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1815 "Don't give up the ship!"...
1815 "Don't give up the ship!"...
Item # 705391
July 22, 1815
NILES' WEEKLY REGISTER, Baltimore, July 22, 1815
* James Lawrence - USS Chesapeake
* "Don't give up the ship" - War of 1812
The entire front page and almost all of page 2 are taken up with: "Lawrence and the Chesapeake" which has much on the battle which cost Captain Lawrence his life.
Portions of the report include: "...Lawrence fell! and the remainder of the fight, if fight it can be called, was as disgraceful as the first eight minutes were brilliant. The moment after captain Lawrence was carried below...Although Lawrence was prostrate, his soul was in arms. From the cockpit he issued his memorable orders, 'keep the guns going'--'fight her till she strikes or sinks'--and when he knew that the enemy had carried the spar deck, he sent the emphatic message to the gun deck, 'Don't give up the ship.'..." with more.
Terrific to have this famous quote on the front page of a period newspaper. The report is signed at the conclusion: Wm. Bainbridge.
Inside has over 5 pages taken up with: "Dartmoor Documents" with has much detail. This is followed by: "War Events".
Sixteen pages, 6 1/4 by 9 1/2 inches, very nice condition.
AI notes: On June 1, 1813, during the War of 1812, U.S. Navy Captain James Lawrence commanded the frigate USS Chesapeake against the British frigate HMS Shannon off Boston Harbor in a fierce and short naval engagement; early in the battle, Lawrence was struck by a musket ball and mortally wounded, but as he was carried below deck he gave his famous command, “Don’t give up the ship. Fight her till she sinks,” urging his crew to continue resisting; despite his words, the Chesapeake was overpowered and captured, yet Lawrence’s dying exhortation became one of the most enduring mottos in American naval history, immortalized just months later when Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry flew a battle flag emblazoned with the phrase during his decisive victory at the Battle of Lake Erie.
As noted in Wikipedia, this title: "...(was) one of the most widely-circulated magazines in the United States...Devoted primarily to politics...considered an important source for the history of the period."
Category: Pre-Civil War
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