soldiers who serve afloat—such are the men composing the united states marine corps. lack of military qualities in the sailor led to the corps' formation in the first days of the navy, nor has the passing of the years wrought any material change in the character of jack tar. formidable in impetuous assaults, he lacks the steadiness and discipline necessary in sustained conflicts and in the effective use of the rifle, and so with the navy's growth the marine corps has come to constitute one of its most important branches.
the marines are useful in times of peace for police duty in the navy yards and on shipboard, but it is when the country is engaged in war that they most fully justify their [pg 95]existence. then it is their duty to man the rapid-firing guns of our warships, fill vacancies at the other guns, with their rifles scour the decks of the enemy from the tops, the poop and the forecastle, cover boarding parties with their fire and repel boarders with fixed bayonets. should the enemy gain a foothold they must gather at the mainmast, so as to command the deck. they must make the small arms effective and disable the enemy's men while the great guns, with which the marines have nothing to do save in case of emergency, play havoc with his ship.
however, all naval fighting, as recent events have proved, is not done on the decks of men-of-war; the surprise of camps or posts and the escalade of forts frequently render shore operations necessary, and at such times picked men are sent with the attacking sailors, known as pioneers, while the rest of the marines form a supporting column to cover the retreat and embarkation of the sailors in case the undertaking fails. in times of fire on shipboard the marines guard the boats'[pg 96] falls and officers' quarters, prevent panic or pillage, compel compliance with orders of officers and allow no one to throw overboard any property or fitting or abandon the ship until duly authorized. finally a frequent duty of the marines abroad is to guard the american legations and consulates and the interests of american citizens in times of revolution or public disorder.
with duties so varied and exacting ahead of him, the making of a marine is a process well worth studying. recruits for the corps come from all stations of life. in its ranks may be found well-educated men, now and then a college graduate among them, who have become reduced by misfortune or bibulous habits, country boys who have left the farm for the city to seek their fortunes and found want instead, and men who have lost their occupations. all find a refuge in the corps, provided they are physically and mentally sound, at least five feet six inches in height, between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five, unmarried and of good habits.
[pg 97]
the recruit as an essential part of his training must learn how to do well many different things. he begins, if a stranger to military science, by mastering the drills and manual of arms and every evolution possible to a body of men on foot, since he must leave the ship when there is work to be done and be able to move quickly and with precision under the most galling fire. the ax, the shovel and the pick must also become familiar tools in his hands, and that he may fight to the best possible advantage he is taught to delve and heap until a breastwork is built. after that he must accustom himself to the dragging straps of a light artillery piece and learn how to haul it at a breakneck pace down into the ditch he has dug and up on the other side to the crown of the intrenchment. then, as no one else comes up to load, aim and fire it for him, he must learn all that a field artilleryman knows and become skillful in the handling and quick and sure in the aim of his howitzer.
when so much of his apprenticeship has been accomplished the marine climbs the[pg 98] ship's side and makes acquaintance with his duties as a marine policeman. the end of the first month afloat finds him on guard at every post in the ship. he knows each compartment and gangway; has been instructed in the working of the guns from the heavy turret pieces to the six-pounders; has watched the magazines and carried messages to the officers, and has even gone down to the coal bunkers, if the ship happens to be coaling in a hurry, and taken his turn at passing coal.
however, he is still only a marine in the making, and this fact is brought home to him when the ship goes out for target practice and, with a bluejacket for a teacher, he learns to handle and supply ammunition to the lifts in the magazines and to work the lifts themselves, so that when the need comes he can take jack's place and do his work. in the old days of sailing ships the marines had to know how to splice a rope or furl a sail; nowadays he does not need to, but he must learn to make his way quickly and nimbly to the fighting tops. in doing so he does not have to climb[pg 99] to a ratline, one minute almost in the sea and the next at the very top of the heavens, but he gets painfully dizzy when for the first time he feels the ship sinking away from under him as he looks down. in the end he masters that also and, with practice, is soon able to make the little guns in the fighting tops talk as fast as the best of the jackies. when he has learned to descend from his aerial nest to the deck at a dignified pace and to land safely upon his feet, his education is practically completed, and it has taken him from six months to a year to get it.
every navy yard in the country has its detachment of marines, but the barracks at the brooklyn yard are the most popular, and as the marines have their choice of stations when they return from a cruise, the largest number, seldom less than three hundred, are usually quartered there. in the part of the yard set aside for the marines is a long and narrow building of gray brick, with a piazza running its entire length, shaded by a line of trees. this is the barracks, the living quarters of the[pg 100] men. a roomy parade ground stretches out in front, and in a group of trees to the left, with a garden behind, is the house of the commandant of marines, while at about the same distance to the right are the quarters of the other officers, each approached by a stone walk canopied and shaded by rows of pear trees.
visit the brooklyn barracks of a summer morning and you will find the marine there in every condition known to the corps and in every stage of his development. out on the parade ground is a squad of raw recruits being commanded and marched about in the effort to trim off their individuality of motion, and here comes private dougherty, with his wheelbarrow and sickle, a bronze-faced old man who was retired awhile back because his thirty years of service had been completed. there is hardly a seaport in the world that dougherty is not familiar with, and he will tell you, when in the mood, how he killed the corean general. the colorado, flagship of rear admiral rodgers, steamed up the[pg 101] salee river, in corea, for the purpose of effecting a treaty with the coreans for the protection of shipwrecked american sailors and to make surveys and soundings. her survey boats were treacherously fired upon by the forts in the river and a fight began. after one of the forts had been captured and its former occupants driven out, dougherty jumped over the parapet, ran down to where the corean leader was rallying his forces and shot him dead. for this service to his country congress voted dougherty a medal of honor. and well he had earned it.
ashore or afloat, the daily life of the marine is one of hard work and plenty of it. at 6:30 in the morning, when in barracks, the men must be out of bed and ready fifteen minutes later for the "setting-up" drill, which is gymnastic exercise without apparatus. then the mess call is sounded and they file into the long messroom, furnished with two tables extending the whole length, and breakfast on hash, pork and beans or beef stew, according to the day in the week, and bread and coffee.[pg 102] after breakfast the order is given, "to the colors!" and the flag is raised on the pole in front of the guardhouse. then the guards take their posts and the routine of the day begins, reaching a climax at 10:30 o'clock, the hour of dress parade, when the marines are out in full force.
each remaining hour of the day has its allotted duty, but every marine with a clean record has twenty hours out of every forty-eight to himself. many of the marines stationed at the brooklyn yard spend their idle hours in the library, a light, airy room on the second floor of the barracks, furnished with a goodly collection of books and with a number of the weekly and monthly magazines. but as to the books, some of the most assiduous readers know the contents of them all, and long for more. nor need the private of marines end his life in the ranks unless he be so minded. a school is provided for him where, if he elects to do so, he may conquer fractions and cube root, and in time, after his studies have raised him to the grade of [pg 103]sergeant-major in the ranks, should there chance to come a war the line is open to him, and once his ivory-hilted officer's sword and gold lace are worn he has the entree to any officers' mess and a place that no man but one of his own line can fill. that the men in the ranks who choose to employ their leisure hours in study get their reward was proven in the war with spain, which raised no less than thirty sergeant-majors to the dignity of shoulder straps.
the dominant desire of the ambitious young marine is, of course, to get to sea. the work there is harder than in the barracks, but he does not consider that when he thinks of life afloat and the foreign ports to which it will take him. during his five years' enlistment in the corps each capable marine makes two sea voyages, extending over a period of three years. on shipboard the shore drills are continued as far as practicable and to them, as already hinted, is added target practice. his time off duty the marine spends in the forecastle and amidships reading, [pg 104]sleeping, writing up his diary or twanging the strings of his favorite instrument, the guitar.
the things which chiefly occupy his thoughts, however, are rations and going ashore. as to the former, they are considerably better than he gets at the barracks and may be augmented from the bumboats—a genuine boon to the luxury-loving marines. these bumboats approach the men-of-war at every port with articles of utility and food in great profusion, and the american marine has a worldwide reputation among their proprietors for his generosity. ah sam, of the port of hong kong, the greatest man in the world in his line, whose boats are fifty and sixty ton junks, is said to have made his fortune from sales to american men-of-war. at any rate, when one enters or leaves the harbor he fires a salute of twenty-one guns.
and it is only fair that the marine should have a salute fired on his own account now and then, for he is a leading and important figure in all the pomp and ceremony of man-of-war life. indeed, it is an interesting and[pg 105] pretty sight to watch the ceremonies which take place on board ship on the arrival of a high official, such as an ambassador, an admiral, a general or a consul. as the cutter dashes up to the side with spray flying from the oars the ship's bugle sounds "attention." the side boys offer the man ropes as the official steps on the gangway and the captain receives him as he steps on the quarterdeck. as the two walk aft the marine officer, in quick, sharp tones, commands, "present arms," and the whole marine guard, drawn up in line on the port side of the quarterdeck, bring their rifles up in salute, while the bugle sounds a flourish and the drum a roll, two for an admiral, three for an ambassador and four for the president. the marines on a ship are collectively called the guard; the ceremony is called parading the guard. it takes place on the arrival or departure of any official of rank. if the official does not visit the ship it takes place when his flag passes by, and it also takes place when two ships of war pass each other.
[pg 106]
the landsman visiting an american warship finds the marine everywhere in evidence. at the door of the captain's cabin stands a marine, doing duty as an orderly, and no one can enter that officer's presence until he has first taken in the name. down below a marine guards the storage rooms, and up on the berth deck another stands sentry over the torpedoes, while still farther along on the same deck is the "sentry over the brig," for the brig, be it known, is the ship's prison, where, in complete solitude and on a bread and water diet, an offender can meditate and see the error of his ways. finally in the crowded forecastle the marine keeps order among the crew and an occasional eye on that fishing boat floating down with the tide, for jack sometimes goes fishing and makes queer hauls. with a coin as a bait, he drops over his line, gets a nibble, hauls in a little brown bottle—and does not show his catch to the sentry.
the marines, in a word, do the sentry duty of the ship, but this does not prevent these sea[pg 107] soldiers and the sailors from getting on well together. occasionally, a marine recruit, just assigned to a ship, will develop symptoms of a disease known as "duty struck," and blindly lay the foundation for years of unpopularity for himself by taking advantage of his authority to make it as warm as he can for the blue jackets, but such a recruit is quickly called to order by the older men of the guard. as a rule, the marines and blue jackets are on the most friendly terms, and there are few liberty parties of blue jackets bound for a good time ashore that are not accompanied by a favorite marine or two, invited along to help the sailormen dispose of their money, for, out of his $13 a month, the marine does not have a deal for shore use.
the guard duty performed by marines on american ships is of an arduous and exacting kind. on some vessels, usually the smaller gunboats, the marine guard soldier is on post for two hours, and then gets only two hours off before buckling on his belt again, month in and month out. this sort of thing involves[pg 108] a breaking up of sleep that tells severely on marines serving on small ships, and it is for this reason that sea soldiers are so partial to flagships, and exhaust all the means in their power to be assigned to such large vessels of war. however, on every warship, no matter what its size, there is at least one first-rate billet for the private marine; that is the mail orderly's job. the mail orderly is the messenger between the ship and the shore, attends to all sorts of errands for officers and men, and is a general buyer of trinkets for all hands. a good deal of money passes through his hands, and his commissions are good, not to speak of the tips which are given to him for performing little diplomatic tasks ashore for the men forward. a marine mail orderly usually leaves the service at the expiration of a cruise with a snug sum tucked away.
the first sergeant of a marine guard on a ship too small to rate one or more marine officers fills a responsible and exacting place, and is treated with great consideration by the officers, since, to all intents and purposes, he[pg 109] is an officer himself. he may go ashore when he chooses without putting his name down on the liberty list, and when he comes back to the ship from shore leave, he is not searched for liquor, an immunity which he enjoys in common only with the ship's chief master-at-arms. the first sergeant is responsible for the conduct of his men, and, if they do wrong, he is reproved much as if he were an officer. for the preservation of discipline, he is required to hold himself aloof from the members of his guard as much as possible, and he associates and frequently messes with the ship's chief petty officers.
semper fidelis—always faithful—is the legend worn upon the flags, guidons and insignia of the marine corps, and, in its hundred years of existence, it has never been false to its motto. it was one of the orderlies of the corps, corporal anthony, who, when the maine was sinking, and nearly all who could do so were hastily leaving, made his way toward captain sigsbee's cabin, and, on meeting him, calmly gave the report the duty[pg 110] of the occasion required of him. and this quiet performance of duty in the face of impending death, has had a hundred parallels in the history of the marine corps.
during the bombardment of tripoli, in 1803, and the desperate hand-to-hand fighting which occurred between the vessels on both sides, decatur boarded one of the tripolitan gunboats and engaged the captain in a duel with swords. one of the enemy coming up from behind was about to cleave decatur's skull with his sword, when a marine interposed his arm. the arm saved decatur, but it was severed to the skin. in the same battle, lieutenant trippe, of the vixen, boarded a tripolitan gunboat and singled out the commander for a personal combat. a turk aimed a blow at the lieutenant, but before he could strike, sergeant meredith, of the marines, ran him through the body with his bayonet. it was also an officer of marines, lieutenant o'bannon, who, with midshipman mann, hauled down the tripolitan ensign, after having stormed the principal defense[pg 111] of derne, and planted the flag of the republic on that ancient fortress.
the marines participated gallantly in the war of 1812, and in the expedition against quallah battoo, a few years later, formed the van of the attacking party, and were in the thickest of the fight with the malays. this quallah battoo expedition furnished a stirring passage for our naval history that is well worth recalling. in february, 1831, the american ship friendship was loading on the coast of sumatra. while the captain, two officers and four of the crew were on shore the friendship was attacked by the crew of a malay pepper boat, who, after killing the first officer and several of the seamen, succeeded in cutting off the ship and plundering her of every article of value on board. the attack was clearly concerted, and the achense rajah, chute dulah, received the spoils, refusing the restoration even of the ship.
time moved with leisure steps in those days, but as soon as news of this wanton outrage reached the united states, prompt [pg 112]measures were taken to punish its authors. on february 5, 1832, the frigate potomac, commanded by commodore john downes, anchored off quallah battoo and landed a force of 250 men to attack the town. the assaulting party, composed mainly of marines, did its work in a thorough and practical manner. the town and the four forts defending it were captured and destroyed, and several hundred malays killed, including the rajah chiefly concerned in the plunder of the friendship and the massacre of its crew. the surviving rajahs begged for peace, and this was finally granted by commodore downes, but the lesson taught at the cannon's mouth is still remembered on the sumatran coast.
the marine corps participated with brilliant results in the florida indian war, and in the siege of vera cruz and the march to the city of mexico their services were of the first order. in fact, general scott is authority for the statement that at all times during the mexican war they were placed where the hardest work was to be done. at the [pg 113]storming of chapultepec, major levi twiggs, of the marines, led the assaulting party and was killed. this fortress having been captured, the marines in general quitman's division moved directly on the city of mexico, and were accorded the honor of first entering the palace and hoisting the american flag.
the marines who accompanied commodore perry to japan, in 1852, took an important part in that expedition. a force of a hundred marines was landed, and, together with a like number of soldiers and two brass bands, marched through yeddo to the palace of the mikado, creating a most favorable impression on the foreign officials. a similar display was made by perry when he returned to japan in 1854, to receive the answer of the japanese government to his representations previously made regarding the advantages of foreign trade.
it was a force of marines who captured john brown at harper's ferry, in 1859. while the militia of virginia was assembling by the thousand to attack the little band of[pg 114] abolitionists, a force of one hundred marines was sent from washington, and a squad of eight of them battered down the door of john brown's fort, and captured his party, to the chagrin of the hundreds of other military men near by who hoped to have a hand in the affair.
again and again during the civil war the marines proved themselves brave and stubborn fighters. in the encounter between the merrimac and the cumberland, the marine division was under lieutenant charles heywood, later commander of the corps. the first shot from the merrimac killed nine marines, yet the division was so little demoralized by the loss that it not only continued fighting, but actually fired the last shot discharged from the cumberland at the merrimac. for services rendered between 1861 and 1865, thirty-seven officers and men of the marine corps received the thanks of congress, medals or swords, and twenty-eight were brevetted for gallantry.
in the brush with corea in 1871, the [pg 115]marines, as before stated, were in the assault on the salee forts, and lieutenant mckee, in carrying the works, fell, as his father fell in mexico, at the head of his men, and first inside the stormed works.
commander, afterward admiral, kimberly stated in his report that to the marines belonged the honor of "first landing and last leaving the shore. chosen as the advance guard on account of their steadiness and discipline, their whole behavior on the march and in the assault proved that the confidence in them had not been misplaced."
the marines again distinguished themselves in 1885, when an insurrection in panama compelled the landing there of a force, which stayed until all danger was over, and several times, in more recent years, the officers and men of the corps have plucked a fresh branch for their laurels. when the big railroad strike in california was in progress in the summer of 1894 the marine guard stationed at the mare island navy yard was called out to serve with the regular troops at[pg 116] sacramento, truckee, stockton and other towns. in alertness, activity and general soldierliness they showed themselves quite the equals of the army troops, and the colonel of artillery who commanded the entire brigade, did not fail to dwell upon this fact in his report to the war department. one of the marines at truckee bent the stock of his rifle in clubbing a violent rioter, who afterward was convicted as an accessory in ditching a train and causing the deaths of four soldiers. the marine was reproved by his company commander, and narrowly escaped a court-martial, on the charge of destroying government property. "bullets," said the commander, "are cheaper than rifles."
the american marine has never been known to show the white feather, no matter what the odds against him. when, some years ago, antonio ezeta, the central american agitator, was being chased by the government authorities of the republic of salvador, he took refuge in the residence of the american consul at la libertad. the populace[pg 117] raged around the consulate, and word was sent to the garrison on the outskirts of la libertad of ezeta's hiding-place. an american gunboat was lying in the harbor, and the marine guard of twenty men, under command of a sergeant, was sent ashore by the commanding officer at the request of the consul, to protect the latter's residence and the refugee within it, for ezeta was a citizen of the united states. the marine guard reached the consulate at the same moment with a battalion of 250 salvadorean soldiers. the marines, not a whit dismayed, surrounded the consulate, and for eight hours stood off the swarthy salvadoreans. then, by a ruse, ezeta, in disguise, was slipped to the beach and taken to the warship, which carried him to san francisco to stand trial in the united states courts for violation of the neutrality laws. he would have been torn limb from limb by the citizens and soldiers of la libertad, had it not been for the score of marines. the captain of one of the salvadorean companies was an american free-lance from[pg 118] western new york. he raved over the cowardice of the dark skinned soldiers he commanded, and profanely declared that, with half a dozen marines of the united states at his back, he would undertake to whip the entire salvadorean army. his men, it may be stated in passing, did not understand english.
finally, in the war with spain and the more recent operations in china, the marine corps added another moving and glorious chapter to its history. at guantanamo the marine battalion, commanded by colonel r. w. huntingdon, fought the first serious land engagement of united states forces on foreign soil since the mexican war. the fact that this battalion was attacked by the enemy in overwhelming numbers, and for over three days and nights was under constant fire, and that on the fourth day a portion of the battalion attacked and repulsed a superior force of spaniards, shows, to quote the words of their chief, "that colonel huntingdon and his officers and men displayed great gallantry, and that all[pg 119] were well drilled and under the most effective discipline." one of the men under huntingdon's command was sergeant thomas quick, a lithe and fearless native of the mountains of west virginia. at a critical stage of the operations, while the marines were engaged with the enemy firing from ambush, it became necessary to dislodge them, and it was desired that the dolphin should shell the woods in which they were concealed. quick volunteered to signal her, and standing on a hill wigwagged her, while bullets backed the dust about him. for his action, described as "beautiful" by his commander, he, in due time, received a medal of honor and a lieutenant's commission.
the headquarters of the marine corps are at the barracks in the city of washington, where are located the commandant and his staff. besides those previously mentioned, there are marine barracks at portsmouth, boston, league island, norfolk and annapolis. but the fouled anchor running through a hemisphere traced with the outlines of the[pg 120] two american continents, which adorns the front of the marine's fatigue cap, tells that he is at home both on sea and land, and when on either, shrewd, sharp blows are to be struck he is ready for them. nowhere in the world, size taken into account, is there a more efficient organization than this corps of 6,000 brave fighting men.
[pg 121]
chapter v
the police of the coast
the revenue cutter, though perhaps the least known, is one of the most useful branches of the federal service. its creation antedates by several years that of the navy, and it boasts a glorious history. it polices the coast as the navy polices the ocean, and its duties are as varied as they are weighty and important. it cruises constantly from the fever infected regions of the gulf to the icebound shores of the arctic sea. it is the terror and constant menace of the smuggler and poacher. it sees to it that the quarantine is strictly maintained, and that the neutrality laws are not violated by the greedy and lawless of our own and other lands. it is prompt in the prevention of piracy, and[pg 122] suppresses mutiny with a heavy hand. it looks after emigrant ships and enforces the license and registry statutes. last, but not least, it gives timely succor to the shipwrecked and annually preserves hundreds of lives and millions of dollars' worth of property. and so, wherever one familiar with its history falls in with its trim white cutters, whether in the sunny courses of the gulf, or on the borders of the great atlantic highway, off the bleak new england coast, in the crowded harbors of our lake ports, or in the still waters of the pacific, he is sure to give them glad, respectful greeting, as modest, graceful emblems not alone of our country's greatness, but better still, of duty bravely and nobly done.
the revenue cutter service celebrated the centennial anniversary of its existence sixteen years ago, having been organized in 1790. the credit for its creation belongs to alexander hamilton, that great first secretary of the treasury, to whom we owe so much, and whose memory in these days of self-vaunting[pg 123] mediocrity we too often neglect to honor. his was a vision that saw clearly all the needs of the future, and as early as 1789 he earnestly advised the employment of "boats for the security of the revenue against contraband." a little later he submitted to congress a bill providing for a fleet of ten boats, to be thus distributed along the seaboard: two for the massachusetts and new hampshire coast, one for long island sound, one for new york, one for the waters of the delaware bay, two for the chesapeake and its environs and one each for north carolina, south carolina and georgia. congress accepted the secretary's recommendations, and in a few months ten swift cutters were built, armed and equipped, each vessel being manned by a crew of ten men.
thus was born the revenue cutter service, a modest fleet of small, speedy vessels only a little larger than the yawls of the present time. in addition to their pay, the officers and crews received a part of the amounts derived from fines, penalties and forfeitures collected[pg 124] in case of seizures and for breaches of the navigation and customs laws, but later the officers were given larger salaries and the payment of prize money abolished. at first only a small force was required to adequately protect the commerce of an extensive yet thinly populated coast, but our foreign trade grew so rapidly, and the importance of our shipping interests increased so steadily, that it soon became clear that a strong cordon of well equipped and speedy cruisers would be necessary for their effective protection. for this reason, congress, in 1799, gave the president authority to equip and maintain as many revenue cutters as he should deem necessary for the proper policing of our coast-line.
and thus the revenue cutter service grew in size and became more efficient with each passing year. during the first quarter century of its existence, it was almost constantly in the eyes of the public, and its daring deeds frequently afforded welcome material to the novelists of the period. among its duties it was charged with the suppression of piracy,[pg 125] even so late as the opening of the last century, a serious menace to commerce; and it also waged a constant and relentless war against smugglers and smuggling. those were the palmy days of the smuggler, who often made reckless hazard of his life in the illegal race for gain. steam vessels had not yet come into use, and speed and safety then lay in trim lines and mighty spreads of canvas. smugglers' schooners, sharp built, light of draught, and with enormous sails, were constantly hovering in the offing, biding some favorable opportunity to discharge cargoes upon which no duty had been paid.
it was the business of the revenue cutter service to keep watch upon these vultures of the sea, spoiling them of their quarry, and in this way sprang up hand-to-hand encounters both by sea and land, sudden, sharp and terrible, in which many a gallant life was lost and fame and honor won. now, however, the pirate and the smuggler, at least of the bold life-risking sort, have passed to the limbo of forgotten things, and the officers and[pg 126] men of the revenue cutter service no longer win glory and a reputation for bullet-chasing courage in their suppression. the new field which they have built up for themselves, is daring and full of danger, but it has not the same interest for the general public, and so their deeds of heroism are now performed in out-of-the-way corners, with no herald present to trumpet them to the world, and with the pleasant consciousness of duty well done as their only reward.
the revenue cutter service in time of war has always co-operated promptly and effectively with the navy against the foe. indeed, the cutters belonging to the revenue cutter service have taken a gallant and active part in all the wars of the united states save one. in 1797, when war with france threatened, the revenue cutter service was placed on a war footing, and by its promptness and vigilance, did much to uphold the dignity and prestige of the federal government. in the following year a number of cutters cruised with diligence and daring in west indian[pg 127] waters, and the record of the revenue cutter service in guarding the seaboard and preventing the departure of unauthorized merchant ships, while the embargo act of 1807 was in force, was also a fine one.
its services during the war of 1812 were as varied as they were brilliant. not only did its vessels successfully essay perilous missions, but they also took a gallant part in many of the most hotly contested naval actions of the war. in fact, to the cutter jefferson and its gallant crew belong the credit for the first marine capture of that contest, for within a week of the proclamation of war the jefferson fell in with and captured the british schooner patriot, with a valuable cargo, while on her way from guadeloupe to halifax. and this proved only a fitting prelude to a hundred illustrious deeds performed by the officers and crews of the revenue cutter service during the following three years. in the second year of the war the revenue cutter vigilance overhauled and after a sharp engagement captured the british privateer[pg 128] dart, off newport, while the cutters madison and gallatin carried many rich prizes into the ports of charleston and savannah.
when in 1832 south carolina threatened to secede from the union, several cutters cruised off the carolina coast, ready to assert by force the supremacy of the federal government. during the seminole war revenue cutters were not only actively engaged in transporting troops and munitions, but were also of great service in protecting the settlements along the florida coast. during the mexican war eight revenue cutters formed a part of the naval squadron operating against the southern republic and participated gallantly in the assault on alvarado and tobasco, while the revenue cutters mclane and forward contributed materially to the success of commodore perry's expedition against tobasco and frontera in october, 1846.
finally, a volume would be required to adequately record the work of the revenue cutter service during the civil war. its cutters were employed as despatch boats, joined[pg 129] in the pursuit of blockade runners, did guard and scouting duty, and often shared in engagements with confederate batteries and vessels. in truth, it was a revenue cutter, the harriet lane, which, in charleston harbor, in april, 1861, fired on the union side, the first shot of the civil war. the harriet lane was long the pride of the revenue cutter service, and had a notable career. named after the beautiful and gracious niece of president buchanan, she participated in the naval expedition to paraguay, and during the civil war was often under fire. again, during the war with spain, the revenue cutter service achieved an enviable and heroic record.
the proper patrol of our long coast line requires a large number of vessels, and the revenue cutter service at the present time has a complement of thirty-seven vessels, all splendidly adapted to the work in hand. during the last sixty years steamers have slowly but steadily replaced the top-sail schooners of the old days, and the vessels now employed by the revenue cutter service are, with one[pg 130] or two exceptions, small, compact, well-built steamers, which, save for the guns they carry, might easily be mistaken for swift steam yachts. in size they range from 130 to 500 tons burden. the majority of them have been built under the direct supervision of officers of the service and are perfectly adapted to the varying wants of the several stations. nearly all of them are armed with from two to four breech-loading rifled cannon and carry small arms for the use of their crews. most of the vessels bear the names of former secretaries and assistant secretaries of the treasury, but the andrew johnson, the william h. seward and u. s. grant are also among the names to be found on the list. the u. s. grant, which does duty at port townsend, is a bark-rigged steam propeller, and a model of its size and type. strange to say, it is the only ship of the united states that bears the name of the greatest captain of his age.
the vessels of the revenue cutter service are always ready for instant duty in the most[pg 131] distant quarters. when, in 1867, alaska became a part of the united states, within a week after the ratification of the treaty, the revenue cutter lincoln was steaming northward, and was the first to obtain accurate information regarding the geography, resources and climate of our new possession. three or more revenue cutters now cruise every year in alaskan waters, guarding the seal fisheries and often giving much needed relief to the whaling fleet that yearly sails from san francisco for a cruise in the waters above the behring sea.
officers and crews of the cutters doing service in the waters of alaska have remarkable stories to tell, and the log-books of the cutters corwin and bear have been filled during the last twenty-five years with a record all too brief, of many thrilling adventures in the frozen north. the corwin left san francisco for the polar sea in may, 1881, charged with ascertaining, if possible, the fate of two missing whalers, and to establish communication with the exploring steamer jeanette.[pg 132] five times during the previous year the corwin had attempted to reach herald island, and failed each time. on this voyage better success attended, and after braving the perils of the drift ice, a landing was made, while at the same time the bleak coast of wrangel land was sighted to the westward. on august 12, 1881, the corwin having pushed its way through great masses of floating and grounded ice, into an open space near the island, effected a landing on wrangel land, this being the first time that white men had ever succeeded in reaching that remote corner of the arctic waste.
the cruises of the corwin in 1880 and 1881 covered over 12,000 miles, and the officers and crew, while carefully preventing illegal raids upon the sealing interests, also found time to prosecute important surveys and soundings, to make a careful study of the natives of alaska, and to collect a great mass of important data relative to the natural features and mineral wealth of the country. the cruises of the corwin in the succeeding years[pg 133] of 1882, 1883, 1884 and 1885, were of scarcely less importance. one of these cruises was to st. lawrence bay, siberia, where timely succor was given to the officers and crew of the burned naval relief steamer rogers, which had gone north in the spring of 1881 in search of the jeanette. during the corwin's cruise in 1883 a considerable portion of the interior of alaska was carefully explored and an outbreak among the natives on the mainland promptly quelled. during its two succeeding cruises the corwin saved from death nearly 100 shipwrecked whalers and destitute miners.
since 1885 the cutter bear has patrolled the alaskan waters, making a record equal to that of its predecessor. its work in protecting the sealing fisheries is well known, and it has also suppressed in large measure the illegal sale to the natives of firearms and spirits. its record as a life saver is also a long one, and some of its experiences have been more thrilling than those to be found in the pages of any romance.
[pg 134]
when the bear reached alaskan waters in 1887 the captain of the whaling ship hunter handed its commander a most remarkable message, which had been delivered to him a few days before by the natives of cape behring. this message consisted of a piece of wood, on one side of which was rudely carved: "1887 j. b. v. bk. nap. tobacco give," and on the other "s. w. c. nav. m 10 help come."
the riddle offered by the message was speedily solved by the officers of the bear. the bark napoleon had been wrecked in 1885 off cape navarin, and only fourteen of the crew of thirty-six men had been rescued. of the unlucky twenty-two a few reached the siberian shore, but nothing had been heard of their subsequent fate. the officers of the bear reasoned that the sender of the message was a member of the napoleon's crew who had found refuge with the natives to the southwest of cape navarin and was now anxiously awaiting rescue. this reasoning proved correct, and a few weeks later the[pg 135] weary two years' exile of james b. vincent, of edgartown, mass., boatswain of the napoleon, had a happy termination.
the story vincent told his rescuers, was of tragic and absorbing interest. the napoleon, caught in a storm, had been wedged in the ice and its crew compelled to take to the boats. the boats, four in number, were soon separated, and thirty-six days of fearful suffering passed before the one containing vincent and his companions reached shore. in the meantime nine of the eighteen men in the boat had died and several others had been driven insane by their sufferings. vincent was the only one who could walk when they reached land. five more soon died and three of the survivors were helpless from frost bites and exhaustion when they fell in with a party of natives. a portion of the latter lived inland, and these took vincent with them when they returned to their homes. the following spring when the natives visited the shore to fish, vincent found his three shipmates barely alive, and they died soon after.
[pg 136]
when the fishing was over vincent went back to the mountains with his new-found friends, and during the following winter carved and entrusted to wandering natives from cape behring the message which later brought about his rescue. when spring of the second year opened vincent, with the natives, again started for the seashore to fish. great was his joy a few weeks later when he was attracted by the shouting of the natives and looked up to see a white man and to find himself rescued at last. the bear conveyed him to san francisco, whence he made his way to his home in massachusetts.
while among the eskimo, vincent was kindly cared for by an old native, whose wife received him as her son. after a year the husband died, but his last instructions to his wife were to care for and keep their guest until he was rescued. when relief at last came the old woman with tears in her eyes, said that she was ready to die, for she had done as her husband wished. warm and [pg 137]tender hearts can be found even in siberian wastes.
the revenue cutter service is part of the treasury department, and comes under the direct jurisdiction of the secretary of the treasury. subordinate to him are a chief and assistant chief of division. each vessel of the service patrols the district to which it is assigned, and forms a picket line at the outer edge of government jurisdiction, which extends four leagues from the coast. every vessel arriving in united states waters is boarded and examined, and its papers certified. if a vessel liable to seizure or examination does not bring to when requested to do so, the commander of a cutter, after discharging a warning gun, has authority to fire into such a vessel, and all acting under his orders are indemnified from any penalties or action from damages. on each cutter there are a captain, three lieutenants, a cadet, an engineer and two assistants, and a crew of a dozen or more men.
the service includes in its several grades[pg 138] about one thousand men. strict discipline is maintained, and its crews receive constant instruction and exercise in the use of great guns, rifles, carbines, pistols, cutlasses and the like. an officer of the revenue cutter service must not only possess considerable executive ability, but must also be a man of varied and accurate information, having a knowledge of gunnery and military drills, and be thoroughly familiar with the customs and navigation laws of the country.
rank is obtained by promotion, the latter being governed by written competitive examinations, from three to five of the senior officers of a lower grade being selected for any vacancy occurring in the higher grade. a young man wishing to join the service as an officer undergoes a rigid examination held annually at washington, and then serves for several years aboard the revenue schoolship, where he learns sea mathematics, sea law and seamanship. his period of apprenticeship ended, he joins a regular cutter as a junior[pg 139] officer and waits for promotion at a salary of $85 per month.
life on board a revenue cutter during the months of summer is usually an easy and pleasant one, but in the winter there is another and different story to tell. from december to april of each year the cutters cruise constantly on their stations to give aid to vessels in distress, and are, in most cases, forbidden to put into port unless under stress of weather or other unforeseen conditions arise.
few stormy winter days pass without the revenue cutter seeing a signal from some vessel in distress, and aid is never sought in vain. the cutter steers straight for the signal as soon as it is sighted, and when a quarter of a mile distant lowers a boat. often a boat is launched into a sea where death seems certain, but officers and men never shrink from their duty. when the boat gains the side of the vessel seeking aid, the master whom misfortune has overtaken, requests, as a rule, to be towed into port. when such a request[pg 140] is made, a line must be got to the distressed vessel and from the boat to the cutter, a task often performed with infinite difficulty and at the risk of life and limb.
when a vessel is found drifting helplessly and about to dash itself upon rocks, the peril is even greater. then the cutter must stand further away, and its boat is in constant danger of being dashed upon the rocks. but, thanks to the skill, experience and coolness of the officers and crew of the cutter, a line is generally got into the boat and to the steamer, and the imperilled vessel hauled away to safety.
one of the finest feats of life-saving ever performed by the revenue cutter service was that credited to the cutter dexter, some years ago. on january 17, 1884, the iron-built steamer city of columbus left boston for the port of savannah, carrying eighty-one passengers and a ship's company of forty-five persons. her commander was a capable and experienced seaman, and though by nightfall the wind, which had been blowing all day, had[pg 141] increased to a hurricane, and a heavy sea was running, he had no serious apprehension of danger. the vessel, following her usual course through vineyard sound, had left behind nearly all the dangerous points which thickly bestrew those waters, and would soon be safely in the open ocean. it was at that luckless moment that the captain left the bridge and went below, first directing the helmsman how to steer.
within an hour the steamer struck on devil's bridge, and an awful fate was upon the hapless passengers and crew, who were sleeping soundly, all unconscious of danger. the weather was bitter cold, the darkness intense, the wind blowing a hurricane and the waves rolling mountain high. in the twinkling of an eye a hundred poor creatures were swept to their death in the icy waters. a few of the stronger ones took refuge in the rigging, but many of these, benumbed by the cold, dropped one by one from their supports and disappeared in the sea, while such[pg 142] boats as were cleared away were either dashed to pieces or instantly swamped.
the wreck occurred about four o'clock in the morning, and soon after daylight the dexter reached the scene of the disaster. her commander at once dispatched two boats to the rescue of those still clinging to the rigging of the columbus, and thirteen men, jumping from their refuge into the sea, were picked up as they came to the surface, and conveyed to the dexter. to reach the wreck in small boats through an angry sea was an undertaking so perilous as to make even the boldest pause, and called for courage of the highest order. however, the dexter's crew proved equal to the test, and lieutenant john u. rhodes made himself famous by an act of the noblest heroism. two men, rendered helpless by cold and exposure, still clung to the rigging of the columbus after all their companions had been taken off. to board the ill-fated vessel was impossible; rhodes essayed to reach it by swimming. he gained the side of the vessel after a gallant[pg 143] battle with the waves, but was struck by a piece of floating timber, and had to abandon the attempt. bruised and half fainting, he insisted upon making another trial, reached the vessel and brought away the two men, both of whom died a few hours later. the legislature of connecticut, rhodes' native state, passed a resolution thanking him for his gallant conduct, and he received many medals and testimonials.
rhodes has since died, but the revenue cutter service still numbers among its officers scores of men endowed with the flawless bravery of which he gave such shining proof at the wreck of the city of columbus. one of these is lieutenant james h. scott. this brilliant young officer—i cite his case as a typical one—was born in pennsylvania thirty-seven years ago, and while still in his teens shipped as a boy on a merchant vessel in commerce between philadelphia and antwerp. tiring of this trade, he sailed as an able seaman from new york to bombay and other east indian ports, making the last [pg 144]voyage as boatswain of the good ship ridgeway, after which, declining proffer of a second mate's berth, he entered the revenue cutter service as a cadet.
graduated in 1890, and made acting third lieutenant on the cutter woodbury, it was then that young scott, who while attached to the revenue schoolship had jumped overboard in lisbon harbor and rescued the quartermaster of his vessel, again gave proof of the sterling stuff that was in him. on a cold, clear day in january, 1891, the woodbury, which is stationed at portland, me., was cruising to the eastward of that port, the thermometer below zero, and the rigging covered with ice. the woodbury was about half-way over her cruising ground when the officer of the deck discovered a large three-masted schooner hard aground on a ledge of rocks which stood well out from the shore. a high sea was running at the time, though the cutter rose and fell to every wave with apparent unconcern, and breaking clean over the schooner, the crew of which had taken refuge[pg 145] on the rocks and were now frantically signalling for help. it was clear that unless help reached them they would quickly perish from the cold.
captain fengar, commanding the woodbury, ran in as close as he could without peril to his vessel, and carefully surveyed the ground before giving an order. his practiced eye told him in a moment that to send in a boat of the cutter type would mean its certain destruction against the rocks, even if it could live in the sea then running. however, the captain suddenly recalled that a fisherman's village was only a few miles distant, and that there he could obtain a couple of dories admirably adapted to the task in hand. shouting to the men on the rocks to hold on and not lose hope, the cutter, at a word from its commander, headed about, and went plunging and rolling at top speed in the direction of the village. two hours later the woodbury was again on the scene, with a good-sized dory on one of her davits.
closing in on the wreck, captain fengar[pg 146] called for volunteers. almost to a man the crew responded, but among the foremost were cadets scott and w. s. van cott. captain fengar allowed the two young men to go, but not without some misgivings. both insisted on pulling oars, the dory being in charge of lieutenant w. l. howland, an experienced and capable officer. as the dory left the ship it was observed that a life-saving crew from a station well down the coast was approaching. it would never do to let the woodbury be beaten, and her dory crew pulled with all the vim they could command. the race was to be a close one, but at the outset the woodbury's boat gained the lead, and such a run, in such a sea, was never perhaps pulled by opposing boats.
lieutenant howland in getting close in, dared not run up too close to the rocks, and after a couple of ineffectual attempts to heave a line was about to despair of success, when suddenly cadet (now lieutenant) scott, securing the line around his waist, sprang overboard, before any one in the boat knew what[pg 147] he was about. shouting to lieutenant howland to pay the line out, young scott was dashed upon the rocks and seized by the imprisoned sailors. the brave young fellow was badly stunned, but he had gained his point by getting the line to the rocks. communication was now effected with the dory, which all this time was riding the seas at a safe distance. another line was hauled up from the boat, and one by one the sailors jumped clear of the rocks and were hauled to the dory, whence they were conveyed without delay to the deck of the cutter. when rescued they had been fourteen hours on the rock. since the incident just related, lieutenant scott, though still one of its youngest officers, has held every position in the revenue cutter service.
the present chief of the revenue cutter service is captain c. f. shoemaker. he has climbed to this position from the lowest rung of the ladder, and is a man whose success would have been notable in almost any calling. many of the other captains of the [pg 148]service are men of mark and achievement, for the government has no nobler, better, braver servants than those who officer and man its revenue cutters.
