126 Naval War of 1812 



the counter, and bringing the ship round against her 

 helm. Hitherto she had suffered very greatly and 

 the Constitution hardly at all. The latter, finding 

 that she was ranging ahead, put her helm a-port and 

 then luffed short round her enemy's bows, 24 deliv 

 ering a heavy raking fire with the starboard guns 

 and shooting away the Guerriere's mainyard. Then 

 she wore and again passed her adversary's bows, 

 raking with her port guns. The mizzenmast of the 

 Guerriere, dragging in the water, had by this time 

 pulled her bow round till the wind came on her star 

 board quarter; and so near were the two ships that 

 the Englishman's bowsprit passed diagonally over 

 the Constitution's quarterdeck, and as the latter 

 ship fell off it got foul of her mizzen-rigging, and 

 the vessels then lay with the Guerriere's starboard- 

 bow against the Constitution's port, or lee quarter- 

 gallery. 25 The Englishman's bow guns played havoc 

 with Captain Hull's cabin, setting fire to it ; but the 

 flames were soon extinguished by Lieutenant Hoff 

 mann. On both sides the boarders were called 

 away; the British ran forward, but Captain Dacres 

 relinquished the idea of attacking 26 when he saw 

 the crowds of men on the American's decks. Mean 

 while, on the Constitution, the boarders and marines 

 gathered aft, but such a heavy sea was running that 

 they could not get on the Guerriere. Both sides 

 suffered heavily from the closeness of the musketry 



84 Log of Constitution. 



26 Cooper, in "Putnam's Magazine," i, 475. 



26 Address of Captain Dacres to the court-martial at Halifax. 



