118 HEREDITY AND DEVELOPMENT OF NAVAL OFFICERS. 



35. JAMES LAWRENCE. 



JAMES LAWRENCE was born at Burlington, New Jersey, October 1, 1781, 

 passed through grammar school, and in 1798 was appointed a midshipman. In 

 1801 he went to Tripoli in the Enterprise and remained there for five years. From 

 1808 to 1812 he commanded various naval vessels. After the outbreak of the War 

 of 1812 he wrought some destruction on the enemy's ships in the West Indies. 

 Ordered to the command of the Chesapeake, he accepted a challenge to battle made 

 by the British frigate Shannon. The Chesapeake was a poor ship. After a few 

 broadsides the ships fouled and Lawrence received a musket ball in the leg 

 and later in the abdomen. As he was carried below he cried, "Don't give up the 

 ship"; but the enemy had already boarded it. Captain Lawrence died in a few 

 days, June 6, 1813. The loss of this young officer was regarded as a keen blow 

 to the national defense. 



The elements of Lawrence's character were: 



Love of the sea. "While still a boy he longed to go to sea," but his father 

 opposed, wanting him to become a lawyer. But when his father died he, at 18, 

 began a theoretical course in navigation with his brother's aid. 



Fearlessness. His courage was of the highest order; he accepted battle 

 with his inferior ship against a superior. He was calm in action. 



Hyperkinesis. He was high strung and sensitive, quick and impulsive, but 

 in all critical situations his coolness was remarkable. He inspired all with ardor 

 and was a general favorite with his men. When a coordinate was promoted over 

 his head he protested first to the naval board, then to the United States Senate, 

 and won his case. He was chivalrous, generous, just, kind of heart, gentle, and 

 pure. Physically he was nearly six feet tall and very broad-shouldered. 



James Lawrence had a sister Mary, who married Robert Boggs and bore 

 a son, Charles S. Boggs. He entered the navy as a midshipman in 1826, served 

 with distinction in the Mexican and Civil Wars, and died a rear admiral. He 

 was courteous and mild, but strict in the enforcement of discipline. During the 

 Civil War he was in command of the Varuana, attached to Farragut's fleet. This, 

 the first ship to force its way past the batteries protecting New Orleans, was 

 rammed by a Confederate ironclad and sunk. For gallantry in this action Boggs 

 was voted a sword by his native State of New Jersey. In July 1862 he was placed 

 in command of the Sacramento, of the blockading squadron off the Cape Fear 

 river. On account of ill-health he was on shore duty during 1864-1865 and super- 

 intended the building and fitting out of a fleet of picket steamboats planned by 

 himself. 



James Lawrence's father was John Brown Lawrence, of Burlington, New 

 Jersey, who was a lawyer, a staunch loyalist, a member of the council, and regarded 

 by his townspeople as a man of importance. He was mayor of Burlington in 1775. 

 He was a man of courage. He met the Hessians and prevailed on them to spare 

 the town and later succeeded in stopping the firing of an American man-of-war 

 when it was thought that Burlington was in the hands of the British. Arrested 

 as a loyalist, he finally settled in Canada and died there in 1796. In the direct 

 line of ancestors there are merchants and a major. 



James Lawrence's mother, Martha Tallman, of Trenton, New Jersey, died 

 when the propositus was an infant; nothing is recorded of her traits. 



