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Chapter

Introduction

Appendix

INTRODUCTION.

The only apology which I offer for this authentic account of an event which , can scarcely be supposed to possess much interest for the reader of to-day, is, that having been a participant in the battle myself, I feel a sort of pride in having an accurate and complete account of it handed down to posterity.

In my humble judgment no such account has ever yet appeared; and although I am but indifferently equipped for the task--having dabbled but slightly in literature, during my busy life of three score and ten years,--yet I trust that my earnest desire to relate the facts just as they occurred--and which I propose to do, without fear or favor--will atone for any shortcomings from a purely literary point of view. Although I have said that no accurate and complete narrative of this occurrence has ever been published, the reader must not therefore assume that there exist no published accounts of it whatever. On the contrary, it has been described more or less at length, by so many different writers, both in transitory and permanent form, that my chief embarrassment arises rather from a superabundance than from a paucity of materials.

In the library of the N.Y. Historical Society are to be found no less than ninety-seven books and pamphlets giving what purport to be "full, true and particular" accounts of the attack upon New York by the British fleet in the year 1890.

The titles of some of these contributions to contemporaneous history are decidedly amusing and suggestive of the sensational spirit which was such a marked characteristic of the general literature, and especially of the newspaper press of that period.

For instance, we have among them, "The New Armada;" "The British Blackmailer;" "Modern Piracy;" "The Doom of the Iron Clads;" "The Disappearance of the British flag from North America;" and one, more pretentious than the rest, is entitled "An inquiry into the causes which led to the acquisition of Canada by the United States of America."

In addition to these numerous books and pamphlets, the newspapers of the period contained page after page of the most vivid and sensational accounts, in which truth and falsehood, and sense and absurdity, are so evidently mingled, that no conscientious historian would be willing to utilize them as reliable authorities. Nevertheless, a perusal of them even at this late day, may be found interesting to many of my readers, and as they are kept on file in most of the leading city libraries, they are within easy reach of all.

The reader of to-day will be vastly amused in looking over these old journals, at the evidences to be found on every page, and in almost every column, of intense and bitter rivalry and jealousy between their several editors and proprietors. Indeed the journalistic world at that period seems to have been suffering from an absolute epidemic of sensationalism, which extended not only to the reading matter, but to the "make up" as well; and in addition to the prurient details of social scandals, divorce proceedings, and horrible crimes, the reader's attention was sought to be attracted by glaring and suggestive head lines, such as would be tolerated in no respectable metropolitan journal of the present day. As an evidence of how our tastes are influenced by our surroundings, I may here state, that while I am now shocked at the total lack of good taste and the superabundance of sensational vulgarity displayed by most of the newspapers of that day, yet I cannot remember that I regarded them with any such feelings at that time, although I was a man, and certainly is competent a judge of propriety then, as I am now. But this is to be a history, not a moral treatise.

With such a mass of material at my command, it will be apparent that it has been no slight task to sift out the grain from the chaff, and to condense the vast accumulation of authorities into a comparatively brief volume like this.

I am fully aware that there are many defects in it, both of omission and commission; but of one thing the reader may rest assured.

I have at least been conscientious in my efforts to get at the exact truth, and to correct numerous errors which previous historians have made, either through carelessness, prejudice, or willfulness.

With this brief introduction, and with extreme diffidence, I submit my work to the consideration of the candid, unprejudiced, and I trust, kindly disposed reader.

SAM'L BARTON.

NEW YORK, October, 1930.

THE BATTLE OF THE SWASH

AND

CAPTURE OF CANADA.

THE UNITED STATES PRIOR TO 1890.

Before entering upon a detailed account of what naval experts of all nationalities have conceded to be the most interesting and important naval event of that remarkable century , whose later years many of my older readers can doubtless remember, I will endeavor to present in as brief and concise a manner as possible, a summary of the events which preceded it, and the causes which led up to it; as without such an explanation the story of the battle itself would possess little or no historical value.

I am not aware that this title has ever been used before, but if the reader will consult a chart of the Harbor of New York, he will at once see the propriety of it.

It will be seen that what is known among pilots as the "Swash," is a straight channel, forming a sort of a hypotenuse to the two sides of the main ship channel, which bends almost at a right angle at the Southwest spit.

Assuming, therefore, that the Narrows is effectually blockaded with torpedoes or other obstructions, and that an attacking fleet desired to bombard New York at long range, and at the same time be in a position to withdraw easily and quickly in case of repulse or accident, the Swash Channel is the point which would naturally be chosen. The British Admiral was undoubtedly familiar with the upper and lower Bays of New York, and therefore it is not at all strange that he selected this spot as a base of his operations against the city.

Here he anchored his fleet; and here the battle--such as it was--was fought. I therefore claim that the title which I have chosen, is a most appropriate one; and if this little work is to possess any value as a historical authority, the remarkable contest herein recorded, will be known to future generations as "The Battle of the Swash."

Having thus "made my title clear," I will endeavor to summarize briefly the events, which either directly or remotely, contributed to the final catastrophe, and induced Canada to declare war against the United States.

And here at the very outset of my task, I am confronted with greater difficulties than at any other portion of it.

Our ancestors of the Nineteenth Century were so constantly occupied in making history, that they seemed to have little or no time to record it; and therefore there will probably never be any adequate historical record of the settlement, improvement and development of the vast continent of North America. I regard this as in a measure a calamity to the whole human race; for I think that history may be searched in vain for any such grand and marvelous example of progress and development, as that exhibited by our ancestors of the last century.

In consequence of this dearth of detailed information, I have been obliged to rely upon such data as could be collected from the files of newspapers, magazines and similar publications, for the following meagre sketch of the industrial and political condition of the United States previous to the year 1890.

What has been called the "War of the Rebellion" occurred in the years 1861-5 inclusive; and was an attempt by the southern slave holding States, to secede from the Union, and establish a separate confederacy, based upon Free Trade and Human Slavery. Although the rights of the slaveholders were fully acknowledged by the law of the land, yet the growth of the sentiment in favor of abolition of slavery was so rapid throughout the Northern States, that the Southerners became alarmed lest their property rights should be ignored and denied; and after several years of defiant wrangling and threatening, at length formally seceded from the Union, and by the attack on Fort Sumter--a fort in Charleston Harbor--inaugurated the long and bloody conflict which finally resulted in the total abolition of slavery, and the restoration of the authority of the United States Government, in all portions of United States territory.

Previous to this war, the United States occupied a front rank among the maritime powers of the world.

The "American Clipper Ships" were considered the perfection of marine architecture, and bore the stars and stripes proudly and triumphantly upon every sea.

Over 2000 establishments were engaged in the shipbuilding industry, giving employment to over 20,000 skilled laborers, whose wages amounted to more than ,000,000 annually; and who built from ,000,000 to ,000,000 worth of vessels each year.

During the ten years immediately preceding the "War of the Rebellion," 67 per cent. of the vessels entering the ports of the United States, carried the American flag; as against 33 per cent. carrying foreign flags.

In 1887 only about 15 per cent. were American, as against 85 per cent. foreign.

Several causes had conspired to bring about this vast and disastrous decline in American ownership.

The first, and most effective of these, unquestionably grew out of the almost unconcealed and anxious efforts of England, to prevent the Northern States from bringing the war to a successful issue, and thus assuring the restoration of the Union.

The Northern, and especially the New England States, were mercantile and manufacturing States, and had become formidable rivals to England in the two great interests in which the latter power had hitherto deemed herself unapproachable. The American shipowner outsailed and underbid his English competitor in all parts of the world; and the American manufacturer, by improved methods and ingenious mechanical appliances, had begun to successfully compete with his English rival, not only in American markets, but in foreign ones as well; and Englishmen viewed with unconcealed dismay, the imminent prospect of having their immense carrying trade as well as their enormous manufacturing interests, ruined by the competition of their enterprising and ingenious American rivals.

Indeed, so marked had this development been, that an eminent French writer, De Tocqueville, in a book called "Democracy in America," written nearly twenty years previous to the outbreak of the "War of the Rebellion," in a chapter entitled "Some considerations on the causes of the Commercial prosperity of the United States," wrote as follows:

"The inhabitants of the United States constitute a great civilized people, which fortune has placed in the midst of an uncultivated country, at a distance of three thousand miles from the central point of civilization. America consequently stands in daily need of Europe. The Americans will, no doubt, ultimately succeed in producing or manufacturing at home, most of the articles which they require; but the two continents can never be independent of each other, so numerous are the natural ties between their wants, their ideas, their habits, and their manners. The Union has peculiar commodities which have now become necessary to us, as they cannot be cultivated, or can be raised only at an enormous expense, upon the soil of Europe. The Americans consume only a small portion of this produce, and they are willing to sell us the rest. Europe is therefore the market of America, as America is the market of Europe; and maritime commerce is no less necessary to enable the inhabitants of the United States to transport their raw materials to the ports of Europe, than it is to enable us to supply them with our manufactured produce.

"The United States must therefore either furnish much business to other maritime nations, even if they should themselves renounce commerce, as the Spaniards of Mexico have hitherto done, or they must become one of the first maritime powers of the globe.

"The Anglo-Americans have always displayed a decided taste for the sea. The Declaration of Independence by breaking the commercial bonds which united them to England, gave a fresh and powerful stimulus to their maritime genius. Ever since that time, the shipping of the Union has increased almost as rapidly as the number of its inhabitants. The Americans themselves now transport to their own shores nine-tenths of the European produce which they consume. And they also bring three-quarters of the exports of the New World to the European consumer. The ships of the United States fill the docks of Havre and of Liverpool, whilst the number of English and French vessels at New York is comparatively small. Thus, not only does the American merchant brave competition on his own ground, but even successfully supports that of foreign nations in their own ports. This is readily explained by the fact, that the vessels of the United States cross the seas at a cheaper rate....

"It is difficult to say for what reason the Americans can navigate at a lower rate than other nations; one is at first led to attribute this superiority to the physical advantages which nature gives them; but it is not so.

"The American vessels cost almost as much to build as our own; they are not better built, and they generally last a shorter time. The pay of the American sailor is more considerable than the pay on board European ships, which is proved by the great number of Europeans who are to be found in the merchant vessels of the United States. How happens it then, that the Americans sail their vessels at a cheaper rate than we can ours? I am of opinion that the true cause of their superiority must not be sought for in physical advantages, but that it is wholly attributable to moral and intellectual qualities....

"The European sailor navigates with prudence; he sets sail only when the weather is favorable; if an unforeseen accident befals him, he puts into port; at night, he furls a portion of his canvass; and when the whitening billows intimate the vicinity of land, he checks his course, and takes an observation of the Sun.

"The American neglects these precautions and braves these dangers. He weighs anchor before the tempest is over; by night and by day he spreads his sheets to the wind; he repairs as he goes along, such damage as his vessel may have sustained from the storm; and when he at last approaches the term of his voyage, he darts onward to the shore as if he already descried a port.

"The Americans are often shipwrecked, but no trader crosses the seas so rapidly. And, as they perform the same distance in shorter time, they can perform it at a cheaper rate.....

"I cannot better explain my meaning, than by saying that the Americans show a sort of heroism in their manner of trading. The European merchant will always find it difficult to imitate his American competitor who, in adopting the system which I have just described, does not follow calculation, but an impulse of his nature.....

"Reason and experience prove that no commercial prosperity can be durable if it cannot be united, in case of need, to naval force. This truth is as well understood in the United States as anywhere else; the Americans are already able to make their flag respected; in a few years they will make it feared.....

"Nations, as well as men, almost always betray the prominent features of their future destiny in their earliest years. When I contemplate the ardor with which the Anglo-Americans prosecute commerce, the advantages which aid them, and the success of their undertakings, I cannot help believing that they will one day become the first maritime power of the globe. They are born to rule the seas, as the Romans were to conquer the world."

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