set fire to the
_Philadelphia_, which had fallen into the hands of pirates at Tripoli,
and helping Thomas Truxtun in 1799-1800 when the _Constellation_ whipped
the Frenchmen, _L'Insurgente_ and _La Vengeance_. In wardroom or
steerage almost every man could tell of engagements in which he had
behaved with credit. Trained in the school of hard knocks, the sailor
knew the value of discipline and gunnery, of the smart ship and the
willing crew, while on land the soldier rusted and lost his zeal.

The bluejackets were volunteers, not impressed men condemned to brutal
servitude, and they had fought to save their skins in merchant vessels
which made their voyages, in peril of privateer, pirate, and picaroon,
from the Caribbean to the China Sea. The American merchant marine was at
the zenith of its enterprise and daring, attracting the pick and flower
of young manhood, and it offered incomparable material for the naval
service and the fleets of swift privateers which swarmed out to harry
England's commerce.[2]

[Footnote 2: For an account of the privateers of 1812, see _The Old
Merchant Marine_, by Ralph D. Paine (in _The Chronicles of America_).]

The American frigates which humbled the haughty Mistress of the Seas
beyond all precedent were superior in speed and hitting power to
anything of their class afloat. It detracts not at all from the glory
they won to remember that in every instance they were larger and of
better design and armament than the British frigates which they shot to
pieces with such methodical accuracy.

When war was declared, the American Government was not quite clear as to
what should be done with the navy. In New York harbor was a squadron of
five ships under Commodore John Rodgers, including two of the heavier
frigates or forty-fours, the _President_ and the _United States_.
Rodgers had also the lighter frigate _Congress_, the brig _Argus_, and
the sloop _Hornet_. His orders were to look for British cruisers which
were annoying commerce off Sandy Hook, chase them away, and then return
to port for "further more extensive and particular orders." One hour
after receiving these instructions the eager Rodgers put out to sea,
with Captain Stephen Decatur as a squadron commander. The quarry was the
frigate _Belvidera_, the most offensive of the British blockading force.
This warship was sighted by the _President_ and overtaken within
forty-eight hours. An unlucky accident then occurred. Instead of running