Even in defeat the _Chesapeake_ had punished the enemy far more severely than the _Constitution_ had been able to do.
Lawrence lay in the cockpit, or hospital, when his men began to swarm down in confusion and leaderless panic.

Still conscious, he was aware that disaster had overtaken them and he muttered again and again with his dying breath, "Don't give up the ship.

Blow her up." Thus passed to an honorable fame an American naval officer of great gallantry and personal charm.

Although he brought upon his country a bitter humiliation, the fact that he died sword in hand, his last thought for his flag and his service, has atoned for his faults of rashness and overconfidence.

The odds were against him, and ill-luck smashed his chance of overcoming them.