THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, rORTLAXD, NOVEMBER 23; T3T7L "
UNCLE SAM A WORLD FIGHTER SINCE HE WAS A BOY
Sun Always Shining on Stars and Stripes Flag Carried Around the Globe in Afanv Enaaaements
O T t T" 1 ' ' rnt x -V T . t T - -n- ' -x -r-i --- -- -
omce uays oj revolution in;s is ioc cn rirst lime Jur forces nave fought "Over There
r 2
BY EDGAR STANTON MA CLAY.
Historian of the United States Navy.
-T IS well known that the British
I Empire is so vast that the sun does
not sot on the English flag-, but it
Is not so well known that the sun does
not Bef. on the scenes of Uncle Sam's
Ibattles In every Quarter of the globe.
Our Uncle has had so many fights in
foreign parts that we have almost
forgotten about them. When the
United States entered the present war
on the side of the allies the general
feeling among Americans was that for
us to fight outside of our own terri
tory was an innovation that would
mark a new period in our National
policies. Yet, when we come to re
view the many battles that have been
fought in distant parts of the world
under the Stars and Stripes, we will
realize that Uncle Sam long ago won
distinction as a world-wide fighter.
Our first effort in "looking for trou
ble' outside of our own territory was
made by Captain Ord, who. early In
the Revolution, sailed from Philadel
phia, captured Hamilton, Bermuda, and
brought back a quantity of mili
tary stores (so much needed by our
troops at the time), which were used in
furthering the cause of independence.
Scarcely had this successful expedition
returned when a larger naval expedi
tion, under the command of Captain
Ksek Hopkins, sailed from Philadel
phia and captured Nassau, the capital
of the Bahamas and brought back sev
eral shiploads of war munitions. These
expeditions, fitted out from Philadel
phia, together with the fact that more
of the new frigates ordered by Con
gress as the nucleus of the Continental
Navy were built in Pennsylvania than
In any other one of the original 13
tates. gave Philadelphia its deserved
title. "Cradle of the United States
Havy."
An TJncnronlcIed Battle.
' We know how our gallant sailors
fought battle after battle in the West
Indies; how they swept the British com
merce from the sea. from the Gulf of
EMexico to the Newfoundland Banks;
tow they carried the war into the ene
my's country (encircling the British
Isles and even entering English, Scotch
and Irish ports); how they fought bat
tles in the mid-Atlantic and off the
coasts of Holland and France.
There was one battle, however, fought
off the northwestern shoulder of Spain,
December 12, 1782, which has escaped
mention in our histories. In fact, it
was only at a comparatively recent date
that the records of this engagement
nave been brought to light. As this
naval battle Is almost unknown to the
.American public, a brief detail of it
will be given here.
On December 17, 1782 (mors than a
year after the surrender of Cornwallis
at Yorktown), a French-American
squadron was attacked by the British
dreadnought Mediator, of 41 guns. Cap
tain James Luttrell. The Mediator was
munnil hv 2ftQ mn ThA Alllri nnnaft.
- : . r? - '4
ran consisted ox ine American z-gun
privateer Alexander, Captain Gregory;
the American 14-gun privateer Amiable
Eunice; the French 36-gun frigate
L'Eugene, Captain de Baudln; the
French 28-gun corvette Royal Dauphin
and the French transport Menagerie,
Captain de Toligne having a total of
102 guns and 637 men. The Mediator
carried, heavier guns than her oppon
ents, which in some degree offset the
greater number of guns in the allied
squadron. Still Captain Luttrell was
opposed to heavy odds.
With true English pluck he made
directly for the center of the allied line
of battle, which was formed just off
the Spanish port of FerroL Approach
ing head-on, the Mediator was subject
ed to a raking fire, which she returned
by occasionally yawing and delivering
a broadside. After half an hour of ex
posure to this fire, the Mediator, at
10:30 A. M-, broke through the allied
line of battle and delivered a raking
fire from both her batteries. Luttrell
then singled out the Alexander and fV
the next half hour complimented the
Americans with her undivided atten
tlon. Evidently the Alexander was not
well supported by her consortia, for, by
11 A. M., the "Mediator compelled her
to strike; the other vessels fleeing"
ma reads the English official report,
which is the only account of this bat
tle we have.
At 12:30 P. 1L. Luttrell. having placed
a prize crew aboard the Alexander,
made sail in chase of the other vessels,
iwhereupon they made off in different
directions. Luttrell then singled out
the Menagerie, which waa endeavoring
to make the port of FerroL. Owing to
the light breeze it was 5 o'clock that
afternoon before the Mediator came up
with the fleeing Frenchman and a run
ning fight was maintained until 10
o'clock that night, when the Menagerie
urrended.
During the night there was little
wind, and on the following morning
Luttrell discovered the Amiable Eunice
and the Royal Dauphin in the offing,
endeavoring to make FerroL Through
manning his two prizes Luttrell now
found that he had only 190 of his crew
left, while be had 340 prisoners aboard
the Mediator to guard, so he gave over
the chase and made sail for England.
Luttrell gave the Alexander's casualties
as being six men killed and nine
wounded, while that of the Menagerie
was placed at four killed and eight
wounded. No one in the Mediator was
injured, he declared, "the enemy hav
lng directed their fire chiefly at the
masts and rigging of the Mediator."
The Plot That Failed.
When Captain Gregory was brought
aboard the Mediator as a prisoner he
quickly realized that the 340 French
and American prisoners aboard had an
admirable opportunity to overpower the
190 English members of the Mediator's
crew and to capture that ship. That he
WHAT A MODERN NAVAL GUN CAN DO.
"A 12-inch naval gun," says Hudson Maxim, "throws a shell weigh
ing half a ton at a velocity nearly three times the speed of sound.
For a single charge it requires 375 pounds of smokeless powder,
strong as dynamite.
"The quantity of heat absorbed from the powder gases in the dis
charge of such a projectile is sufficient to melt 75 pounds of cast iron,
which is enough to heat the projectile white hot.
"When the projectile strike a 12-inch armor plate its energy is
reconverted into heat, and it literally fuses a hole through the plate,
the hardened and toughened steel of the armor flowing like wax from
its path."
The projectile from a 14-inch gun travels at the rate of 2600 feet
every second, or a mile every two seconds!
f W flpiP erNSSS1; ' Ilandedhn North
-v-i u mcK w&g&gs v ......
When Decatur Captured and Destroyed the Frigate Philadel
phia in the Harbor of Tripoli, Nelson Declared It "the
Boldest and Most Daring Act of the Age."
acted with swiftness and decision in
forming his plana is shown by the fact
that he made an attempt to capture the
Mediator on the second night of her
passage to England.
By some means not revealed in the
records Gregory managed to get into
communication with the American and
French prisoners and arranged with
them to rise on their captors on the
night of December 14. Also he con
trived to secure a pistol and some gun
powder, which he concealed in his cot.
With the gunpowder he loaded one of
the Mediator's broadside guns, which
was to be fired at midnight as a signal
for the prisoners to rise, overpower the
guards and capture the ship. This gun
was to be fired "inboard," so the smoke
would collect on the gun deck and lead
the English to believe that a magazine
had exploded and had set the ship on
fire.
How this desperate plan was tried is
shown by the English record as fol
lows: "On the night of December 14
Captain Luttrell was alarmed by' a vio
lent explosion and the cry of fir.
Gregory had fired one of the lower deck
guns as a signal in a plot for the pris
oners to rise and take the Mediator."
The British commander immediately
sent what remained of his crew to
quarters and placed extra sentinels
over the hatchways. It waa then found
that the gratings had mysteriously dis
appeared. To remedy this, capstan bars
were hastily procured and were lashed
over the hatchways, thus preventing
the prisoners from gaining the deck.
Evidently the old-time difficulty of
getting American and French sailors
to act In concert proved the stumbling
lock, in this attempt to capture the
Mediator. Captain Luttrell concludes
his report as follows: "This desperate
scheme was prevented without blood
shed. Upon examination some powder
and a pistol were found in Gregory's
cot, which, with other corroborative
circumstances, led to prove that he waa
the principal concerned. Gregory and
some others were confined in irons dur
From cat Old Steel .Engraving
and a French American Squadron, Fought Off the Spanish
ing the
remainder of the passage to
England."
It was -at the beginning of the 19th
century, when Uncle Sam was a young
man scarcely 25 years old, that he
startled the world by. carrying his
fighting proclivities into the Mediter
ranean Sea and in the course of three
years brought the States of Barbary
to terms something that the nations of
Europe had failed to do in the pre
ceding century or two. It was in this
war that Decatur captured and de
stroyed the frigate Philadelphia in the
harbor of Tripoli, "the -boldest and most
daring act of the age," as Nelson de
clared. It was not an easy task that the
Americans accomplished in this cam
paign and it was accomplished so
thoroughly that we have had no con
siderable trouble from fhose piratical
potentates since. r '
We have been accustomed to regard
the landing of our troops in France as
something unprecedented in. our his
tory, but in the war against these
States of Barbary a strong force of
American sailors and marines was
THE STARS AND STRIPES IN FOREIGN BATTLES. ,
Battle between French-American fleet and English dreadnought
Mediator off Spanish coast in 1782.
American-English squadron battles with French in Bay of Bengal,
1800.
War with Barbary States, 1801-16.
American naval force operates against Greek commerce raiders
in 1827, capturing brig Comet
Sailors and marines land on Sumatra in 1832, defeat natives of
Quallo Battoo and avenge murder of American sailors.
In 1856 American naval forces in China Sea attack and capture
-forts at Canton after they fired on our fleet.
Combined French-American-English fleets attack Peiho forts in
North China in 1859.
Rear-Admiral Henry H. Bell and American force land on Island of
Formosa to avenge outrages on American traders.
United States warship Wyoming attacks "Gibraltar of Japanese
Mediterranean" in Shimonoseki Straits during our Civil War.
Philippine insurrection in 1898.
Boxer rebellion in 1900.
American soil, and
several thousand ra
nd captured the city
of Derne and compelled the Tripolitans
to sue for peace. This was the first
American "Army" to land on the soil of
the Old World.
While Uncle Sam was engaged In his
War of 1812-1315 against Great Britain,
the Dey of Algiers thought it an excel
lent opportunity to renew his old-time
depredations against American com
merce, and he promptly captured our
brig Edwin and sold her captain and
crew into slavery. As soon as the War
of 1812-1815 terminated, we sent a
squadron against Algiers under the
command of Captain Decatur. Algiers
was the most strongly fortified city in
all Barbary. When the English pre
pared to attack it in 1816. the Admi
ralty deemed that five ships of the line,
five frigates, four bomb-ketches and
five gun-brigs were insufficient, while,
according to the "Life of Lord Ex
mouth." Admiral Nelson, in a conversa
tion with Captain Brisbane, mentioned
25 ships of the line as being necessary
for its reduction. Decatur appeared be
fore Algiers with only five frigates and
five smaller craft and in record time
brought the Dey to terms.
At the ' time Greece was struggling
with Turkey for her independence sev
eral outrages were perpetrated on
American commerce by irresponsible
Greek cruisers. An American naval
force was sent to the scene of trouble.
f
Depicting Engagement Between
In 1827 Lieutenant Louis M. Goldsbor.
ough (afterward Rear-Admiral). at the
head of an American boat party, re
captured, after a desperate struggle,
the English brig Comet which had been
taken by the Greeks.
But long before this Uncle Sam had
pushed his1 sea fighting far into east
ern waters. We have noted how an
allied American-French squadron was
opposed to the British dreadnought in
1783. In 1800 this order was reversed
when an allied American-English
squadron repulsed a French warship
in the Bay of Bengal. The American
ships were the Philadelphia armed
merchantmen Perseverance, Captain
Williamson; Cleopatra. Captain Nay
lor, and Grace, Captain Davis, besides
the Sphinx. Captain Brantz, of Balti
more, and the Herald, of Boston.
Ptcktlna- tfco French.
The entire American force was un
der the cprnmaud of Captain Nathan
iel Silsbee. of the Herald. Some years
later Silsbee served in the United
States Senate as a Senator from Mas
sachusetts', having as his colleague the
famous Daniel Webster. The English
vessel was the 18-gun packet Corn
wallis, which was being chased by the
French privateer La Ololre. The
American vessels came upon the scene
In time to save the Cornwallis from
capture. Silsbee- records: "When the
smoke of our guns, caused by repeat
ed broadsides from each of our ships.
naa so passed off as to enable us to
see her (I Gloire) distinctly, she was
close upon the wind and going from
us ... . The Cornwallis continued
with us two days, in the course of
which time the privateer approached
us several times in the night, but.
finding us awake, hauled off."
In 1S15 our sloop of war Hornet was
chased many hours in the Southern
Indian Ocean by the British ship of
the line Cornwallis, but finally es
caped after many shots had been fired.
Only a few weeks after this, or on
June SO, our sloop of war Peacock,
while in the Straits of Sunda. fought
and captured the British cruiser Nau
tilus. Of course, this was some months
after peace had existed between the
United States and Great Britain; but
news traveled slowly in those days,
and Captain Warrington, of the Pea
cock, had not heard of the cessation
of hostilities. When the "news" was
confirmed he carefully repaired the
Nautilus and returned her to the
English.
In 1833 ' another American forpe
landed on foreign soil and fought a
full-fledged battle. Early in 1831 the
natives of Qualla Battoo, on the Island
of. Sumatra, murdered some sailors
from the American merchant vessel
Friendship. A year later the Ameri
can frigate Potomac, Captain John
Downes, appeared on the scene of
trouble and landed several hundred
sailors and marines. No delay was
allowed in beginning the march. The
fcrce was divided into several di
visions, the native fort was surrounded
and, after some desperate fighting, was
captured. We have had no trouble
with the Qualla Battooans since.
In Chinese Waters.
Then- in the China Seas the Ameri
can Navy has had occasion to engage
in real battles. In 1SS6 the American
sloop of war Portsmouth, Commander
Andrew Hull Foote. was fired on from
the forts at Canton. Foote demanded
an apology, and. being refused, he
PROSPECT OF INTELLECTUAL
ALLIANCE BRINGS MUCH JOY
BY CORTLANDT MARSDEN.
SENTIMENTALLY. France and the
United States have always been
united; militarily, they are now
united; in the future they are to be
more closely united by the civilizing
bond of intellectuality. The alleged
German kultur. with which the far
reaching Kaiser endeavored to Infest
this country as well as - others, will
fortunately be firmly stamped out.
French Intellectual and spiritual com
panionship will take Its place in the
future. That land whose culture Is too
scantily recognized internationally, but
which Is now completely glorified by
her wonderful fighters and astute gen
erals. Is now, even through the throe
of war, mentally reaching out her fair
hand to us In an aonl for it vrntur
:
British Dreadnought Mediator
Coast December 17, 1782,
mutual Interest and understanding in
tellectually and spiritually.
For years France has been striving
to achieve some-such relations with this
country, the freedom of which she ma
terially helped to bring into being and
the love of which she has always re
talned. Her gentle efforts, however,
were eclipsed by the mailed-fist meth
ods of the Teutonic, which element suc
ceeded in forcing their alleged kultur
Into quarters that mentally were ex
panding; so rapidly that they Inevit
ably absorbed considerable which was
not culture. Now that the veil has
been torn aside, that "made-ln-Ger-many"
culture reveals all the earmarks
of nefarious propaganda designed pri
marily and essentially for ulterior ends.
The very attitude of the professors
and students of the French and Ger
man universities towards the Ameri
cans that had studied there markedly
revealed the end they sought to accom
plish. .The writer studied at Lelpsic
and at the Sorbonne. in Paris. In the
German institution the professorial
and academlo attitude toward the
American was one of veiledly polite
but nevertheless Insistent domination.
In their lofty estimation of themselves
america had nothing to give nor im
part to them; it lacked culture and
deep understanding; basically, our in
fantile art and literature were shal
low and all wrong; It required Teutonic
correction and influence: the thought
and spirit of the Germania kultur must
oe infused, not with It. but Into it
There is a subtle difference. They en
deavored through the youthful, eager
enlnd to inject the poison that was per
niciously designed ultimately to para
lyse the Independently constructive
thinking of Individuals and nations, in
evitably bringing them into subjection
to the Teutonic domination. Such a
far-reaching programme fired the Ger
man Imagination.
In the French Institutions the atti
tude and thought were vastly different.
There was no seeking to dominate
there. The spirit was one of mutual
helpfulness; the thought one of reci
procity. France had a wealth "of in
tellectuality and culture which she
wished to share with her sister across
the waters. Spiritually, she longed to
give us her best and hoped that
America would share with her the in
tellectual, artistic and cultural results
of the wonderfully fertile American
Imagination, with its national youth,
hopefulness, vigorous romanticism and I
landed a force of 287 sailors and ma
rines, charged the fort and drove the
Chinamen out. the latter having about
50 killed.
Three years later, when the allied
English and French forces made an
attack on the Peiho forts, in North
China, Captain Josiah Tattnail (who
was present in the steam frigate Pow
hatan to represent American interests)
permitted an American gun crew to
take part in the fight. One of the
Americans was killed and Lieutenant-
Commander Stephen Decatur Trenchard,
or the Powhatan, was wounded. It was
on this occasion that Tattnall gave in
ternational significance to the expres
sion. "Blood is thicker than water."
On June 13, 1S67. Rear-Adminal
Henry H. Bell landed 1S1 men on the
Island of Formosa to avenge outrages
perpetrated by the natives on American
traders. The assailants drove the na
tives to the interior and destroyed their
village. In this attack Lieutenant
Commander Alexander Slidell Macken
zie was killed.
While the United States was in the
throes of the Civil War. our warship
Wyoming, Captain David Stockton itc
Dougal, was fired on by the Japanese
batteries in Shimonoseki straits, the
"Gibraltar of the Japanese Mediter
ranean." McDougal opened a heavy
fire on the batteries and destroyed the
native naval force. In this spirited ac
tion of more than an hour the Ameri
cans had six men killed and four
wounded.
The action between the American
frigate Essex against the British cruis
ers Phoebe and Cherub off the coast of
Chile in 1814, and the more extensive
operations of our naval forces in Cali
fornia and in the Gulf of California
during our war with Mexico, show that
Uncle Sam fought in the Western as
well as in the Eastern Pacific.
It is not necessary to mention the
more recent landings of American
Army and Navy forces during the Boxer
rebellion in China and in the Philippines
during the Spanish war and subse
quently. A sufficient number of in
stances has been cited here to show
that In this good year of 1917 the sun
never sets on the scene of American
world-wide naval and military actions.
boundless energy. France recognized
In us and sought the very things that
Germany specifically ignored; or if they
did demand any consideration was per
verted by malicious mental processes
resultlngly detrimental to the mind of
young America.
Through the channels of intellectual
ity France longed to reach the soul of
the American people, to share with
them, think with them, expand artis
tically with them. She longed for
something more than mere sentiment,
fearing that it was perhaps more tra
ditional gratitude than affection. She
hoped for a stronger bond with this
country, not one only of the commer
cial, but an understanding that would
result In the thought of the two coun
tries mutually co-operalng harmoni
ously for the greater artistlo glory of
America and France. At last her
dream of a spiritual, intellectual alli
ance is to be realized. Germany's
hideous nightmare of domination by
ruin, if necessary, has been decisively
shattered.
While France has been simply a sen
timentally regarded nation by us. Gr
many. on the other hand, has long been
held up as an ideal of advanced learn
ing. In this respect some Americans,
many of whom are quite prominent and
should have exercised better judgment.
had become Idiotic in their devotion to
this belief. Admittedly, Germany has
made some surprising strides along
scientific and military lines; but there
Is nettling In the recent Teutonic
scheme of things designed to culti
vate the spiritual or elevate the spiritu
ality of mankind.
Although we have filled our univer
sities with German professors, not be
ing content with having the young
American mind poisoned by undue pro
fessorial and academic influences in
that country, and have Invited few
French professors to our shores and
lent fewer students to their universi
ties, yet side by aide with the dis
tinguished General that France has
sent to this country to aid us in mili
tary matters by the fruits of her cam
paign experiences, she now personi
fies her wish for an Intellectual alli
ance with this country by sending to
us her Minister of Public Instruction,
Emile Hovelacaue, one of her most
celebrated educators.
"The major part of my mission," he
Bald, "is to indicate to the American
people that France wishes an intel
lectual alliance with you. That has al
ways been her wish. There has been
an unbreakable bond of sympathy and
sentiment between America and France
which has existed since Lafayette for
sook his fortune and his country to
fight for your Ideals. But little atten
tion has been paid to the spiritual and
Intellectual side of our aliance. You
have much to teach us; we have some
things to teach you."
That last sentence typifies what has
always been the French attitude
toward this country. It has been her
attitude to all nations for that matter.
Out particularly to America
It Is "hands across the sea" now; it
will be "minds across the sea" In the
future. The Franco-American bond of
friendship will be unshakably strength
ened In the brlirhter davs to come.
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Z
t
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