36 HEREDITY AND DEVELOPMENT OF NAVAL OFFICERS. 



1. WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE. 



WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE was born at Princeton, New Jersey, May 7, 1774. 

 He was educated under the direction of his mother's father and at the age of 15 

 became a sailor on a merchant ship about to sail from Philadelphia. Such apti- 

 tude did he show that at 18 he was made first mate of a ship in the Holland 

 trade. During his first voyage as mate the crew mutinied, but he rescued her 

 commander and suppressed the uprising; in consequence, he was made captain 

 of the vessel at 19 and continued for many years in the merchant service. He 

 had remarkable power with crews; he was once called upon by the captain of 

 another vessel to quell a mutiny and succeeded in doing so. Once, coming out 

 of the harbor of St. Thomas, he was fired on by a British vessel of 8 guns; with 

 his 4 guns he kept up such an effective return fire that the antagonist surrendered, 

 but he refused to take her as a prize. On one occasion one of his seamen was 

 impressed; in reprisal he seized a seaman from the next English ship he met. His 

 reputation led to his appointment as lieutenant in the newly organized United 

 States navy, in which capacity he was in command of the schooner Retaliation. 

 This schooner was shortly after, in 1798, captured by French frigates and he was 

 held captive for a time and then released. During the next two years he pro- 

 tected American shipping around the West Indies and in 1800 was made captain 

 for his eminent services. In the same year he commanded a frigate to convey 

 tribute to the bey of Algiers and, through diplomacy in Turkey, reduced the 

 haughty spirit of the bey. In 1801 his ship, the Philadelphia, was sent in a 

 squadron against the Moors and he captured the Moorish cruiser Meshboha, but 

 later he fell, with the Philadelphia, into the hands of the Moors and was held a 

 prisoner until 1805. He then reentered the merchant service, but upon the begin- 

 ning of the War of 1812 was assigned to the command of the Constitution, which 

 destroyed the British frigate Java; on his return he was set to work on the con- 

 struction of the frigate Independence. Again, in 1815, he went against the Barbary 

 States, now as commander of a squadron, and forced them to respect the American 

 flag. After that he established a naval training school and served as president 

 of the board of promotion of naval officers. For three years he was chief of the 

 board of naval commissioners in Washington, District of Columbia. He died in 

 Philadelphia, July 1833. 



He had four daughters by his wife, Susan Hyleger, and also a son who 

 graduated at Princeton with honor, studied, law, was "a ripe scholar" with pure 

 principles and sound judgment, and "inherited sentiments of high honor and 

 chivalry which distinguished his father." This son died as a young man. 



William Bainbridge was vigilant, untiring in endeavor, exacting in discipline, 

 and equal to any emergency. He sought rather than avoided responsibility. Or- 

 dinarily he was courteous and hospitable. About 6 feet tall, his frame was muscular 

 and his dress neat. The traits that determined his vocation were as follows: 



1. He was thalassophilic. He early became inspired with a desire to be a 

 sailor and actually became such at the age of 15. From that time on he was for 

 only short periods at a fixed land abode. 



2. He was adventurous and fearless. As a boy his "dauntless spirit urged 

 him into the foremost rank in every boyish enterprise where peril was to be en- 

 countered." As a naval officer he encountered antagonists superior to himself 

 with a courage which did not consider too carefully the risk. 



