o of the bow guns
of the _Guerriere_ could only be brought to bear upon the _Constitution_,
that vessel scoured the decks of the British ship, with a stream of
metal. "At five minutes before six o'clock, says Captain Hull, when
within half pistol shot, we commenced a heavy fire from all our guns,
double shotted with round and grape." On board the _Guerriere_, Mr.
Grant, who commanded the forecastle, was carried below, the master was
shot through the knee; and I, says Captain Dacres, was shot in the
back. At twenty minutes past six the fore and mainmasts of the
_Guerriere_ went over the side, leaving her an unmanageable wreck. The
_Constitution_ ceased firing and shot a-head, her cabin having taken
fire from the _Guerriere's_ guns. The _Guerriere_ would have renewed
the action, but the wreck of the masts had no sooner been cleared than
the spritsail yard went, and the _Constitution_ having no new braces,
wore round within pistol shot again to rake her opponent. The crippled
ship lay in the trough of the sea, rolling her main deck guns under
water. Thirty shots had taken effect in her hull, about five sheets of
copper down; the mizen mast, after it fell, had knocked a large hole
under her starboard quarter, and she was so completely shattered as to
be in a sinking state. The decks were swimming with blood. Fifteen men
had been killed and sixty-three had been severely wounded, when Captain
Dacres called his officers together and consulted them. Farther waste
of life was useless, and the British colours were dropped in submission
to those of America. But the result of the contest, though it could not
fail to cause great exultation in the United States, reflected no
dishonor upon the flag of Britain. A more unequal contest had never
before been maintained with such spirit, zeal, skill, or bravery. The
battle had lasted for nearly three hours and a half, and the result was
the sure effect of size, as all things being otherwise equal, the
heavier must overcome the lighter body. When the _Guerriere_
surrendered, it was only to permit her gallant commander, her other
officers, and the men, the wounded and the untouched, to be transferred
for safety from a watery grave to the _Constitution_. Captain Hull, the
conqueror, told his government that the _Guerriere_ had been totally
dismasted and otherwise cut to pieces, so as to make her not worth
towing into port. With four feet of water in her hold, she was
abandoned and blown up. Th