{"id":"01KG8AMFCCCT8JYPHH7EHDK894","cid":"bafkreibfvi3vib7ynmvgtlhnuod6gxhedpvp4sx27r4gayncloma64463m","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":2736,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.270Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 5","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":2675,"text":"grape-shot—aptly so called, for they precisely resemble bunches of the\r\nfruit; though, to receive a bunch of iron grapes in the abdomen would\r\nbe but a sorry dessert; and also showing the canister-shot—old iron of\r\nvarious sorts, packed in a tin case, like a tea-caddy.\r\n\r\nImagine some midnight craft sailing down on her enemy thus; twenty-four\r\npounders levelled, matches lighted, and each captain of his gun at his\r\npost!\r\n\r\nBut if verily going into action, then would the Neversink have made\r\nstill further preparations; for however alike in some things, there is\r\nalways a vast difference—if you sound them—between a reality and a\r\nsham. Not to speak of the pale sternness of the men at their guns at\r\nsuch a juncture, and the choked thoughts at their hearts, the ship\r\nitself would here and there present a far different appearance.\r\nSomething like that of an extensive mansion preparing for a grand\r\nentertainment, when folding-doors are withdrawn, chambers converted\r\ninto drawing-rooms, and every inch of available space thrown into one\r\ncontinuous whole. For previous to an action, every bulk-head in a\r\nman-of-war is knocked down; great guns are run out of the Commodore’s\r\nparlour windows; nothing separates the ward-room officers’ quarters\r\nfrom those of the men, but an ensign used for a curtain. The sailors’\r\nmess-chests are tumbled down into the hold; and the hospital cots—of\r\nwhich all men-of-war carry a large supply—are dragged forth from the\r\nsail-room, and piled near at hand to receive the wounded;\r\namputation-tables are ranged in the _cock-pit_ or in the _tiers_,\r\nwhereon to carve the bodies of the maimed. The yards are slung in\r\nchains; fire-screens distributed here and there: hillocks of\r\ncannon-balls piled between the guns; shot-plugs suspended within easy\r\nreach from the beams; and solid masses of wads, big as Dutch cheeses,\r\nbraced to the cheeks of the gun-carriages.\r\n\r\nNo small difference, also, would be visible in the wardrobe of both\r\nofficers and men. The officers generally fight as dandies dance,\r\nnamely, in silk stockings; inasmuch as, in case of being wounded in the\r\nleg, the silk-hose can be more easily drawn off by the Surgeon; cotton\r\nsticks, and works into the wound. An economical captain, while taking\r\ncare to case his legs in silk, might yet see fit to save his best suit,\r\nand fight in his old clothes. For, besides that an old garment might\r\nmuch better be cut to pieces than a new one, it must be a mighty\r\ndisagreeable thing to die in a stiff, tight-breasted coat, not yet\r\nworked easy under the arm-pits. At such times, a man should feel free,\r\nunencumbered, and perfectly at his ease in point of straps and\r\nsuspenders. No ill-will concerning his tailor should intrude upon his\r\nthoughts of eternity. Seneca understood this, when he chose to die\r\nnaked in a bath. And men-of-war’s men understand it, also; for most of\r\nthem, in battle, strip to the waist-bands; wearing nothing but a pair\r\nof duck trowsers, and a handkerchief round their head.\r\n\r\nA captain combining a heedful patriotism with economy would probably\r\n“bend” his old topsails before going into battle, instead of exposing\r\nhis best canvas to be riddled to pieces; for it is generally the case\r\nthat the enemy’s shot flies high. Unless allowance is made for it in\r\npointing the tube, at long-gun distance, the slightest roll of the\r\nship, at the time of firing, would send a shot, meant for the hull,\r\nhigh over the top-gallant yards.\r\n\r\nBut besides these differences between a sham-fight at _general\r\nquarters_ and a real cannonading, the aspect of the ship, at the\r\nbeating of the retreat, would, in the latter case, be very dissimilar\r\nto the neatness and uniformity in the former.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 5"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJQ3RR4R8SYRASCT3K24X","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMFC6T9BEE3MNFVR13YAW","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AMFCCA88HTN81EETFX0S7","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:38.284Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:44.571Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}