The Shining Sea (52 page)

63
      
Cook's experience in the Royal Navy:
Alan Villiers,
Captain James Cook
(New York: Penguin, 1969), 23.

64
      
There was no excuse for any captain in 1812:
Porter,
Journal
, 40.

64
      
He was particularly enthusiastic about the good effects:
Porter to Dr. Barton, Dec. 31, 1811, Newport, in Porter Papers.

65
      
Later in life, Porter gave this striking description:
Porter,
Constantinople and Its Environs,
2:10–11.

66
      
At sunrise on November 26, a lookout:
Porter,
Journal
, 29–30.

Chapter Seven: In the South Atlantic, Dreaming of the Pacific

69
      
David Porter continued on to the next place:
Porter,
Journal
, 43–44.

70
      
On December 11, the
Essex
crossed:
Journal of Midshipman William W. Feltus
, Dec. 13, 1812.

71
      
Unfortunately, the
Nocton
never made it back:
Lieutenant William B. Finch
to Secretary of the Navy Jones, Feb. 13, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:684–85.

72
      
On December 14, two days after Porter:
William Jones to Commodore William Bainbridge, Oct. 11, 1812, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812,
1: 512–15.

72
      
Now began a game of false identities and coded messages:
Thomas Harris,
The Life and Services of Commodore William Bainbridge, United States Navy
(Philadelphia: Carey, Lea, & Blanchard, 1837), 138–39; William Jones to Commodore William Bainbridge, Oct. 11, 1812, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 1: 512–15; Porter,
Journal
, 51–54.

73
      
On December 20, the
Essex
spoke a Portuguese vessel:
Porter,
Journal
, 56–57.

74
      
It did not take long to get there:
Dixon to Croker, March 19, 1813, in Gerald S. Graham and R.A. Humphreys, eds.,
The Navy and South America, 1807–1823: Correspondence of the Commanders-in-Chief on the South American Station
(London: Naval Records Society, 1962), 85–86; Porter,
Journal
, 58.

74
      
During the few days that the
Essex
patrolled off Rio:
Long,
Nothing Too Daring,
78; Porter,
Journal,
59–60; Dudley ed.,
The Naval War of 1812
, 2:690.

75
      
On January 2, 1813, Porter stopped a Portuguese:
Porter,
Journal
, 60–63.

76
      
Porter had no way of knowing that meeting Bainbridge and Lawrence:
Daughan,
1812,
140–45.

78
      
Bainbridge also had to think about Lawrence:
Ibid., 135–49.

79
      
At the moment, Porter had no inkling:
Porter,
Journal
, 63–65.

79
      
“With my water and provisions getting short”:
Porter to Bainbridge, March 23, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:689.

80
      
On the way to St. Catharine's, Porter distributed:
Porter,
Journal
, 65.

80
      
On January 18, Porter spoke to:
Ibid., 68–77.

83
      
As far back as 1809, Porter had written to former president Jefferson:
Porter to Jefferson, Aug. 17, 1809, in J. Jefferson Looney et al., eds.,
The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004), 1:443–49.

83
      
Porter sent a copy of the letter to Charles Goldsborough:
Charles Goldsborough to James Madison, Sept. 20, 1809,
Papers of James Madison: Presidential Series
, 1:388; J.C.A. Stagg,
Borderlines in Borderlands: James Madison and the Spanish-American Frontier
(New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009), 185–90.

83
      
Still not deterred, Porter wrote on February 7, 1811:
David Porter to Secretary of the Navy, Feb. 7, 1811, USND, vol. I, LRMC (Letters Received
by Secretary of the Navy from Masters Commandant, USND); Long,
Nothing Too Daring
, 58.

83
      
Porter had also urged his plan on Bainbridge:
Porter,
Journal
, 72–73.

84
      
He wrote later to Bainbridge explaining his thinking:
Porter to Bainbridge, March 23, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:688–89.

84
      
Porter claimed that he had no idea:
Porter,
Journal
, 73–74.

85
      
Porter understood well the disadvantages:
Ibid., 74.

Chapter Eight: Doubling Cape Horn

87
      
It was an American sealer, the
Topaz:
Alexander,
The
Bounty, 346–48.

87
      
As the
Essex
plowed south, the temperature dropped steadily:
Porter,
Journal
, 79–81.

88
      
The
Essex
was running fast:
Ibid., 82.

89
      
The following day, February 4:
Ibid., 89.

90
      
Captain Cook on his first voyage in 1768:
Richard Hough,
Captain James Cook: A Biography
(New York: W.W. Norton, 1994), 73.

90
      
Sailing to the east of Staten Island:
Porter,
Journal
, 84–86.

92
      
Staten Island and the Strait of Le Maire:
Ibid., 90.

92
      
Before long, they were there:
Ibid., 91–98.

94
      
The terrifying deluge persisted:
Ibid., 98.

95
      
Birds, kelp, and whales appeared:
Ibid.

95
      
David Farragut remembered that:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut
, 20; Mahan,
Admiral Farragut
, 22.

95
      
Miraculously, the men at the wheel stood firm:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut
, 20

95
      
Porter, though severely bruised, led the fight back:
Porter,
Journal
, 101–5.

Chapter Nine: Navigating Chile's Political Waters

97
      
Porter ran north with the Humbolt current:
Edouard A. Stackpole,
Whales and Destiny: The Rivalry between America, France, and Britain for Control of the Southern Whale Fishery, 1785–1825
(Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1972), 275–76.

98
      
Porter thought he could scoop up enough prizes:
Porter,
Journal
, 101–2.

98
      
As the Essex
approached Mocha:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut,
21; Porter,
Journal
, 108.

99
      
The incident cast a pall over the ship:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut
, 21.

100
    
As Porter steered for Santa Maria:
Porter,
Journal
, 112.

101
    
The unexpectedly dreary landscape:
Ibid., 113–14.

102
    
Young Farragut, who knew how much:
Farragut,
Life of David Glasgow Farragut
, 21–22.

102
    
For some reason, perhaps the obviously deteriorating:
Porter,
Journal
, 116–17.

103
    
Porter was surprised that Chile had a new, pro-American:
John Lynch,
The Spanish American Revolutions, 1808–1826
(New York: W.W. Norton, 1973), 1; Alan Schom,
Napoleon Bonaparte
(New York: Harper, 1997), 453–72.

105
    
When Chileans received reports of the Napoleonic conquest in 1808:
Luis Galdames,
A History of Chile
, translated and edited by Isaac Joslin Cox (New York: Russell & Russell, 1964, first published in 1941 by the University of North Carolina Press), 173.

105
    
Alexander von Humbolt, the Prussian explorer:
Quoted in Lynch,
Spanish American Revolutions,
1.

108
    
When Porter arrived on the scene:
Galdames,
History of Chile
, 178.

Chapter Ten: A Packed Week at Valparaiso

111
    
“With respect to Spanish America generally”:
Madison to Ambassador Pinkney, Oct. 30, 1810 in Ralph Ketcham,
James Madison
(Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1990), 502; Secretary of State Robert Smith to Joel Roberts Poinsett, Aug. 24, 1810, in Poinsett Papers, 1785–1851, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Guide 512, Box 1, 1800–1817.

111
    
Britain had been trying to increase her influence:
Charles K. Webster, ed.,
Britain and the Independence of Latin America, 1812–1830: Select Documents from the Foreign Office Archives
, two vols. (London: Oxford University Press, 1938), 1:3–12; Robert Harvey,
Liberators: Latin America's Struggle For Independence
(Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press, 2000), 8–13.

112
    
While the British continued to fight for the Spanish monarchy:
Poinsett to Secretary of State James Monroe, Sept. 15, 1814, Poinsett Papers, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, HSP Guide 512, Box 1.

112
    
When Poinsett left for South America on October 15, 1810:
J. Fred Rippy,
Joel R. Poinsett, Versatile American
(New York: Greenwood, 1968, reprint of 1935 edition by Duke University Press), 36–42; Samuel Flagg Bemis,
The Latin American Policy of the United States
(New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1943), 31.

113
    
Without any communication from Washington, Poinsett:
Poinsett to Monroe, Sept. 10, 1814, Poinsett Papers, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Box 1.

114
    
Poinsett and Carrera were so enthusiastic about the
Essex:
Porter,
Journal
, 120–21.

114
    
When news of Porter's arrival reached Santiago:
Ibid., 138.

114
    
Actually, the
Standard
had departed:
Captain Peter Heywood to Dixon, April 3, 1813, Dixon to Croker, April 30, 1813, in Gerald S. Graham and R.A. Humphreys, eds.,
The Navy and South America, 1807–1823: Correspondence of the Commanders-in-Chief on the South American Station
(London: Navy Records Society, 1962), 86–87.

115
    
Without Dixon and the
Standard
to worry about at the moment:
Porter,
Journal
, 127.

115
    
Porter was also entertaining Governor Lastra:
Ibid., 121–25.

116
    
The following day was Sunday:
Journal of Midshipman William W. Feltus
, March 22, 1813.

117
    
An American whale ship, the
George:
Stackpole,
Whales and Destiny,
338–39.

117
    
On March 23, just before leaving Valparaiso:
Porter to Bainbridge, March 23, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2: 688–89.

Chapter Eleven: Peru and the Elusive
Nimrod

119
    
He estimated that there were in excess:
Porter,
Journal
, 211.

121
    
Porter now went after the
Nimrod:
Journal of Midshipman William W. Feltus,
March 25 and 26, 1813; Porter,
Journal
, 131–34.