—he who understood the sea, the young ship’s master—and offered himself to the oppressed and struggling colonies, and to the glorious cause.
On Dec. 22, 1775, he was appointed a Lieutenant in the Colonial Navy. A fleet of thirteen gallant little vessels was equipped, and on one of these, the flagship “Alfred,” our hero opened his thrilling career as a fighter on the high seas.
We must now forget the little boy who was born among the Scotch hills, and who sailed on the good bark “Friendship,” for it is a naval hero whom we have to follow through conflict and danger and bloodshed, into victory and fame. It was on this vessel that the young patriot sailor first raised the American flag, in honor of the commander-in-chief who came on board, and as it floated in the sky above them, a rousing cheer was sent up for the emblem of the new-born land. It was the first time the national banner had been given to the breeze, and it floated in the free air until the end was known—until Cornwallis had
