s. Captain Isaac Hull, in command of the
Constitution, had been detained at Annapolis shipping a new crew until
July 5th, the day when Broke's squadron left Halifax; then the ship got
under way and stood down Chesapeake Bay on her voyage to New York. The
wind was ahead and very light. Not until July 10th did the ship anchor
off Cape Henry lighthouse, and not till sunrise of July 12th did she
stand to the eastward and northward. Light head winds and a strong
current delayed her progress till July 17th, when at two o'clock in the
afternoon, off Barnegat on the New Jersey coast, the lookout at the
masthead discovered four sails to the northward, and two hours later a
fifth sail to the northeast. Hull took them for Rodgers's squadron. The
wind was light, and Hull being to windward determined to speak the
nearest vessel, the last to come in sight. The afternoon passed without
bringing the ships together, and at ten o'clock in the evening, finding
that the nearest ship could not answer the night signal, Hull decided to
lose no time in escaping.

Then followed one of the most exciting and sustained chases recorded in
naval history. At daybreak the next morning one British frigate was
astern within five or six miles, two more were to leeward, and the rest
of the fleet some ten miles astern, all making chase. Hull put out his
boats to tow the Constitution; Broke summoned the boats of the squadron
to tow the Shannon. Hull then bent all his spare rope to the cables,
dropped a small anchor half a mile ahead, in twenty-six fathoms of
water, and warped his ship along. Broke quickly imitated the device, and
slowly gained on the chase. The Guerriere crept so near Hull's lee beam
as to open fire, but her shot fell short. Fortunately the wind, though
slight, favored Hull. All night the British and American crews toiled
on, and when morning came the Belvidera, proving to be the best sailer,
got in advance of her consorts, working two kedge anchors, until at two
o'clock in the afternoon she tried in her turn to reach the Constitution
with her bow guns, but in vain. Hull expected capture, but the Belvidera
could not approach nearer without bringing her boats under the
Constitution's stern guns; and the wearied crews toiled on, towing and
kedging, the ships barely out of gunshot, till another morning came. The
breeze, though still light, then allowed Hull to take in his boats, the
Belvidera being two and a half miles in his wake, the Shannon