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Air Water Weather Stop Faking It Finally Understanding
Science So You Can Teach It William C. Robertson
Digital Instant Download
Author(s): William C. Robertson
ISBN(s): 9780873552387, 0873552385
Edition: sku PB169X6
File Details: PDF, 3.82 MB
Year: 2005
Language: english
 Stop
Faking It!
Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It

AIR, WATER, &

WEATHER
 Stop
Faking It!
Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It

AIR, WATER, &

WEATHER

Arlington, Virginia
Claire Reinberg, Director
Judy Cusick, Senior Editor
J. Andrew Cocke, Associate Editor
Betty Smith, Associate Editor
Robin Allan, Book Acquisitions Coordinator

ART AND DESIGN David Serota, Director

PRINTING AND PRODUCTION Catherine Lorrain-Hale, Director
Nguyet Tran, Assistant Production Manager
Jack Parker, Electronic Prepress Technician

NATIONAL SCIENCE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION

Gerald F. Wheeler, Executive Director
David Beacom, Publisher

Copyright © 2005 by the National Science Teachers Association.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.
07 06 05 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Robertson, William C.
Air, water, and weather / by William C. Robertson.
p. cm. — (Stop faking it! : finally understanding science so you can teach it)
Includes index.
ISBN 0-87355-238-5
1. Weather—Study and teaching—Popular works. 2. Science—Study and teaching—Popular
works. 3. Science—Methodology—Popular works. I. Title.
QC981.2.R63 2005
551.6’071—dc22
2005003491

NSTA is committed to publishing quality materials that promote the best in inquiry-based science education.
However, conditions of actual use may vary and the safety procedures and practices described in this book are
intended to serve only as a guide. Additional precautionary measures may be required. NSTA and the author(s)
do not warrant or represent that the procedure and practices in this book meet any safety code or standard or
federal, state, or local regulations. NSTA and the author(s) disclaim any liability for personal injury or damage
to property arising out of or relating to the use of this book including any recommendations, instructions, or
materials contained therein.

Permission is granted in advance for photocopying brief excerpts for one-time use in a classroom or
workshop. Requests involving electronic reproduction should be directed to Permissions/ NSTA
Press, 1840 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22201-3000; fax 703-526-9754. Permissions requests for
coursepacks, textbooks, and other commercial uses should be directed to Copyright Clearance
Center, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923; fax 978-646-8600; www.copyright.com.

Featuring sciLINKS®—a new way of connecting text and the Internet. Up-to-the-minute online
content, classroom ideas, and other materials are just a click away. Go to page xii to learn more about this new
educational resource.
 Contents
Preface ........................................................................................ vii
The Scope of This Book ............................................................ x
Everyday Items Used in Activities in This Book ............... xi
SciLinks ...................................................................................... xii

Chapter 1 Under Pressure ............................................................................. 1

Chapter 2 It’s a Gas, Gas, Yeah .................................................................. 17

Chapter 3 Balloons and Other Things That Sometimes Float ........ 39

Chapter 4 A Few Loose Ends .................................................................... 57

Chapter 5 Small-Scale Weather ................................................................ 69

Chapter 6 Large-Scale Weather ................................................................. 87

Chapter 7 The Severe Stuff ..................................................................... 107

Glossary ..................................................................................... 117

Index ........................................................................................ 123
Preface
he book you have in your hands is the sixth in the Stop Faking It! series. The
T previous five books have been well received, mainly because they stick to the
principles outlined below. All across the country, teachers, parents, and home-
schoolers are faced with helping other people understand subjects—science and
math—that they don’t really understand themselves. When I speak of under-
standing, I’m not talking about what rules and formulas to apply when, but
rather knowing the meaning behind all the rules, formulas, and procedures. I
know that it is possible for science and math to make sense at a deep level—deep
enough that you can teach it to others with confidence and comfort.
Why do science and math have such a bad reputation as being so difficult?
What makes them so difficult to understand? Well, my contention is that sci-
ence and math are not difficult to understand. It’s just that from kindergarten
through graduate school, we present the material way too fast and at too abstract
a level. To truly understand science and math, you need time to wrap your mind
around the concepts. However, very little science and math instruction allows
that necessary time. Unless you have the knack for understanding abstract ideas
in a quick presentation, you can quickly fall behind as the material flies over
your head. Unfortunately, the solution many people use to keep from falling
behind is to memorize the material. Memorizing your way through the material
is a surefire way to feel uncomfortable when it comes time to teach the material
to others. You have a difficult time answering questions that aren’t stated explic-
itly in the textbook, you feel inadequate, and let’s face it—it just isn’t any fun!
So, how do you go about understanding science and math? You could pick up
a high school or college science textbook and do your best to plow through the
ideas, but that can get discouraging quickly. You could plunk down a few bucks
and take an introductory college course, but you might be smack in the middle
of a too-much-material-too-fast situation. Elementary and middle school text-
books generally include brief explanations of the concepts, but the emphasis is
definitely on the word brief, and the number of errors in those explanations is
higher than it should be. Finally, you can pick up one or fifty “resource” books
that contain many cool classroom activities but also include too brief, some-
times incorrect, and vocabulary-laden explanations.

vii
Preface

Given the above situation, I decided to write a series of books that would
solve many of these problems. Each book covers a relatively small area of sci-
ence, and the presentation is unrushed and hopefully funny in at least a few
places. Typically, I spend a chapter or two covering material that might take up
a paragraph or a page in a standard science book. My hope is that people will
take it slow and digest, rather than memorize, the material.
This sixth book in the series is about air, water, and weather. It explores the
physical science concepts associated with the behavior of air, water, and other
fluids (yes, air can be considered a fluid!) and then uses weather as an interesting
application of those concepts. As such, you will not find this to be a comprehen-
sive book on weather. Of course, I do hope that the understanding you might
gain from this book will help you immensely when you encounter other re-
sources relating to weather concepts. After all, physical science concepts are at
the heart of most weather concepts.
There is an established method for helping people learn concepts, and that
method is known as the learning cycle. Basically, it consists of having someone
do a hands-on activity or two, or even just think about various questions or
situations, followed by explanations based on those activities. By connecting
new concepts to existing ideas, activities, or experiences, people tend to develop
understanding rather than rely on memorization. Each chapter in this book,
then, is broken up into two kinds of sections. One section is titled, “Things to
do before you read the science stuff,” and the other is titled, “The science stuff.”
If you actually do the things I ask you to do prior to reading the science, I
guarantee you’ll have a more satisfying experience and a better chance of grasp-
ing the material.
It is important that you realize the book you have in your hands is not a
textbook. It is, however, designed to help you “get” science at a level you never
thought possible, and also to bring you to the point where tackling more tradi-
tional science resources won’t be a terrifying, lump-in-your-throat, I-don’t-think-
I’ll-survive experience.

Dedication
I dedicate this book to my mother, Arletta McIsaac, for her emotional, financial,
and all other kinds of support that led me to this point. I also dedicate it to
Donald McIsaac who, after the death of my father and in his infinite wisdom,
became my stepfather and helped make two families even closer than they al-
ready were.

viii
 Preface

About the Author

As the author of NSTA Press’s Stop Faking It! series, Bill Robertson believes
science can be both accessible and fun—if it’s presented so that people can
readily understand it. Robertson is a science education writer, reviews and edits
science materials, and frequently conducts inservice teacher workshops as well
as seminars at NSTA conventions. He has also taught college physics and devel-
oped K–12 science curricula, teacher materials, and award-winning science kits.
He earned a master’s degree in physics from the University of Illinois and a PhD
in science education from the University of Colorado. You can contact him at
[email protected].

About the Illustrator

The soon-to-be-out-of-debt humorous illustrator Brian Diskin grew up outside
of Chicago. He graduated from Northern Illinois University with a degree in
commercial illustration, after which he taught himself cartooning. His art has
appeared in many books, including The Golfer’s Personal Trainer and 5 Lines:
Limericks on Ice. You can also find his art in newspapers, on greeting cards, on T-
shirts, and on refrigerators. At any given time he can be found teaching watercol-
ors and cartooning, or working on his ever-expanding series of Stop Faking It!
books. You can view his work at www.briandiskin.com.

About the Cover

You probably recognize the character on the left as your basic loony weather
forecaster, but you might be wondering who those other two guys are. The one
blowing through the tent is supposed to be Daniel Bernoulli, a mathematician
and physicist who studied, among many other things, air flow and air pressure.
After you get through Chapter 2 in the book, you’ll understand why he’s blow-
ing through a paper tent. The other dude is supposed to be Archimedes, who
also studied math and physics, but did so much earlier than Bernoulli. He for-
mulated a principle that explained buoyancy, which you’ll read about in Chap-
ter 3. Legend is he figured out buoyancy while trying to determine whether an
object (a crown) was truly made of gold. He did so in his bathtub and then
supposedly went around shouting, “Eureka!” Translation—“I have found it!” Not
sure if that story is true. Anyway, the whole point of this cover drawing is to
illustrate that a knowledge of the properties and behavior of air and water can
serve as the basis for understanding a whole lot about weather.

ix
The Scope of This Book
Many people will probably look at the last word in the title and assume that this
is primarily a book about weather. They might also assume that my discussion
of the properties of air and water will serve only as a prelude to understanding
weather. Well, not so. I will deal with a number of concepts related to air and
water that have little or nothing to do with weather. The reason for that is that
some of these concepts are part of most science curricula even though they
don’t relate to weather. If I exclude them, I’m letting you down a bit, I think.
On the other hand, my treatment of weather in this book is not comprehen-
sive. I pretty much limit myself to weather concepts that are good applications
of the physics of air and water, and ignore those that aren’t. For example, I
don’t discuss lightning, damage due to hurricanes, the scale used for measuring
winds, or cloud types. Fortunately for you, there are lots of books in existence
that cover these topics adequately. No sense in me redoing what’s done well
elsewhere.
So, this is not a book that covers every single property of air and water, nor
is it a comprehensive book on weather. It’s a book that combines portions of
each of those topics, and, hopefully, helps you gain a basic understanding of
enough concepts that you can do a better job teaching in all three areas.

x
Everyday Items Used in Activities in This Book
l Fork l One cork
l Flat-head nail l One small, one medium
l Coffee can Styrofoam ball*

l Duct tape l Modeling clay*

l Two empty soda cans l Small rock

l Plastic straws l Metal washers

(equal size and weight)
l Shallow pan
l Several empty 2-liter soda bottles
l Kitchen tongs
l Pepper
l One meter of rubber tubing
(Tygon or other)* l Two Cheerios

l One bucket or saucepan of water l Incense or other harmless producer

of smoke
l Plastic water bottle
l One tornado tube or short section
l Round balloons of foam pipe insulation
l Votive candle l Eyedropper
l One pickle jar or jar of similar size l Wooden matches
l Index card l Flashlight
l Funnel l Pencil
l Ping-Pong ball l Pliers
l Small resealable plastic bags, l One empty toilet paper tube
3cm × 5cm*
l Two pushpins
l Paper clips
l One emery board
l Slotted craft sticks*
l One human hair
l Vegetable oil
l One table lamp without lampshade
l Rubbing alcohol
l One sharp pencil
l Clear drinking glasses
l One clear baking pan
l Food coloring
l One section of cardboard

*Available from your local hobby shop or craft store.

xi
How can you avoid searching hundreds of science websites to locate the best
sources of information on a given topic? SciLinks, created and maintained by
the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), has the answer.
In a SciLinked text, such as this one, you’ll find a logo and keyword near a
concept, a URL (www.scilinks.org), and a keyword code. Simply go to the SciLinks
website, type in the code, and receive an annotated listing of as many as 15 web
pages—all of which have gone through an extensive review process conducted
by a team of science educators. SciLinks is your best source of pertinent, trust-
worthy internet links on subjects from astronomy to zoology.
Need more information? Take a tour—www.scilinks.org/tour/

xii
 1
Chapter

Under Pressure1
he first thing I ought to address is why this book combines air, water,

T and weather. I addressed that in a preceding page, but it’s worth an-
other comment. In a regular physics textbook you’ll find chapters on
air and water and how they behave, and you can certainly find lots of books
about weather. The reason I combine them here is that once you know a lot
about air and other gases—and water and other liquids—you have many of
the basics from which to understand weather patterns, what causes them, and
how you can predict the weather. Of course, the air and water stuff is pretty
interesting all by itself. If I didn’t think that, I wouldn’t waste your time and I’d
spend my time more profitably, such as delivering pizzas.

“Pressure!! You want of know what pressure is?!! Air molecules trapped in
a rigid container heated up to 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Unable to escape and
moving faster than you can blink. That’s pressure!!”

1
I have no idea what your tastes in music might be, but if a David Bowie song comes to mind as
you read this chapter heading, we’re on the same wavelength.

1
1 Chapter
I’m sure you are well aware of the distinction between solids, liquids, and gases,
which might make you think that I’d treat air and water as very different things.
Turns out, though, that as far as scientists are concerned, liquids and gases
behave so much alike that we treat them just about as the same kind of thing—
fluids. So, much of what we cover here will apply to both air and water. Those
two things aren’t exactly alike though, so we’ll take different approaches from
time to time. Do expect, however, that I’ll be jumping around between the
behavior of air and other gases, and water and other liquids—all the while point-
ing out where the two are similar and where they’re different.
On to the contents of this chapter: We’re going to deal with air pressure and
water pressure and what causes those things to increase and decrease. We’ll also deal
with the real-world results of those increases and decreases in air and water pressure.

Things to do before you read the science stuff

Get a metal fork. Push on the palm of one of your Figure 1.1
hands with one tine of the fork (Figure 1.1). Don’t
do this so hard that you draw blood, but it should
hurt just a bit. Now turn the fork around and push
on the palm of your hand with the non-business
end of the fork. Try to push just as hard as you
did with the single tine, and compare the level of
pain you get with the single tine and the non-
stabbing end of the fork.
Here’s something potentially more painful but
maybe easier to get the point across. Get a flat-
head nail, one of those that’s pointed on one end
(wouldn’t be much of a nail if one end weren’t
pointed) and a completely flat surface on the other
end. Push on the palm of your hand first with the
pointed end and then with the flat end. Try to
use an equal push each time and please, please,
don’t draw blood with the pointed end. Best to
avoid poking yourself with nails unless you enjoy
getting tetanus boosters.2 Compare the level of pain
with the pointed end and with the flat end.

2
This is probably a good time to emphasize that this is a book for adults, and not a collection of
activities for use in the classroom. Yes, you can adapt most of these activities for classroom use,
but take care when doing so. For example, you probably don’t want to turn a bunch of kids
loose after telling them to poke themselves with forks.

2 National Science Teachers Association

 Chapter 1
The science stuff
Assuming you did as I told you and didn’t end up in the ER, you should have
noticed something. Even though you pushed equally hard with flat ends and
sharp ends of things, the sharp ends hurt more. If you pushed equally hard,
then that meant you pushed with the same force each time.3
Okay, if you pushed with the same force each time, why didn’t it hurt the
same amount each time? The answer has to do with how widely distributed that
force was each time. When you pushed with the pointed end of the nail, the
force was distributed over a very tiny area, and when you pushed with the flat
end of the nail, the force was distributed over a much larger area. To take this to
the extreme, suppose someone smashed his or her elbow into you with a force
of about 100 pounds.4 That would definitely hurt and leave a mighty bruise, and
to be clear, I’m not recommending you have it done. Now suppose someone
smashes a steel spike into you with a force of 100 pounds (apologies for the
violence in this chapter so far!). That wouldn’t just hurt, but would rather do
serious damage or even kill you.
Now that I’ve made my point, here’s a concept that helps you take into
consideration not just how big a force one might exert, but the amount of area
over which that force is spread. That concept is called pressure, and pressure
is defined by
pressure = force
area

In case your math is a wee bit rusty, that line on the right
means “divided by.” Because force is in the numerator of that
fraction on the right, a larger force means a larger pressure,
and a smaller force means a smaller pressure. The area, how-
ever, is in the denominator. So, a larger area means a smaller Topic: pressure
pressure (the force is more spread out so the pressure is smaller) Go to: www.scilinks.org
and a smaller area means a larger pressure (the force is more
Code: SFAWW01
localized, so the pressure is larger).

3
First shameless promotion for one of the other books in this series, Force and Motion: Stop Faking
It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It. I’m not going to pretend that you can’t find
out what the term force means by looking somewhere else than the dictionary, but if you want
the thorough treatment, well, …

4
Using English units (pounds) instead of Système International units (which would be newtons for
force) is a big no-no in science books, but I figure it’s okay just this once given that most people
have a good idea of how big a force 100 pounds is and very little idea how big a force 100 newtons
is. For the record, a force of 100 pounds is equal to a force of 445 newtons.

Stop Faking It: Air, Water, & Weather 3

1 Chapter
Before moving on, I should tell you why pressure is such an important con-
cept in dealing with air and water. The reason is that we’re dealing with large
numbers of atoms or molecules, and we tend to be concerned about the collec-
tive effect of all those atoms or molecules pushing on something. Having to
worry about the individual forces exerted by millions upon millions of tiny
particles is a royal pain, so we use the concept of pressure that describes their
cumulative effect without dealing with individual forces.

More things to do before you read more science stuff

What I want you to do in this section are things you’ve probably already done,
so maybe all you need is a good memory. If you haven’t done these things,
you’ll get to take a field trip, so be sure to have your parents sign that permis-
sion slip.
Your first task is to undergo a reasonably large change in altitude. You can
do this by taking a ride in your car in the mountains so you change altitude at
least 500 feet (easy if you live where I do in Colorado and a difficult task in other
areas), taking off and landing in a plane (expensive field trip!), or finding a tall
building and riding the elevator up and down at least 20 floors. If you choose
the last option, try to find an express elevator that isn’t likely to stop every few
floors. You’ll get the effect better if you travel all the floors without stopping. If
the elevator is in a fancy hotel, and it’s prom night, you can probably find
several teenagers to join you on the ride.
As you do any one of those tasks, or remember what it was like the last
time you did, focus on the effect on your ears. Depending on whether you go
up or down in altitude, and how far you have gone up or down, your ears will
feel stopped up or they’ll “pop” at some point. Some people can actually tell
the difference in the feeling in their ears depending on whether they’re going
up or down in altitude, but to me it feels pretty much the same.
Okay, your next field trip is to a bathtub or a swimming pool. The swim-
ming pool is a better option, but the bathtub (filled with water) will do.
Basically, repeat your “change in altitude” procedure on a small scale. Move
your submerged ears from one depth to another and notice changes in feel-
ing in your ear. One caution, though. While there’s no danger to your ears
when you do this in a bathtub, it is possible to damage your eardrum doing
this in a quick depth change in a pool (or a really large bathtub) of as little as
four feet. So, just go for depth changes that are enough for you to feel a
change in your ears. There’s a safe way to change depths in water quickly.
You plug your nose, close your mouth, and blow out gently as you submerge.
This is called “clearing your ears,” and it also works as you go down in alti-

4 National Science Teachers Association

 Chapter 1
tude just in the air.5 Figure 1.2
One more fun thing to do: Take a large coffee can or
something similar. Use a hammer and nail to poke three holes
in the side of the can, one near the top, one at the middle,
and one at the bottom (see Figure 1.2).
Use a strip of duct tape to cover all the holes, and then fill
the can with water. Hold the can over a sink or outside, and
quickly remove the tape. Notice how strong the water stream
is that comes from each of the three holes in the can. There
should be a difference between the results at each hole.

More science stuff Figure 1.3

I’m guessing that it’s no surprise to you that
the reason you felt changes in your ears was
due to changes in air pressure and water pres-
sure. To really understand what’s going on, it
helps to have a basic idea of what the inside of
your ear looks like, so take a look at Figure 1.3.
Notice that your eardrum separates your
inner ear from your outer ear. One side of the
eardrum is exposed to the outside of your ear
and the outside air. On the other side of the
eardrum is something called the Eustachian tube, which leads to your sinus
cavities, your nose, and your mouth. In other words, this tube connects to the
outside air through a different path that goes through your nose and mouth.
Your eardrum is sensitive to differences in pressure on either side of it.
When the pressure on the inside of the eardrum is equal to the pressure on the
outside of the eardrum, everything feels just fine. If the pressure on one side is
greater than the pressure on the other side, the eardrum gets pushed out of its
normal position and you get that “stopped up” feeling that can even get a little
painful. If the difference in pressure gets too large, your eardrum can rupture,
which can’t be a good thing.
Before moving on, let’s state something that might be relatively obvious:
Areas of high pressure tend to push things
toward areas of low pressure.

5
If this method doesn’t work easily for you, don’t push it. I’d really hate to get sued because
someone broke an eardrum after reading this book!

Stop Faking It: Air, Water, & Weather 5

1 Chapter
Works with your eardrum and pretty much everything else.
Given that changes in altitude cause discomfort in your ears, we can assume
that changes in altitude result in changes in pressure. Even if you don’t want to
assume that, just accept it because it’s true! Here’s what happens: As you go up
in altitude (we’re talking air, not water here), the outside air pressure gets lower.
This makes the pressure inside your eardrum higher than the air pressure out-
side your eardrum, and your eardrum gets pushed outward. In order for your
eardrum to get back to its normal position, the air pressure on the inside of your
eardrum has to get lower. That happens once the air pressure inside your Eusta-
chian tube gradually equals the outside air pressure, which you can help along
by yawning or chewing gum. Once the air pressure on either side of your ear-
drum is equalized, you get that “popping” sensation in your ears.
If you’re going down in altitude, the reverse happens. As you get to lower
altitudes, the outside air pressure increases so it’s larger than the air pressure on
the inside of your eardrum, causing your eardrum to push inward. Once again,
things get back to normal once you use the path through your Eustachian tube
to equalize the pressure on the inside and outside of your eardrum. Again,
yawning and chewing gum helps. Of course, there’s that trick of holding your
nose and blowing out gently. This trick (remember, it only works when going
down in altitude) is the key to us knowing that increases in altitude decrease air
pressure and decreases in altitude increase air pressure. When you hold your
nose, close your mouth, and blow out gently, that increases the air pressure in
your mouth, nose, and Eustachian tube, because it makes those air molecules
inside push harder on your eardrum. Because that equalizes the pressure and
makes your ears pop, that means that the air pressure inside the eardrum must
have been lower than the outside air pressure before you performed the trick.
And that means that as you went down in altitude, the outside air pressure
increased. Yes, I realize that last paragraph might have gone by you just a bit too
fast, so go ahead and review it slowly. Once you’ve done that, you should also
realize why the “clearing ears” trick doesn’t work when going up in altitude.
When you go up in altitude, the air pressure inside your eardrum becomes
greater than the air pressure outside your eardrum. Blowing gently with your
nose plugged increases the air pressure inside your eardrum, and that doesn’t
help matters, but rather makes them worse.
As we move on to submerging yourself in water, the situation is pretty much
the same. The only difference is that the thing causing the pressure on the
outside of your eardrum is water rather than air. So we have pressure from the
water on the outside of the eardrum and pressure from air (assuming you haven’t
drowned) on the inside of your eardrum. As before, the trick of “clearing your
ears” works only when you submerge in water, not when you come up. That
means that water pressure increases the deeper you go.

6 National Science Teachers Association

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 extensive and more particular orders, which will be conveyed to you
through New York. But as it is understood that there are one or more
British cruisers on the coast in the vicinity of Sandy Hook, you are at
your discretion free to strike them, returning immediately after into
port. You are free to capture or destroy them.”
These orders reached New York June 21. Rodgers in his fine
frigate the “President,” with the “Hornet,” 18, was eager to sail. The
hope of capturing the “Belvidera,” which had long been an intolerable
annoyance to New York commerce, was strong both in the Navy
Department and in the navy; but the chance of obtaining prize
money from the British West India convoy, just then passing
eastward only a few days’ sail from the coast, added greatly to the
commodore’s impatience.[327] Decatur’s squadron arrived off Sandy
Hook June 19. June 21, within an hour after receiving the secretary’s
orders of June 18, the whole fleet, including two forty-four and one
thirty-eight-gun frigates, with the “Hornet” and the “Argus,” stood out
to sea.
The secretary might have spared himself the trouble of giving
further orders, for many a week passed before Rodgers and Decatur
bethought themselves of his injunction to return immediately into port
after striking the “Belvidera.” They struck the “Belvidera” within forty-
eight hours, and lost her; partly on account of the bursting of one of
the “President’s” main-deck guns, which blew up the forecastle deck,
killing or wounding sixteen men, including Commodore Rodgers
himself, whose leg was broken; partly, and according to the British
account chiefly, on account of stopping to fire at all, when Rodgers
should have run alongside, and in that case could not have failed to
capture his enemy. Whatever was the reason, the “Belvidera”
escaped; and Rodgers and Decatur, instead of returning immediately
into port as they had been ordered, turned in pursuit of the British
West India convoy, and hung doggedly to the chase without catching
sight of their game, until after three weeks’ pursuit they found
themselves within a day’s sail of the British Channel and the convoy
safe in British waters.
This beginning of the naval war was discouraging. The American
ships should not have sailed in a squadron, and only their good luck
saved them from disaster. Rodgers and Decatur showed no regard
to the wishes of the Government, although had they met with
misfortune, the navy would have lost its last hope. Yet if the two
commodores had obeyed the secretary’s commands their cruise
would probably have been in the highest degree disastrous. The
Government’s true intentions have been a matter of much dispute;
but beyond a doubt the President and a majority of his advisers
inclined to keep the navy within reach at first,—to use them for the
protection of commerce, to drive away the British blockaders; and
aware that the British naval force would soon be greatly increased,
and that the American navy must be blockaded in port, the
Government expected in the end to use the frigates as harbor
defences rather than send them to certain destruction.
With these ideas in his mind Secretary Hamilton, in his orders of
June 18, told Rodgers and Decatur that “more extensive” orders
should be sent to them on their return to New York. A day or two
afterward Secretary Gallatin complained to the President that these
orders had not been sent.
“I believe the weekly arrivals from foreign ports,” said Gallatin,[328]
“will for the coming four weeks average from one to one-and-a-half
million dollars a week. To protect these and our coasting vessels,
while the British have still an inferior force on our coasts, appears to
me of primary importance. I think that orders to that effect, ordering
them to cruise accordingly, ought to have been sent yesterday, and
that at all events not one day longer ought to be lost.”
June 22 the orders were sent according to Gallatin’s wish. They
directed Rodgers with his part of the squadron to cruise from the
Chesapeake eastwardly, and Decatur with his ships to cruise from
New York southwardly, so as to cross and support each other and
protect with their united force the merchantmen and coasters
entering New York harbor, the Delaware, and the Chesapeake.
Rodgers and Decatur were then beginning their private cruise across
the ocean, and never received these orders until the commerce they
were to protect either reached port in safety or fell into British hands.
Probably this miscarriage was fortunate, for not long after
Rodgers and Decatur passed the Banks the British Vice-Admiral
Sawyer sent from Halifax a squadron to prevent the American navy
from doing what Secretary Hamilton had just ordered to be done.
July 5 Captain Broke, with his own frigate the “Shannon,” 38, the
“Belvidera,” 36, the “Africa,” 64, and “Æolus,” 32, put to sea from
Halifax and was joined, July 9, off Nantucket by the “Guerriere,” 38.
Against such a force Rodgers and Decatur, even if together, would
have risked total destruction, while a success would have cost more
than it was worth. The Americans had nothing to gain and everything
to lose by fighting in line-of-battle.
As Broke’s squadron swept along the coast it seized whatever it
met, and July 16 caught one of President Jefferson’s 16-gun brigs,
the “Nautilus.” The next day it came on a richer prize. The American
navy seemed ready to outstrip the army in the race for disaster. The
“Constitution,” the best frigate in the United States service, sailed
into the midst of Broke’s five ships. Captain Isaac Hull, in command
of the “Constitution,” had been detained at Annapolis shipping a new
crew, until July 5,[329]—the day when Broke’s squadron left Halifax;
—then the ship got under way and stood down Chesapeake Bay on
her voyage to New York. The wind was ahead and very light. Not till
July 10 did the ship anchor off Cape Henry lighthouse,[330] and not
till sunrise of July 12 did she stand to the eastward and northward.
Light head-winds and a strong current delayed her progress till July
17, when at two o’clock in the afternoon, off Barnegat on the New
Jersey coast, the lookout at the masthead discovered four sails to
the northward, and two hours later a fifth sail to the northeast. Hull
took them for Rodgers’s squadron. The wind was light, and Hull
being to windward determined to speak the nearest vessel, the last
to come in sight. The afternoon passed without bringing the ships
together, and at ten in the evening, finding that the nearest ship
could not answer the night signal, Hull decided to lose no time in
escaping.
Then followed one of the most exciting and sustained chases
recorded in naval history. At daybreak the next morning one British
frigate was astern within five or six miles, two more were to leeward,
and the rest of the fleet some ten miles astern, all making chase.
Hull put out his boats to tow the “Constitution;” Broke summoned the
boats of his squadron to tow the “Shannon.” Hull then bent all his
spare rope to the cables, dropped a small anchor half a mile ahead,
in twenty-six fathom water, and warped his ship along. Broke quickly
imitated the device, and slowly gained on the chase. The “Guerriere”
crept so near Hull’s lee-beam as to open fire, but her shot fell short.
Fortunately the wind, though slight, favored Hull. All night the British
and American crews toiled on, and when morning came the
“Belvidera,” proving to be the best sailer, got in advance of her
consorts, working two kedge-anchors, until at two o’clock in the
afternoon she tried in her turn to reach the “Constitution” with her
bow guns, but in vain. Hull expected capture, but the “Belvidera”
could not approach nearer without bringing her boats under the
“Constitution’s” stern guns; and the wearied crews toiled on, towing
and kedging, the ships barely out of gunshot, till another morning
came. The breeze, though still light, then allowed Hull to take in his
boats, the “Belvidera” being two and a half miles in his wake, the
“Shannon” three and a half miles on his lee, and the three other
frigates well to leeward. The wind freshened, and the “Constitution”
drew ahead, until toward seven o’clock in the evening of July 19 a
heavy rain-squall struck the ship, and by taking skilful advantage of it
Hull left the “Belvidera” and “Shannon” far astern; yet until eight
o’clock the next morning they were still in sight keeping up the
chase.
Perhaps nothing during the war tested American seamanship
more thoroughly than these three days of combined skill and
endurance in the face of an irresistible enemy. The result showed
that Hull and the “Constitution” had nothing to fear in these respects.
There remained the question whether the superiority extended to his
guns; and such was the contempt of British naval officers for
American ships, that with this experience before their eyes they still
believed one of their 38-gun frigates to be more than a match for an
American forty-four, although the American, besides the heavier
armament, had proved his capacity to out-sail and out-manœuvre
the Englishman. Both parties became more eager than ever for the
test. For once, even the Federalists of New England felt their blood
stir; for their own President and their own votes had called these
frigates into existence, and a victory won by the “Constitution,” which
had been built by their hands, was in their eyes a greater victory over
their political opponents than over the British. With no halfhearted
spirit, the sea-going Bostonians showered well-weighed praises on
Hull when his ship entered Boston harbor, July 26, after its narrow
escape; and when he sailed again, New England waited with keen
interest to learn his fate.
Hull could not expect to keep command of the “Constitution.”
Bainbridge was much his senior, and had the right to a preference in
active service. Bainbridge then held and was ordered to retain
command of the “Constellation,” fitting out at the Washington Navy
Yard; but Secretary Hamilton, July 28, ordered him to take command
also of the “Constitution” on her arrival in port. Doubtless Hull
expected this change, and probably the expectation induced him to
risk a dangerous experiment; for without bringing his ship to the
Charlestown Navy Yard, but remaining in the outer harbor, after
obtaining such supplies as he needed, August 2, he set sail without
orders, and stood to the eastward. Having reached Cape Race
without meeting an enemy he turned southward, until on the night of
August 18 he spoke a privateer, which told him of a British frigate
near at hand. Following the privateersman’s directions the
“Constitution” the next day, August 19, at two o’clock in the
afternoon, latitude 41° 42´, longitude 55° 48´, sighted the
“Guerriere.”
The meeting was welcome on both sides. Only three days before,
Captain Dacres had entered on the log of a merchantman a
challenge to any American frigate to meet him off Sandy Hook. Not
only had the “Guerriere” for a long time been extremely offensive to
every seafaring American, but the mistake which caused the “Little
Belt” to suffer so seriously for the misfortune of being taken for the
“Guerriere” had caused a corresponding feeling of anger in the
officers of the British frigate. The meeting of August 19 had the
character of a preconcerted duel.
The wind was blowing fresh from the northwest, with the sea
running high. Dacres backed his main-top-sail and waited. Hull
shortened sail and ran down before the wind. For about an hour the
two ships wore and wore again, trying to get advantage of position;
until at last, a few minutes before six o’clock, they came together
side by side, within pistol-shot, the wind almost astern, and running
before it they pounded each other with all their strength. As rapidly
as the guns could be worked, the “Constitution” poured in broadside
after broadside, double-shotted with round and grape,—and, without
exaggeration, the echo of these guns startled the world. “In less than
thirty minutes from the time we got alongside of the enemy,” reported
Hull,[331] “she was left without a spar standing, and the hull cut to
pieces in such a manner as to make it difficult to keep her above
water.”
That Dacres should have been defeated was not surprising; that
he should have expected to win was an example of British arrogance
that explained and excused the war. The length of the “Constitution”
was 173 feet; that of the “Guerriere” was 156 feet; the extreme
breadth of the “Constitution” was 44 feet; that of the “Guerriere” was
40 feet, or within a few inches in both cases. The “Constitution”
carried thirty-two long 24-pounders, the “Guerriere” thirty long 18-
pounders and two long 12-pounders; the “Constitution” carried
twenty 32-pound carronades, the “Guerriere” sixteen. In every
respect, and in proportion of ten to seven, the “Constitution” was the
better ship; her crew was more numerous in proportion of ten to six.
Dacres knew this very nearly as well as it was known to Hull, yet he
sought a duel. What he did not know was that in a still greater
proportion the American officers and crew were better and more
intelligent seamen than the British, and that their passionate wish to
repay old scores gave them extraordinary energy. So much greater
was the moral superiority than the physical, that while the
“Guerriere’s” force counted as seven against ten, her losses counted
as though her force were only two against ten.
Dacres’ error cost him dear, for among the “Guerriere’s” crew of
two hundred and seventy-two, seventy-nine were killed or wounded;
and the ship was injured beyond saving before Dacres realized his
mistake, although he needed only thirty minutes of close fighting for
the purpose. He never fully understood the causes of his defeat, and
never excused it by pleading, as he might have done, the great
superiority of his enemy.[332]
 Hull took his prisoners on board the “Constitution],” and after
blowing up the “Guerriere” sailed for Boston, where he arrived on the
morning of August 30. The Sunday silence of the Puritan city broke
into excitement as the news passed through the quiet streets that the
“Constitution” was below, in the outer harbor, with Dacres and his
crew prisoners on board. No experience of history ever went to the
heart of New England more directly than this victory, so peculiarly its
own; but the delight was not confined to New England, and extreme
though it seemed it was still not extravagant, for however small the
affair might appear on the general scale of the world’s battles, it
raised the United States in one half hour to the rank of a first-class
Power in the world.
Hull’s victory was not only dramatic in itself, but was also
supremely fortunate in the moment it occurred. The “Boston Patriot”
of September 2, which announced the capture of the “Guerriere,”
announced in the next column that Rodgers and Decatur, with their
squadron, entered Boston harbor within four-and-twenty hours after
Hull’s arrival, returning empty-handed after more than two months of
futile cruising; while in still another column the same newspaper
announced “the melancholy intelligence of the surrender of General
Hull and his whole army to the British General Brock.” Isaac Hull was
nephew to the unhappy General, and perhaps the shattered hulk of
the “Guerriere,” which the nephew left at the bottom of the Atlantic
Ocean, eight hundred miles east of Boston, was worth for the
moment the whole province which the uncle had lost, eight hundred
miles to the westward; it was at least the only equivalent the people
could find, and they made the most of it. With the shock of new life,
they awoke to the consciousness that after all the peace teachings of
Pennsylvania and Virginia, the sneers of Federalists and foreigners;
after the disgrace of the “Chesapeake” and the surrender of Detroit,
—Americans could still fight. The public had been taught, and had
actually learned, to doubt its own physical courage; and the reaction
of delight in satisfying itself that it still possessed the commonest and
most brutal of human qualities was the natural result of a system that
ignored the possibility of war.
 Hull’s famous victory taught the pleasures of war to a new
generation, which had hitherto been sedulously educated to think
only of its cost. The first taste of blood maddens; and hardly had the
“Constitution” reached port and told her story than the public became
eager for more. The old Jeffersonian jealousy of the navy vanished
in the flash of Hull’s first broadside. Nothing would satisfy the craving
of the popular appetite but more battles, more British frigates, and
more daring victories. Even the cautious Madison was dragged by
public excitement upon the element he most heartily disliked.
The whole navy, was once more, September 1, safe in port,
except only the “Essex,” a frigate rated at thirty-two but carrying
forty-four guns, commanded by Captain David Porter. She left New
York, July 3, with orders,[333] dated June 24, to join Rodgers, or
failing this to cruise southwardly as far as St. Augustine. June 11 she
met a convoy of seven transports conveying a battalion of the First
Regiment, or Royal Scots, from the West Indies to reinforce Prevost
and Brock in Canada. Porter cut out one transport. With the aid of
another frigate he could have captured the whole, to the great
advantage of Dearborn’s military movements; but the British
commander managed his convoy so well that the battalion escaped,
and enabled Prevost to strengthen the force at Niagara which
threatened and defeated Van Rensselaer. August 13 the British 20-
gun sloop-of-war “Alert” came in sight, bore down within short pistol-
shot, and opened fire on the “Essex.” Absurd as the idea seemed,
the British captain behaved as though he hoped to capture the
American frigate, and not until Porter nearly sunk him with a
broadside did the Englishman strike his colors. After taking a number
of other prizes, but without further fighting, September 7 Porter
brought his ship back to the Delaware River.
The return of the “Essex” to port, September 7, brought all the
national vessels once more under the direct control of the
Department. Nearly every ship in the service was then at Boston.
The three forty-fours—the “Constitution,” “United States,” and
“President”—were all there; two of the thirty-eights—the “Congress”
and “Chesapeake”—were there, and the “Constellation” was at
Washington. The “Adams,” 28, was also at Washington; but the
“Hornet,” 18, and “Argus,” 16, were with Rodgers and Decatur at
Boston. The “Syren,” 16, was at New Orleans; the “Essex,” 32, and
the “Wasp,” 18, were in the Delaware.
Carried away by Hull’s victory, the Government could no longer
hesitate to give its naval officers the liberty of action they asked, and
which in spite of orders they had shown the intention to take. A new
arrangement was made. The vessels were to be divided into three
squadrons, each consisting of one forty-four, one light frigate, and
one sloop-of-war. Rodgers in the “President” was to command one
squadron, Bainbridge in the “Constitution” was to command another,
and Decatur in the “United States” was to take the third.[334] Their
sailing orders, dated October 2,[335] simply directed the three
commodores to proceed to sea: “You are to do your utmost to annoy
the enemy, to afford protection to our commerce, pursuing that
course which to your best judgment may under all circumstances
appear the best calculated to enable you to accomplish these
objects as far as may be in your power, returning into port as
speedily as circumstances will permit consistently with the great
object in view.”
Before continuing the story of the frigates, the fate of the little
“Wasp” needs to be told. Her career was brief. The “Wasp,” a sloop-
of-war rated at eighteen guns, was one of President Jefferson’s
additions to the navy to supply the loss of the “Philadelphia;” she
was ship-rigged, and armed with two long 12-pounders and sixteen
32-pound carronades. She carried a crew of one hundred and thirty-
seven men, commanded by Captain Jacob Jones, a native of
Delaware, lieutenant in the “Philadelphia” when lost in the war with
Tripoli. The “Wasp” was attached to Rodgers’s squadron, and
received orders from the commodore to join him at sea. She sailed
from the Delaware October 13, and when about six hundred miles
east of Norfolk, October 17, she fell in with the British 18-gun brig
“Frolic,” convoying fourteen merchantmen to England. The two
vessels were equal in force, for the “Frolic’s” broadside threw a
weight of two hundred and seventy-four pounds, while that of the
“Wasp” threw some few pounds less; the “Frolic” measured, by
British report,[336] one hundred feet in length, the “Wasp” one
hundred and six; their breadth on deck was the same; and although
the “Wasp’s” crew exceeded that of her enemy, being one hundred
and thirty-five men against one hundred and ten, the British vessel
had all the men she needed, and suffered little from this inferiority.
The action began at half-past eleven in the morning, the two sloops
running parallel, about sixty yards apart, in a very heavy sea, which
caused both to pitch and roll so that marksmanship had the most
decisive share in victory. The muzzles of the guns went under water,
and clouds of spray dashed over the crews, while the two vessels
ran side by side for the first fifteen minutes. The British fire cut the
“Wasp’s” rigging, while the American guns played havoc with the
“Frolic’s” hull and lower masts. The vessels approached each other
so closely that the rammers of the guns struck the enemy’s side, and
at last they fell foul,—the “Wasp” almost squarely across the
“Frolic’s” bow. In the heavy sea boarding was difficult; but as soon as
the “Wasp’s” crew could clamber down the “Frolic’s” bowsprit, they
found on the deck the British captain and lieutenant, both severely
wounded, and one brave sailor at the wheel. Not twenty of the British
crew were left unhurt, and these had gone below to escape the
American musketry. The “Wasp” had only ten men killed and
wounded. The battle lasted forty-three minutes.
If the American people had acquired a taste for blood, the battle
of the “Wasp” and “Frolic” gratified it, for the British sloop was
desperately defended, and the battle, won by the better
marksmanship of the Americans, was unusually bloody. Captain
Jones lost the full satisfaction of his victory, for a few hours afterward
the “Poictiers,” a British seventy-four, came upon the two disabled
combatants and carried both into Bermuda; but the American people
would have been glad to part with their whole navy on such terms,
and the fight between the “Wasp” and the “Frolic” roused popular
enthusiasm to a point where no honors seemed to satisfy their
gratitude to Captain Jones and his crew.
The “Wasp’s” brilliant career closed within a week from the day
she left the Delaware. A week afterward another of these ship-duels
occurred, which made a still deeper impression. Rodgers and
Decatur sailed from Boston October 8, with the “President,” the
“United States,” “Congress,” and “Argus,” leaving the “Constitution,”
“Chesapeake,” and “Hornet” in port. Rodgers in the “President,” with
the “Congress,” cruised far and wide, but could find no enemy to
fight, and after making prize of a few merchantmen returned to
Boston, December 31. The “Argus” also made some valuable prizes,
but was chased by a British squadron, and only by excellent
management escaped capture, returning Jan. 3, 1813, to New York.
Decatur in the “United States,” separating from the squadron
October 12, sailed eastward to the neighborhood of the Azores, until,
October 25, he sighted a sail to windward. The stranger made
chase. The wind was fresh from south-southeast, with a heavy sea.
Decatur stood toward his enemy, who presently came about, abreast
of the “United States” but beyond gunshot, and both ships being then
on the same tack approached each other until the action began at
long range. The British ship was the 38-gun frigate “Macedonian”
commanded by Captain Carden, and about the same force as the
“Guerriere.” At first the “United States” used only her long 24-
pounders, of which she carried fifteen on her broadside, while the
“Macedonian” worked a broadside of fourteen long 18-pounders. So
unequal a contest could not continue. Not only was the American
metal heavier, but the American fire was quicker and better directed
than that of the Englishman; so that Carden, after a few minutes of
this experience, bore down to close. His manœuvre made matters
worse. The carronades of the “United States” came into play; the
“Macedonian’s” mizzen-mast fell, her fore and main top-mast were
shot away, and her main-yard; almost all her rigging was cut to
pieces, and most of the guns on her engaged side were dismounted.
She dropped gradually to leeward, and Decatur, tacking and coming
up under his enemy’s stern, hailed, and received her surrender.
The British ship had no right to expect a victory, for the disparity
of force was even greater than between the “Constitution” and
“Guerriere;” but in this case the British court-martial subsequently
censured Captain Carden for mistakes. The battle lasted longer than
that with the “Guerriere,” and Decatur apologized for the extra hour
because the sea was high and his enemy had the weather-gauge
and kept at a distance; but the apology was not needed. Decatur
proved his skill by sparing his ship and crew. His own loss was
eleven men killed and wounded; the “Macedonian’s” loss was nine
times as great. The “United States” suffered little in her hull, and her
spars and rigging suffered no greater injury than could be quickly
repaired; while the “Macedonian” received a hundred shot in her hull,
and aloft nothing remained standing but her fore and main masts
and her fore-yard.
Decatur saved the “Macedonian,” and brought her back to New
London,—the only British frigate ever brought as a prize into an
American port. The two ships arrived December 4, and from New
London the “Macedonian” was taken to New York and received in
formal triumph. Captain Jones of the “Wasp” took command of her in
reward for his capture of the “Frolic.”
Before the year closed, the “Constitution” had time for another
cruise. Hull at his own request received command of the Navy Yard
at Charlestown, and also took charge of the naval defences in New
York harbor, but did not again serve at sea during the war. The
“Constitution” was given to Captain Bainbridge, one of the oldest
officers in the service. A native of New Jersey, Bainbridge
commanded the “Philadelphia” when lost in the Tripolitan war, and
was held for eighteen months a prisoner in Tripoli. In 1812, when he
took command of the “Constitution,” though a year older than Hull
and five years older than Decatur, he had not yet reached his fortieth
year, while Rodgers, born in 1771, had but lately passed it. The
difference in age between these four naval officers and the four chief
generals—Dearborn, Wilkinson, Wade Hampton, and William Hull—
was surprising; for the average age of the naval commanders
amounted barely to thirty-seven years, while that of the four generals
reached fifty-eight. This difference alone accounted for much of the
difference in their fortune, and perhaps political influence accounted
for the rest.
Bainbridge showed no inferiority to the other officers of the
service, and no one grumbled at the retirement of Hull. The
“Constitution” sailed from Boston, October 25, with the “Hornet.” The
“Essex,” then in the Delaware, was ordered to join the squadron at
certain specified ports in the south Atlantic, and sailed October 28,
expecting a very long cruise. December 13 Bainbridge arrived at San
Salvador, on the coast of Brazil, where he left the “Hornet” to
blockade the “Bonne Citoyenne,” a British 18-gun sloop-of-war
bound to England with specie. Cruising southward, within sight of the
Brazilian coast, in latitude 13° 6´ south, Bainbridge sighted the
British frigate “Java,” a ship of the same tonnage as the “Guerriere,”
throwing a slightly heavier broadside and carrying a large crew of
four hundred and twenty-six men, if the American account was
correct. Bainbridge tacked and made sail off shore, to draw the
stranger away from a neutral coast; the British frigate followed him,
until at half-past one o’clock in the afternoon Bainbridge shortened
sail, tacked again, and stood for his enemy. Soon after two o’clock
the action began, the two ships being on the same tack, the “Java” to
windward and the better sailer, and both fighting their long-range
guns. The British frigate insisted upon keeping at a distance, obliging
Bainbridge after half an hour to risk the danger of being raked; and
at twenty minutes before three o’clock the “Constitution” closed
within pistol-shot.[337] At ten minutes before three the ships were
foul, the “Java’s” jibboom in the “Constitution’s” mizzen rigging; and
from that point the battle became slaughter. In fifteen minutes the
“Java’s” bowsprit, fore-mast, and main top-mast were cut away, and
a few minutes after four o’clock she ceased firing. Her captain,
Lambert, was mortally wounded; the first lieutenant was wounded;
forty-eight of her officers and crew were dead or dying; one hundred
and two were wounded; little more than a hulk filled with wreck and
with dead or wounded men floated on the water.
The “Constitution” had but twelve men killed and twenty-two
wounded, and repaired damages in an hour. Owing perhaps to the
death of Captain Lambert the reports of the battle were more
contradictory than usual, but no one disputed that although the
“Java” was to windward and outsailed the American frigate, and
although her broadside counted as nearly nine against her enemy’s
ten,—for the “Constitution” on this cruise carried two guns less than
in her fight with the “Guerriere,”—yet the “Java” inflicted no more
damage than she ought to have done had she been only one fourth
the size of the American frigate, although she was defended more
desperately than either the “Guerriere” or the “Macedonian.”
 With this battle the year ended. Bainbridge was obliged to blow
up his prize, and after landing and paroling his prisoners at San
Salvador sailed for Boston, where he arrived in safety, February 27,
1813. During the six months the war had lasted the little United
States navy captured three British frigates, besides the 20-gun
“Alert” and the 18-gun “Frolic;” privateers by scores had ravaged
British commerce, while the immense British force on the ocean had
succeeded only in capturing the little “Nautilus,” the 12-gun brig
“Vixen,” and the “Wasp.” The commerce of America had indeed
suffered almost total destruction; but the dispute was to be decided
not so much by the loss which England could inflict upon America,
as by that which America could inflict upon England.
 CHAPTER XVIII.
In such a war the people of the United States had only
themselves to fear; but their dangers were all the more formidable.
Had the war deeply disturbed the conditions of society, or brought
general and immediate distress, government and Union might easily
have fallen to pieces; but in the midst of military disaster and in plain
sight of the Government’s incompetence, the general public neither
felt nor had reason to fear much change in the routine of life.
Commerce had long accustomed itself to embargoes, confiscations,
and blockades, and ample supplies of foreign goods continued to
arrive. The people made no serious exertions; among a population
exceeding seven millions, not ten thousand men entered the military
service. The militia, liable to calls to the limit of one hundred
thousand, served for the most part only a few weeks in the autumn,
went home in whole regiments when they pleased,[338] and in the
East refused to go out at all. The scarcity of men was so great that
even among the sea-goingclass, for whose rights the war was
waged, only with the utmost difficulty and long delays, in spite of
bounties and glory, could sailors be found to man half-a-dozen
frigates for a three-months cruise, although the number of privateers
was never great.
The nation as a whole saw nothing of actual warfare. While
scarcely a city in Europe had escaped capture, and hardly a
province of that continent was so remote as not to be familiar with
invading armies or to have suffered in proportion to its resources, no
American city saw or greatly feared an enemy. The rich farms of
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia produced their
usual harvests, and except on exposed parts of the coast the
farmers never feared that their crops might be wasted by
manœuvring armies, or their cattle, pigs, and poultry be disturbed by
marauders. The country was vast, and quiet reigned throughout the
whole United States. Except at the little point of Niagara, occupied
by a few hundred scattered farmers, and on the extreme outskirts of
Ohio and Indiana, the occupations and industries of life followed in
the main their daily course.
The country refused to take the war seriously. A rich nation with
seven million inhabitants should have easily put one hundred
thousand men into the field, and should have found no difficulty in
supporting them; but no inducement that the Government dared offer
prevailed upon the people to risk life and property on a sufficient
scale in 1812. The ranks of the army were to be filled in one of two
ways,—either by enlistment in the regular service for five years, with
pay at five dollars a month, sixteen dollars bounty, and on discharge
three months pay and one hundred and sixty acres of land; or by
volunteer organizations to the limit of fifty thousand men in all,
officered under State laws, to serve for one year, with the pay of
regular troops but without bounty, clothed, and in case of cavalry
corps mounted, at their own expense. In a society where the day-
laborers’ wages were nowhere less than nine dollars a month,[339]
these inducements were not enough to supply the place of
enthusiasm. The patriotic citizen who wished to serve his country
without too much sacrifice, chose a third course,—he volunteered
under the Act of Congress which authorized the President to call one
hundred thousand State militia into service for six months; and upon
this State militia Dearborn, Hull, Van Rensselaer, and Smyth were
obliged chiefly to depend.
If the war fever burned hotly in any part of the country Kentucky
was the spot. There the whole male population was eager to prove
its earnestness. When Henry Clay returned to Lexington after the
declaration of war, he wrote to Monroe[340] that he was almost
alarmed at the ardor his State displayed; about four hundred men
had been recruited for the regular army, and although no one had
volunteered for twelve months, the quota of six-months militia was
more than supplied by volunteers.
“Such is the structure of our society, however,” continued Clay,
“that I doubt whether many can be engaged for a longer term than six
months. For that term any force whatever which our population can
afford may be obtained. Engaged in agricultural pursuits, you are well
aware that from about this time, when the crop is either secured in the
 barn or laid by in the field until the commencement of the spring, there
is leisure for any kind of enterprise.”
Clay feared only that these six-months militia corps, which had
armed and equipped themselves for instant service, might not be
called out. His friends were destined not to be disappointed, for early
in August pressing letters arrived from Hull’s army at Detroit begging
reinforcements, and the governor of Kentucky at once summoned
two thousand volunteers to rendezvous, August 20, at Newport,
opposite Cincinnati. This reinforcement could not reach Detroit
before the middle of September, and the difficulties already
developed in Hull’s path showed that the war could not be finished in
a single campaign of six months; but the Kentuckians were not on
that account willing to lengthen their term of service even to one
year.
The danger revealed by Hull’s position threw a double obstacle in
the way of public energy, for where it did not check, it promised to
mislead enthusiasm, and in either case it shook, if it did not destroy,
confidence in the national government. The leaders of the war party
saw their fears taking shape. Henry Clay wrote without reserve to
Monroe,[341]—
“Should Hull’s army be cut off, the effect on the public mind would
be, especially in this quarter, in the highest degree injurious. ‘Why did
he proceed with so inconsiderable a force?’ was the general inquiry
made of me. I maintained that it was sufficient. Should he meet with a
disaster, the predictions of those who pronounced his army
incompetent to its object will be fulfilled; and the Secretary of War, in
whom already there unfortunately exists no sort of confidence, cannot
possibly shield Mr. Madison from the odium which will attend such an
event.”
Clay was right in thinking that Eustis could not shield Madison;
but from the moment that Eustis could no longer serve that purpose,
Clay had no choice but to shield the President himself. When the
threatened disaster took place, victims like Eustis, Hull, Van
Rensselaer, Smyth, were sacrificed; but the sacrifice merely
prepared new material for other and perhaps worse disasters of the
same kind. In Kentucky this result was most strongly marked, for in
their irritation at the weakness of the national Government the
Kentuckians took the war into their own hands, appointed William
Henry Harrison to the command of their armies, and attempted to
conquer Canada by a campaign that should not be directed from
Washington. August 25 Clay described the feelings of his State by a
comparison suggesting the greatest military misfortunes known in
history:[342]
“If you will carry your recollections back to the age of the
Crusaders and of some of the most distinguished leaders of those
expeditions, you will have a picture of the enthusiasm existing in this
country for the expedition to Canada and for Harrison as commander.”
A week later, September 21, Clay gave another account, even
less assuring, of the manner in which the popular energy was
exhausting itself:—
“The capitulation of Detroit has produced no despair; it has, on the
contrary, awakened new energies and aroused the whole people of
this State. Kentucky has at this moment from eight to ten thousand
men in the field; it is not practicable to ascertain the precise number.
Except our quota of the hundred thousand militia the residue is chiefly
of a miscellaneous character, who have turned out without pay or
supplies of any kind, carrying with them their own arms and their own
subsistence. Parties are daily passing to the theatre of action; last
night seventy lay on my farm; and they go on, from a solitary
individual, to companies of ten, fifty, one hundred, etc. The only fear I
have is that the savages will, as their custom is, elude them, and upon
their return fall upon our frontiers. They have already shocked us with
some of the most horrid murders. Within twenty-four miles of
Louisville, on the headwaters of Silver Creek, twenty-two were
massacred a few days ago.”
The adventures of these volunteers made part of the next
campaign. Enthusiastic as Kentucky was, few or none of the eight or
ten thousand men under arms offered to serve for twelve months.
Excessively expensive, wasteful, insubordinate, and unsteady, no
general dared to depend on them. No one could be more conscious
of the evils of the system than the Government; but the Government
was helpless to invent a remedy.
“Proofs multiply daily,” wrote Madison to Monroe, September 21,
[343] “of the difficulty of obtaining regulars, and of the fluctuating
 resource in the militia. High bounties and short enlistments, however
objectionable, will alone fill the ranks, and then too in a moderate
number.”
To dislike of prolonged service even the most ardent Western
supporters of the war added distrust of the Executive. The war
Republicans of the West and South were hardly less vigorous than
the Federalists of Massachusetts and Connecticut in their criticisms
of the Government at Washington. John Graham, chief clerk of the
State Department, who went to Kentucky in September, wrote to
Monroe[344] that “great as is the popularity of the President, it is
barely able to resist the torrent of public opinion against the
Secretary of War, who, so far as I can judge, is universally
considered by the people of this country as incompetent to his
present situation.” Clay’s opinion has already been shown; but the
angriest of all the war leaders on hearing of Hull’s surrender was
Senator Crawford of Georgia.
“Such is my want of confidence in the leaders of our forces,” he
wrote to Monroe,[345] “and their directors, Eustis and Hamilton in the
Cabinet, that I am fearful a continuance of the war, unless it should be
for several years, will only add to the number of our defeats. The only
difficulty I had in declaring war arose from the incompetency of the
men to whom the principal management of it was to be confided. A
Secretary of War who, instead of forming general and comprehensive
arrangements for the organization of his troops and for the successful
prosecution of the campaign, consumes his time in reading
advertisements of petty retailing merchants to find where he may
purchase one hundred shoes or two hundred hats; and a Secretary of
the Navy who, in instructing his naval officers, should make the supply
of the heads of departments with pineapples and other tropical fruits
through the exertions of these officers,—cannot fail to bring disgrace
upon themselves, their immediate employers, and the nation. If Mr.
Madison finds it impossible to bring his feelings to consent to the
dismission of unfaithful or incompetent officers, he must be content
with defeat and disgrace in all his efforts during the war. So far as he
may suffer from this course he deserves no commiseration, but his
accountability to the nation will be great indeed!”
Harsh as these comments, were, the Secretary of State found no
difficulty in listening to them; indeed, no member of the party was
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