{"id":"01KG8AMK3SSXCV4S90SYNR2K8N","cid":"bafkreidrty2t7hyhh3zoeri3haal754enj7szarcka5hw6vpyn5skauehy","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":12090,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.274Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 4","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":12028,"text":"battle, to stand over the men with his drawn sword (as was done in the\r\nMacedonian), and run through on the spot the first seaman who showed a\r\nsemblance of fear. Tawney told me that he distinctly heard this order\r\ngiven by the English Captain to his officers of divisions. Were the\r\nsecret history of all sea-fights written, the laurels of sea-heroes\r\nwould turn to ashes on their brows.\r\n\r\nAnd how nationally disgraceful, in every conceivable point of view, is\r\nthe IV. of our American Articles of War: “If any person in the Navy\r\nshall pusillanimously cry for quarter, he shall suffer death.” Thus,\r\nwith death before his face from the foe, and death behind his back from\r\nhis countrymen, the best valour of a man-of-war’s-man can never assume\r\nthe merit of a noble spontaneousness. In this, as in every other case,\r\nthe Articles of War hold out no reward for good conduct, but only\r\ncompel the sailor to fight, like a hired murderer, for his pay, by\r\ndigging his grave before his eyes if he hesitates.\r\n\r\nBut this Article IV. is open to still graver objections. Courage is the\r\nmost common and vulgar of the virtues; the only one shared with us by\r\nthe beasts of the field; the one most apt, by excess, to run into\r\nviciousness. And since Nature generally takes away with one hand to\r\ncounter-balance her gifts with the other, excessive animal courage, in\r\nmany cases, only finds room in a character vacated of loftier things.\r\nBut in a naval officer, animal courage is exalted to the loftiest\r\nmerit, and often procures him a distinguished command.\r\n\r\nHence, if some brainless bravo be Captain of a frigate in action, he\r\nmay fight her against invincible odds, and seek to crown himself with\r\nthe glory of the shambles, by permitting his hopeless crew to be\r\nbutchered before his eyes, while at the same time that crew must\r\nconsent to be slaughtered by the foe, under penalty of being murdered\r\nby the law. Look at the engagement between the American frigate Essex\r\nwith the two English cruisers, the Phoebe and Cherub, off the Bay of\r\nValparaiso, during the late war. It is admitted on all hands that the\r\nAmerican Captain continued to fight his crippled ship against a greatly\r\nsuperior force; and when, at last, it became physically impossible that\r\nhe could ever be otherwise than vanquished in the end; and when, from\r\npeculiarly unfortunate circumstances, his men merely stood up to their\r\nnearly useless batteries to be dismembered and blown to pieces by the\r\nincessant fire of the enemy’s long guns. Nor, by thus continuing to\r\nfight, did this American frigate, one iota, promote the true interests\r\nof her country. I seek not to underrate any reputation which the\r\nAmerican Captain may have gained by this battle. He was a brave man;\r\n_that_ no sailor will deny. But the whole world is made up of brave\r\nmen. Yet I would not be at all understood as impugning his special good\r\nname. Nevertheless, it is not to be doubted, that if there were any\r\ncommon-sense sailors at the guns of the Essex, however valiant they may\r\nhave been, those common-sense sailors must have greatly preferred to\r\nstrike their flag, when they saw the day was fairly lost, than postpone\r\nthat inevitable act till there were few American arms left to assist in\r\nhauling it down. Yet had these men, under these circumstances,\r\n“pusillanimously cried for quarter,” by the IV. Article of War they\r\nmight have been legally hung.\r\n\r\nAccording to the negro, Tawney, when the Captain of the\r\nMacedonian—seeing that the Neversink had his vessel completely in her\r\npower—gave the word to strike the flag, one of his officers, a man\r\nhated by the seamen for his tyranny, howled out the most terrific\r\nremonstrances, swearing that, for his part, he would not give up, but\r\nwas for sinking the Macedonian alongside the enemy. Had he been\r\nCaptain, doubtless he would have done so; thereby gaining the name of a\r\nhero in this world;—but what would they have called him in the next?\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 4"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJV9WHZ6H7HPK30XSCB8R","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMK3Q38E4NF81K49K2QAP","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AMK3SQXTRFA1RWKYG0R58","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:42.105Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:52.949Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}