The University of North Carolina presents American Adventure.
Written by John Ely, directed by John Clayton, American Adventure is produced and recorded by the University of North Carolina Communications Center, Earl Wynn, director.
Nobody ever tells the story of Ezra Lee of Connecticut. And that's very strange because New England people talk about their heroes as they should.
But there's a reason they don't talk about Ezra Lee, why most of our history books don't mention his name. It's an acceptable reason.
But we're going to mention his name anyway and tell his story. At least that part of his story that concerns the first year of the American Revolution, when General Washington was losing battles and losing ground.
That concerns a place called Whitehall Stairs in New York Harbor. And a thing, a strange and awkward looking thing, made of wood and bound with metal with a tiny window on its side.
The thing was drawn up close to the bank, and two miles away lay the British fleet.
Lee, you volunteered for this expedition, and if you want to reconsider the danger involved...
Yes, General.
What is it?
I thought perhaps you might be afraid, and understandably so.
Well, I'm numb, General.
Ezra Lee doesn't know what fear is, do you, Lee?
Oh, yes. I was afraid once or twice in my life.
When?
Oh, I remember once my brother said I was afraid to jump off the ridge of Paws Barn in Connecticut. They were right, too.
What did you do?
I jumped.
Heard you?
No.
Don't worry about this mission tonight, gentlemen. I aim to do one thing. Take your little boat out there in the harbor, Mr. Bushnell, all the way to the Eagle.
And I aim to sink the Eagle with Lord Howe and his sixty-four guns. And I reckon before I get back, I'll wish I hadn't started. But when I get back, I'll be glad I went.
All right, Lee, go over it one more time.
Look here, Mr. Bushnell, I've tested this water boat, and I know how to...
Go over the operational procedure again. Now, Lee, your mind's not going to be clear. There's not enough air to breathe. You get confused. Now, tell me what you do once more.
All right. I get inside the water boat through this little hatch in the top.
Yes.
You close the hatch.
Close it down and lock it.
Then I pump that handle, and it turns the propeller shaft, and the boat starts moving across the surface of the water.
Exactly. Now, to submerge beneath the harbor...
I open that water cock with my foot, and water flows into the bottom of the water boat. Then the weight of this water reaches a certain point, and the little boat goes under.
All right.
Then to move underwater, I pump the handle, and the propeller turns, and it goes right along.
For how long do you pump?
Until I get to the Eagle.
No. There's one other thing you have to remember, or you'll end up at the bottom of the harbor.
Get hold of your temper, Mr. Bushnell.
Yes. I worked very hard on this. You must remember to surface the craft at least every 30 minutes, at least that often, in order to open the airport and get fresh air.
Yes, sir. I'll remember that.
Now to return to the surface, I grab that little pump handle and pump out the water in the tank beneath until she's light enough to rise.
And when you get to the Eagle?
I drill a hole in her side with that corkscrew you got sticking out the top of the water boat.
Put a pipe in the hole, hang that magazine of powder on that pipe, and set it to go off, and then get out of there.
You'll have 12 minutes before she blows.
Well, with that charge on my tail, I'll be able to move a long ways in 12 minutes.
Goodbye, Lee.
Goodbye, sir.
You've got four miles out, four miles back. So take your time. Good luck.
Thank you, sir. Thank you.
All right. Close the hatch and push me further into the water.
Your compass working properly, Ezra?
Let me see. Yes, yes it is, I guess. But this phosphorescent wood doesn't light up much.
You can't hope for success without the compass.
You sound like the voice of doom, Mr. Bushnell. Close the hatch and push me off.
We'll be waiting for you, Ezra.
All right. Push him out into the water.
Lord have mercy, take it easy out there. You done busted my shins.
All right. Give her as big a shove as you can, man.
Hey, Lee, does she leak now?
Hey, Ezra.
Ezra Lee.
Get away from this thing, Bushnell. Leave me alone.
Good luck. It's up to you.
Ezra Lee sat in the tiny waterboat prison, sat in darkness.
Through a small window he could look out, and so he could see the horizon and the clouds lit by moonlight.
He pressed his face to the glass as if the view was spectacular and he could not see enough of it.
Then abruptly he sat back, straightened up, composed himself, felt for the pump of the water.
He was in a state of deep sleep.
Then abruptly he sat back, straightened up, composed himself, felt for the pump handle which moved the propeller shaft.
So began one August evening in 1776 in a waterboat called the American Turtle,
the first submarine attack in the history of the world.
How far out you reckon he is?
Not far. He won't move fast.
Why did you make that waterboat in the shape you did?
Oh, it seemed to be better. The pear shape makes it impossible for it to turn over in a current, or unlikely at least.
Yes, that's true.
So I put it together like that. Been working on the idea a long time.
General Washington has great hopes for it, but I feel he reached out in desperation for some possible way to hold New York.
This idea came along and he grabbed at it. He says it's a concept of genius.
I believe his hopes will be realized tonight.
Concept of genius.
As much depending on that young man out there, locked in a wood and metal prison,
looking in the darkness for a 64-gun British vessel, I wonder what he's thinking.
Pump Lee.
...jump...
Orphans laugh
I told you Ezra was a sissy. All his hands bent.
Why, before I was his age, I had jumped off higher roofs than that.
Jump. Be. Jump. Jump. Be. Jump.
What's the matter, boy?
You got up there to the peak of the roof, but you wouldn't jump, would you?
Are you afraid, boy?
Sure he's afraid.
Takes a brave boy to leap off a barn roof.
That makes the third time you told us you was gonna jump.
Third time you've been up on that roof, Ezra.
But you never do jump.
We come out of the house and stand here waiting, but you don't jump, Ezra.
I come up from the field this time to see you jump, Ezra.
But you didn't jump.
Jump. Be. Jump. Jump. Be. Jump.
Oh, what does mama know about it?
I tell you, I've jumped off that roof before.
Sure he has. I've seen him.
Go on, Ezra. What's the matter, boy?
You're not afraid, are you?
Go on and jump, Ezra. Jump.
Jump. Be. Jump.
Come on and jump, Ezra. Jump.
Jump. Be. Jump.
Jump. Be. Jump.
Jump. Be. Jump.
Jump. Be. Jump.
Thirty minutes out from shore.
There was no sound in the water boat except for Ezra Lee's heavy breathing.
He knew he had to go to the surface and get oxygen.
But he had forgotten how to surface the craft.
His mind was dulled. He could not remember.
His hand moved to the handle of the water pump, touched it, rested there.
But he didn't move the pump handle.
Instead, his foot went to the watercock and opened it.
And he blinked his eyes as more water flowed into the vessel.
He turned off the watercock.
The noise worried him.
Or perhaps he realized that more water would only take him further down into the Hudson River.
He ran a hand over his face.
He leaned forward on the small seat that had been provided for him.
He wiped his face with his hand.
He loosened his shirt collar.
He tore at the front of his shirt.
But the noise of the cloth tearing startled him.
He shook his head erratically.
Then, as if forcing himself out of a deep sleep, he sat erect, shook his head,
then looked down at the wooden handle.
He touched it.
He put his huge right hand around it.
Then he began to move it and pumped the water out of the water tank.
Three minutes later, the surface of New York Harbor was broken as the submarine emerged.
As relief clawed open the air vent, fresh air surged in.
He leaned his head back and breathed deeply.
It was always the same, even in the trial runs, always difficult to remember.
He would have to come up sooner next time, or one of these times he would not remember.
Lee closed the air vent.
Then with his foot, he struck the watercock.
And once more, the water bolts emerged.
Maybe the British saw him when he broke water.
Not likely.
Why should they keep careful watch, knowing how helpless we are to do them harm?
Don't suppose they'd know what it was, even if they did see it.
How far out was he?
A third of the way of the British fleet.
Doesn't seem far to me.
I expect it does to Ezra Lee.
Yes.
Messengers?
Yes, sir.
When did you ride to General Washington? Tell him Ezra Lee is a third of the way.
Out, Lee, out. Out, Lee, out. Lee, out. Out, Lee, out. Lee, out.
I told you before. I told you before and I will not tell you again.
I never want to see you on that barn roof again.
Never again, Ezra.
Out, Lee, out. Out, Lee, out.
Now I want your promise, Ezra.
I want you to promise me never to go on that barn roof again. Do you hear?
Out, Lee, out.
Do you hear, Ezra?
Out, Lee, out.
I don't care what your brothers say.
If you had jumped you might have hurt yourself.
I'll talk to your brothers.
Now promise me, Ezra. Promise me.
Out, Lee, out. Out, Lee, out.
Promise me or I'll put you in that pantry until you do.
Promise me. Do you hear?
Out, Lee, out. Out, Lee, out.
All right, Ezra.
Into the pantry.
Come on.
In with you.
Now when you promise you can come out and not before.
Out, Lee, out.
Now you can't open that door from the inside.
And you'll stay in there until you promise me, Ezra.
Until you promise me you will not come out.
Out, Lee, out. Out, Lee, out.
Two-thirds of the way from shore, the first American submarine lay on the surface of New York Harbor.
The men aboard the British ship went about their chores and perhaps talked of home.
And they talked of women, of course.
Occasionally a man might mention the war or the army of this revolutionary General Washington.
They did not see the American submarine.
They did not notice as once more it began to submerge beneath the water.
They had no way to know from history or from common sense.
But there was then below the water a man and a thing that wished them harm.
Out, Lee, out. Out, Lee, out.
Come out, boy. What's the matter with you?
What's in the pantry for now? Come out.
Out, Lee, out. Out, Lee, out.
I don't care if he did go on the barn roof.
You shouldn't lock him in that pantry there.
Good Lord, woman, what you're trying to do to your own son?
Make him afraid? Make him scared? A coward?
Out, Lee, out. Out, Lee, out.
Of course I don't want him to jump off a barn roof. He's my son too.
But what other way is there now?
Oh, you older boy should be taken out and horse-whipped.
You've got him to the place where he has to jump off that barn roof. He has to jump now.
Jump, Lee, jump. Jump, Lee, jump. Jump, Lee, jump.
Now, boy, just climb up the side and over the roof and when you get to the peak, you call to us so we can step back out of the way.
You older boys get back. Now go on, Ezra. You've got to jump now. You've got to find out that you can jump.
Jump, Lee, jump. Jump, Lee, jump. Jump, Lee, jump.
All right, now everybody back. All right, Ezra, we're standing clear.
Now pick your spot on the ground and go limber when you hit. Don't tighten up.
Ezra, you've got to jump. Can you hear me?
Jump, Lee, jump.
Ezra, come on, boy. Don't just stand there on the roof. Jump, I tell you.
Jump, Lee, jump.
Jump, Ezra. Lee, jump.
Jump, Lee, jump.
Jump, Ezra. Ezra, jump.
Jump, Lee, jump.
Jump, jump.
There, there, boy. It's all right. You did it. You older boy, see, Ezra did it.
You're all right, boy. You're all right. You've got no need to be afraid anymore.
That's what you have to do sometimes, boy. You've got to jump.
When you can't overcome your fears, you've got to jump in spite of them.
That's what even a really brave man must do sometimes. Jump in spite of them.
Jump, Lee, jump.
Jump, Lee, jump.
Jump, Lee, jump.
A long way from shore, under the shadow of the British vessel Eagle, lay the submarine and Ezra Lee.
Inside the Eagle...
What the blizers is that bumping noise?
Collins, wake up, wake up.
What's the matter?
Give a listen.
It seems like... it seems like something out there.
Listen here.
No, that's a strange one.
What do you think it is?
Oh, I don't know.
Most likely nothing. Most likely a log floated down the river.
I think so.
Probably a log.
It seems like a log would move on down with the current.
It doesn't that.
He'd better go on deck and tackle look.
On deck, look as he would, the sailor could see nothing except the ripples of New York harvest.
So he went below, went back to bed and lay awake, thinking of the witches on the moors and of strange powers moving under the water, of monsters and of all such things.
While in the American submarine, Ezra Lee continued to work, trying to attach the magazine of powder to the British vessel.
He could not see the handle of the corkscrew he was operating from inside the vessel, but it seemed that the corkscrew itself would not penetrate the side of the British ship.
And there was not enough oxygen.
He breathed deeply.
He gasped for air.
His mind became a confused muddle of sounds.
Thoughts of past days in Connecticut and his youth and his girl.
A girl with hair the color of flax, but infinitely more beautiful, with a ribbon in it.
He should surface the vessel for air.
He shouldn't try to go on.
It might be they would discover him, of course, but he couldn't breathe.
Any man would surface the vessel, even a brave man.
But instead, his foot moved slowly to the water cork.
He touched it, turned it.
And slowly the American submarine began to submerge even further below the surface of the harbor.
Ezra Lee had decided to go under the vessel and try to find a better place to attach the magazine on the other side.
Almost daylight.
Yes.
No. No explosion, no Ezra Lee, no water boat.
Not too late.
Drowned, most likely.
Said he wasn't necessarily dead yet.
Brave men, you know, but Ezra Lee.
What do you suppose a brave man thinks about when he knows he's near the end?
Thinks about saving himself, I guess.
Different stories about that.
Some say brave men think about their fears.
Others say they don't.
But keep their mind on the job.
Most people probably forget to be afraid.
Yes, but when a man can't forget and goes on, that's an accomplishment.
To have courage in spite of fear.
Why doesn't he come back? Why doesn't he surface? It's light enough for us to see.
Hey, Spawns.
Yes, sir?
Ride to General Washington and tell him we failed.
No, wait, not yet.
Yes, sir.
Call the messenger back. The general had high hopes.
Your water boat is down at the bottom of the schnell. Come along.
I'm waiting here.
All right. No harm in that. I'll be at headquarters.
General, there she lies.
What?
Well, I'll swear, still over a mile out.
But that's the water boat, all right.
And that darn fool must still be riding her.
Did you do all right, Ezra?
Well, that's a fine boat, Mr. Bushnell.
But that British flagship is coated with metal.
Metal?
I reckon that's what it is. I couldn't bore a hole in her bottom.
You got to the ship.
Yes, sir. She'd have blown. But I couldn't attach the magazine.
With all the dangers, the impossible situations, the one thing we didn't know defeated us. One thing.
Now, what's your temper, Mr. Bushnell?
Something that could be fixed easily. A different drill, perhaps.
It couldn't be too thick of metal on the ships.
Well, that's all you need. A new drill.
Lee, Ezra.
Yes, sir?
I have all day to figure out a way to attach that magazine, powdered, to the flagship. All day to get ready.
Yes, sir.
And then tonight. Tonight, Lee.
I reckon I know what you want, Mr. Bushnell.
Will you do it?
I reckon so.
I know General Washington will be pleased.
Well, I never was one for decorations. Not for just jumping off a barn or something like that.
You get that drill problem, click, Mr. Bushnell.
And tonight I'll put myself back out there and attach the magazine to the eagle.
Music
That's the story of Ezra Lee and the world's first submarine attack.
For a second night, Ezra Lee took his place inside the American underwater boat called the Turtle.
And once more the hatch was clamped down and he was pushed off into the water.
Once more he started out to fight the British fleet, alone.
And once more he failed.
This time because a seaman spotted his strange craft when he surfaced for air.
So there's the reason Ezra Lee's name is not listed in the history books.
He failed.
But we like his story even so.
And we feel good about presenting it after these 18 decades of American independence.
The story of Ezra Lee of Connecticut, decorated for bravery by General George Washington.
A man of honor.
Music
American Adventure is written by John Ely, directed by John Clayton,
and is produced by the Communication Center of the University of North Carolina.
In Man of Iron, Robert Thomas was Ezra Lee.
American Adventure is recorded in the studios of the Department of Radio, Television, and Motion Pictures on the campus at Chapel Hill.
Next week, American Adventure is recorded by John Ely,
and is produced by the Communication Center of the University of North Carolina.