The Shining Sea (51 page)

35
      
Bainbridge worried—far more than Porter—about:
Bainbridge to Susan Bainbridge, Nov. 1, 1803, in Knox, ed.,
Naval Documents,
3:178.

35
      
After the final victory over Tripoli, Porter remained:
Long,
Nothing Too Daring
, 32–34.

Chapter Four: Primed for Battle

37
      
Porter was also occupied with navy business:
Spencer C. Tucker and Frank T. Reuter,
Injured Honor: The Chesapeake-Leopard Affair, June 22, 1807
(Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1996), 140–188.

38
      
On February 22, 1808, the courts-martial were over:
John Hill Martin,
Chester (and its vicinity) Delaware County, in Pennsylvania . . .
(Philadelphia: William H. Pile and Sons, 1877), 85–87; David Dixon Porter,
Memoir of Commodore David Porter
, 72.

38
      
Porter had already received orders to take command:
Long,
Nothing Too Daring
, 37–38.

39
      
Young Farragut would during the Civil War:
Charles Lee Lewis,
David Glasgow Farragut: Admiral in the Making
(Annapolis, MD: United States Naval Institute, 1941), 1–21; Alfred Thayer Mahan,
Admiral Farragut
(New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1892), 1–5.

40
      
With war looming, Porter suggested:
Long,
Nothing Too Daring
, 58.

41
      
Commodore Rodgers, the navy's senior officer:
George C. Daughan,
1812: The Navy's War
(New York: Basic Books, 2011), 82.

41
      
Unhappy to be stuck in port while the war:
Ibid., 59–60.

42
      
“I detest the idea of trusting to our privateers”:
Porter to Hambleton, nd, in David Dixon Porter,
Memoir of Commodore David Porter
, 99.

42
      
Her skipper, Jacob Jones, needed supplies:
Jones did not get the
Wasp
to sea until October 13.

43
      
Porter feared that if he delayed much longer:
Porter to Hambleton, Oct. 4, 1812, in David Dixon Porter,
Memoir of Commodore David Porter
, 91.

43
      
“cut off from New York and Rhode Island”:
Porter to Secretary of the Navy Hamilton, Sept. 5, 1812, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812,
1:462.

43
      
His concern was unwarranted, however:
Porter to Hamilton, Oct. 2, 1812 in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 1:505–6; Porter to Hambleton, Oct. 4, 1812, in David Dixon Porter,
Memoir of Commodore David Porter
, 91; Daughan,
1812,
53–67.

43
      
Porter blamed Secretary of the Navy Hamilton:
Porter to Samuel Hambleton, Oct. 4, 1812, in David Dixon Porter,
Memoir of Commodore David Porter
, 91.

44
      
Porter's urge to be back at sea:
Lewis,
David Glasgow Farragut,
40–41.

44
      
The latest episode involved John Erving:
Porter to Hamilton, June 28, 1812; Hamilton to Porter, June 30, 1812, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 1:171–76.

45
      
The wide publicity afforded this latest controversy:
Rear Admiral George Cockburn to Vice Admiral Sir Alexander F.I. Cochrane, July 17, 1814 in Michael Crawford, ed.,
The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History
(Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 2002), 3:136–137.

45
      
Yeo's challenge, thus, came as no surprise:
John Randolph Spears,
The History of Our Navy from Its Origin to the Present Day, 1775–1897
(New York: Scribner's, 1897), 2:46; Lewis,
David Glasgow Farragut,
47–48.

45
      
Porter pleaded with Secretary Hamilton:
Long,
Nothing Too Daring,
69–70.

Chapter Five: The
Essex:
Past and Present

47
      
In October 1812, Captain David Porter was anxious:
Porter to Hamilton, Oct. 12, 1811, in Long,
Nothing Too Daring,
60.

47
      
“I am much pleased with my ship”:
Porter to Hambleton, Nov. 20, 1811, in David Dixon Porter MSS., Library of Congress, vol. 2.

47
      
Porter remained so disgruntled:
Porter to Hamilton, Oct. 14, 1812, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812,
1:528.

48
      
Porter's hyperbole did not move Hamilton:
Porter to Hamilton, Oct. 14, 1812, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 1:528; Porter to Hamilton, Oct. 12, 1811; Hamilton to Porter, Oct. 31, 1811, in Long,
Nothing Too Daring,
60–61.

49
      
The
Essex
had not been designed to carry primarily carronades:
Knox, ed.,
Naval Documents Related to the Quasi-War,
7:366.

49
      
Her first skipper, thirty-eight-year-old Captain Edward Preble:
Captain George Henry Preble,
The First Cruise of the United States Frigate
Essex,
Under the Command of Captain Edward Preble
(Essex Institute Historical Collections), 10:12.

49
      
In spite of his grumbling and penchant for hyperbole:
Essex Institute Proceedings
, 2:74–78; Philip Chadwick Foster Smith,
The Frigate
Essex
Papers: Building the Salem Frigate, 1798–1799
(Salem, MA: Peabody Museum of Salem, 1974), 19–36.

50
      
William Hackett, the well-known naval architect:
Howard I. Chapelle,
The History of American Sailing Ships
(New York: Bonanza Books, 1935), 94.

50
      
Enos Briggs of Salem took charge of building the frigate:
Salem Gazette
, Nov. 23, 1798; Ralph D. Paine,
The Ships and Sailors of Old Salem
(Chicago: A.C. McClure & Co., 1912), 231–32; Frederick C. Leiner,
Millions for Defense: The Subscription Warships of 1798
(Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2000), 163; Philip Chadwick Foster Smith,
The Frigate
Essex
Papers: Building the Salem Frigate, 1798–1799
(Salem, MA: Peabody Essex Museum, 1974).

50
      
The citizens of Essex County responded:
Paine,
Ships and Sailors of Old Salem
, 232–33.

50
      
Giant trees, felled by expert hands:
Leiner,
Millions for Defense
, 163; Smith,
Frigate Essex Papers
, 94.

50
      
Paul Revere contributed copper bolts:
Esther Forbes,
Paul Revere and the World He Lived In
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1942), 378–80.

50
      
Revere worked with navy agent Joseph Waters:
Frances Diane Robotti and James Vescovi,
The USS
Essex
and the Birth of the American Navy
(Holbrook, MA: Adams Media Corporation, 1999), 23–43.

51
      
Work progressed rapidly:
Bern Anderson,
Surveyor of the Sea: The Life and Voyages of Captain George Vancouver
(Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1960), 241.

51
      
The
Essex
measured 141 feet in overall length:
Smith,
Frigate
Essex
Papers,
290–91.

51
      
She was built for speed and carried:
Chapelle,
History of American Sailing Ships,
94.

51
      
Captain Preble officially accepted her:
Quoted in Paine,
Ships and Sailors of Old Salem,
237.

52
      
The first to make the voyage to Canton:
Dorothy Schurman Hawes,
To the Farthest Gulf: The Story of the American China Trade
(Ipswich, MA: Ipswich Press, 1940).

52
      
“The ship proves a good sea boat”:
Preble to Stoddert, December 29, 1799, in Knox, ed.,
Naval Documents Related to the Quasi-War,
4:578–79.

52
      
To Joseph Waters, the navy agent in Salem, Preble wrote:
Preble to Joseph Waters, Dec. 29, 1799, in Knox, ed.,
Naval Documents Related to the Quasi-War,
4:579.

52
      
Looking back years later, Preble remembered:
Christopher McKee,
Edward Preble
(Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press), 68.

52
      
On January 6, 1800, the
Essex
and the
Congress:
Christopher McKee,
A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession: The Creation of the U.S. Naval Officer Corps, 1794–1815
(Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1991), 417.

53
      
On March 11, 1800, a little over two months:
Robotti and Vescovi,
USS
Essex
and the Birth of the American Navy,
56; Leiner,
Millions for Defense,
168.

53
      
For two weeks, while work went ahead:
McKee,
Edward Preble
, 71.

53
      
After her return, the
Essex
was refurbished:
Robotti and Vescovi,
USS
Essex
and the Birth of the American Navy
, 123.

54
      
When Fox finished with her:
Smith,
Frigate
Essex
Papers,
191–93.

Chapter Six: First Rendezvous: Porto Praia

55
      
The time for Captain Porter and the
Essex:
Porter to Hambleton, Oct. 4, 1812, in David Dixon Porter MSS., vol. 2, Library of Congress.

56
      
“I sail on a long, a very long cruise”:
Porter to Hambleton, Oct. 19, 1812, in David Dixon Porter,
Memoir of Commodore David Porter of the United States Navy
(Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, nd., reprint of 1875 edition published in Albany, NY by J. Munsell), 101.

56
      
The
Essex
was anchored in deep water near shore:
Captain David Porter,
Journal of a Cruise
(Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1986, reprint
of 1815 edition published by Bradford and Inskeep, Philadelphia), 277.

57
      
By nightfall, the
Essex
had moved beyond the Delaware Capes:
Porter,
Journal
, 10.

58
      
Porter estimated it would take the
Essex:
Ibid., 25.

59
      
David Farragut wrote that “I have never since been”:
Captain A.T. Mahan,
Admiral Farragut
(New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1892), 30.

59
      
“My next cruise I hope will be more profitable”:
Porter to Hambleton, in David Dixon Porter MSS, Library of Congress, vol. 2.

59
      
On November 23, the
Essex
crossed the Tropic of Cancer:
Journal of Midshipman William W. Feltus Kept on Board the US. Frigate Essex,
Pennsylvania Historical Society; Lewis,
David Glasgow Farragut
, 54; Porter,
Journal
, 28.

60
      
As the
Essex
continued on toward Porto Praia:
Mahan,
Admiral Farragut
, 17–18.

61
      
“I have ever considered this [three watch system] among seamen”:
quoted in Caroline Alexander,
The
Bounty:
The True Story of the Mutiny on the
Bounty (New York: Viking, 2003), 83.

62
      
“What can be more dreadful,” Porter explained:
Porter,
Journal
, 42.

62
      
To protect his men against a naturally unhealthy environment:
Ibid. 40–42.

63
      
Porter also had good wind sails rigged:
Ibid., 43.

63
      
The greatest menace to the crew remained scurvy:
Porter to Dr. Barton, Surgeon of the Frigate
Essex
, Dec. 31, 1811, Newport, in Porter Papers, United States Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD.