Note 6 — BAINBRIDGE.

On the part of the enemy, in the war of words which succeeded the war of 1612, it was pretended that the Constitution kept off in this engagement. Bainbridge, in his official letter, says he endeavored to close, at the risk of being raked; though the early loss of the Constitution’s wheel prevented her from manœuvring as quickly as she might otherwise have done. When a frigate’s wheel is gone, the tiller is managed by tackles, below two decks, and this makes awkward work; first, as to the transmission of orders, and next, and principally, as to the degree of change, the men who do the work not being able to see the sails. There are two modes of transmitting the orders; one by a tube fitted for that express purpose, and the other by a line of midshipmen. But the absurd part of the argument was an attempt to show that the Constitution captured the Java by her great superiority in small-arms-men; Kentucky riflemen, of course, of whom, by the way, there probably was never one in an American ship. This attempt was made, in connection with a battle in which the defeated party, too, had every spar, even to her bowsprit, shot out of her! All the witnesses on the subsequent court of inquiry appear to have been asked about this musketry, and the answer of the boatswain is amusing. Question. “Did you suffer much from musketry on the forecastle?” Answer. “Yes: and likewise from round and grape.” Another absurdity was an attempt to show (see James, Ap. p. 12) that the Java would have carried the Constitution had her men boarded. The Constitution’s upper deck was said to be deserted, as if her people had left it in apprehension of their enemies. Not a man left his station in the ship, that day, except under orders, and so far from caring about the attempt to board, the crew ridiculed it. The Java was very bravely fought, beyond a question, but the Constitution took her, and came out of action with royal yards across!