Free The Shining Sea by George C. Daughan Page A

department. Keeping Hamilton was a measure of how unimportant the navy was to the president at the time.
    Porter’s urge to be back at sea in search of glory was demonstrated again when a challenge to a sea duel came on September 18 while he was waiting impatiently for the Essex to be ready. The challenge was delivered in an unusual way. The Democratic Press , a Philadelphia newspaper, published what was purported to be a letter from Sir James Yeo, captain of the British frigate Southampton , stationed in the Bahamas. It read: “Sir James Yeo [presents] his compliments to Captain Porter of the American frigate Essex —would be glad to have a tete a tete anywhere between the Capes of the Delaware and Havana, where he would be pleased to break his own sword over his damned head and put him down forward in irons.”
    Yeo, it seemed, wanted to goad Porter, whom the British had a special dislike for, into a one-on-one fight. Porter’s handling of a well-publicized row in New York City at the start of the war had aroused the Admiralty’s ire. And Whitehall remembered Porter from an old incident at Malta involving the lashing of a drunk and disorderly British tar.
    The latest episode involved John Erving, a sail maker’s mate aboard the Essex. On June 26, eight days after the United States had declared war, Porter called upon the crew of the Essex to take the oath of allegiance to the United States, but Erving refused. He protested that he was an Englishman and could not do so. Immediately, one of his shipmates contradicted him, swearing that Erving was an American from Barnstable, Massachusetts. Erving admitted that he had lived in the United States since 1800, but insisted that he was still a British subject, and if he were caught fighting against his country he would be hanged as a traitor. Porter wasn’t pleased, but he refused to whip the man and kept his irate crew from beating him. That didn’t end the matter, however. When some of the Essex men asked the captain’s permission to tar and feather Ervin and put him out on the streets of New York with appropriate labels affixed to his body, Porter, in his usually impulsive way, said yes.
    The treatment of Erving angered the British consul in New York, and he quickly became involved. He asked the New York police to safeguard Erving, declaring him to be a British subject. The police did intervene, protecting Erving while the consul arranged passage for him to Halifax.Porter strongly objected to letting Erving go, pointing out that he could be a spy and might report to the enemy all he knew about the American navy. Porter’s superiors did not support him, however. Secretary Hamilton found his actions deplorable, and sent him a blistering rebuke, telling him that “mobs should never be suffered to exist on board a man of war.” Needless to say, the secretary’s scolding did not sit well with Porter, who continued to believe that releasing Erving was a mistake.
    The wide publicity afforded this latest controversy added to the rancor the Admiralty felt toward Porter. Their Lordships promised to chastise him at the first opportunity. He was aware of their enmity, and he gloried in it.
    Yeo’s challenge, thus, came as no surprise. Porter assumed it was genuine and lost no time penning a reply: “Captain Porter of the U.S. frigate Essex , presents his complements to Sir James Yeo . . . and accepts with pleasure his polite invitation. If agreeable to Sir James, Captain Porter would prefer meeting near the Delaware, where Captain Porter pledges his honor to Sir James, that no American vessel shall interrupt their tete a tete. The Essex may be known by a flag bearing the motto, ‘ Free trade and sailors’ rights ,’ and when this is struck to the Southampton , Captain Porter will deserve the treatment promised by Sir James.”
    Porter pleaded with Secretary Hamilton not to prohibit him from accepting Yeo’s