It was afternoon when the two ships came in sight of each other,
and immediately prepared for a fight. Nearer and nearer they came
to each other, but not until they were scarce fifty yards apart
did the Constitution open fire. Then it was deadly. The mizzen mast
of the Guerriere was shot away; very soon the main mast followed,
and in less than half an hour the Guerriere was a hopeless wreck.
Then the British captain struck his flag and surrendered.
The Constitution was scarcely hurt, and after this she got the name
of Old Ironsides. She sailed the seas for many a long day, and is
now kept as a national memorial in the navy yard at Portsmouth,
Mass.
The loss of one ship was as nothing to the great sea power of Britain.
But it cheered the Americans greatly, and it was the beginning of
many like successes. So this way and that, both on land and sea,
fortune swayed, now one side winning, now the other.
At the battle of Queenstown, a city in Canada, on the Niagara River,
the British won the victory, but lost their great leader Brock, so
that victory was too dearly bought.
Yet still the British continued to win, and after one battle
the Indians began to torture and slay the American prisoners. The
British general did not know how to curb the fiery Redmen, and he
let the horrid massacre go on. But when Tecumseh heard of it he
was filled with wrath and grief.
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