“I was quite young at the time and did not take well to the sea-going life. Suffered dreadfully when the weather was up, you know. Sailed with a compassionate—well, after a while he became compassionate, at least— captain—Morris, it was—who sent me ashore. Called in a favor, I think, to find me a position in Washington. Working with the secretary of the navy. Lasted through three of them, I did, Stoddart, Smith, and, until just last week, Hamilton.” He finally graced me with a look, haughty and self-important, I thought.
“Can’t, for the life of me, imagine why Decatur would want me as his lieutenant in this vessel, grand though she is. I am sure he knows my history, as inglorious as it may be.” He did not speak directly to me, merely voiced the thought as though he were talking to himself.
Suddenly he turned to face me. “Have you a full complement recruited, Baldwin?”
I thought for a moment about why he might ask this, deciding finally he was trying to determine when we might be sailing. “No, sir. We were able to fill something more than half our requirement in Washington and expect to find the rest of our men here, in Norfolk. I have established three rendezvous at local taverns and rooming houses and we have enjoyed some success so far.”
“Hmmm. Then it must have been a bit of a trial bringing the ship down from the Navy Yard with only half of your crew, I would reckon?”
The trip down the Potomac in Chesapeake immediately jumped into my mind; that was a trial! In United States, we had no such difficulties. We stopped in Alexandria to take on the gun and carronade barrels we had not loaded in Washington, so as to be able to get over the bar, and the rest of our ballast and stores. We fired our salute at Mount Vernon without incident, had no bad weather and fair winds all the way. No one took ill, and no one expired. No indeed, this trip most certainly was not a trial. I said as much.
Before we could converse further, two sailors entered the gunroom staggering under the weight of Cochran’s chest, followed by another with a bulging seabag.
“Ah, my trappings!” You may put them there, in that cabin.” Cochran acknowledged their arrival without a word of thanks, but, to my chagrin, had directed that they deposit his belongings in my cabin.
“Uh … sir? I, uh … that cabin is already taken.” I stammered, a bit confused over the protocol of giving up the little cubbyhole I had called home for nearly six months.
“Oh, indeed? Would it be Mister Allen’s cabin, then?” He asked, offering me a sideways look.
“Uh … no, sir. That one is where I have been sleeping.”
“Oh, well, in that case.” He turned again to the three sailors still toting his chest and bag. “You may leave my luggage right here then, and I will move it into the cabin once Mister Baldwin has vacated it.”
The sailors set their burden down and beat a hasty retreat from the gunroom. For my own part, I was stunned! He was aboard the ship barely fifteen minutes and had already thrown me out of my quarters. I must have shown my dismay.
“I am sure, Baldwin, the little cabin, there,” he pointed to the smallest and, as yet, unoccupied space opening off the gunroom, as he spoke, “will be more than suitable for our fourth lieutenant. I expect you can move your belongings directly after we meet with Decatur. You wouldn’t mind doing that, would you?” The smile he offered was in no way friendly.
I had no choice, nor apparently, any consideration. “Uh … no, sir. I will take care of it directly.”
“Well, then, Baldwin. Let us see what news our esteemed commander has to share out. Though I suspect I know what it will be. News from the secretary, I expect. Likely something I copied for Hamilton my own self. He had me copy, in a fair hand, most of what he wrote; man has dreadful handwriting, for a fact.” He puffed up a bit at his self-importance.
We’ll see how self-important you are once we get to sea, Mister “I-copied-for-Hamilton!” Maybe you’ll wish you had stayed in Washington then!
Without further comment, my new superior walked out of our quarters, heading aft for the Cabin. I followed, seething at this interloper’s arrogance.
Henry was already there, seated in a round-backed chair opposite the captain’s desk. Judd walked in immediately after we did. I stole a look at my father’s handiwork throughout the room, smiling inwardly as I recognized again the graceful symmetry of the sideboard and desk, the several chairs, and the ornately carved window seat under the quarter-gallery. Where I sat. Cochran took, appropriately, the other chair in front of the desk, while Judd joined me on the window-seat.
Captain Decatur picked up a thin sheaf of papers, stood, and stepped to the side of the room in front of the sideboard—my father’s sideboard. He looked at each of us in turn, as was his custom before uttering anything of consequence.
“Gentlemen: I have a letter from Secretary Hamilton which he handed me only yesterday. Copies of this have been sent to each commander capable of getting his ship to sea, something not all of us can manage just yet. But I expect the efforts to that end will increase directly, as a result of the opportunity offered by this letter.”
I noticed that Cochran smiled slightly, preening at Decatur’s words, and obviously pleased that his earlier prediction to me had borne fruit.
The captain continued. “I am sure you have all heard that our government continues to be frustrated in resolving the difficulties that exist between America and Great Britain. The newspapers have daily reported on public outcries and printed editorial condemnations, both of England and our own government. Most claim it is high time something is done to resolve the matter once and for all.
“Still, ships of the Royal Navy continue to stop our vessels and remove seamen from them, claiming them to be British subjects. They have virtually blockaded the entrance to New York, allowing no American ship to depart or enter without first being subjected to the scrutiny of a boarding party. That Britain continues to impose these outrages on us, a free and independent nation, is nothing more than a continuation of the insult … the inhuman and dastardly insult, which occurred almost four years back, not far from this very spot.” Decatur paused, glancing for a long moment at each of us, but his eyes lingered on Henry and me.
I wondered if the haughty Mister Cochran even knew what the captain referred to. Surely it was unlikely that he knew of our participation in that dreadful experience.
Decatur resumed his monologue. “Secretary Hamilton calls on his captains to be prepared and determined while at sea. And to vindicate, at every hazard, the injured honor of our Navy. He also suggests, and I quite agree, that restoring our honor will go far in reviving the drooping spirits of our nation. I am sure that, these difficulties once resolved, our merchants will again enjoy a brisk trade with every nation they choose to trade with, and that alone should lift their spirits.” He stopped, again searching our faces for agreement.
For my own part, I could not agree more with the sentiments he expressed; they were long past due. And though, as a participant in a few hostile actions and well aware of the toll of such, I would not select an armed response as my first course of action; but I knew that there had been no retribution for the injustice of Britain’s policies which had inspired the monstrous insult of eighteen ought seven. I noticed from Henry’s expression that he was of a like mind.
A glance at Cochran confirmed my earlier thought: he had no connection with the Chesapeake/Leopard affair in spite of his position in the secretary’s office. Decatur’s remark, save the part about the blockade of New York, seemed not to register with him and his expression remained blank.
Captain Decatur now addressed our first lieutenant. “Mister Allen, we will be preparing for sea as quickly as ever possible. I … we can ill-afford to miss this opportunity to forestall further indignity or injustice. Unless I am deceived by the feelings of all to whom I have talked since receiving this missive, I suspect there will be no reluctance in any quarter to carry out these instructions. Nor do I have any doubt whatsoever of the outcome, should a contest take place!”
&nbs
p; “Sir. We are not fully manned as yet, nor are the men we have trained beyond the basics. There are myriad details, not the least of which are the loading out of the rest of our munitions and the upgrading of the remainder of our battery, which must be attended to before I can report to you we are ready for sea. And whatever we may find once there.” Henry stood to apprise our commander of the situation.
I am sure the recollection of Chesapeake’s departure, unprepared and lumbered, was in the forefront of his mind. Unlike Captain Gordon, he would not report “ready for sea” until we were well and truly ready, in all respects.
“Very well, then. I would expect you to continue, apace, those things necessary to achieve my intent. I am sure Mister Cochran will be of great assistance in procuring anything we might need and not yet have aboard. And perhaps it would be prudent to establish another rendezvous for bolstering our crew. Have you any thoughts as to when you might be ready?”
“Sir. I cannot imagine it would require more than a few more months to bring aboard supplies, ordinance, and seamen. In the meantime, of course, we will continue to attend to the rig, the battery, and those projects not completed by the Navy Yard. Pressed, I can assert to you, sir, a sailing in the early fall.” Henry was hesitant, I could plainly see, to commit to a time prediction; there simply were too many variables.
I also noted Cochran’s smug response to Decatur’s mention of his being of help to Henry.
Judd, obviously, did as well, and whispered, “I’d warrant Billy will be of more real help than ever that pop-in-jay might be!”
“Very well, Mister Allen. I shall let the secretary know of our condition and, while I loathe personally anything that might extend that schedule, I will hope that we might, with fortune, improve on it.”
The meeting was concluded and we were dismissed.
“Mister Cochran: please attend me, if you would, sir. I have a task for which I suspect you will be well-suited.” Henry, wearing his role as first lieutenant like a well-fitted coat, established quickly his position relative to our newest member of the gunroom. Cochran, for his part, made his way to the door smiling, sure, I suspected, that he was about to be given a lofty assignment suitable to his own lofty opinion of his abilities. He had been employed by three Navy Secretaries, after all.
I lingered for a moment, hoping to hear what the assignment might be, but Allen and Cochran stepped forward, deeper into the gundeck and I could not easily remain within earshot.
“What do you think of our new second, Oliver?” Judd spoke softly to me as our superiors moved away. “Reckon a few days with us on the coast of Tripoli might have changed his attitude some!”
“He threw me out of my cabin, Judd. Just decided he should have it on account of it being a trifle bigger than the empty one. Not so much as a ‘by your leave’; just said ‘I’ll take this one.’ Reckon he thinks his fancy assignment in the secretary’s office makes him better ‘an us.” I was still furious over his preempting my cabin, the one I had lived in almost since Henry and I came aboard.
“Well, Oliver, he is senior to you. Me too. So I reckon he likely feels that entitles him to live where he wants, save, of course, in Henry’s cabin.” He winked at me, easing the pain of reality. Then went on.
“But I would not count on his being much of a help in getting the barky ready for sea. I have little idea of what Henry has in mind for him, but I would think, as I mentioned before, Halethorpe would be more help in securing a few of the items we still lack. Especially now since the cap’n’s signed him officially into the crew.”
I still marveled that Decatur had agreed to Henry’s request that Billy sign our articles, making him a full-fledged member of the crew, and that he gave him the rating of petty-officer assigned to the bosun. And a welcome addition to the crew he was, in spite of his occasional offbeat behavior. He had demonstrated, quite ably, his abilities in the bosuns department during our preparations for the trip here and during the weeklong run to the Roads. The issue of the purloined blocks, rope and paint from the Navy Yard was long forgotten, though I suspect not by Mister Johnson, the Yard Superintendent.
And Billy still addressed the first lieutenant by his given name; something that Henry had long since given up trying to stop. He now simply avoided personal contact with the man, preferring to direct his actions through the bosun or the sailing master.
Judd and I were still discussing Peter Cochran at the foot of the ladder leading to the spardeck when an outburst from the darker recesses of the gundeck caught our attention.
“A RENDEZVOUS? You want me to run a rendezvous?”
Judd and I shared a knowing look and moved a bit closer to hear what might follow. Cochran’s voice became higher as his agitation rose.
“Sir: may I remind you I have spent many years in the office of the Secretary of the Navy, handling matters most sensitive and important. Surely having me sit in some drinking establishment, frequented by seamen, wharf-rats, and other lowlifes, trying, with spirits and tales of heroics, to attract them to join the Navy, is a less than perfect use of my many talents. Further, I am assigned as second lieutenant in this ship; I had been led to believe that that assignment held more… responsibility than merely operating a rendezvous. Is it not usually the job of midshipmen and junior lieutenants to manage such duties?”
“It is. And they are. Midshipmen O’Donahue and Holt, who you have yet to meet, are both running recruitment desks. Our sailing master, when he can be spared, also helps with the recruitment duties. You heard the captain mention he would like another rendezvous opened to speed the process. As you have little knowledge of the ship, but are well versed in the … political aspects of the Navy, you are my choice for that chore.”
“But what about that fellow Baldwin? Well junior to me, I am sure, and this task would certainly be more suited to him than me, I think.” Cochran whined, though his voice had returned to a more normal volume, causing Judd and me to inch forward a few steps.
“As I mentioned, Mister Cochran, with your fine knowledge of the politics of the Navy and, I am sure your ability to get on with most, you are my choice for the job. And I think the Horn and Thistle would be an appropriate establishment for your endeavor; it is just beyond the gates to the Navy Yard and a fine place to find seamen. You will see to it, if you please, with no further comment.”
Judd and I fell into paroxysms of choking at Henry’s mention of the ‘political aspects of the Navy,’ and had to turn away so as not to reveal our eavesdropping. Political, indeed! As to Peter’s ability to ‘get on with most,’ we had seen little indication of that to this point.
“Oliver: isn’t that tavern the worst in the city? I’ve not been within the walls of the place my own self, but I’ve heard nothing but waterfront toughs, ‘longshoremen, and ne’er-do-wells occupy the place.” Judd asked, a smile creasing his face.
“Aye, Judd. I’ve heard the same tales, but, like you, have avoided any attendance of my own. Should make our second lieutenant take notice that the seagoing navy might be a bit different from the one he has enjoyed in the secretary’s office!” Thoughts of Peter Cochran spending time in that nefarious establishment made me smile as broadly as my friend.
Discretion being the better part of eavesdropping, Devon and I headed topside. We heard no more of the conversation, and Henry, having settled the matter in his own mind, appeared on deck shortly after Judd and I did.
It was still raining. The heavy air seemed to instill a sense of lethargy in all hands. The work being done on our topside long guns, I noticed, was either completed or the gunner had moved his men to the more sheltered gundeck. Certainly, there was no paucity of work for the gun crews. And after the captain’s remarks, I expected Henry to begin a more ambitious training schedule, not unlike the efforts put forth in Chesapeake prior to our departure from this very harbor after the court martial.
It was during dinner that day that Lieutenant Peter Cochran managed to solidify his future in United States—at least in
the gunroom. Without the smallest bit of encouragement, he began to hold forth about his previous employment, not at sea, but in the office of the Secretary of the Navy. Actually, he was talking directly to Judd, but with only four of us present (we still hoped for one more lieutenant—I hoped he would be junior to me!), there was little chance for a private conversation. I am not sure it would have been Cochran’s choice in the event. And Judd, sitting next to me, on Henry’s left, was directly across the table from his tormentor. Each time Peter made some self-serving observation about how important his work had been, Judd’s elbow found it’s way into my ribs, below the level of the table, of course.
Henry, sitting at the head of the table, as befitted his position as the senior among us, seemed oblivious to the one-sided conversation, apparently deep in thought over the tasks remaining to carry out the captain’s orders. He scribbled furiously with the stub of a pencil on a bit of foolscap; whether writing notes to himself or simply enumerating the tasks that lay ahead, I knew not. From time to time he would look at Cochran and, should Peter notice it, our newest shipmate would then redirect his self-aggrandizing diatribe to the first lieutenant. On the third occasion, Henry responded.
“Peter: I am sure you will find your previous chores unlike anything required of you in this ship. While at the moment we are burdened with petty details rivaling, I am sure, those with which you have experience, once we actually make sail and leave the hallowed shores of Virginia in our wake, you will find the experience harkens back to your midshipman days. It is my hope that you will be up to the task.” Henry, having had enough of our newest member’s puffery, effectively ended it.
Peter seemed momentarily confused at the reference to his midshipman days. “I fail to see, sir, what the experiences I … enjoyed during my midshipman time would bring to bear on performing adequately as second lieutenant in this ship. Seems unrelated to me. I have my greatest strengths developed during the nearly ten years I spent in the office of the secretary. Lasted through three of them, you know. Couldn’t have been too unsuccessful with that to my credit!”
In Pursuit of Glory Page 31
