Stories of Our Naval Heroes Part 20

CHAPTER XXI

CAPTAIN INGRAHAM TEACHES AUSTRIA A LESSON

OUR NAVY UPHOLDS THE RIGHTS OF AN AMERICAN IN A FOREIGN LAND

NOW I have a story to tell you about how this country looks after its citizens abroad. It is not a long story, but it is a good one, and Americans have been proud of Captain Ingraham ever since his gallant act.

In 1848 there was a great rebellion in Hungary against Austria. Some terrible fighting took place and then it was put down with much cruelty and slaughter. The Austrian government tried to seize all the leaders of the Hungarian patriots and put them to death, but several of them escaped to Turkey and took refuge in the City of Smyrna. Among these was the celebrated Louis Kossuth, and another man named Koszta.

Austria asked Turkey to give these men up, but the Sultan of Turkey refused to do so. Soon after that Koszta came to the United States, and there in 1852 he took the first step towards becoming an American citizen. He was sure that the United States would take care of its citizens. And he found out that it would.

The next year he had to go back to Smyrna on some business. That was not a safe place for him. The Austrians hated him as they did all the Hungarian patriots. They did not ask Turkey again to give him up, but there was an Austrian wars.h.i.+p, the _Huszar_, in the harbor, and a plot was made to seize Koszta and take him on board this s.h.i.+p. Then he could easily be carried to Austria and put to death as a rebel.

One day, while Koszta was sitting quietly in the Marina, a public place in Smyrna, he was seized by a number of Greeks, who had been hired to do so by the Austrian consul. They bound him with ropes and carried him on board the _Huszar_.

It looked bad now for poor Koszta, for he was in the hands of his enemies. It is said that the Archduke John, brother of the Emperor of Austria, was captain of the s.h.i.+p. By his orders iron fetters were riveted on the ankles and wrists of Koszta, and he was locked up in the s.h.i.+p as one who had committed a great crime.

But a piece of great good fortune for the prisoner happened, for the next day the _St. Louis_, an American sloop-of-war, came sailing into the harbor. Captain Duncan N. Ingraham, who had been a mids.h.i.+pman in the War of 1812, was in command.

He was just the man to be there. He was soon told what had taken place, and that the prisoner claimed to be an American, and he at once sent an officer to the _Huszar_ and asked if he could see Koszta. He was told that he might do so.

Captain Ingraham went to the Austrian s.h.i.+p and had an interview with the prisoner, who told him his story, and said that he had taken the first step to become a citizen of the United States. He begged the captain to protect him.

Captain Ingraham was satisfied that Koszta had a just claim to the protection of the American flag, and asked the Austrians to release him.

They refused to do so, and he then wrote to Mr. Brown, the American consul at Constantinople and asked him what he should do.

Before he could get an answer a squadron of Austrian wars.h.i.+ps, six in number, came gliding into the harbor, and dropped anchor near the _Huszar_. It looked worse than ever now for poor Koszta, for what could the little _St. Louis_ do against seven big s.h.i.+ps? But Captain Ingraham did not let that trouble him. In his mind right was stronger than might, and he was ready to fight ten to one for the honor of his flag.

While he was waiting for an answer from Consul Brown he saw that the _Huszar_ was getting ready to leave the harbor. Her anchor was drawn up and her sails were set. Ingraham made up his mind that if the _Huszar_ left, it would have to be over the wreck of the _St. Louis_. He spread his sails in a hurry and drove his sloop-of-war right in the track of the Austrian s.h.i.+p. Then he gave orders to his men to make ready for a fight.

When Archduke John saw the gun-ports of the _St. Louis_ open he brought his s.h.i.+p to a standstill and Captain Ingraham went on board.

"What do you intend to do?" he asked.

"To sail for home," said the Austrian. "Our consul orders us to take our prisoner to Austria."

"You must pardon me," said Captain Ingraham, "but if you try to leave this port with that American I shall be compelled to resort to extreme measures."

That was a polite way of saying that Koszta should not be taken away if he could prevent it.

The Austrian looked at the six s.h.i.+ps of his nation that lay near him.

Then he looked at the one American s.h.i.+p. Then a pleasant smile came on his face.

"I fear I shall have to go on, whether it is to your liking or not," he said, in a very polite tone.

Captain Ingraham made no answer. He bowed to the Archduke and then descended into his boat and returned to the _St. Louis_.

"Clear the s.h.i.+p for action!" he ordered. The tars sprang to their stations, the ports were opened, and the guns thrust out. There was many a grim face behind them.

The Archduke stared when he saw these black-mouthed guns. He was in the wrong and he knew it. And he saw that the American meant business. He could soon settle the little _St. Louis_ with his seven s.h.i.+ps. But the great United States was behind that one s.h.i.+p, and war might be behind all that.

So the Archduke took the wisest course, turned his s.h.i.+p about, and sailed back. Then he sent word to Ingraham that he would wait till Consul Brown's answer came.

The Consul's reply came on July 1. It said that Captain Ingraham had done just right, and advised him to go on and stand for the honor of his country.

The daring American now took a bold step. He sent a note to the Archduke, demanding the release of Koszta. And he said that if the prisoner was not sent on board the _St. Louis_ by four o'clock the next afternoon, he would take him from the Austrians by force of arms.

A refusal came back from the Austrian s.h.i.+p. They would not give up their prisoner, they said. Now it looked like war indeed. Captain Ingraham waited till eight o'clock the next morning, and then he had his decks cleared for action and brought his guns to bear on the _Huszar_. The seven Austrian s.h.i.+ps turned their guns on the _St. Louis_. The train was laid; a spark might set it off.

At ten o'clock an Austrian officer came on board the _St. Louis_. He began to talk round the subject. Ingraham would not listen to him. It must be one thing or nothing.

"All I will agree to is to have the man given into the care of the French consul at Smyrna till you can hear from your government," he said. "But he must be delivered there or I will take him. I have stated the time at four o'clock this afternoon."

The Austrian went back. When twelve o'clock came a boat left the _Huszar_ and was rowed in sh.o.r.e. An hour later the French consul sent word to Captain Ingraham that Koszta had been put under his charge.

Captain Ingraham had won. Soon after, several of the Austrian s.h.i.+ps got under way and left the harbor. They had tried to scare Captain Ingraham by a show of force, but they had tried in vain.

When news of the event reached the United States everybody cheered the spirit of Captain Ingraham. He had given Europe a new idea of what the rights of an American citizen meant. The diplomats now took up the case and long letters pa.s.sed between Vienna and Was.h.i.+ngton. But in the end Austria acknowledged that the United States was right, and sent an apology.

As for Koszta, the American flag gave him life and liberty. Since then American citizens.h.i.+p has been respected everywhere.

CHAPTER XXII

THE "MONITOR" AND THE "MERRIMAC"

A FIGHT WHICH CHANGED ALL NAVAL WARFARE.

THE story I am now going to tell you takes us forward to the beginning of the great Civil War, that terrible conflict which went on during four long years between the people of the North and the South. Most of this war was on land, but there were some mighty battles at sea, and my story is of one of the greatest of these.

You should know that up to 1860 all ocean battles were fought by s.h.i.+ps with wooden sides, through which a ball from a great gun would often cut as easily as a knife through a piece of cheese. Some vessels had been built with iron overcoats, but none of these had met in war. It was not till March, 1862, that the first battle between s.h.i.+ps with iron sides took place.

The _Const.i.tution_, you may remember, was called the _Old Ironsides_, but that was only a nickname, for she had wooden sides, and the first real Ironsides were the _Monitor_ and the _Merrimac_.

Down in Virginia there is a great body of salt water known as Hampton Roads. The James River runs into it, and so does the Elizabeth River, a small stream which flows past the old City of Norfolk.

When the Civil War opened there was at Norfolk a fine United States navy yard, with s.h.i.+ps and guns and docks that had cost a great deal of money.

But soon after the war began the United States officers in charge there ran away in a fright, having first set on fire everything that would burn. Among the s.h.i.+ps there was the old frigate _Merrimac_, which was being repaired. This was set on fire, and blazed away brightly until it sank to the bottom and the salt water put out the blaze. That was a very bad business, for there was enough left of the old _Merrimac_ to make a great deal of trouble for the United States.

What did the Confederates do but lift the _Merrimac_ out of the mud, and put her in the dry dock, and cut away the burnt part, and build over her a sloping roof of timbers two feet thick, until she looked something like Noah's ark. Then this was covered with iron plates four inches thick. In that way the first Confederate iron-clad s.h.i.+p was made.

The people at Was.h.i.+ngton knew all about this s.h.i.+p and were very much alarmed. No one could tell what dreadful damage it might do if it got out to sea, and came up Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River to the national capital. It might be much worse than when the British burnt Was.h.i.+ngton in 1814, for Was.h.i.+ngton was now a larger and finer city.