The Naval History of the United States | Page 5

at Night on Monitor "Puritan" at League Island Navy Yard,
Philadelphia.

PART I

BLUE-JACKETS OF '76.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY EXPLOITS UPON THE WATER. -- GALLOP'S BATTLE
WITH THE INDIANS. -- BUCCANEERS AND PIRATES. --
MORGAN AND BLACKBEARD. -- CAPT. KIDD TURNS PIRATE.
-- DOWNFALL OF THE BUCCANEERS' POWER.
In May, 1636, a stanch little sloop of some twenty tons was standing
along Long Island Sound on a trading expedition. At her helm stood
John Gallop, a sturdy colonist, and a skilful seaman, who earned his
bread by trading with the Indians that at that time thronged the shores
of the Sound, and eagerly seized any opportunity to traffic with the
white men from the colonies of Plymouth or New Amsterdam. The
colonists sent out beads, knives, bright clothes, and sometimes,
unfortunately, rum and other strong drinks. The Indians in exchange
offered skins and peltries of all kinds; and, as their simple natures had
not been schooled to nice calculations of values, the traffic was one of
great profit to the more shrewd whites. But the trade was not without its
perils. Though the Indians were simple, and little likely to drive hard
bargains, yet they were savages, and little accustomed to nice
distinctions between their own property and that of others. Their
desires once aroused for some gaudy bit of cloth or shining glass, they

were ready enough to steal it, often making their booty secure by the
murder of the luckless trader. It so happened, that, just before John
Gallop set out with his sloop on the spring trading cruise, the people of
the colony were excitedly discussing the probable fate of one Oldham,
who some weeks before had set out on a like errand, in a pinnace, with
a crew of two white boys and two Indians, and had never returned. So
when, on this May morning, Gallop, being forced to hug the shore by
stormy weather, saw a small vessel lying at anchor in a cove, he
immediately ran down nearer, to investigate. The crew of the sloop
numbered two men and two boys, beside the skipper, Gallop. Some
heavy duck-guns on board were no mean ordnance; and the New
Englander determined to probe the mystery of Oldham's disappearance,
though it might require some fighting. As the sloop bore down upon the
anchored pinnace, Gallop found no lack of signs to arouse his suspicion.
The rigging of the strange craft was loose, and seemed to have been cut.
No lookout was visible, and she seemed to have been deserted; but a
nearer view showed, lying on the deck of the pinnace, fourteen stalwart
Indians, one of whom, catching sight of the approaching sloop, cut the
anchor cable, and called to his companions to awake.
This action on the part of the Indians left Gallop no doubt as to their
character. Evidently they had captured the pinnace, and had either
murdered Oldham, or even then had him a prisoner in their midst. The
daring sailor wasted no time in debate as to the proper course to pursue,
but clapping all sail on his craft, soon brought her alongside the
pinnace. As the sloop came up, the Indians opened the fight with
fire-arms and spears; but Gallop's crew responded with their duck-guns
with such vigor that the Indians deserted the decks, and fled below for
shelter. Gallop was then in a quandary. The odds against him were too
great for him to dare to board, and the pinnace was rapidly drifting
ashore. After some deliberation he put up his helm, and beat to
windward of the pinnace; then, coming about, came scudding down
upon her before the wind. The two vessels met with a tremendous
shock. The bow of the sloop struck the pinnace fairly amidships,
forcing her over on her beam-ends, until the water poured into the open
hatchway. The affrighted Indians, unused to warfare on the water,
rushed upon deck. Six leaped into the sea, and were drowned; the rest

retreated again into the cabin. Gallop then prepared to repeat his
ramming manoeuvre. This time, to make the blow more effective, he
lashed his anchor to the bow, so that the sharp flukes protruded; thus
extemporizing an iron-clad ram more than two hundred years before
naval men thought of using one. Thus provided, the second blow of the
sloop was more terrible than the first. The sharp fluke of the anchor
crashed through the side of the pinnace, and the two vessels hung
tightly together. Gallop then began to double-load his duck-guns, and
fire through the sides of the pinnace; but, finding that the enemy was
not to be dislodged in this way, he broke his vessel loose, and again
made for the windward, preparatory to a third blow. As the sloop drew
off, four or five