p. 167

The Shannon and Chesapeake.

March [?] [1870?]

There dies a few days since an old Greenwich
pensioner, ISAAC COOPER by name, and among the
small effects which the veteran left behind him
"to be given to his next of kin" was a medal,
won by him for bravery in the service of his
country, a dirk which, when he was one of
the Shannon's crew, he had taken in fair fight
from an officer of the Chesapeake. This hap-
pened just sixty-five years ago, and COOPER was
the last survivor of that famous fight. The old
seaman formed, indeed, a link in the history
of our Navy. Among his comrades on board
the Shannon was one Adams, who had served
under RODNEY, and who could, therefore, contri-
bute to the gossip of the forecastle the story of
that great Admiral's victories, of splendid prizes
of Spanish galleons and French men-of-war in
the Western seas, telling also how he sailed in
the Formidable with RODNEY when he brought
captive home four Admirals - two Spaniards, a
Frenchman, and a Dutchman. And from ROD-
NEY, back through two centuries of history to the
destruction of the Spanish Armada, runs un-
broken the bright record of England's sea-fights.
Thus linking ship with ship, Admiral with Admi-
ral, and victory with victory, these old salts
keep alive from mouth to mouth the glorious
tradition of our Navy that the sea by right of
empire is the especial dominion of Britain.
From 1782 ADAMS served through NELSON'S era
of victories to the time when, in 1813, he fought
as a veteran by young COOPER'S side on board the
the Shannon in Boston Bay. From 1813 COOPER and
the Shannon bring history down to 1857, when
rebellion distracted our Indian Empire. On the
roll of the valorous deeds which make that black
year illustrious is inscribed the glorious service of
the Shannon and PEEL'S gallant brigade of tars.
Many of those men are now on board the ships
lying on guard in the Sea of Marmora, and they
complete, therefore, to this day, the chain of
England's naval annals. What story will they
have to transmit to the next generation of our
seamen? The prospect is grave, but looking
forward is always vain work. Retrospect is
just now more safe, and certainly more in-
spiriting. Meditating, therefore, at the grave
of the last survivor of that chivalrous engage-
ment between the Shannon and the Chesapeake,
patriotic memories may glance back to note the
virtues which make conspicuous the story of the
Shannon, and dignify the heroes who manned
her. COOPER'S life extended through long years
of comfortable peace, and two reigns vexed
by only a single breach of international good-
will, to that interval of trouble when Britain
confronted the world in arms and Englishmen
unhappily met in deadly strife those who were
English-born like themselves. We trust and
think that enmity can never be renewed, but it
brought forth deeds worthy of the proud races
engaged, and prominent among them stands
out the gallant sea-fight in Boston Harbour, on
the 1st of June, 1813.

The last days of May had been clouded. Dense
fogs, hanging round the land, had allowed many
an American vessel to elude the British frigates
crusing at the entrance of Boston Harbor.
But one day, through the murk and mist, the
American frigate Chesapeake ran the blockade
of the Shannon and the Tenedos. Already the
Americans had begun to whisper that the British
men-of-war were there for show and not for
work, and that the Chesapeake, when again fit
for sea, would pass out unchallenged as un-
hindered as she had come in. In case, however,
that the British frigates should blunder into her
way, the Americans were prepared - with a sup-
ply of new handcuffs - for the British tars. But
the first of June dawned clear and bright. The
fogs rolled up from off the sparkling sea, and
every feature of the landscape stood revealed.
A hundred pleasure boats flitted to and fro
upon the inner harbour waters, and in Presi-
dent Roads, her royal yards across and just
ready for sea, lay the gallant Chesapeake.
As her Commander looked from her deck, he
saw that at the harbour mouth there stood on
guard but one British ship where Boston had
thought there had been two; and, while they
were wondering at it, there came towards them
a boat, bearing a challenge from Captain BROKE
of "her Britannic Majesty's frigate Shannon"
to come out and fight him fairly in the sight of
all the city. "As the Chesapeake appears now
ready for sea," wrote BROKE, "I request you will
do me the favour to meet the Shannon with her,
ship to ship, to try the fortune of our respective
flags. To an officer of your character it requires
some apology for proceedings to further particulars.
The Shannon mounts twenty-four guns upon her
broadside and one light boat gun - eighteen-
pounders upon her main deck and thirty-two
pound carronades on her quarter-deck and fore-
castle - and this is manned with a complement of three
hundred men and boys - a large proportion of
the latter. I have sent the Tenedos away be-
yond the power of interfering with us, and will
meet you whenever it is most agreeable to you.
I will warn you should any of my friends be too
nigh or anywhere in sight until I can detach
them out of the way; or I would sail with you,
under a flag of truce, to any place you think
safest from our cruisers, hauling it down when
fair to begin our hostilities. You will feel it a com-
pliment when I say that the result of our meet-
ing may be the most grateful service I can
render to my country. Favour me with a
speedy reply. We are short of provisions and
water, and cannot stay long here. Choose
your terms, but let us meet." This chivalrous
appeal met with instant response from the
gallant enemy, and, firing a gun in defiance, the
Chesapeake shook out her sails and moved
out from her shelter to where the Shan-
non awaited her coming. Those watching
from the shore could see every detail of the
action that ensued. The Chesapeake, her
ensigns all gaily flying, bore down upon the
Shannon's starboard quarter, and within half-
pistolshot luffed up, conceding to the British
frigate the privilege of firing first. Two shots
were discharged from the Shannon in succes-
sion before the Chesapeake deaigned to reply;
but the response, when it came, was a shattering
broadside. For seven minutes the fearful
combat of cannon continued, and then the
two ships fell alongside each other, the
anchor-flukes of the Chesapeake grappling the
bulwarks of the Shannon. Three minutes
more elapsed, and then the Shannon's guns
had swept the Chesapeake's quarterdeck clear.
"Board!" cried Captain BROKE, and, leaping
from his ship, he led the party. Twenty
men followed him close, who, driving the
enemy fighting before them to the main hatch,
maintained there a desperate fight, until in
the next minute they were reinforced by forty
more of the Shannon's crew. Another dash
forward was made, and then the men of the
Chesapeake threw down their arms, and the
British ensign, 15 minutes after the first shot
fired, was run up above the American colours.

Such an episode as this would be an honour
to any nation's history, but when, as here, the
combatants on both sides were of English birth,
the memory should be doubly precious, as well
for the chivalry that provoked the combat as
for the gallantry that gained the victory. In
the narratives of knighthood readers of romance
expect to find that courtesy which scorns to
gain an advantage cheaply over an enemy; but
in the wars of the nineteenth century there has
been but little chivalry shown, and certainly
no fine reluctance to make use of opportunities
meanly acquired. The knightly courtesy of
the Shannon and the gallant recognition of that
courtesy by the Chesapeake stand, therefore, as
useful examples in the annals of belligerence.
Courage, however, has never been an anachron-
ism in English history, and there are hundreds
now living who can bear witness that down to
1857, at any rate, British sailors were, in valour
and fearless obdedience, the same as those who by
sheer pluck snatched victory at Copengagen
from a fort-protected fleet; who dogged supe-
rior armaments about the seas, hunting them
from port to port, and crushing them at length
when collected at the mouth of the Nile; and
who wrung victory by dint of hard fighting from
an Armada of twice their strength at Trafalgar.
We have all read of those deathless deeds; but
there is now living many an Anglo-Indian
who saw, during the Mutiny of 1857, PEEL'S
sailors march up from the Shannon's boats to
the attack of the Alum Bagh by the river at
Lucknow, saw them scale the gateways, and,
dropping over the high walls in the midst of
the crowded sepoys, thrust home to many a rebel
heart the revenge that the year of blood made
just. Not a few of the men themselves still
survive, and scattered here and there through
the ranks of the country's service, bear on their
breasts the medals which point out to the younger
men under them the way to honour, and give us
the assurance that the British Navy has yet its
complement of heroes. That Navy now rides
in Turkish waters, on guard over the interests
of our country and the honour of the nation,
and it may be that, before it returns, it will have
to illustrate the valour traditional in the service.
In that day, should it arrive, we may safely leave
England's honour in the hands of her seamen, if
they have a BROKE to lead them, and such men
as COOPER to follow.

Daily Telegraph [hand written]