'lferoes oftfi.e SaiUntJ 'Jfa:vy: WifUam '13ain6ridfJe by William H. White This is the second of a series for Sea History in which we are examining the lives of some of the celebrated, as well as a few of the lesser known-but equally as important-men of the American Navy during the Age of Fighting Sail. These men defined the American Navy by setting the bar for generations of naval officers to follow. Still revered and studied by the current iteration of naval officers, many learned their trade the hard way; they simply went to sea, often under hard commanders, and learned what was effective and what was not. The United States had no Naval Academy then (that would not come until 1845), and midshipmen were often at sea for more than six years before winning a commission as lieutenant. Some never did and remained passed midshipmen until they went ashore. This article portrays one of the hard commanders, one who demanded superior performances from his officers and crew, but, sadly, lacked sound judgment in many instances.
tis iro nic that William Bainbridge, a schooner and a more skillful commander! taken from his ship. While surely this did commander of USS Constitution, was Prophetic wo rds they were, as we shall not restore his pressed sailor to American '] as famous for his defeat of the British soon see. service, it did serve to put the British on frigate HMS Java off the South American This encounter solidified his reputa- notice that American rights would not be coast in 18 12 as he was for surrendering tion in his homeport of Philadelphia, and violated with impuni ty when entrusted his ship to the enemy and spending to the care of William Bainbridge. nearly rwo years with his crew in a Obviously he felt a strong sense of North African dungeon in 1804. honor, but as it would appear later, Bainbridge was born in May he seemed equally able to put it aside 1774 in Princeron, New Jersey, a dewhen necessary. scendent of Sir Arthur Bainbridge, It was when the difficulties with of Durham County, England, whose France began in 1798 (later to be called the "Quas i War") that his luck son settled in New Jersey in 1600. At an early age, William chose to began to change. Bainbridge secured follow a life at sea and entered the a naval co mmiss ion and command merchant marine at age fifteen. He of the armed schooner Retaliation, shipped with a "bully" captain and captured only a month before by equally hard mate, most likely the Stephen Decatur Sr. On his first influences that shaped his own becruise, his ship was recaptured by havior later in his career. He learned the French, and Bainbridge and his fast and was granted command of crew were thrown into a dungeon a merchant ship in just four years. in G uadeloupe, a French island in At sea he maintained order with his the Caribbean. After a relatively fi sts, often referring to his seamen as brief incarceration, the governor of "those damn ed rascals," a practice he G uadeloupe released Bainbridge and continued after he entered the naval restored his ship to his care. Upo n service. In spite of his sometimes offhis return to the United States, c o u •TESv NAVAL 11 isT0 • 1cAL cENT• • Bainbridge reported on the outrages beat ways, he proved a good seaman, fiercely loyal, and well-trusted by his committed by the French on AmeriCommodore William Bainbridge, USN (1774-1833) employers. Painting by john Wesley Jarvis (1780-1840), circa 1814. can prisoners held in the Caribbean, In 1796, while in command of resulting in the "retaliation act" the ship Hope, en route from Bordeaux to he could have gained command of almost against French citizens captured on the St. Thomas, he was attacked in mid-Atlan- any merchant ship he desired. Bainb ridge high seas. He wo n command of the brig tic by a British schooner of eight guns and was hugely patriotic and refused to be Norfolk (18) and pursued the war with thirty men. His little ship had only four cowed by even the mightiest of the Royal France, but did not further distinguish guns-nine-po unders-and a crew of nine Navy. After HMS Indefatigable, command- himself, either positively or negatively. men, but he returned the British fire and ed by Sir Edward Pell ew (lionized by C.S. With his reputation still sound in kept it up until the British vessel struck its Foreseer in h is Hornblower series), stopped spite of having lost a ship, Bainbridge was colors! Instead of taking the schooner as a Hope at sea and impressed one of his sea- put in command of the America n fri gate prize, to which he was entitled, he hailed men, Bainbridge stopped and boarded George Washington and sailed for Algiers her cap tain, instructed him ro go about his the first English merchantman he fo und to delive r American tribute to the Dey. business, and tell his masters that if they at sea, took out her best seaman, and told This payment, held in abeyance for many wanted Bainbridge's ship, they had bet- the captain that William Bainbridge had years, simply because the US government ter send out a greater force than one puny taken his sailor in retribution for a seaman was unable to pay it, was significant and
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SEA HISTORY 112, AUTUMN 2005