Eagle of the Sea: The Story of Old Ironsides

By Bruce Grant and Gordon Grant

U.S.S. Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides, is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy named by President George Washington after the United States Constitution. She is the world’s oldest commissioned naval vessel still afloat. She was launched in 1797, one of six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794 and the third constructed.

Constitution is most noted for her actions during the War of 1812 against the United Kingdom, when she captured numerous merchant ships and defeated five British warships: H.M.S. Guerriere, Java, Pictou, Cyane, and Levant. The battle with Guerriere earned her the nickname “Old Ironsides” and public adoration that has repeatedly saved her from scrapping. She continued to serve as flagship in the Mediterranean and African squadrons, and she circled the world in the 1840s. During the American Civil War, she served as a training ship for the United States Naval Academy. She carried American artwork and industrial displays to the Paris Exposition of 1878.

“The author, an authority on the history of the Constitution (better known as Old Ironsides), has unearthed a good deal of documentary source material relating to her story, and has used some of this material in this, his first book for boys and girls. The story is told through the experiences of a boy who helped build her in the Boston shipyards, and later sailed on her as a recruit of the new U.S. Navy, first to prove her might against the Barbary pirates, later against the British in the War of 1812. The bloody pirate battles, the rush of wind in the sails, the loud report of heavy shells, all are there to please any boy or girl who revels in stories of the days of sailing ships and battles. The historical and biographical background of this make it good supplementary reading, of particular use in school libraries.”—Kirkus Review

Richly illustrated throughout by Gordon Grant.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Papamoa Press
• Release date: Dec 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9781789125542

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Text originally published in 1949 under the same title.

© Papamoa Press 2018, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Publisher’s Note

Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

EAGLE OF THE SEA

THE STORY OF OLD IRONSIDES

BY

BRUCE GRANT

Illustrated by Gordon Grant

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 6

DEDICATION 7

INTRODUCTION 8

CHAPTER I—THE PIRATES AND THE NAVY 11

CHAPTER II—COPPER BOLTS AND RED FLANNEL 15

CHAPTER III—HUZZA FOR THE CONSTITUTION! 22

CHAPTER IV—DOWN TO THE SEA 26

CHAPTER V—A RACE ON THE HIGH SEAS 32

CHAPTER VI—PHILADELPHIA! 38

CHAPTER VII—THE CONSTITUTION TO THE RESCUE! 45

CHAPTER VIII—SLAVES AND FREE MEN 50

CHAPTER IX—HOME FROM THE WAR 55

CHAPTER X—MEN AND SHIPS 59

CHAPTER XI—UPON A PAINTED OCEAN 66

CHAPTER XII—A DREAM AND A WIND 70

CHAPTER XIII—THE GREAT BATTLE 74

CHAPTER XIV—OLD IRONSIDES 82

HIGHLIGHTS IN THE HISTORY OF OLD IRONSIDES 88

CHRONOLOGY OF DATES 89

FAMOUS MODELS OF OLD IRONSIDES 91

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 92

DEDICATION

For my daughter

GINFER GRANT

INTRODUCTION

This is a true story of the adventures of one of the best-loved ships of all time, the United States frigate Constitution, affectionately known for almost a hundred and fifty years as Old Ironsides.

Most of the people in this story are real persons, too. The officers mentioned were actually on the Constitution, and Ebenezer Terrill served with Captain Isaac Hull during most of his years of active service. Though Ebenezer may not actually have done all that the story says he did, he might have done such things! And though Joshua Humphreys was the actual designer of the Constitution, his home was in Philadelphia rather than Boston.

It would take many books to tell all about the glamorous frigate and her thrilling escapes, daring battles, and important services to the nation for over one hundred years as she sailed from Boston to Tripoli, to the Pacific, and to East Indian waters. This book is a story of part of her career, the part in which two boys participated, who sailed on the Constitution’s maiden voyage and stayed with her through some of the most exciting years of her service in the United States Navy. In order to move the story along more easily, some incidents in the history of Old Ironsides have been omitted, and others have been brought closer to one another than they happened in history. In the back of the book, on page 172, there is a chart which shows the actual dates of the important incidents in the ship’s career.

For many years the author has been collecting material on the Constitution. After he had read all the generally known books on the famous ship he found many bits of information in old letters stored away in trunks, in forgotten magazines and newspapers, in musty books from the little-used shelves in libraries. He became so interested in the ship that he made a scale model from the original plans so that he would know exactly where each deck and gun and sail actually was located. Because he came to love the old ship, he wanted to tell other Americans her story, and so he wrote some articles and a book for adults. And now he writes another, this one for young people.

BRUCE GRANT

April 2, 1949

Evanston, Illinois

CHAPTER I—THE PIRATES AND THE NAVY

HERE HE COMES! someone shouted.

Then silence fell over the crowd of people assembled in State House Square, Philadelphia. They waited eagerly, their breath making light little clouds against the mist of the cold winter day.

An elegant white coach with six white horses stopped in front of Congress Hall. Two coachmen leaped from the box, motioning the crowd back. The door of the coach opened and out stepped President George Washington.

As if this were a signal, the cheering began. Hurrah for Washington! the people shouted. Hurrah! In the crowd, two boys were standing on tiptoe, trying to see the President. They twisted this way and that, straining to get a clear view. But a woman’s hat here, a man’s head there, always seemed to move just as they moved.

Let’s go! exclaimed Tobias Smith. He grabbed the hand of his friend, Ebenezer Terrill, and began wriggling through the throng toward the side of the red brick building.

What are you trying to do? asked Ebenezer when they reached the side entrance.

We’re going inside. We can’t see out here.

Go inside! Ebenezer was plainly startled. But—

It’s all right, Tobias insisted. Visitors may go to the gallery. Come on! We must get upstairs before the crowd comes. This is going to be good. We want to see and hear.

As they entered the side door of Congress Hall, the boys could hear behind them the voices of the people humming like a huge hive of bees.

It was always a big day in Philadelphia when George Washington drove up in his white carriage to Congress Hall, but this was a special occasion. Bad news had been coming in from returning sailors. They had reported that pirates were attacking the American merchant ships. More and more reports followed. Word had been received that in the year just ending, eleven American ships had been captured. The country was disturbed. Now it was rumored that the President was going to make an important recommendation to Congress which was now in session.

Come along quickly! Tobias urged, as he and Ebenezer found the dark, circular staircase. Up and up and round and round they went, finally emerging in a small gallery already partially filled. They slid into seats near the front.

Tobias, his dark face flushed from the climb, glanced triumphantly at his slender, red-haired friend.

We are here! The Senate may now come to order!

"Maybe they’ll announce that the gentlemen in the gallery will have to leave, suggested Ebenezer. Gentlemen! That’s a good one!

He laughed without taking his eyes from the scene below. Son of a tinker and accustomed to the simplest sort of home, Ebenezer found the Senate chamber in Philadelphia’s Congress Hall a magnificent sight. The huge crystal chandeliers and the red velvet curtains delighted him. The gathering members of Congress, many of them in velvet knee breeches and lace-frilled coats, impressed him. And to be present for the opening of Congress and to hear President Washington himself speak was a thrilling adventure.

Tobias had been in the Senate chamber before. He was the son of a Connecticut landowner and nephew of a representative in Congress from that state. When the congressman came to Philadelphia, he brought his nephew along to go to school, and here Tobias met Ebenezer. Although the two boys had lived in widely separated towns, both loved the sea and the sailing ships which carried American cargoes all over the world, and both wanted to be sailors. So they soon became fast friends. The visit to Congress Hall was one of many expeditions they had planned together.

Now Tobias’ elbow in his ribs brought Ebenezer to his feet.

The President! a voice boomed out.

With a rustling sound, the senators and representatives rose to their feet, and stood in silence as the President walked to the front of the room.

Washington reached into an inside pocket and pulled out a roll of manuscript. He cleared his throat and began to speak.

His full, deep voice filled the Hall. He spoke with pride about the United States and how it had grown in the few years since it had become an independent nation.

But suddenly there was anger and a challenge in his tone. Americans, he said, could not be content with having created an independent nation. They must show that theirs was a strong nation, able to protect her citizens against capture.

He means the pirates, Ebenezer whispered excitedly to Tobias.

Tobias nodded his head vigorously. President Washington continued. The country had no defense, he said, to keep those oceanic highwaymen, the Barbary pirates, from coming right to the shores of America and capturing ships and taking the crews prisoners. They already had captured many American sailors on the high seas and made them slaves. Captured American citizens and the American ships on which they were going on their peaceful ways to and from foreign ports. Yes, Americans were at this very minute being held as slaves of the pirates!

As his voice rang out, the members

Reviews for Eagle of the Sea

[HAROLD W. WEST · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I’m a history buff and have enjoyed reading the book. Have been in Boston and have walked on the deck.