al report of Captain Dacres the following tribute to
his generous foe: "I feel it my duty to state that the conduct of Captain
Hull and his officers to our men has been that of a brave enemy, the
greatest care being taken to prevent our men losing the smallest trifle,
and the greatest attention being paid to the wounded." The Guerriere lost
her second lieutenant, Henry Ready, and fourteen seamen killed, and
Captain Dacres, First Lieutenant Kent, Sailing Master Scott, two master's
mates, one midshipman and fifty-seven sailors were wounded, six of the
wounded afterward dying. The Constitution lost her first lieutenant of
marines, William Sharp Bush, and six seamen killed, and her first
lieutenant, Charles Morris, her sailing master, four seamen and one
marine were wounded. Thus resulted the first naval combat between British
and American built men-of-war.[2]

[2] The Constitution may still be seen in the Navy Yard at
Portsmouth, N. H. The following famous poem, by Oliver Wendell
Holmes, saved the grand old vessel from destruction in 1833:

"Ay, tear the tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle-shout,
And burst the cannon's roar--
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more.

Her deck, once red with heroes' blood,
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o'er the flood
And waves were white below,
No more shall feel the victor's tread,
Or know the conquered knee--
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!

Oh, better that her shattered hulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep.
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storm
The lightning and the gale!"

For rapid and accurate firing and destructive effect thereof upon the
enemy the records of naval warfare probably offer nothing to surpass the
conduct of the American frigate United States, fifty-four guns, Captain
Decatur, in battle with the British frigate Macedonian, forty-nine guns,
Captain Garden. "The firing from the American frigate at close quarters
was terrifi