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| ISBN-13: | 9781496959331 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 01/14/2015 |
| Pages: | 310 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d) |
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The Holy Terror: Captain William Nichols
A True Story
By G. William Freeman
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2015 Dr. G. William FreemanAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4969-5933-1
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
During the war, he captured 28 prizes, though more than a third of his time, he was in prison, earning for himself the name of "Holy Terror", wherever seamen gathered.
Bayley and Jones
History of Newburyport Marine Society
1906, p. 371
Those who are still alive of the seamen of that period, well remember how the name and deeds of Captain Nichols rendered him a living terror at the time to all foes.
Rev. George D. Wildes
"Memoir of Captain William Nichols of Newburyport"
1864, p. 235
This is a story of endurance and persistence, a story of determination and courage, and a story of bravery in the face of adverse odds. This story is about the life of Captain William Nichols, a privateer in the War of 1812.
Nichols met many challenges in his life and suffered through numerous hardships. His perseverance and fearlessness during repeated naval conflicts in the War of 1812 earned him the moniker the "Holy Terror," bestowed upon him by the British because of his success against them on the high seas. This lionhearted and audacious man had developed strong survival skills that enabled him to make rapid decisions with sound judgment when facing the enemy.
Nichols was first a merchant mariner and shipmaster before answering the call of the US Congress, becoming a commissioned privateer captain during the War of 1812. A history of sea life permeated throughout Captain Nichols' family. He followed the example of his father, Captain William Nichols Sr., who had also been a merchant mariner and a commissioned privateer during the Revolutionary War. His younger brother, Captain Samuel Nichols, was a successful merchant mariner and captain, and his father-in-law, Captain Nichols Pierce, had also been a privateer captain. All of these men earned membership into the prestigious Marine Society of Newburyport, having been successful shipmasters from Newburyport.
William Nichols' only son, Captain William Wallace Nichols, and his son-in-law, Captain Francis Todd Jr., were also sea captains. Nathaniel Pierce, Nichols' younger brother-in-law, was a British prisoner at Dartmoor as an adolescent during the War of 1812 and later became a shipmaster himself.
The War of 1812 continued for two and a half years from June 1812 to December 1814, though news that peace had been declared in Ghent, Belgium, did not arrive in the United States until February 1815. During the War of 1812, Captain Nichols sailed on two cruises with the privateer brig Decatur and two with the privateer Harpy. He spent a little more than three months on his two voyages with the Decatur, until he was captured by a British frigate on his second cruise and imprisoned for a year and a half. Following this lengthy imprisonment, Nichols spent another three months on two successful cruises with the Harpy until the end of the war.
He made more of the few months that he actually spent at sea than others could boast of in a lifetime, capturing twenty-eight British vessels and more than six hundred prisoners, with extensive merchandise and cargo goods that he seized from the British ships. It can be envisioned what he might have accomplished if he had not been imprisoned and had served as an active privateer captain throughout the entire War of 1812.
Nichols' shrewdness confirmed his reputation as the Holy Terror. While he was captured six times at sea, he was able to escape three of those times. He was first captured by a French privateer as a seaman aboard the Rose when he was eighteen years old. He was taken to Guadalupe but managed to escape being seized and impressed by the French, after which he was able to get to St. Thomas Island, where he hid in the mountains before securing passage back to New York.
He was later captured twice on a voyage as a merchant shipmaster on the Sally Ann when he was twenty-six years old. He was first seized by the British and taken to Bristol, England, where he was released, then soon after was again captured by the French and taken to Amsterdam. After a long delay, he returned to America, frustrated and angry that he had been unable to recover the Sally Ann from the French or Dutch governments.
Three years later, Nichols was again captured by the British while in command of the Alert. However, he was able to singlehandedly recover his ship from the British prize crew. The Alert was seized again a few days later by another British ship, and Nichols was sent to England. He found a way to escape from his Marine guard while awaiting trial, and he returned to Newburyport. Shortly after his return, he sailed again with the Dolphin but was soon captured and taken to England. However, he was not imprisoned on this occasion, and he obtained passage back to the United States.
All of his captures and escapes mentioned thus far happened before the War of 1812 while he was a merchant mariner. When President James Madison declared war in June 1812, Nichols sailed from Newburyport on the Decatur as a commissioned privateer captain. He had a very successful first cruise but was captured on his second cruise in January 1813 and taken to Barbados.
In Barbados, he was kept locked in a cage constructed on the deck of a British prison-ship, exposed to the harsh sun of the Caribbean and all the elements for thirty-four days. Nichols was not allowed to communicate with anyone except his guard during that time, leaving him isolated and alone. His captors justified this cruel measure as being necessary given his history of escapes and because of his prior recapture of the Alert before the war. The experience was demeaning and humiliating for him, as he was locked away from human contact. The British tried to take something away from him about who he really was, but he endured and persevered through the ordeal.
He was then transferred, sent to England, and imprisoned on a prison-ship docked in Chatham, England, for one and a half years. Upon his release from prison, through a prisoner exchange of two British officers, he immediately sailed out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as the captain of the privateer brig Harpy, upon which he completed two very successful cruises against the British that concluded with the end of the war.
Over the years, a number of writers have been intrigued by Nichols' story and have expounded about him when he was in command of the privateers Decatur and Harpy. They have extolled the bravery and fearlessness Nichols demonstrated in his naval battles. While it has been reported that Nichols left no papers, he has been remembered well by those who knew him or knew of him.
Regarding his appearance, there is only one known painting of Nichols to survive, which has been donated to the Custom House Maritime Museum, but more details about him can be drawn from those who wrote about him.
Sidney Chase, an artist and writer and friend of Nichols' great-granddaughter, Genevieve Hale Baumgartner, in the early 1900s wrote about William Nichols' escapades as a privateer. He also wrote a fictionalized account of Nichols in an article "A Yankee Privateer" for the May 1913 issue of Scribner's Magazine. He described Nichols from his portrait as a "straight, slender man with black hair and dark piercing eyes" (Chase, 1913, p. 2).
Rev. George D. Wildes was the son of a Newburyport attorney who had been a close associate of Captain Nichols. Rev. Wildes wrote a "Memoir of Captain William Nichols" shortly after Nichols' death, which he prepared from extensive notes of George J. L. Colby, editor of the Newburyport Herald. Colby was a close friend of Nichols, and Wildes was indebted to Colby for sharing his notes about Nichols.
During his boyhood, Wildes had occasion to observe Nichols and described him as being "lithe, with a compact and muscular build" (Wildes, 1864, p. 233). He recalled that Nichols conducted himself with an intense focus and concentration that appeared in his eyes and in the set of his shoulders. Wildes related, "He had a countenance marked by a bold, square forehead, piercing eyes, and the strikingly defined lower face of lion-hearted courage" (ibid). Wildes described Nichols as being "quick in all his movements, even to old age, and his strident walk was distinguished by something of a warrior's port and step" (ibid., 236). His heavy brow would often lower above his flashing eyes, as Wildes described him, "I think I never looked upon a face, which seemed to me so complete a reflection of thorough pluck combined with an iron will" (ibid., 233).
Chase reported that children would often become afraid of Captain Nichols and run away whenever they saw him on the street (Chase, ca. 1920, p. 2). Boys in Newburyport were always curious to see "the man utterly without fear" (Wildes, 1864, p. 230).
Regarding Nichols' character, he appears to have been an intrepid and fearless man possessed of no self-doubt. By all accounts, he had an independent, bold spirit, daring courage, a strong will, and a determined and serious manner. His was the heart of a warrior.
Two testimonials written by shipmasters of vessels that Nichols had captured with the Harpy attest to his character. Captain William Drysdale of the captured ship William and Alfred acknowledged "the great civility, indulgent lenity, and humane usage while on board the Harpy of William Nichols and all his officers" (Currier I, p. 663). This testimonial was endorsed by a statement from four shipmasters of vessels captured by the Harpy: "We, the undersigned, feel congenial sentiments toward Captain Nichols and the officers on board the Harpy and that our treatment is worthy of every praise and encomium" (ibid.).
In a letter written in September 1813 by Captain Benjamin Pierce, owner of the ships Alert and Decatur, which Nichols commanded, to the US Commissary of Prisoners John Mason, Esq., advocating for the release of Nichols from prison, he states:
Touching the character of Captain Nichols as a citizen, a man, and a neighbor, he is modest and unassuming, yet brave and decided; warmly attached to his constitutions, federal and state, of his native country ... As a man he is strictly moral and sincere, as a husband, parent, and neighbor, tender, indulgent, and affable. His connections are highly respectable, and are among the first of our citizens. Universal assent among all classes and parties may be had, that Captain Nichols is truly and honest, brave, and useful citizen.
Captain Benjamin Pierce
American State Papers, p. 650.
(see Appendix I)
Richard Henry Dana, maritime lawyer and author of Two Years Before the Mast, when taking exception to the leniency of a judge regarding charges against a sea captain for cruelty at sea, explained that in order to insure the success and safety of his ship and its crew, the power of the captain on board his vessel must be maintained, but the exercise of it must be done responsibly (Dana, 1840, p. 104). Nichols was not imprudent with his power. For all of his aggressive and warlike activities during the War of 1812, he did not lack empathy and was not indifferent to others. He did not have a pervasive pattern of reckless disregard or violation of the rights of others, as some other shipmasters had been reported to have.
One hundred and forty years later, Charles Somerby, when reviewing Nichols' achievements during the War of 1812, reported in an article in the Newburyport Daily News, "The ship commander (Nichols), although of rough exterior as master of a privateer was of tender sensibilities, always exhibiting the greatest affection for his mother and family" (Somerby, Newburyport Daily News, March 5, 1952).
His cruises during the War of 1812 were dutifully noted on a regular basis in the "Herald Ship News" of the Newburyport Herald. In 1854, E. Vale Smith wrote in detail about the exploits of Nichols in her History of Newburyport, and in 1855, the Newburyport Herald had four lengthy "Memorabilia" articles about his life. Captain George Coggleshall also wrote about Nichols in his 1861 book, History of American Privateers. Nichols was elderly at this time, but he did have the opportunity to read how others described his naval encounters.
Shortly after Nichols' death in 1863, Rev. George Wildes wrote a lengthy memoir about him in 1864 and presented it at a meeting of the Essex Institute in Salem, Massachusetts. In addition, D. Hamilton Hurd included a lengthy reference about the naval encounters of Captain Nichols in his 1888 two-volume set, History of Essex County.
John Currier wrote a well-known, two-volume set of the History of Newburyport in 1906 and 1909, in which he made numerous references and provided a number of images regarding Captain Nichols. Also in 1906, Bayley and Jones in their History of the Newburyport Marine Society wrote a long tribute to Captain Nichols. Since then, there have been a number of additional articles, references, and papers written about Nichols by Maclay (1899), Chase (ca. 1920), Labaree (1962), and Coffey (1975). When discussing privateering captains in Newburyport during the War of 1812, Lorraine Coffey in her dissertation, "The Rise and Decline of Newburyport, 1783–1820," described the qualities needed for a shipmaster as "perceptiveness, enterprise, inventiveness, daring, and sometimes ruthlessness, together with an ability to assume responsibility" (Coffey, 1975, p. 86). Nichols surely had superior navigational skills and seamanship that were essential for a sea captain. He was audacious in his actions, and he demonstrated leadership with his crew.
Captain William Nichols was a fearless and dashing privateer in the War of 1812. He was an unassuming hero of the war and continues to be highly respected by those who know of his story. His courage and good judgment merit a more prominent place in American history, as Hamilton Hurd understates at the beginning of his tribute to Nichols in his 1888 volume, History of Essex County, "The career of Captain William Nichols deserves a more extended mention" (p. 1764).
CHAPTER 2Early Years: Captured on the Rose
None who ever knew Captain Nichols can doubt that the lion heart of the man did not beat strong and resolute, under the youthful frame of the boy ...
With the crew of the Rose he was sent to Guadeloupe, whence escaping from his captors, finding refuge in the mountains, and eventually obtaining passage to return to New York.
Rev. George D. Wildes
"Memoir of Captain William Nichols of Newburyport"
1864, p. 230
Growing Up in Newburyport
William Nichols was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on July 1, 1781 toward the end of the Revolutionary War, and just before the fifth celebration of our Declaration of Independence.
He grew up in downtown Newburyport during the post-Revolutionary period only two blocks away from Market Square and the docks (Bayley & Jones, 1906, p. 369). Shipbuilding and foreign trade were then flourishing as the main mercantile activities. Market Square was teeming with business and trade activity in town that filled the harbor with sailing vessels traveling to Europe, the Caribbean, and China.
Market Square was constantly abuzz with noise and commotion from the shipbuilding and the constant rattling of carts on the cobblestone streets. Warehouses that were crowded next to each other down by the wharves teemed with merchandise ready to be shipped out. At every turn there was bustle, industry, and activity (Emery, 1879, p. 226). Newburyport was a prosperous seaport during this time (Chase, ca. 1920, p. 1). William's experiences along the waterfront during his boyhood sparked an enduring fascination with the sea.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Holy Terror: Captain William Nichols by G. William Freeman. Copyright © 2015 Dr. G. William Freeman. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Preface, xiii,Overview, xxiii,
Chapter 1: Introduction, 1,
Chapter 2: Early Years: Captured on the Rose, 11,
Chapter 3: Shipmaster of the Sally Ann, 25,
Chapter 4: Twice Captured on the Alert, 41,
Chapter 5: The Decatur, 61,
Chapter 6: Battle of Decatur vs. HMS Commerce, 83,
Chapter 7: Captured on the Decatur, 95,
Chapter 8: Imprisonment on Nassau Prison-Ship, 109,
Chapter 9: Prisoner Exchange, 123,
Chapter 10: The Harpy, 135,
Chapter 11: Brink of Secession in Newburyport, 157,
Chapter 12: Later Years - Merchant Mariner and Politician, 171,
Appendix A: Historical Perspective - A World Gone Mad, 185,
Appendix B: Historical Perspective - Impressment, 203,
Appendix C: Historical Perspective - Privateering, 211,
Appendix D: Historical Perspective: Newburyport, 227,
Appendix E: Letter from Captain Nicholas Pierce to His Son, Nathaniel Pierce, in a British Prison, 235,
Appendix F: Letter to Captain William Nichols from Nathaniel Pierce, 237,
Appendix G: Letters by Commodore William Bainbridge and James Foot, of the Decatur, 239,
Appendix H: Letter From US Commissary General of Prisoners John Mason, 243,
Appendix I: Letter by Benjamin Pierce Regarding Captain William Nichols, 245,
Appendix J: Statement by Lieutenant Nathaniel Swazy, 249,
Appendix K: Certificate of Release from Prison of Captain William Nichols, 251,
Appendix L: Excerpts from Letter to Massachusetts General Court from Town of Newburyport, 253,
Appendix M: Captain William Nichols Jr. Genealogy, 255,
Bibliography, 263,