

We had some shipyards that were supported by the coastwise trade, and to them we went. The _Chicago_, the _Atlanta_, the _Boston_, and the _Dolphin_ were the result. Instead of building battle-ships, we built, for lack of experience, third-rate cruisers. We also concluded to complete an old monitor or two that for long years had been lying on the stocks. To do this Rome went to Carthage to buy shields for its legions--we bought our armor-plate in a foreign market. We had to do it or go without. The writer remembers the day when we even imported the bunting of which we made the “gridiron flag”!

_From a photograph._]

It was humiliating to go abroad for what we could not make ourselves. But another statement of the kind must be made, and then the record of shame ends; for which let us all be sincerely and devoutly thankful. We went abroad for the plans of one of our largest cruisers--the _Charleston_.

Let the reader have no misunderstanding about this matter. If war had been impending it would have been right, and even an imperative duty, to buy warships fully equipped wherever they could be found. But we were building a navy in time of peace, and a ship that “could not get out of her own way,” from our own designers, was better than the best afloat bought from a foreign land. In the building of the new navy--in the building of the White Squadron, of which we make boast in our periodicals--the product was nothing; the building of men was everything.

It was not without labor and pain that we got the first modern ships afloat. It was not so much that short-sighted economists interfered, for a surplus of money was found in the treasury, but the politicians were numerous and the patriots few. The politician in power must needs use the new ships to perpetuate his power; he who was out of power must use them as ferries to get into power. They were extravagantly praised and extravagantly decried. Time has shown the extravagance in both directions; but it is the tendency of man to admire his own, and when the truth is told, these ships are not “the best of their class afloat,” unless we add the modifying and saving clause “considering the circumstances under which they were built.” As the product of apprentices in the art of building modern warships, they are marvels of excellence. But since they were designed we have learned something.

The _Atlanta_ and _Boston_ were good fourteen-knot cruisers, but there were faster boats, armed with guns as good as theirs, in Europe. American policy could not permit such a state of affairs to exist, and we designed larger and better ones than anything afloat. We laid down the _New York_. She cost “a whole lot of money,” it is true, but as we recall the thrill that stirred the nation when the story of her trial trip was told--when it was told that we had the swiftest and most powerful cruiser in the world, we are bound to say that twice the sum invested in any other way by the government could not have given the nation so great a benefit. It was not that any one was incited to a point where he wished the nation to go to war. On the contrary, the _New York_ was an assurance that in our dealings with other peoples we would “not be influenced, or even be suspected of being influenced, by a consciousness of weakness on the sea.” Nations are like dogs in this, that the weaker must needs put his tail between his legs and sneak away when trouble brews. But, if any one doubts that nations are bullies, let him consider the names that are given to ships in Europe. With the _New York_ afloat, the American patriot was so far assured that his country would not be bullied, and so we should have peace.

_From a photograph by Rau._]

The swifter cruisers like the twenty-two-knot _Columbia_ and the twenty-three-knot _Minneapolis_, and the little cruisers and gunboats for shoal water, followed the _New York_. In the meantime we were at work on battle-ships, beginning with the _Maine_ and ending with the _Iowa_, the _Indiana_, the new _Kearsarge_, and the _Illinois_. The English author of “Ironclads in Action” compares the _Iowa_ with the British _Majestic_. It is a most instructive comparison--the most instructive pages, for an American reader, in the whole of this valuable work are those devoted to this comparison. For, although the _Majestic_ is set down with a tonnage of 15,000 and the _Iowa_ with but 11,500, the Yankee ship throws at a broadside 4,532 pounds of metal (in guns above a twenty-pounder) to the other’s 4,000; she has an armor belt of fourteen inches to the other’s nine; the armor “upon the heavy gun positions” is “15-inch in the _Iowa_” to “14-inch in the _Majestic_”; and she could keep the sea five weeks to the Britisher’s four. On the other hand, the _Majestic_ has more freeboard, and could fight in a rougher sea, and she has the hull beneath her quick-firing guns protected in better fashion. But when it is all summed up, it is conceded by this English writer that the _Iowa_ is at least a good match for the bigger _Majestic_.

As was said before, let no mistake be made about this. It is a matter of the greatest moment when our ship of 11,500 tons is conceded to be a match for one of 15,000 tons in the best navy of the world--not because we have the ship, but because we have developed the men who can do that kind of work and the tools for their use.

As many of the readers are aware, the _Iowa_ is by no means the best battle-ship in the American navy. For instance, in her main battery she carries four twelve-inch and eight eight-inch breech-loading rifles, and six four-inch rifles, known as rapid-fire guns, because they use cartridges on the plan of a revolver or rifle cartridge, and can therefore be fired in service five or six times a minute. The new _Kearsarge_ will carry four thirteen-inch and four eight-inch breech-loading rifles and fourteen five-inch rapid-fire guns. The new _Illinois_ class will carry four thirteen-inch rifles and fourteen six-inch rapid-fire guns. The difference in the striking power of the batteries of the _Iowa_ and the newer ships must be manifest to every reader. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that the weight of metal landed, and not the weight of metal thrown, wins the battle.

While we were developing shipbuilders we were also developing gunmakers. For a long time after the war we were contented with making steel tubes which could be shoved into Dahlgren smooth-bores, and so convert them into rifles of eight-inch calibre. Such makeshift work, needless it is to say, served only to drag down the standard of the American gunmakers. But in 1886 the sum of $2,128,000 was appropriated for guns--that is, modern rifles. To go into the details of other modern shipbuilding or modern rifle-making in a history of this kind is obviously impossible; but we may recall the fact that the _Monitor’s_ turret was composed of eight layers of one-inch iron plates, placed so as to break joints, and that the best rifle of that day, a seven-inch Brooke, firing a solid projectile weighing 150 pounds, was unable to do any material damage to the turret. The first contracts for gun-forgings and armor-plates of modern construction were signed in May, 1887--ten years ago. Since that time we have made the plant for the work, and have turned out armor-plates of steel eighteen inches thick that are hardened and toughened to a point where a drill cannot penetrate, and the best projectile, an armor-piercing projectile, weighing 1,100 pounds and “striking with a force sufficient to lift 1,000 tons twenty-five feet, crushed in the backing of oak, but only dented the plate.” The mere statement that our modern rifles throw projectiles weighing 1,100 pounds, which strike with sufficient force to lift 1,000 tons twenty-five feet high, tells the story of the development of the gun. Another exhibit of the progress made is found in the fact that an eight-inch smooth-bore in the old days threw a cast-iron projectile, weighing sixty-eight pounds, with a velocity of 1,579 feet per second at the muzzle of the gun. The energy of the projectile was estimated at 452 foot-tons. The modern eight-inch rifle throws a steel bolt weighing 250 pounds, at a muzzle velocity of 2,500 feet per second, with a striking power of 10,830 foot-tons. The old eight-inch iron shot could not penetrate four inches of iron plates, while the modern steel bolt penetrates twenty-six inches of wrought iron. The best thirteen-inch modern rifles have a striking power of about 35,000 foot-tons and penetrate thirty-four inches of wrought iron.

After an apprenticeship of ten years, the gunmakers and shipbuilders of the United States have done well enough to entirely satisfy the people whom they have served. And yet the American navy, in the matter of ships and guns, is at best the fifth in the world. It is not considered necessary to the interest of this history to enter into any argument to show that the American navy should have a higher standing in point of numbers. But, if the story of the American navy has been written here as the writer understood it, then it is apparent that the American’s hope of peace has always rested on the efficiency of a modest number of ships. We have had peace with the aggressive nations of the earth while we have had an efficient force afloat, and we have suffered humiliation when we have neglected our navy. To make the appeal that is likely to be effective, history shows that it does not pay to try to get on without a navy. It need not be either the first or even the third in point of numbers, but it must be first in point of efficiency. To keep our hands in practice and our tools from rusting and our inventors from stagnation, we must lay down at least one new ship of the first class every year. We must not forget that Europe has steadily built new ships to improve on those with which we have led the way.

While building ships that in general construction were like those of Europe, the United States has followed its ancient policy of encouraging inventors by trying what the conservatives call “newfangled notions.” The success that followed the adoption of “newfangled notions” like steam power, the screw propeller, and the Ericsson _Monitor_, has been fully appreciated by the world at large. The “newfangled Yankee notions,” in fact, kept up the quality of the old American navy. Since the navy began its rejuvenating career, ten years ago, three “newfangled” ideas have been tried. One was a steam ram, pure and simple. It was a ship designed to steam at seventeen knots per hour, with a ram for its sole weapon of offence, and it was built solely for harbor defence. Because, in its way, it is a revival of the porcupine policy, nothing more need be said about it.

_From a photograph by Rau._]

Another novelty was what is called the dynamite cruiser _Vesuvius_. Here is a sea-going torpedo boat armed with three fifteen-inch air-guns that can throw 400 or 500 pounds of high explosive to a range of a mile or more with reasonable accuracy. It is not a popular style of warship with naval officers, and so far as its purpose is for harbor defence, these officers are entirely right. It is the business of the army, with its forts and submarine torpedoes, to defend the harbors. For forts and submarine torpedoes are entirely sufficient for the purpose, and much more economical than ships adapted only for harbor defence. Nevertheless, the idea of a dynamite cruiser has not had a fair trial. The _Vesuvius_ is a very small ship. Her popguns are of a fixed elevation, the range being determined by varying the pressure of the air. It is reasonably sure that the defects that have been developed in trials of her guns and aerial torpedoes might be corrected were she in the hands of some one thoroughly in earnest in the matter, and that a cruiser, to fire high explosives accurately and efficiently and safely by means of compressed air, might be designed. It is also reasonably certain that, because of the dislike of naval officers generally for the present craft, no more of the kind will be designed until Uncle Sam is compelled to “hustle,” if one may be allowed the expression, by the pressure of actual war. Because coastwise steamers may be readily cut down, and adapted for the use of this kind of a torpedo in a very few months, no one is likely to worry about the present failure to build more dynamite cruisers.

_From a photograph belonging to the John P. Holland Co._]

The third of the “newfangled ideas” is really a very old idea, as the reader will observe. It is a submarine boat designed to travel in ordinary circumstances with its back out of water, and yet be able, when occasion requires, to go underneath altogether. It is the invention of Mr. John P. Holland, who for many years has been at work on the cigar-shaped diving-ship idea. The one now building (1897) is only eighty-five feet long by eleven in diameter--a mere model of what a ship ought to be, if the idea were to be thoroughly tested. It might, indeed, be of some use for raising a blockade of the port of New York, just as smaller vessels were used to damage Union ships off Charleston in the Civil War. But, as already said over and again, the navy that the American nation needs is one that will prevent any nation on earth contemplating a blockade of any American port. However, this is not to condemn the building of this submarine boat. It was well worth building, just as the tiny ship in which Ericsson proved his screw propeller was worth building. Considerable space was given in Volume I to the doings of the submarine boats in the Revolutionary War because the building of ships which might be entirely submerged has never been attempted on a scale that would warrant a fair trial of the idea. There are many difficulties to be overcome, the chief of which is due to the fact that the ordinary compass goes wrong altogether when placed in a diver. It is nevertheless reasonable to suppose that every defect may be overcome. It is certain that the defects will not be overcome until a fair trial of the ship is had. Because of certain manifest advantages in having a ship that can live entirely submerged as well as when awash, or floating high out of water, there are men who believe that such ships will eventually become veritable peace-makers. We who are conservatives call them visionaries, and they reply that men of our class called Capt. M. C. Perry a visionary in 1839 because he said he believed that steamships would eventually supersede the gloriously beautiful frigate of the olden day.

(Submerged, with camera lucida tube in position.)

_From a photograph of a drawing belonging to the John P. Holland Co._]

Of the doings of the navy since the Civil War little need be said. We have had no war with any people, although on two or three occasions American commanders have been obliged to strip their ships for action to enforce a decent respect for the American flag. The most notable instance of this kind was in 1894. The Brazilian navy was then in revolt against the Brazilian government, and the bay of Rio Janeiro was held by the rebel squadron. The purpose of the revolt, so far as it had a purpose outside of the personal feelings of the leaders, was to restore the monarchy. The insurgents would have been driven into making peace very quickly but for the fact that the British, in the interests of trade and politics, were very anxious to have the monarchy restored. British residents of Rio Janeiro contributed considerable sums of money to the support of the rebels and served actively as spies on the government. The senior officer of the British navy present, under the plea of neutrality, was able to see that the rebel leaders received all the rights of belligerents, although no nation had accorded these rights to them. For a time all the foreign warships in port, except the Germans, sided with the British in this matter. It is a curious fact that the senior American officer present refused to give protection to American merchantmen in port when they wished to go to the piers to discharge their cargoes. The rebel leader, Saldanha de Gama, said he should fire on any ship going to the piers, and American ships had to lie out in the bay and wait for the end of the war. Meantime yellow fever was raging there and many good men lost their lives.

Finally Admiral A. E. K. Benham came to the port. He at once told the American captains to go to the piers, and he would see that they were not fired upon--at least that trouble for the rebel fleet should follow any such move on their part.

Accordingly, on Sunday, January 29, 1894, Captain Blackford, of the American bark _Amy_, and two other captains, gave notice that they should haul into the piers with their ships on Monday morning. Admiral Saldanha de Gama, hearing of this, said officially that he should fire on the merchantmen if they did so. The rebel squadron was, as a whole, a worthless collection of old wooden hulks and new coasters armed with fairly good guns; but there was one good monitor, the _Aquidaban_, so there was no predicting what the desperate rebel would do. It was necessary to take de Gama at his word, and so, soon after daylight on the morning of the 30th, the Yankee squadron cleared for action, while the little cruiser _Detroit_, Capt. Willard H. Brownson, was sent in to take a station where she could command the two rebel warships, _Guanabara_ and _Trajano_, that lay where they could, if so disposed, riddle the merchant ship _Amy_.

_From a lithograph._]

When Brownson arrived the _Amy_ began to warp in toward the pier. A musket was fired from the _Guanabara_, presumably toward one of the American ships. The _Detroit_ replied with a shot first across the bow of the offending _Guanabara_, and then with another that struck her. It was a mere matter of form so far; it was notifying the Brazilians that the Americans were thoroughly in earnest. But, seeing a couple of tugs controlled by the rebels getting into position where they might ram the _Detroit_, Brownson took her in between the big warships where he could have raked and sunk them, and sunk the tugs at the same time. That ended the matter.

_From a photograph._]

Saldanha de Gama concluded not to fire on the American flag. Before night the British, as well as all other foreign merchantmen, were tumbling over each other, so to speak, in their haste to follow the Yankee ships to the piers.

Captain Brownson, when a lieutenant on the _Mohican_ in 1870, was placed in command of a boat’s crew and sent to cut out the steamer _Forward_, a filibusters’ craft operating on the coast of Mexico. She was found in a lagoon near San Blas, and her crew made a fight. She was carried by boarding after a loss of two men killed (including Master J. M. Wainwright) and six wounded.

Of great contemporary interest were the polar expeditions since the Civil War, but with the exception of the discoveries on the north coast of Greenland made by Lieutenant Peary, nothing of historical interest was accomplished. And mention must also be made of the great gale at Samoa, when the _Vandalia_ sank and the _Trenton_ and the _Nipsic_ were thrown ashore, for nothing has stirred the hearts of the American people in recent years as the story of the fortitude of the men who, with death staring them in the face, sang and played “The Star Spangled Banner.”

But when all has been told and written about the history of the American navy since the Civil War, the one significant fact of all is this: we have from our own resources, mental and material, sent afloat a White Squadron that, though small in number, is fit to keep the sea in spite of foul weather or any other foul force.

The _Eber_.
The _Trenton_.

The Harbor after the Samoan Hurricane.

_From a photograph._]

INDEX

_Abby Bradford_, merchant-ship, capture of, by the _Sumter_, iv. 412;
captured by the frigate _Powhatan_, 413.

_Abellino_, Yankee privateer, captures prizes in the Mediterranean,
iii. 343.

_Acasta_, British gun-boat, attacks the _Constitution_, iii. 260.

Acquia Creek, Potomac River, capture of Confederate forts at, iv. 66,
81–83.

_Active_, British brig, captured by the _Hazard_, i. 206.

_Adams_, American frigate, changed to a corvette, iii. 54;
Captain Charles Morris in command of, 57;
on the coast of Africa, 58;
chased by the _Tigris_, 59;
scurvy on board, 60;
runs on a rock, 61;
attacked on the Penobscot, 62;
burned, _ib._

Adams, Captain H. A., disloyal conduct of, iv. 117.

Adams, John, member of first Marine Committee, i. 36.

Adams, Samuel, and the Boston tea-party, i. 12.

_Adelaide_, Federal transport, iv. 100.

_Adeline_, American brig, recaptured from the British, ii. 74.

_Admiral Duff_, British privateer, blown up by the _Protector_, i.
207.

_Adriana_, American brigantine, Ambassador to Holland sails on, iv.
153.

_Adventure_, British ship, burned by Paul Jones, i. 78.

_Africa_, British ship-of-the-line, ii. 55.

Africa, making the coast of, safe for American traders, iii. 340–358.

_Aiken_, Southern revenue cutter, converted into the Confederate
privateer _Petrel_, iv. 93.

_Alabama_, Confederate privateer, off Galveston, iv. 357;
known as _No. 290_, 430;
Captain Semmes appointed to command, 431;
cruises off the Azores, Martinique, Galveston, Cape Town, and the
East Indies, 432–436;
encounters the _Kearsarge_ at Cherbourg, 436;
comparison of their armaments, 437;
the fight, 438–441;
prizes taken by, 447.

_Alabama_ claims, iv. 430.

_Albatross_, Federal gun-boat, passes the batteries of Port Hudson,
iv. 358.

_Albemarle_, Confederate ironclad ram, iv. 456;
laid up at Plymouth, N.C., 457;
blown up by Lieutenant Cushing, 461.

Albemarle Sound, N.C., a Confederate privateer resort, iv. 94.

_Albert Adams_, Federal merchant-ship, captured by the _Sumter_, iv.
415.

Alden, Captain James, iv. 386.

Alden, Commander James, iv. 314.

_Alert_, British corvette, surrenders to the _Essex_, ii. 42;
attempt to rescue from Porter, 43, 44.

_Alert_, British cutter, captures the _Lexington_, i. 119, 120.

Alexander, Captain Charles, i. 66.

_Alexandria_, British frigate, ii. 359.

Alexandria, Red River, Admiral Porter’s squadrons arrive at, iv. 370.

_Alfred_, American flagship, sent to France, i. 130;
captured, 132, 133.

Algerian fleet sent after Yankee merchantmen, iii. 341.

Algerian Navy, strength of the, iii. 344.

Algerian pirates encouraged by England, i. 308, 309.

Algiers, Africa, tribute paid to by the United States, iii. 339;
by England, 340.

Algiers, Dey of, ransom paid to, i. 309, 310;
treatment of Americans by, iii. 340, 341.

Algiers, harbor defences of, iii. 345.

_Allen_, American gun-boat, iii. 141.

Allen, Captain William Henry, ii. 360;
carries the American Minister to France, 361;
sails into the English Channel, _ib._;
captures a wine ship from Portugal, 362, 363;
encounters the _Pelican_, 362–364;
his ship surrendered, 367;
dies in Mill Prison Hospital, 371.

Allen, Lieutenant William Howard, takes charge of the ship, ii. 364;
continues the fight, 367;
killed in an engagement with pirates, iii. 333.

_Alliance_, American frigate, detailed to carry Lafayette home, i.
232;
fouls the _Bonhomme Richard_, 234;
takes a valuable prize, 236;
fires into the _Bonhomme Richard_, 254;
flight of Paul Jones on the, 275;
cruises on the French coast, 297;
narrow escape of, 298;
sails from Havana with specie, _ib._;
attacked by the _Sybille_, 299;
sold, 303.

_Alligator_, American tender, surrendered to the British, iii. 235.

_Alligator_, American schooner, defeats an attack at Cole’s Island,
ii. 419.

Alvarado, Mexican port, Commodore Conner attempts to take, iii. 410;
captured by Lieutenant Charles G. Hunter, 428.

Alwyn, John C., Lieutenant in the _Java_ fight, mortally wounded, ii.
166, 171, 172.

American citizens in foreign countries, iii. 385, 386.

American commerce, English policy toward, i. 306, 307, 384;
protected by Portugal, 307;
menace to, iv. 412.

American cruisers in British waters, i. 112–133.

American flag, first salute given to, i. 69;
designed, 134;
first hoisted, 135;
first saluted by a foreign power, 138;
protected by Portugal, 307;
a shield for an infamous traffic, iii. 361;
a Chinese assault on, 380.

American frontier in 1812, ii. 262.

American Navy, first existence of, i. 1;
founders of, 37;
first ships of, in commission, 39–43;
resolutions of Congress founding it, 41;
first officers and first ships of, 39–43;
origin of the, 1–47;
first cruise of the, 48–62;
first squadron poorly manned and inefficient, 49–53;
along shore in 1776, 63–83;
mismanagement in, 159;
at the time of the Declaration of Independence, 300;
building a new navy, 303;
strength of, at commencement of hostilities with France, 315;
almost extinct, 396;
reduced to a peace footing, 398;
discreditable lack of, ii. 26;
increase of, 356;
development of, from 1815 to 1859, iv. 1–9;
personnel of the, in 1859, 24–26;
number of men who took part with the Southern States, 27;
value of men from Northern ports and the Great Lakes, 36;
a nautical curiosity shop, 37;
ferryboats as naval ships, _ib._;
first great naval expedition of the War of the Rebellion, 168;
modern, sketch of, 523–554;
in 1885, condition of, 523.

American prisoners in England, i. 122;
in Tripoli, 345, 358.

American seamen, impressment of, ii. 18;
courage and skill of, 357.

American sea-power in 1812, ii. 21.

American shipping and French cruisers, i. 314.

American squadron, career of the first, i. 60.

Ammen, Captain Daniel, at Port Royal, iv. 163;
Commander of the _Patapsco_, 480.

_Amphitrite_, American pilot-boat, attacks a French privateer, ii. 34.

_Amy_, American bark, Blackford, at Rio Janeiro, iv. 548.

_Anacostia_, Federal screw steamer, at Acquia Creek, iv. 81.

Anarchy in the West Indies and along the Spanish Main, iii. 325.

_Andrea Doria_, brig of first American Navy, i. 39;
in the first naval battle of the Revolution, 58;
ordered to sea, 64;
fight with brig _Racehorse_, 68, 69;
burned, 70.

Andrews, Major W. S. G., Commander of Fort Hatteras, iv. 107.

Anglo-Saxon aggressiveness, iii. 391.

Anglo-Saxon cheer, the, ii. 308.

Angostura, Venezuela, Commodore Perry arrives at, iii. 329.

Anthracite coal used by blockade-runners, iv. 55.

Antonio, Cape, Captain Kearny of the _Enterprise_ captures pirates
near, iii. 331.

_Aquidaban_, Brazilian rebel monitor, iv. 548.

Arbuthnot, Captain James, captured by the _Wasp_, iii. 93–96.

_Arcade_, Federal merchant-ship, captured by Confederate cruiser
_Sumter_, iv. 415.

_Archer_, captured by Captain Read of the _Tacony_, iv. 424.

_Argus_, American sloop, ii. 360;
carries the American Minister to France, 361;
cruises in the English Channel, _ib._;
too successful for her safety, 362;
encounters _Pelican_, 362, 363;
her sails become unmanageable, 364;
surrenders, 367;
contemporary view of the battle, 369;
taken by a prize crew to Plymouth, 371.

_Argus_, American frigate, captures six prizes, ii. 151.

_Argus_, American cruiser, in the attack on Tripoli, i. 374.

_Ariadne_, British man-of-war, captures the _Alfred_, i. 132, 133.

_Ariel_, American schooner, ii. 292.

_Arkansas_, Confederate ram, skirmish in the Yazoo River, iv. 342,
343;
machinery gets out of order, 343;
attacks Farragut’s squadron, 344.

Arkansas Post, naval force sent to help capture, iv. 351.

_Armada_, British liner, chases the _Wasp_, iii. 92.

Armament and construction of gun-boats, iv. 246.

Armament of battle-ships from 1812 to 1859, iv. 24.

Armor-plated ships, first use of, iv. 9, 10.

Armstrong, Commodore James, surrenders Pensacola Navy Yard to
Confederates, iv. 112;
suspended for five years, 113.

Arnold, Benedict, invades Canada, i. 84;
builds a fleet, 89;
fight on Lake Champlain, 92–94;
character of, as a fighter, 105.

Arsenals established in New York State, ii. 264.

_Asp_, American ship, ii. 352.

_Atalanta_, British brig, surrenders to the _Alliance_, i. 298.

_Atalanta_, British ship, captured by the _Wasp_, iii. 100.

_Atalanta_, British frigate, ii. 16.

_Atlanta_, formerly the _Fingal_, Confederate ironclad, iv. 488;
surrenders to the _Weehawken_, 489.

_Atlanta_, United States cruiser, iv. 533.

_Atlantic_, British letter-of-marque whaler, captured by Porter, iii.
9.
See _Essex, Jr._

Audience, an intensely interested, iii. 152.

_Augusta_, Federal ship, in Port Royal squadron, iv. 172.

_Augusta_, armed merchantman, attacked by the Confederate ironclad
_Palmetto State_, iv. 474.

Aulick, Captain James, sent to Japan in 1851, iii. 443;
recalled on false charges, _ib._

_Avon_, British brig-sloop, captured by the _Wasp_ (3), iii. 93–96.

_Aylwin_, American gun-boat, iii. 141.

Bache, Lieutenant G. M., iv. 369.

Badajos, rapacity of English veterans in the streets of, iii. 134.

_Bahama_, British merchant-ship, officers and crew of the _Alabama_
taken in the, to Terceira, iv. 431.

Bahama Islands, a resort for contraband traders in the Civil War, iv.
48.

Bahia, Brazil, Captain Bainbridge paroles his prisoners at, ii. 167,
175.

Bailey, Lieutenant-colonel Joseph, saves Admiral Porter’s squadron,
iv. 371–376;
receives thanks of Congress, 376.

Bailey, Captain Theodorus, at New Orleans, iv. 316;
commands first division of Farragut’s squadron, 324;
sent ashore to deliver Farragut’s letter, 338.

Bainbridge, Captain William, i. 316;
surrenders to the French frigate _Insurgent_, _ib._;
Captain of the _Voluntaire_ refuses to accept his sword, _ib._;
deceives the French officer, 317;
sent to Tripoli in charge of the _Essex_, 335;
chases a Tripolitan corsair, 341;
loses his ship on a reef, 343;
court-martialed, 344;
a prisoner in Tripoli, 345;
communicates with American fleet, 346;
a shot penetrates his prison, 368;
remonstrates with the Navy Department of Madison’s administration,
ii. 26;
cruising in Brazil, 152;
fight with the British frigate _Java_, 153–173;
wounded, 155;
conducts his ship while his wounds are being dressed, 156;
paroles 378 of the _Java’s_ crew, 167;
blows up the _Java_, 173;
his dream realized, 172, 173;
his character illustrated, 177;
insulted at Barcelona, iii. 311–313.

Bainbridge, Midshipman Joseph, his duel with the Secretary of Sir
Alexander Ball, iii. 307–311;
captures a Carthaginian privateer, iii. 65;
attacked and captured by the _Orpheus_ and _Shelburne_, 65, 66.

Baker, Captain Thomas H., iv. 89.

Baldwin, Lieutenant, i. 66.

Ball, Sir Alexander, iii. 307.

_Ballard_, American gun-boat, iii. 141.

Ballard, Midshipman Edward J., ii. 206.

_Baltimore_, American frigate, five men of the, impressed in the
British service, 401.

Bankhead, Captain J. P., at Port Royal, iv. 163.

Banks, General Nathaniel Prentiss, sent on expedition to Shreveport,
La., iv. 368.

_Banshee_, the first steel blockade-runner, iv. 57.

Barbary pirates encouraged by England, i. 307;
war with, 333, 334.

_Barclay_, British whaler, captured by Porter, iii. 8.

Barclay, Captain Robert H., appears off Erie, ii. 289;
fond of festivities, 291;
misses the American fleet, 292;
opposes Perry, 296;
superiority of his ships, 298;
determines to meet Perry, 302;
awaits the American squadron, 306;
fires the first gun, 308;
surrenders, 324, 326;
loses a second arm in the battle, 330.

Barnard, Captain Tim, iii. 187;
captures nineteen prizes, _ib._

Barney, Captain Joshua, sketch of, i. 209–215;
has command of the clipper-schooner _Rossie_, ii. 245;
captures by, 246–248;
commands a fleet in Chesapeake Bay in 1813, 403;
attacked by the British on the Patuxent River, 403–409;
Captain Samuel Miller and Colonel Wadsworth sent to his assistance,
409, 410;
moves up the Patuxent River, 413;
burns his fleet, 414;
wounded, 416.

Barney, Major William B., acts as aid to his father, ii. 406;
in command of cutter _Scorpion_, 408.

_Barossa_, British frigate, ii. 395.

Barreaut, Captain, chases American ships, i. 316;
recalled by Captain St. Laurent, 317–319.

Barriers on the Mississippi to prevent Farragut’s advance, iv. 320;
broken down by the _Itasca_, 323.

Barron, Captain James, sent to Tripoli in charge of the _President_,
i. 335;
with Stephen Decatur, iii. 318–322;
restored to active service, 323.

Barron, Captain Samuel, sent to Tripoli in charge of the
_Philadelphia_, i. 335.

Barron, Flag Officer Samuel, captured at Fort Hatteras, iv. 106.

Barry, Captain John, i. 39;
commands American brig _Lexington_, 63;
cruises off Virginia capes, 64;
encounters British tender _Edward_, 64;
sinks the _Effingham_, 188;
captures and destroys the schooner _Alert_, 189, 190;
appointed to the _Raleigh_, _ib._;
chases the Unicorn, 191;
loses the _Raleigh_, 194.

Bashaw of Tripoli, treachery of, i. 335, 336;
refuses to make a treaty, 340;
agrees to give up prisoners, 378.

Bassett, Lieutenant F. S., opinion of Commodore Hopkins, i. 61.

Batteaux, travelling in, ii. 263.

Battle of Bunker Hill, i. 26;
Champlain, 92–111;
of Fort Pillow, iv. 298;
of Grand Gulf, 367;
of Lake Erie, ii. 309–325;
of Lexington, i. 14;
of Memphis, iv. 298–307;
of New Orleans (in the Civil War), 326–340;
of Pittsburg Landing, 284.

Baton Rouge surrenders to Captain Craven of the _Brooklyn_, iv. 340.

_Baudara de Sangare_, a private vessel, captured by the _Shark_, iii.
332.

Baury, Lieutenant Frederick, iii. 81.

Bay Point. See _Fort Beauregard_.

Bazely, Lieutenant John, captures the _Lexington_, i. 119, 120.

_Beagle_, American ship, captures Cape Cruz, iii. 334.

_Beaufort_, Confederate gun-boat, takes crew off the _Congress_ after
she surrenders to the _Merrimac_, iv. 208.

_Beauregard_, Confederate ram, attacks the _Queen of the West_ at
Fort Pillow, iv. 301;
rammed and sunk by the _Monarch_, 302.

Bell, Henry H., iv. 314.

Belligerent ships, rules and orders regarding, issued by British
Government, iv. 411.

Belligerents, rights of, iv. 86.

Belmont, on the Mississippi, battle at, iv. 251;
the Confederates compel Grant to retreat, 252.

_Belvidera_, British frigate, encounters the _President_, ii. 29;
escapes, 32.

_Ben. Dunning_, Federal merchant-ship, captured by Confederate
cruiser _Sumter_, iv. 415.

Benham, Admiral A. E. K.,
prompt action of, at Rio Janeiro, iv. 548.

Bentham, Commander George, attacks the _General Armstrong_ in the
harbor of Fayal, iii. 187–199;
sets fire to the _Armstrong_, 200.

_Benton_ snag-boat, converted by Eads into an armored vessel, iv.
246–249.

_Benton_, Porter’s flagship before Vicksburg, iv. 363.

_Benton_, Federal gun-boat, Lieutenant-commander J. A. Greer, iv. 369.

_Berceau_, French frigate, fights with the _Boston_, i. 328;
returned to France, 330.

Beresford, Captain John Poer, recaptures the _Frolic_ from the
_Wasp_, ii. 118.

Berkeley, British minister at Washington, recalled and promoted, ii.
2.

Bermudas a basis for contraband trade during the Civil War, iv. 48.

_Betsey_, British bark, captured by Captain Alexander, i. 66.

Biddle, Captain Nicholas, i. 64;
commands the _Randolph_, 160;
attacks the _Yarmouth_, 162.

Biddle, James, Lieutenant on the _Wasp_ (No. 2), ii. 111;
leads the boarders, _ib._;
hauls down the flag of the _Frolic_, 112;
appointed to command the _Hornet_, iii. 272;
commands the _Macedonian_, 331;
sent to the Pacific Coast, 401;
sent to Japan to negotiate a treaty of peace, 440.

_Bienville_, Federal ship, in Port Royal squadron, iv. 172.

_Black Hawk_, Federal gun-boat, iv. 369.

_Black Prince_, purchased by Naval Committee, i. 39.

Black Rock, near Buffalo, Lieutenant Elliott establishes a navy yard
at, ii. 273.

_Black Snake_, British gun-boat, iii. 126.

Blake, Captain H. C., iv. 432.

Blakely, Master-commandant Johnston, ii. 375;
fights with the _Reindeer_ and the _Avon_, iii. 85–96;
captures the _Atalanta_, 100;
lost with his ship, 103.

Blockade-runner, legal status of, iv. 57, 58.

Blockade-runners, chiefly in the hands of the British, iv. 48;
reckless loading of, 61;
profits of, 63, 64.

Blockading the Southern ports, iv. 28–30;
no force available to blockade at the beginning of the war, 32;
lack of ships and men, 34;
Congress slow to appreciate the need of a navy, 35.

“Blood is thicker than water,” iii. 381, 382.

Blythe, Captain Samuel, attacks the _Enterprise_, ii. 375;
killed, 379;
buried at Portland, 385.

Board of Admiralty, i. 158.

Boggs, Commander Charles S., iv. 314.

_Bolton_, American bomb-brig, i. 56.

_Bonhomme Richard_, American ship, i. 227;
origin of the name, 228;
fitted out by Jones, 229;
mixed crew of, 230;
Richard Dale as master’s mate on, _ib._;
the _Alliance_ runs foul of, 234;
accident to, 235;
meets the _Serapis_, 243;
fight with the _Serapis_, 245–259;
comparative strength of the two ships, 265;
after the surrender, 269–272;
sinking of the ship, 272.

_Bonita_, American schooner, in attack on Alvarado, iii. 410.

_Bonne Citoyenne_, British war-ship, blockaded in the harbor of
Bahia, ii. 179;
cowardice of Captain Greene, 180.

_Borer_, American gun-boat, iii. 141.

_Boston_, American frigate, i. 286, 287.

_Boston_, American ship, fights the _Berceau_, Captain Senez, i. 328,
329.

Boston Port Bill, i. 13.

Boston, tea destroyed in harbor of, i. 13;
press-gang riots in, 395.

_Boston_, United States cruiser, iv. 533.

Boutelle, Mr., of the Federal Coast Survey, replaces the buoys at
Port Royal, iv. 171.

Bowling Green, Kentucky, Confederate position at, untenable after
surrender of Fort Henry, iv. 266.

_Boxer_, British brig, attacks the _Enterprise_, ii. 375;
surrenders, 379;
crew of, 382;
decision of the British court on the loss of the, 384.

_Bragg_, Confederate ship, captured at Fort Pillow, iv. 302.

Breckenridge, General, attacks the Federal forces at Baton Rouge, iv.
344.

Breese, Lieutenant-commander K. R., iv. 369.

Breeze, Chaplain, on the _Lawrence_ in the battle of Lake Erie, ii.
317.

British Government, attitude of the, toward African pirates, iii. 340.

British grab at the Valley of the Mississippi, iii. 229, 230.

British merchants and the American war, i. 112.

British Navy in American waters, i. 195.

British waters, rights of belligerents in, iv. 411.

Brock, Sir Isaac, his view of the English possession of America, ii.
279.

_Broke_, British gun-boat, iii. 143.

Broke, Captain Philip Vere, Commodore British squadron, ii. 55;
challenges Lawrence of the _Chesapeake_ to fight, “ship to ship,”
ii. 203, 204;
boards the _Chesapeake_, 214;
is wounded, 217;
becomes delirious, 221, 225;
made a baronet, 226;
death of, 229.

Brooke, Lieutenant John M., assigned to assist in designing an
ironclad, iv. 184.

_Brooklyn_, screw sloop, iv. 314.

_Brooklyn_, Federal gun-boat, iv. 386.

Brown, Lieutenant George, iv. 389.

Brown, Captain Isaac N., iv. 342;
skirmish with the Federal fleet in the Yazoo River, _ib._;
attacks Farragut’s squadron, 344;
supports Breckenridge at Baton Rouge, _ib._

Brown, Lieutenant James, ii. 217.

Browne, Lieutenant G. W., iv. 370.

Brownson, Captain Willard H., at Rio Janeiro, iv. 548;
on the coast of Mexico, 553.

Bruinsburg, Federal army crosses from, to Grand Gulf, iv. 364.

Bryant, Captain N. C., before Fort Pillow, iv. 290.

Buchanan, Flag Officer Franklin, iv. 188;
his difficulty in finding a crew, 195;
wounded, 210;
his report of the fight, _ib._;
Confederate fleet of, at Mobile, 380;
sends the _Tennessee_ into action, 399;
wounded, 402.

Budd, Lieutenant George, ii. 206, 218.

Bullock, Commander James D., supervises construction of the
_Alabama_, iv. 430.

Bunker Hill, battle of, i. 26.

_Bunker Hill_, American privateer, ii. 394.

Burleton, Admiral Sir George, chases the _Hornet_, iii. 282.

Burnside, General A. E., sent to capture Roanoke Island, iv. 109.

_Burrows_, American gun-boat, iii. 141.

Burrows, Lieutenant William, appointed to command the _Enterprise_,
ii. 375;
encounters the _Boxer_, 375–377;
is mortally wounded, 377;
receives the surrender of the _Boxer_, 379.

Bushnell, David, invents first American submarine torpedo boat, i.
164;
sketch of his life, 180–184.

Butler, General Benjamin F., sent to attack the forts on Hatteras
Islands, iv. 100;
his report at, 107;
occupies New Orleans, 338, 339;
his plan for blowing up Fort Fisher, 508–510.

_Byron_, Captain of, chased by the _President_, ii. 29–32.

_Cabot_, brig of first American Navy, i. 39;
commanded by Captain Elisha Hinman, i. 66;
fired by her captain, 163.

_Cairo_, armor-plated Federal gun-boat, built by Eads, iv. 245;
Captain N. C. Bryant commands, 290;
runs by torpedoes in the Yazoo River expedition, iv. 350.

Calbreth, Peter, one of the capturers of the _Margaretta_, i. 17.

Caldwell, Lieutenant C. H. B., iv. 314;
breaks barriers across the Mississippi, 323.

_Caleb Cushing_, Federal revenue cutter, cut out and burnt by the
_Archer_, iv. 424.

_Caledonia_, British brig, captured by Lieutenant Elliott, ii. 279.

California, a bone of contention between Americans and English, in
1842, iii. 387, 388;
operations that insured the acquisition of, iii. 387, 388.

Canada invaded by American troops, i. 84;
annexation of, agitated in 1812, ii. 20;
invasions of, for resenting British aggressions, ii. 263.

Canning, British prime minister, diplomacy of, in regard to the
_Chesapeake_ affair, ii. 1.

Canton, China, American fleet sent to, to protect American interests,
iii. 380.

Cape Cruz, South America, a pirate resort captured by the
_Greyhound_ and _Beagle_, iii. 334.

Carden, Captain John Surnam, i. 389;
cruel treatment of sailors, _ib._;
cruises in the Azores, ii. 121;
falls in with the _United States_, 122;
fight with, 125–134;
Decatur refuses to receive his sword, 139.

Caribbean Sea a nest for pirates, iii. 326.

Carleton, Sir Guy, his supplies captured by Paul Jones, i. 79;
confidence of, 85;
his fleet at St. John’s, 87;
fight on Lake Champlain, 92–94.

_Carleton_, British schooner, ii. 100.

_Carnation_, British brig, attacks the _General Armstrong_ in the
neutral port of Fayal, Azores, iii. 187–200.

Caroband Bank, South America, fight between the _Hornet_ and
_Peacock_ near, ii. 181.

_Caroline_, American schooner, attacks the British camp at Villeré’s
Plantation on the Mississippi, iii. 239;
is fired and abandoned, 240.

Carondelet, James B. Eads’s shipyard at, iv. 243.

_Carondelet_, armor-plated Federal gun-boat, built by Eads, iv. 245,
369;
goes aground outside Fort Henry, 265;
gets free, 266;
shells Fort Donelson, 268, 271;
disabled before Fort Donelson, 271;
gun bursts on, 272;
in Porter’s fleet before Vicksburg, 363.

Carronades, description and value of, ii. 36–38.

Carronades (short guns) out of use, iii. 141.

Carrying trade of the Mediterranean, England’s tribute to the Dey of
Algiers for, iii. 340;
after the War of 1812, _ib._

Cassin, Lieutenant Stephen, iii. 139.

_Castilian_, English brig-sloop, iii. 93.

_Catherine_, British ship, captured by Lieutenant Downes, iii. 10.

Cat-o’-ninetails used to enforce orders on British ships, i. 389.

_Catskill_, Federal ironclad, iv. 480.

_Cayuga_, Federal screw gun-boat, iv. 314.

_Centipede_, American gun-boat, iii. 141.

_Centipede_, British launch, ii. 398;
sunk, 400.

Ceremonies connected with first American fleet, i. 44–46.

_Ceres_, British man-of-war, captures the _Alfred_, i. 132, 133.

Chads, Lieutenant, in the fight with the _Constitution_, takes
command when Captain Lambert is mortally wounded, ii. 165.

Champlain, Lake, naval battle on, i. 92–100;
reflections on the battle, 105–111.

Champlin, Stephen, in the battle of Lake Erie, ii. 326;
fires the last shot of the battle, 327.

Chandeleur Islands, the British forces arrive at, to attack New
Orleans, iii. 230.

Chaplin, Lieutenant J. C., attacks the forts at Acquia Creek, iv. 82.

Charles City, Ark., attack on, by Federal gun-boats and an Indiana
regiment, iv. 307.

_Charleston_, United States cruiser, plans of, imported, iv. 531.

Charleston, S. C., defences of, iv. 467;
bombardment of, iv. 480–502.

_Charlton_, British whaler, captured by Porter, iii. 14.

_Charwell_, British brig, iii. 110.

Chase, Major W. H., and Colonel Lomax, capture the Pensacola Navy
Yard, iv. 112.

_Chasseur_, Baltimore clipper, attacks the _St. Lawrence_, British
war-schooner, iii. 204.

_Chatsworth_, American brigantine, slave-ship captured by Lieutenant
Foote, iii. 366.

Chauncey, Commodore Isaac, appointed to command the forces on the
Great Lakes, ii. 270;
attacks Kingston, _ib._;
attacks Toronto, 341;
attacks Fort George, 342;
returns to Sackett’s Harbor, 348;
makes another assault on Toronto, 349;
Sir James Yeo’s squadron appears, _ib._;
jockeying for position, 350;
Chauncey opens fire, 351;
returns to the attack, 352;
misses the great opportunity of his life, 353;
operations of, on Lake Ontario, iii. 113–129.

_Cherub_, British war-ship, accompanies the _Phœbe_ in the attack on
the _Essex_, iii. 25.

_Chesapeake_, American frigate, built, i. 312.

_Chesapeake_, Lawrence appointed to command of, ii. 197;
her crew, 198;
the ship reputed to be unlucky, 199;
is fitted out for a voyage to intercept British ships, 200;
is blockaded by the _Shannon_ in Boston Harbor, 203;
goes out to meet the _Shannon_, 1813, 204;
crew mutinous, 205;
closes down on the _Shannon_, 206;
the battle, 209;
the _Chesapeake_ is boarded, 214;
hand-to-hand fight, 217;
the ship is captured, 221;
taken to Halifax, 222;
comparison of the two ships, 229.

_Chickasaw_, Federal monitor, iv. 386.

_Chickasaw_, Federal gun-boat, shells Fort Gaines, and compels it to
surrender, iv. 405.

_Chicora_, Confederate ironclad, built at Charleston, iv. 473;
fires on the _Keystone State_ and captures her, 475.

_Chillicothe_, Federal gun-boat, iv. 369.

Chinese assault on the American flag, a, iii. 380.

Chinese war of 1856, American interests involved in, and fleet sent
to protect them, iii. 379–382.

_Chippeway_, British schooner, in battle of Lake Erie, ii. 297.

_Chubb_, British ship, disabled and surrenders to Macdonough, iii.
156.

_Chubb_, British gun-boat, iii. 143.

_Cincinnati_, armor-plated Federal gun-boat, built by Eads, iv. 245;
flagship of Commodore Foote before Fort Henry, 261;
Captain R. N. Stembel commands, 289;
throws the first shell into Fort Pillow, 293;
attacked by Confederate rains, _ib._;
the _Mound City_ goes to the rescue of, 294;
sinks, _ib._

_Circassian_, blockade-runner, captured off Havana by the Fulton
ferryboat _Somerset_, iv. 37.

Civilization promoted by Anglo-Saxon aggressiveness, iii. 391.

_Clarence_, merchant-ship, captured by Captain Maffitt, of the
cruiser _Florida_, iv. 424;
placed under command of Lieutenant Read, _ib._;
burnt, _ib._

Coaling stations, need of, by Federal war-ships in Southern waters,
iv. 161.

Cocke, Captain W. H., iii. 333;
fired on and killed by a Porto Rican fort, _ib._

Collier, Sir Ralph, K. C. B., iii. 260.

Collins, Captain Napoleon, at Port Royal, iv. 163;
commanding the _Wachusett_, captures the _Florida_ in Bahia Harbor,
iv. 424.

“Colonial Navy,” distinguished from temporary cruisers, i. 28, 29.

_Colorado_, United States screw frigate, launched, iv. 15.

_Columbia_, American frigate, attacks and bombards the Malay town of
Quallah Battoo, iii. 375–379.

_Columbia_, United States cruiser, iv. 534.

Columbiad, description of, iv. 119.

_Columbus_, successful cruise of Captain Whipple in the, i. 66.

_Columbus_, American ship-of-the-line, sent to Japan, iii. 440.

Columbus, Ky., Confederate position at, becomes untenable after
surrender of Fort Henry, iv. 266.

Columbus, on the Mississippi, Confederates evacuate, iv. 275.

_Comet_, American privateer, ii. 252.

Commander-in-chief of the Navy, title held by Commodore Hopkins only,
i. 62.

_Condor_, blockade-runner, wreck of, at Fort Fisher, iv. 511.

_Conestoga_, merchant-vessel, purchased by Commander Rodgers, iv. 241;
Captain Phelps appointed to command, 251.

_Confederacy_, American frigate, i. 287.

_Confederacy_, American packet, captured by the English, i. 298.

_Confiance_, British frigate, iii. 142;
flagship of Captain Downie in the battle of Lake Champlain, 153;
disabled and surrendered to the _Saratoga_, 165.

_Congress_, American galley, i. 89;
Arnold’s, flagship, 99;
covers retreat at Crown Point, 104;
burned by Arnold, 105.

_Congress_, American frigate, built, i. 312;
opens fire on the ironclad _Merrimac_ in Hampton Roads, iv. 200;
grounded, 207;
two Confederate gun-boats open fire on her, _ib._;
Lieutenant Pendergrast surrendered her to the _Merrimac_, 208;
hot shot fired at her by the _Merrimac_, 209;
her magazine explodes, 215.

Connecticut troops desert, i. 30.

Conner, Commodore David, lands a force at Point Isabel, iii. 409;
his fleet not fitted for shallow waters, 410;
his conduct of the seige of Vera Cruz, 418.

Connyngham, Captain Gustavus, i. 123;
captures prizes on the French coast, 124;
commission taken from him, 125;
takes command of the _Revenge_, 126;
his ship injured, 127;
refits in English port, 128;
gets provisions in an Irish port, _ib._;
sails for America, _ib._;
denounced as a pirate, 129;
cruel treatment of, in English prison, _ib._

_Constellation_, American frigate, built, i. 312;
Captain Thomas Truxton commands, 316, 319;
battle with French frigate _Insurgent_, 320;
discipline on board of, 322, 323;
battle with French frigate _Vengeance_, 323–325;
Captain Charles Gordon appointed to command in Decatur’s fleet,
iii. 343.