The Shining Sea (25 page)

Downes's entire party consisted of fifty men, armed with muskets, pistols, boarding axes, and cutlasses. As the boats rowed, the faster ones slowed their rate of speed in order to keep the group together. At two o'clock in the afternoon they were a mile from the enemy, which hoisted British colors and fired a cannon several times, creating a commotion, but nothing more. Inexperienced gunners were obviously manning the guns. Their shots splashed harmlessly in the water far from their marks

The two
Essex
divisions now came together and rapidly approached the first ship, the larger of the two. Just before boarding, Downes displayed American colors from a pike in the bow and shouted for the whaler to surrender. To his astonishment, he heard cries of “We are all Americans” coming from the ship, and saw her colors being hauled down.

Downes lost no time boarding the whaler and putting an officer and crew aboard. He then raced after the second, smaller ship, which surrendered as easily as the first. The captured vessels turned out to be the former East Indiaman
Georgiana
of 280 tons and the
Policy
of 275 tons. The
Georgiana
had a crew of thirty-five, while the
Policy
had twenty-six men. To Downes's amazement, the greater part of the crews of both ships were pressed Americans, and many of them were eager to sign on to the
Essex
.

Capturing the ships was so easy, despite their armament, that the
Essex
men could scarcely believe their good luck. Porter estimated the three prizes were worth half a million dollars. All doubts the men harbored about achieving their dreams were now forgotten.

The next day, an elated Porter posted the following notice on the bulletin board:

SAILORS AND MARINES,

Fortune has at length smiled upon us, because we deserve her smiles. And for the first time she has enabled us to display FREE TRADE AND SAILOR'S RIGHTS, assisted by your good conduct, she put into our possession near half a million dollars of the enemy's money.

Continue to be zealous, enterprising, and patient, and we will yet render the name of the
Essex
, as terrible to the enemy as that of any other vessel, before we return to the United States. My plans shall be known to you at a suitable period.

D. Porter

The enemy whalers provided an abundance of supplies—cordage, spars, planks, timber, nails, rope, canvas, paints, tar, and every other article necessary for the
Essex,
including food. The whalers had departed England stuffed with three years of provisions, but had not yet consumed half. Their provisions would satisfy the needs of the
Essex
for many months, save for water, which was still lacking.

The United States now had a fleet of four in the Pacific. Porter decided to transform the
Georgiana
into a sixteen-gun warship without altering her appearance as a whaler. She could then be used as both a fighting ship and a decoy. He put Lieutenant Downes in command and gave him a crew of forty-one. Thirty-six came from the
Essex
and five from the captured ships. The large number of seamen from the prizes who had indicated they wanted to join the
Essex
were granted their request. Many were Americans. The few who did not want to join were nonetheless taken aboard the
Essex
as prisoners.

Downes received the
Policy
'
s ten guns to add to the
Georgiana
's six, as well as two swivels, blunderbusses mounted on swivels, and small arms—muskets, pistols, cutlasses, boarding pikes, and tomahawks. Porter put Midshipman William H. Odenheimer in charge of the
Montezuma
and gave Midshipman John S. Cowan command of the
Policy
—two young men who had impressed him with their leadership ability.

Porter spent the next few days repairing the
Essex
and reconnoitering east of Albemarle near James Island. He then decided that separating from Downes would allow them to cover more territory. On May 12 he sent Downes and the
Georgiana
to search for enemy vessels around Albermarle, while he sailed the
Essex
to Hood Island with the other two prizes and the
Barclay
. Downes was to join him there later. After visiting Hood, Porter intended to sail to Tumbes on the Peruvian coast to obtain water. He instructed Downes to join him at Hood, but if he missed him, to proceed to Tumbes and rendezvous there. After Tumbes, Porter planned to beat
his way up the Peruvian coast to Lima, and from there travel all the way down to Concepción, before eventually sailing back north to Valparaiso. There he hoped to gain intelligence of British warships hunting him, and, of course, capture whatever enemy whalers, privateers, or merchantmen that came his way.

Downes soon set a course to double the southern point of Albemarle, while Porter steered his little squadron south-southeast for Hood Island. At midday Porter discovered that he was approaching, not Hood, but Charles Island. This finally convinced him that no reliance could be placed on Colnett's chart. He dropped anchor in what he called Essex Bay on the northern coast of Charles, where Hathaway's Post Office was located. He went ashore and discovered unmistakable evidence that other ships had stopped by the post office since his last visit. All the food and water stored there was gone. There was no doubt in his mind that the vessels were English and that their destination was the fishing grounds off Albemarle. Instead of tearing after them, however, he decided to search for water on Charles; his supply was getting dangerously low. He moved to a place on the west side, where he heard water was to be found. It was only six miles from his present location. When he got there he found some water, but it was impure and extremely difficult to get at, so it did not solve his problem.

Three days later, on May 15, Lieutenant Downes and the
Georgiana
unexpectedly appeared. Downes never reached Albemarle. Rapid, confusing currents and general ignorance of the Galapagos stopped him. When he found himself in the vicinity of Charles Island, he decided to look into Essex Bay for enemy vessels, never expecting to find the
Essex
there.

Porter dispatched Downes to go after the whale ships that had left messages at Hathaway's Post Office. He sent Mr. Adams, the chaplain, in two whaleboats to make an accurate survey of a large, unidentified island directly north of Charles. Midshipman Odenheimer went with him, in command of the second boat. Porter told them to return within a week.

While he waited for Adams, Porter continued repairing the
Essex
and adding a huge number of tortoises to her provisions. He also directed that the two prizes be spruced up. He intended to sell them at the first opportunity—probably in Valparaiso. The men, including the prisoners,
were given a chance to be on the beach a good deal, and this helped morale. To his great delight Porter discovered what later turned out to be a potent anti-scorbutic on the island—the prickly pear, which grew in abundance and could be easily loaded aboard to help with his constant battle against scurvy.

On the morning of May 20, Adams returned from what he called Porter (Santa Cruz) Island. The following morning at nine o'clock, Porter weighed anchor, planning to pursue a large ship that Adams had narrowly avoided while returning from the island. Adams was certain that she was a well-armed English whaler steering for Albemarle. Porter decided to go after her immediately. Before setting out, he left an uncoded note for Downes, telling him that the
Essex,
after searching for the ship that Adams had seen, was bound for Tumbes. Porter put the note in a bottle and buried it at the foot of Hathaway's Post Office. He then sailed with two prizes and the
Barclay
in pursuit of Adams's ship, sailing all the way to Albemarle, where he dropped anchor and went ashore, climbing a hill to get a panoramic view of the surrounding waters, but no other vessels were visible.

After returning to the
Essex
,
he delayed for a time, waiting to see if the ship he was seeking might yet appear. When she didn't, he tacked to the eastward for Hood Island on May 23. The going was tough. He had to fight especially strong currents that nearly drove the
Essex
and her companions aground on Hood. The currents were so contrary they forced him back to Charles Island.

On May 27, Porter left Charles and struggled toward Albemarle. The next day he weathered the island's southern head and soon spotted a sail that looked promising. At the time, the slow-sailing
Montezuma
was in tow, and Porter cast her off while he raced for the stranger. At sunset he could see her plainly from the deck, but he had no hope of catching her before nightfall. She was carrying a full press of canvas, straining to gain distance. The wind continued strong, and Porter kept pressing toward her, hoping to get as close as possible before nightfall. As it fell, he hove to so that his slower companions could catch up, and when they did, he distributed them in a wide area, hoping that one of them would catch a glimpse of the stranger in the morning.

Porter's luck held. At daybreak the
Montezuma
signaled that a ship was to the northward. Porter crowded on sail, but two hours went by before he could see her. He kept after her with the
Montezuma
, but at noon the wind died. Determined that his prey would not escape, Porter lowered three of his fastest boats, filled them with men under the command of Lieutenant Wilmer, and ordered him to sail to the
Montezuma
, which was six miles away, situated between the
Essex
and her prey. When Wilmer reached the
Montezuma
, he was to fill three of her boats with men (giving him a total of six), row to a position astern of the stranger, and keep her in sight.

Wilmer's boats had no sooner left the
Essex
than a breeze sprang up, and Porter resumed the chase. He soon passed his boats and signaled the
Montezuma
to pick them up. As Porter approached the stranger, she hauled close on a wind, and then hove to—exactly what he had hoped she would do. The
Essex
was flying British colors, which deceived the stranger's captain, Obadiah Weir. He was eager for a talk with what he thought was the captain of a British frigate. Weir's vessel was the letter of marque
Atlantic
, a fine fighting ship, the best Porter had seen so far. She carried six 18-pounders and was ostensibly employed in whaling, but her principal business was hunting American competitors.

The
Essex
was soon alongside the
Atlantic
, and when Weir came on board, Porter continued posing as a British captain. His anger mounted when he discovered that Weir was from Nantucket, and he was outraged when Weir told him that the best place to capture American whalers was off Concepción, where he had seen nine of them in a defenseless state. By going there, he told Porter, he could reap rich rewards and destroy the American whale fishery in the eastern Pacific.

Barely able to stifle his anger, Porter asked Weir how he could sail from England under the British flag in an armed ship after hostilities had broken out between the two countries. Weir insisted that he had no difficulty, for although he had been born in Nantucket, he was an Englishman at heart. Porter was disgusted with him, and had great pleasure in introducing him to the unlucky captains of the
Montezuma
and the
Georgiana
, who soon disabused Weir of the notion that he was aboard a British man-of-war.

Weir had been aboard for only a short time when a lookout at the masthead cried another sail. Porter again sprang into action. He signaled the
Montezuma
to come up, took men from her, and put them in the
Atlantic
under Lieutenant McKnight; and then, both the
Atlantic
—reputed to be a fast ship—and the
Essex
sped after the prey. Night came on before they could catch up with her, however, and she disappeared for a time. Luckily, Porter and his lookouts soon found her again with their night glasses (refracting telescopes).

To Porter's surprise, and great pleasure, when night fell, he saw the stranger sailing toward him. Thinking her pursuers could not find her in the dark, she had changed course, coming about, and heading in the opposite direction. Unbeknownst to her captain, she was sailing right into the arms of the
Essex
. As she approached, Porter put a shot across her bows, and she immediately hove to. He ordered her captain to come on board, but he refused until he knew what ship the
Essex
was. Porter responded with a shot between his masts and threatened a broadside. That changed the captain's mind, and he repaired on board. His ship was the excellent letter of marque
Greenwich
of ten guns, employed as an armed whaler. She was the mysterious ship that Mr. Adams had seen. When John Shuttleworth, the
Greenwich
's skipper, appeared in Porter's cabin, he was obviously drunk. Porter was disgusted with him.

He grew irate when Weir and Shuttleworth failed to conceal their contempt for their captors. Their manners grew worse, even though they were shown to generous quarters. Porter heard so much loud invective against the United States and the captain of the
Essex
that he soon appeared at their door and impressed upon them—face to face—how unpleasant he could make their situation. That got their attention, and they changed their tune, uttering no more ugly epithets.

Lieutenant McKnight took charge of the
Atlantic
with enough men to fight her guns, and since Porter was short of naval officers, he appointed marine Lieutenant Gamble to take charge of the
Greenwich
. This was not only unusual but unique. A marine had never commanded an American warship before. And as it turned out, Gamble was not only the first, but also the last. No marine, before or since, has done so. Porter assigned two experienced seamen to help Gamble run the ship. One of them was a navigator.