Isaiah Thomas Broadside Ballads Project

Verses in Vogue with the Vulgar

Glorious naval victory, obtained by Commodore Bainbridge, of the United States frigate Constitution, over His Britannic Majesty's frigate Java. By James Campbell, a boatswain's mate on board the Constitution

This narrative of the battle between Constitution and Java is the second text in the Thomas collection credited to James Campbell, “boatswain’s mate on board the Constitution,” along with A New Song. Without his "boatswain's mate" title, he is also noted as the author of Written and Corrected by James Campbell. The boatswain’s whistle, possibly Campbell’s, is mentioned in Naval Victory (verse 3), calling all hands to quarters to reef the sails. In this broadside, Glorious Naval Victory, Campbell tells the story of the battle himself in common phrases and expressions. The text is in four-line verses without a chorus and with a simple rhyming scheme (AABB). The author echoes the concern about Bainbridge’s background in verse 2 and calls on Washington’s name near the end to add luster to the present war effort.

Additional Metadata

Date

1813

Place of Publication

Boston.

Publisher

Coverly, Nathaniel, 1775?-1824, printer.

Subjects

Bainbridge, William, 1774-1833
Constitution (Frigate)
Naval battles
Ships
Sailors
United States History War of 1812

First Line

Come listen to my story the truth I will unfold.

Identifiers

BIB ID: 293723
OCLC Control No.: (OCoLC)ocm58785130
OCLC Control No.: (OCoLC)ocn191478584
Shaw, R.R. American Bibliography, 31073
Shaw, R.R. American Bibliography, 51277
AAS General Catalog URL: http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=293723
View larger image

Physical Dimensions

30 x 26 cm.

Transcriptions

View transcription using TEI
Download TEI XML

Citation

“Glorious naval victory, obtained by Commodore Bainbridge, of the United States frigate Constitution, over His Britannic Majesty's frigate Java. By James Campbell, a boatswain's mate on board the Constitution,” Isaiah Thomas Broadside Ballads Project, accessed October 22, 2026, https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/thomasballads/items/show/276.