they called long range, which would
be about a mile, and then swept onward to pass on opposite tacks. It was
the favorite maneuver of trying to gain the weather gage, and while they
were edging to windward a round shot smashed the wheel of the
_Constitution_ which so hampered her for the moment that Captain
Lambert, handsomely taking advantage of the mishap, let the _Java_ run
past his enemy's stern and poured in a broadside which hit several of
the American seamen. Both commanders displayed, in a high degree, the
art of handling ships under sail as they luffed or wore and tenaciously
jockeyed for position, while the gunners fought in the smoke that
drifted between the frigates.

At length Captain Lambert became convinced that he had met his master at
this agile style of warfare and determined to come to close quarters
before the _Java_ was fatally damaged. Her masts and yards were crashing
to the deck and the slaughter among the crew was already appalling.
Marines and seamen gathered in the gangways and upon the forecastle head
to spring aboard the _Constitution_, but Captain Bainbridge drove his
ship clear very shortly after the collision and continued to pound the
_Java_ to kindling-wood with his broadsides. The fate of the action was
no longer in doubt. The British frigate was on fire, Captain Lambert was
mortally wounded, and all her guns had been silenced. The _Constitution_
hauled off to repair damages and stood back an hour later to administer
the final blow. But the flag of the _Java_ fluttered down, and the
lieutenant in command surrendered.

The _Constitution_ had again crushed the enemy with so little damage to
herself that she was ready to continue her cruise, with a loss of only
nine killed and twenty-five wounded. The _Java_ was a fine ship utterly
destroyed, a sinking, dismasted hulk, with a hundred and twenty-four of
her men dead or suffering from wounds. It is significant to learn that
during six weeks at sea they had fired but six practice broadsides, of
blank cartridges, although there were many raw hands in the crew, while
the men of the _Constitution_ had been incessantly drilled in firing
until their team play was like that of a football eleven. There was no
shooting at random. Under Hull and Bainbridge they had been taught their
trade, which was to lay the gun on the target and shoot as rapidly as
possible.

For the diminutive American navy, the year of 1812 came to its close
with a record of