Page:Lives of the presidents in words of one syllable (1903).djvu/46

 Brit-ish had scores of ships and we but twelve, none of them of large size, and some cheap gun boats. But the pluck of our sea-men is known in all lands and on all seas. In a short time five of those Eng-lish ships of war were ours.

The good old ship, Con-sti-tu-tion, which to this day is most dear to all hearts, was the first to win a great fight. She took hold of the Guer-ri-ere, which flew the red flag of Eng-land at her peak, and did not let go till there was not a spar left. Then she blew the foe up.

To make things worse, the Brit-ish got the red men, in the west, on their side, gave them arms and shot, and said they would back all the fights they could put up on the whites who had gone there to live.

Te-cum-seh, a great chief, led out his men in 1811. The Gov-ern-or of In-di-an-a Ter-ri-tory, W. H. Har-ri-son, who by and by was to be Pres-i-dent, brought his troops to meet the red foe and soon put them down. This is known as the fight of "Tip-pe-ca-noe."

At sea, then, the Mac-e-do-ni-an and the U-ni-ted States met. The brave De-ca-tur was in charge of our ship and took the Eng-lish-man as a prize.

The ship of war, Con-sti-tu-tion, then caught the Java. The Hor-net caught the Pea-cock, put great holes in her hull, and sunk her.

Off Bos-ton there were, in 1813, two Eng-lish ships. Our Ches-a-peake had been some months in the bay. One of the Eng-lish ships, the Shan-non, sent word to Cap-tain James Law-rence, of our ship, to come out and fight, and stood close in shore to wait for him. He went to meet the foe, and this time, though our men were brave and fought