this latter work known to us, which is in the possession of the Library Company of Philadelphia. It contains 247 pages, of which Jones gets but 30, Fanning the rest. How it came to appear with a Kentucky imprint is an interesting question. Fanning's own personality is interesting. From the book written by his brother Edmund* we learn that he was the oldest of the eight sons of Gilbert Fanning, of Stonington, Connecticut, where he was born May 31, 1755, and that he died at the Navy Yard, Charleston, S. C., September 30, 1805. At the time he was a lieutenant in our Navy.† His story, apart from being the fullest account of the famous sea fight, is replete with interesting details of his subsequent experiences in France and as a privateersman in several different vessels. He observed carefully, and noted many circumstances which add to the interest of the story; but at the same time he inserts much matter unfit for publication, which we have been obliged to omit, as also an absurd love-story between fictitious personages. Its date of composition is about 1801, as shown by his reference to Commodore Dale's appointment to the Mediterranean command, which was at that time; hence it is much more valuable than other and later publications, as written before Time had dulled recollection or produced the garrulity of age. Judging from his experience, he would have made an excellent record in the War of 1812, had his life been spared to that time. As it is, it is extraordinary that none of his name are noticed in any of the encyclopaedias, save the Tory Edmund, Governor of North Voyages round the World, with selected sketches of Voyages to the South Seas, &c., performed under the Command and Agency of the Author, &c. New York, 1833 and '38. † See Hamersley's list of officers of the Navy and Marine Corps. xii Carolina (the all-around rascal David, of the same state, was not a relative): for, as the Fanning Genealogy points out, the family have been noted for their patriotism ever since the original settlement in America. We quote a paragraph (the list of patriot Fannings is too long for insertion): The Fannings were very zealous in their military and naval careers, and furnished a large quota of men for service in the wars of their country. Few families have contributed so largely to the Revolution as that of the Fannings, in many cases every male member of the family serving. By actual record over thirteen per cent. of the male descendants of Edmund Fanning did service in the various wars. John Fanning Watson, the historian, in a letter of 1835, says: "The Revolution destroyed the whole male part of John Fanning's family, and the country never bestowed one penny upon any of the heirs." What greater heroes are there than those who give their lives for their country? The old Jersey, the Strombolo, had their share of the Fannings. Could there be nobler heroes than those whose bones lay bleaching on the shores of the Wallabout? Whatever cause the Fannings upheld, they entered into with spirit, determination and patriotism. It has been said that no Fanning was ever a traitor to country or creed. Truly their lives were never peaceful, and their history is a story of confiscation, sacrifice and martyrdom from the earliest times.—Fanning Genealogy, by W. F. Brooks, 1906. In personal appearance our hero is described as something of a dandy-always well-dressed, and somewhat given to self-approval; but that may be pardoned to one of his experiences. After his return from France he lived in New York City from 1792 to 1796, and again in 1798, then in his father's house (still standing) in Stonington, 1797, and 1802. In 1784 he married Elizabeth Smith, of Stonington, by whom he had six children, only one surviving infancy, Lavinia, who married Nathan Smith of Poquonnock, Conn. The present representatives are great grandchildren, Mr. Aborn Fanning Smith and Miss Adriana S. Marsh, both of New London, Conn. His subsequent career is described in the following letter: DEAR SIR: NAVY DEPARTMENT, LIBRARY AND NAVAL WAR RECORDS, In reply to your letter requesting information regarding the commission, last xiii duty and death of Nathaniel Fanning, the following, taken from original documents, is furnished you; Nathaniel Fanning was commissioned Lieutenant in the United States Navy December 4, 1804. His letter of acceptance, dated New York, December 12, 1804, encloses the "printed oath" duly signed before De Witt Clinton, Mayor of the City of New York. It is to be found in a collection of acceptances in this office. In this letter Fanning says that he "shall embark for Charleston, S. C., in the first vessel which sails for that port, believing this to be the most expeditious way of getting there.' In an old volume entitled "Ships' Services," in a list of "gunboats builded," No. 9 was ordered to be built July 7, 1804, at Charleston, S. C., under the superintendency of Lieutenants Nathaniel Fanning and Wm. Smith, Sr. This gunboat was was launched March 4, 1805. May 6, 1805, Lieutenant Nathaniel Fanning relieved Lieutenant Humphrey Magrath in command of Gunboat No. 1. This gunboat had been cruising in company with Gunboat No. 2 between Savannah and Georgetown, with orders to "protect the rights of the United States within their jurisdictional limits." While waiting to hear from the Governor of Georgia these gunboats were driven ashore and left dry in a cornfield on Whitemarsh Island. No. 1 was ordered to Charleston to be repaired and fitted for the Mediterranean Station. She proved not strong enough for the ocean voyage; but was repaired, and “the fixture of her gun altered,' and on July 8, 1805, Lieutenant Fanning reported her as a safe boat to go "outside the bar of our harbors." She "continued off Fort Johnson," enforcing the quarantine laws of the state (South Carolina), and made short cruises until September 30, 1805, when Lieutenant Fanning died at Charleston, S. C. Very respectfully yours, CHARLES W. STEWART, Superintendent Library and Naval War Records. To his intimate relations with Jones, as his clerk, are due the anecdotes which show the noted fighter in a very unflattering light. His vanity and loquacity (which MacKenzie, in his Life, calls his chief defects) and general "bumptiousness," his arrogant treatment of officers and men alike, leave us nothing to admire save the two qualities which constitute his fame-courage and seamanship. Taken as a whole the "Narrative" is a valuable contribution to the history of its time, and we are confident our subscribers will so approve it. The spelling, as a rule, has been corrected, except where the error is so plain as to correct itself. For the portrait and autograph of the hero, we are indebted to the kindness of Mr. Walter F. Brooks of Worcester, Mass., the author of the Fanning Genealogy. xiv EDITOR. DEDICATION TO JOHN JACKSON, Esq., SIR, AFTER a careful perusal of the following pages, written, as you know, by an old navy revolutionary officer; you have consented that he should dedicate them to you. This is a proof of your attachment to the principles on which our Independence was founded. The active part which you took in the revolutionary war, on the side of the Americans, and your unabated zeal for Republican principles ever since that period, enables you to distinguish its true friends. In consequence of this, you have thought the present work interesting to the rising generation in the United States, and have recommended its publication. Wishing you every happiness this world can afford; I remain with sentiments of esteem your very obedient, and THE AUTHOR. XV |