Naval History of the United States Volume 1

John Abbot Willis

Description

In May, 1636, a stanch little sloop of some twenty tons was standing along Long Island Sound on a trading expedition. At her helm stood John Gallop, a sturdy colonist, and a skilful seaman, who earned his bread by trading with the Indians that at that time thronged the shores of the Sound, and eagerly seized any opportunity to traffic with the white men from the colonies of Plymouth or New Amsterdam. The colonists sent out beads, knives, bright clothes, and sometimes, unfortunately, rum and other strong drinks. The Indians in exchange offered skins and peltries of all kinds; and, as their simple natures had not been schooled to nice calculations of values, the traffic was one of great profit to the more shrewd whites. But the trade was not without its perils. Though the Indians were simple, and little likely to drive hard bargains, yet they were savages, and little accustomed to nice distinctions between their own property and that of others. Their desires once aroused for some gaudy bit of cloth or shining glass, they were ready enough to steal it, often making their booty secure by the murder of the luckless trader

Sujets

• Histoire
• USA
• History of the Americas
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: Pub One Info
• Date de parution: 23 octobre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9782819902560
• Langue: English

Extrait

PART I
B LUE-JACKETS OF'76.
CHAPTER I.
E ARLYEXPLOITS UPON THE WATER. – GALLOP'S BATTLE WITH THE
I NDIANS. –BUCCANEERS AND PIRATES. – MORGAN AND
B LACKBEARD.– CAPT. KIDD TURNS PIRATE. – DOWNFALL OF THE
B UCCANEERS'POWER.
I n May, 1636, astanch little sloop of some twenty tons was standing along LongIsland Sound on a trading expedition. At her helm stood JohnGallop, a sturdy colonist, and a skilful seaman, who earned hisbread by trading with the Indians that at that time thronged theshores of the Sound, and eagerly seized any opportunity to trafficwith the white men from the colonies of Plymouth or New Amsterdam.The colonists sent out beads, knives, bright clothes, andsometimes, unfortunately, rum and other strong drinks. The Indiansin exchange offered skins and peltries of all kinds; and, as theirsimple natures had not been schooled to nice calculations ofvalues, the traffic was one of great profit to the more shrewdwhites. But the trade was not without its perils. Though theIndians were simple, and little likely to drive hard bargains, yetthey were savages, and little accustomed to nice distinctionsbetween their own property and that of others. Their desires oncearoused for some gaudy bit of cloth or shining glass, they wereready enough to steal it, often making their booty secure by themurder of the luckless trader. It so happened, that, just beforeJohn Gallop set out with his sloop on the spring trading cruise,the people of the colony were excitedly discussing the probablefate of one Oldham, who some weeks before had set out on a likeerrand, in a pinnace, with a crew of two white boys and twoIndians, and had never returned. So when, on this May morning,Gallop, being forced to hug the shore by stormy weather, saw asmall vessel lying at anchor in a cove, he immediately ran downnearer, to investigate. The crew of the sloop numbered two men andtwo boys, beside the skipper, Gallop. Some heavy duck-guns on boardwere no mean ordnance; and the New Englander determined to probethe mystery of Oldham's disappearance, though it might require somefighting. As the sloop bore down upon the anchored pinnace, Gallopfound no lack of signs to arouse his suspicion. The rigging of thestrange craft was loose, and seemed to have been cut. No lookoutwas visible, and she seemed to have been deserted; but a nearerview showed, lying on the deck of the pinnace, fourteen stalwartIndians, one of whom, catching sight of the approaching sloop, cutthe anchor cable, and called to his companions to awake.
This action on the part of the Indians left Gallopno doubt as to their character. Evidently they had captured thepinnace, and had either murdered Oldham, or even then had him aprisoner in their midst. The daring sailor wasted no time in debateas to the proper course to pursue, but clapping all sail on hiscraft, soon brought her alongside the pinnace. As the sloop cameup, the Indians opened the fight with fire-arms and spears; butGallop's crew responded with their duck-guns with such vigor thatthe Indians deserted the decks, and fled below for shelter. Gallopwas then in a quandary. The odds against him were too great for himto dare to board, and the pinnace was rapidly drifting ashore.After some deliberation he put up his helm, and beat to windward ofthe pinnace; then, coming about, came scudding down upon her beforethe wind. The two vessels met with a tremendous shock. The bow ofthe sloop struck the pinnace fairly amidships, forcing her over onher beam-ends, until the water poured into the open hatchway. Theaffrighted Indians, unused to warfare on the water, rushed upondeck. Six leaped into the sea, and were drowned; the rest retreatedagain into the cabin. Gallop then prepared to repeat his rammingmanoeuvre. This time, to make the blow more effective, he lashedhis anchor to the bow, so that the sharp flukes protruded; thusextemporizing an iron-clad ram more than two hundred years beforenaval men thought of using one. Thus provided, the second blow ofthe sloop was more terrible than the first. The sharp fluke of theanchor crashed through the side of the pinnace, and the two vesselshung tightly together. Gallop then began to double-load hisduck-guns, and fire through the sides of the pinnace; but, findingthat the enemy was not to be dislodged in this way, he broke hisvessel loose, and again made for the windward, preparatory to athird blow. As the sloop drew off, four or five more Indians rushedfrom the cabin of the pinnace, and leaped overboard but shared thefate of their predecessors, being far from land. Gallop then cameabout, and for the third time bore down upon his adversary. As hedrew near, an Indian appeared on the deck of the pinnace, and withhumble gestures offered to submit. Gallop ran alongside, and takingthe man on board, bound him hand and foot, and placed him in thehold. A second redskin then begged for quarter; but Gallop, fearingto allow the two wily savages to be together, cast the second intothe sea, where he was drowned. Gallop then boarded the pinnace. TwoIndians were left, who retreated into a small compartment of thehold, and were left unmolested. In the cabin was found the mangledbody of Mr. Oldham. A tomahawk had been sunk deep into his skull,and his body was covered with wounds. The floor of the cabin waslittered with portions of the cargo, which the murderous savageshad plundered. Taking all that remained of value upon his owncraft, Gallop cut loose the pinnace; and she drifted away, to go topieces on a reef in Narragansett Bay.
This combat is the earliest action upon Americanwaters of which we have any trustworthy records. The only navalevent antedating this was the expedition from Virginia, under Capt.Samuel Argal, against the little French settlement of San Sauveur.Indeed, had it not been for the pirates and the neighboring Frenchsettlements, there would be little in the early history of theAmerican Colonies to attract the lover of naval history. But about1645 the buccaneers began to commit depredations on the high seas,and it became necessary for the Colonies to take steps for theprotection of their commerce. In this year an eighteen-gun shipfrom Cambridge, Mass., fell in with a Barbary pirate of twentyguns, and was hard put to it to escape. And, as the seventeenthcentury drew near its close, these pests of the sea so increased,that evil was sure to befall the peaceful merchantman that put tosea without due preparation for a fight or two with the searobbers.
It was in the low-lying islands of the Gulf ofMexico, that these predatory gentry – buccaneers, marooners, orpirates – made their headquarters, and lay in wait for the richlyfreighted merchantmen in the West India trade. Men of allnationalities sailed under the "Jolly Roger," – as the dread blackflag with skull and cross-bones was called, – but chiefly were theyFrench and Spaniards. The continual wars that in that turbulenttime racked Europe gave to the marauders of the sea a speciousexcuse for their occupation. Thus, many a Spanish schooner, mannedby a swarthy crew bent on plunder, commenced her career on theSpanish Main, with the intention of taking only ships belonging toFrance and England; but let a richly laden Spanish galleon appear,after a long season of ill-fortune, and all scruples were thrownaside, the "Jolly Roger" sent merrily to the fore, and anotherpirate was added to the list of those that made the highways of thesea as dangerous to travel as the footpad infested common ofHounslow Heath. English ships went out to hunt down the treacherousSpaniards, and stayed to rob and pillage indiscriminately; and nota few of the names now honored as those of eminent Englishdiscoverers, were once dreaded as being borne by mercilesspirates.
But the most powerful of the buccaneers on theSpanish Main were French, and between them and the Spaniards anunceasing warfare was waged. There were desperate men on eitherside, and mighty stories are told of their deeds of valor. Therewere Pierre François, who, with six and twenty desperadoes, dashedinto the heart of a Spanish fleet, and captured the admiral'sflag-ship; Bartholomew Portuguese, who, with thirty men, maderepeated attacks upon a great Indiaman with a crew of seventy, andthough beaten back time and again, persisted until the crewsurrendered to the twenty buccaneers left alive; Françoisl'Olonoise, who sacked the cities of Maracaibo and Gibraltar, andwho, on hearing that a man-o'-war had been sent to drive him away,went boldly to meet her, captured her, and slaughtered all of thecrew save one, whom he sent to bear the bloody tidings to thegovernor of Havana.
Such were the buccaneers, – desperate, merciless,and insatiate in their lust for plunder. So numerous did theyfinally become, that no merchant dared to send a ship to the WestIndies; and the pirates, finding that they had fairly exterminatedtheir game, were fain to turn landwards for further booty. It wasan Englishman that showed the sea rovers this new plan of pillage;one Louis Scott, who descended upon the town of Campeche, and,after stripping the place to the bare walls, demanded that a heavytribute be paid him, in default of which he would burn the town.Loaded with booty, he sailed back to the buccaneers' haunts in theTortugas. This expedition was the example that the buccaneersfollowed for the next few years. City after city fell a prey to thedemoniac attacks of the lawless rovers. Houses and churches weresacked, towns given to the flames, rich and poor plundered alike;murder was rampant; and men and women were subjected to the mosthorrid tortures, to extort information as to buried treasures.
Two great names stand out pre-eminent amid the hostof outlaws that took part in this reign of rapine, – l'Olonoise andSir Henry Morgan. The desperate exploits of these two worthieswould, if recounted, fill volumes; and probably no moreextraordinary narrative of cruelty, courage, suffering, andbarbaric luxury could be fabricated. Morgan wa