before the other was aware of her danger, crossed her wake and raked
her.

This startling experience convinced the Englishman that he had met his
master and he crowded on all sail in the desperate effort to escape. The
_Constitution_ was immediately after her, and by ten o'clock secured a
position from which to deliver another of her terrible broadsides,
seeing which the enemy surrendered. She proved to be the British sloop
of war _Levant_, of 21 guns.

In this battle the _Constitution_ had 4 killed and 10 wounded, while on
the _Cyane_ and _Levant_ 35 were killed and 42 wounded. Of all the
battles in which this famous ship was engaged, there was none more
remarkable than this. When Stewart advanced to the attack he believed
both his enemies were frigates. The manner in which he baffled every
effort of the two to rake him, while he repeatedly raked them, was one
of the many proofs that the American navy contained no finer seaman than
he. The grand old _Constitution_ seemed to anticipate every wish of her
commander and responded with a promptness that could not have been
surpassed. The discipline of the crew was perfect, and, after all,
therefore, it is little wonder that one of the last acts of the famous
ship was the most brilliant of them all.

It is stated by Richard Watson Gilder that when Captain Stewart was
talking with the respective captains of the _Cyane_ and _Levant_ in his
own cabin, the two fell into a dispute, each charging the other with
failing to do the right thing during the engagement, and insisting that
if it had been done they would not have been defeated. Stewart sat
amused and interested until he saw they were becoming angry, when he
interfered.