my
guarded the coast with renewed vigilance. The inhabitants made every
attempt to drive away the blockaders; and in the course of this
prolonged struggle there appeared, for almost the first time in the
history of warfare, that most terrible of offensive weapons, the
submarine torpedo.

During the Revolution, two attempts had been made to blow up British
men-of-war by means of torpedoes, invented by a Saybrook mechanic
named Bushnell. Though the attempts failed, yet the torpedoes
demonstrated their tremendous power. Before the declaration of the
second war with England, Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steamboat,
had made many improvements upon Bushnell's designs, and had so
thoroughly spread the knowledge of torpedo warfare that it suggested
itself to many New Englanders as a means of driving the enemy from
their coast.

The first attempt was well planned, but failed through an entirely
accidental combination of circumstances. Certain private citizens (for
in that day it was thought ignoble for a government to embark in
torpedo warfare) fitted out in New York a schooner, the "Eagle," in
the hold of which ten kegs of powder, together with sulphur and piles
of heavy stones, were placed. In the head of one of the casks were two
gun-locks, primed, and held in place by two barrels of flour. Should
either of the barrels be moved, the lock would spring, and the
terrible mine would explode with tremendous force. With this dreadful
engine of destruction, carefully covered by a cargo of flour and naval
stores, the "Eagle" left New York, and made her way up the bay, until,
near New London, she was overhauled and captured by the British
frigate "Ramillies." Boats were sent out by the English to take
possession of the prize; but the crew of the "Eagle," seeing the enemy
coming, took to their small boats, and succeeded in safely reaching
the shore. The captors, on boarding the vessel, were vastly pleased to
find that its cargo consisted largely of flour, of which the
"Ramillies" stood in great need. They at once attempted to get the
frigate alongside the prize, that the captured cargo might be readily
transferred. But a calm had fallen, and two hours' constant work with
sweeps and towing was unavailing. Accordingly, this plan of action was
abandoned, and the boats were ordered to lighter the cargo from the
"Eagle" to the frigate. Hardly had the first barrel been moved, when,
with a roar, and rush of flame and smoke as from a v