The Speakers at the 'Lake Ontario and the War of 1812' Lecture

The two speakers mentioned in the previous post, Dr. Tim Abel and Dr. Ben Ford, know their stuff on the history of Lake Ontario.

Tim Abel is a local archaeologist who has spent more than a decade studying  the War of 1812.  (Hey, this War of 1812 blog started in 2012, the bicentennial of the war and is still continuing.  That would put me at a decade as well.)

He is an adjunct professor of anthropology at SUNY Canton and a practicing  consulting archaeologist whose field  experience dates back to the  early 1980s.  He will discuss a broad outline of the War of 1812 and provide a snapshot of  archaeological research done by himself and others in the past seventy years.

Ben Ford is chair of the Anthropology Department of  Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and is a historic and  maritime archaeologist who conducts research in the Great Lakes and Pennsylvania.  In addition, he is author or editor of  five books, including "The Shore Is a Bridge:  The Maritime Cultural Landscape of Lake Ontario" headlined by  Judy Levan, meteorologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service (NWS) Buffalo.

--Brock-Perry

Lake Ontario and the War of 1812 Lecture in Sackets Harbor, N.Y., This Saturday

From the April 27, 2022, NNY360 Watertown Daily Times (New York)  "Lake Ontario lecture series continues April 30 with 'Lake Ontario and the War of 1812'

The third installment of the Lake Ontario lecture series will take place Saturday, April 30 at the Sackets Harbor Ballroom in the Village of Sackets Harbor, New York.

"Lake Ontario and the War of 1812" will feature  Dr. Tim Abel and Dr. Ben Ford and will focus on the importance of Lake Ontario in the conflict.  Topics will include  an overview of the war in northern New York and the role of naval power in the conflict.

The lecture will be in-person or virtual.

This is organized by the local Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary established to help the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association  (NOAA) in guiding a proposed  national marine sanctuary (NMS) through the designation process.

The proposed Lake Ontario NMS would encompass  more than 1,700 square miles in eastern Lake Ontario to protect and showcase dozens of shipwrecks and other significant underwater assets.  The NOAA announced its intention to designate the marine sanctuary in April 2019 and in mid 2021, released  draft documents related to the proposed sanctuary.

Great Idea.  --Brock-Perry

Captain Thomas Gamble in the War of 1812

From the same source as the previous post.

GAMBLE, THOMAS (For previous record see War with Tripoli)--  Midshipman; on Frigate "Essex," 1806; transferred to merchant service. August 25,  1806, and again transferred to the same service, April 20, 1807;

Ordered to duty at New York, N.Y., August 5, 1807; ordered to duty under command of Lieutenant Melancthon T. Woolsey for service on the lakes, July 5, 1808; ordered to duty  at New York, N.Y., April 27, 1809;n  transferred to merchant service, July 10,  1809; ordered to duty under Captain John Rodgers, August 16, 1809;

Lieutenant, April 27, 1810; on Frigate "President," Captain John Rodgers, North Atlantic Squadron, May 1811; ordered to Baltimore, Md. September 3, 1814; on Frigate "Guerriere," November 13, 1814; ordered to New York, N.Y., to join West  India Squadron, Captain David Porter, November 28, 1814.  

(For subsequent service and continued record, see War with Algiers.)

--Brock-Perry

Capt. Thomas Gamble After the War of 1812

From the book "Records of Officers and Men from New Jersey in Wars 1791-1815" by New Jersey Adjutant's Office.

THOMAS GAMBLE (For previous   record see War With Great Britain.  Lieutenant in command of  Brig "Spark" and joined the Mediterranean Squadron, Captain Stephen  Decatur, at New York , New York,  May 1815;  took part in the engagement with and capture of Algerian ship "Mashouda" off Cape  De Gatt, Spain, , June 17, 1815, and the Algerian brig "Estedio" off Cape Palos, Spain, June 19, 1815.

Ordered from New York to report to the Navy department, Washington, D.C., after he should have dismantled Brig "Spark." under his command, December 11, 1815.

Master Commandant , April 27, 1816, in command of Sloop-of-War "Erie,"  Mediterranean Squadron, Captain Isaac Chauncey, January 1, 1817.  Died at Pisa, Italy, October 10, 1818.

--Brock-Perry

Capt. Thomas Gamble-- Part 5: James Fennimore Cooper's Poem to Thomas

James Fennimore Cooper visited the grave a decade later and paid poetic  tribute whole visiting it in December 1828.  He wrote five verses on Gamble's stone.  The first and last are as follows:

"Sleep on in peace,  within thy foreign grave,

Companion of my young and laughing hour!

Thought bears me hence to wild Ontario's wave,

To other scenes, to days when hope had power.

*********************

"But twice ten years have drawn a ray,

Of austere truth across the treach'rous sphere; 

To me life stands exposed, yet I obey

Its luring calls, and lo! thou sleepest  here!"

--Brock-Perry

Captain Thomas Gamble-- Part 4: Service in the War of 1812 and Death

Thomas Gamble later fought and was seriously wounded in the first naval engagement of the War of 1812 while serving as second lieutenant on the frigate USS  President.  This was the fight with the British frigate HMS Belvidera. This took place just a few days after war was declared in June 1812.

Upon his recovery, Gamble returned to active duty and was eventually promoted to master commandant..  His first independent command was the  USS Spark in the Mediterranean.

After his death, Gamble's fellow officers arranged  for the transport of his body from Pisa to Leghorn (English Cemetery in Livorno, Italy).  he was transported there in his last command, the USS Erie. Furthermore, $3,000 was raised to provide a marble monument at the grave

--Brock-Perry

Captain Thomas Gamble-- Part 3: One of Four Brothers Who Died in the Service and Friend of James Fennimore Cooper

From Find-a-Grave.

U.S. Naval officer, veteran of the War of 1812, friend and former messmate of writer James Fennimore Cooper ("Last of the Mohicans").

Born in Recklestown (now Chesterfield, New Jersey) on the first Christmas Eve following the American revolution, he was the eldest of four brothers who died in the service of their country.

Only 34 at the time of his death, he became fatally ill while in command of the  sloop USS Erie of the U.S. Navy's Mediterranean Squadron, and died in the naval hospital in Pisa, Italy,  during the autumn of 1818.

His friendship with James Fennimore Cooper had begun a decade earlier when they had served together as midshipmen on Lake Ontario.  There they assisted future Commodore Melancton Woolsey in the construction of the brig USS Oneida, the  first American warship on the Great Lakes.

--Brock-Perry

Captain Thomas Gamble-- Part 2: Through the Ranks

From the U.S. Navy History and Heritage Command "Navy officers 1798-1900."

Midshipman:  2 April 1804

Lieutenant:  27 April 1810

Master Commandant:  27 April 1816

Died:  10 October 1818

--Brock-Perry

Captain Thomas Gamble

He was one of the four sons of  American Revolution Marine William Gamble who joined the Navy.  One, John Marshall Gamble became a Marine officer.

From Find-A-Grave.

CAPTAIN THOMAS GAMBLE

BORN: 24 December 1783, Chesterfield, New Jersey

DIED:  9 October 1818, Pisa, Italy

BURIED:  English Cemetery,  Livorno, Italy

--Brock-Perry

Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

From Find-A-Grave.

In the last post, I mentioned that William Gamble was buried in Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.  Some other notables buried there:

John Quincy Adams--  President

Matthew Brady--  Photographer Civil War

Preston Smith Brooks--  Attacked Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner on the Senate floor.

David Herold--  Lincoln conspirator 

J. Edgar Hoover--  FBI

Owen Lovejoy--  Abolitionist

Thomas "Tip" O'Neill--  House of Representatives

John Philip Sousa--  Marches

And, lots of members of Congress.

--Brock-Perry

The Gamble Family in the USN and USMC: Major William Gamble, the Father

In the last post, I wrote about William Gamble being a Marine veteran of the American Revolution and having four sons who followed him into service, building a bit of a Gamble dynasty.

What about this patriarch?

From Find-A-Grave

MAJOR WILLIAM GAMBLE

BIRTH:  Unknown

DEATH:  15 January 1833

BURIAL:  Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D.C.

From the Congressional

In this city, on Tuesday morning, the 15th instant, Major William Gamble, an officer of the Revolutionary war, aged 78 years.  The funeral will proceed from Mrs. Arguelles', Pennsylvania avenue, at one o'clock this afternoon.

The friends of the deceased, and those of his son,  Col. Gamble,  of the U.S. Marine Corps, are respectively invited to attend without further invitation.

******************************

This would explain why John M. Gamble became a Marine after initially being a midshipman in the Navy.

--Brock-Perry

The Gamble Family in the USN and USMC

From the "Biographical Register of Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York"  by William Munro MacBean.

Colonel John Marshall Gamble

**  Colonel Gamble  was one of  four sons of  Major William Gamble of the United States Marine Corps, all of whom served in the U.S. Navy.

**  Captain Thomas Gamble of the U.S. Sloop of War Erie, the eldest, died at Pisa, Italy, October  10, 1818.  He was named after his uncle who was Quartermaster-General of British forces in North America in 1769,  and died as a Major in  London in 1821 at the age of 86, leaving 14,500 pounds toward paying off the British national debt, probably because he never forgave his brother and nephews for their disloyalty.

**  Lieutenant Francis R. Gamble, commander of the U.S. Storeship Decoy, died off Cape Hatteras, September 29, 1824.

**  Lieutenant Peter Gamble, the youngest of the four brothers was killed at the Battle of Lake Champlain, on Commodore Macdonough's ship.

--Brock-Perry

William Jones, New Secretary of the Navy

From "Inside the U.S. Navy of 1812-1815"  

When William Jones became Secretary of the Navy, he discovered he had inherited from his predecessor, Paul Hamilton, several burdens.  One was the Navy Department's posture in regard to  the concerns of citizens for the safety of their ports and shipping with the increasing British threat as forces were transferred from Europe to North America after the fall of Napoleon.

One of his earliest was an order for the reduction in the number of gunboats in service.  He believed  This would save funds on maintenance and put available seamen to better use.  Only 50 of the approximately 150 gunboats were sufficiently serviceable to remain active; the rest would be laid up and available in case of emergency.

Of those gunboats in service, Jones assigned 15 to New York, 5 to the Delaware River, 6 to the Georgia coast and 10 to New Orleans.  Fourteen remained  active on the Chesapeake Bay (mostly  assigned to Norfolk).

But these measures did not go over very well in several cities whose citizens were not happy with the move.  This was especially in the case of New York City and its new flotilla commander Jacob Lewis.

--Brock-Perry

John M. Gamble, USMC

From US  Naval and Heritage Command:  Navy Officers 1798-1900.

JOHN M. GAMBLE

Midshipman:  16 January 1809  (His brother Peter was appointed midshipman the same day.)

Appointed  Second Lieutenant Marine Corps:  16 January 1809  (Appointed the same day as he became a midshipman.)

First Lieutenant:  5 March 1811

Captain:  18 June 1814

Major by Brevet:  18 April 1816

Major: 1 July 1834

Lieutenant Colonel by Brevet:  3 March  1827

Died:  11 September 1836  (He died the same day as his brother did 22 years earlier.)

--Brock-Perry

Peter Gamble, USN-- Part 2

From  History and Heritage Command:  Navy Officers 1798-1900.om US Naval 

PETER GAMBLE

Midshipman:    16 January 1809

Lieutenant:   17 March 1814

Killed in Action:  11 September 1814  (Battle of Lake Champlain)

I have not been able to find out anything more about Peter Gamble.

--Brock-Perry

Peter Gamble, USN-- Part 1

The destroyer USS Gamble (DD-123) was named after two Gamble brothers.  Peter Gamble lost his life at the Battle of Lake Champlain.

From Find-A-Grave.

BIRTH:  Unknown

DEATH:  11 September 1814

BURIAL:  Riverside Cemetery, Plattsburgh, New York.

His gravestone is now almost illegible.  There is another stone on the ground which is readable:

Lieutenant

Peter Gamble

U.S.N.

Sept. 11, 1814

Battle of

Plattsburgh

--Brock-Perry

USS Gamble (DD-123) (DM-15): Named for Two Brothers

The ship was named after two brothers.  One, Peter, was in the U.S. Navy, and the other, John M. Gamble was in the USMC.  Both fought in the War of 1812 with one being killed.  This ship was at Pearl Harbor when the British attacked along with another destroyer named the Perry, after Oliver Hazard Perry.

From Wikipedia.

Peter Gamble was born  on 5 November 1793 in Bordentown , New Jersey.  He was appointed  midshipman on 16 January 1809 and served on Thomas Macdonough's flagship USS Saratoga at the Battle of Lake Champlain.

He was killed  in action while sighting  his gin on  11 September 1814.

Macdonough deplored Peter's loss and commended his gallantry in action.

John M. Gamble was the brother of Peter Gamble and achieved the rank of brevet lieutenant colonel  in the United States Marine Corps.

--Brock-Perry

Two Destroyers at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Named After People from the War of 1812

In my Tattooed On Your Soul:  WW II blog, I have been writing about the USS Montgomery (DD-121) (DM--17) which was at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked.  It did not receive any damage, but it and other destroyers anchored in Middle Loch, across from Fort Island, may have shot down as many as six Japanese planes.

Two of those ships with the Montgomery that day were named after War of 1812 naval heroes.  

They were the USS Perry (DD-320) (DMS-17), named for Oliver Hazard Perry and the USS Gamble (DD-123) (DM-15) named after Peter Gamble, killed at the Battle of Lake Champlain.  And, it was also named after Peter's brother, John M. Gamble who was an officer in the USMC.

--Brock-Perry

Some More on Richard Hill of the New York Flotilla's Gunboat No. 47

From "African American Historic Burial Grounds" by Glenn A. Knoblock.

Richard Hill (ca. 1792-1861)  Born in Maine according to census records and living in Portland, Maine, by 1830.  Served on Gunboat 47, part of the New York Flotilla during the War of 1812.

Gunboats such as he served on were small sloop or schooner rigged vessels about fifty feet long manned by a crew of about 40 and carried several guns.  The gunboats of the New York Flotilla saw quite a bit of action in Long Island Sound, and some of them, possibly including Hill's vessel were present at the Battle of Baltimore and witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry.

After the war, his whereabouts were not known until 1830, but it seemed he served as a sailor.  he was married by 1830 and had at least one child, a son named Richard, and worked as a laborer.

He was a widower when he was shot to death by his troubled son Richard on September 12, 1861.

--Brock-Perry

April Events During the War of 1812: Napoleon Abdicates, York Attacked and the Dartmoor Massacre

 From the American Battlefield Trust April 2022 calendar.

APRIL 4, 1814

**  Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba off the coast of Tuscany;  Great Britain now concentrates on its war with the United States.  Bad news for us.

APRIL 6, 1815

**  Seven American prisoners are killed and 32 wounded in the "Dartmoor Massacre" at Dartmoor Prison in Devon, England

APRIL18, 1806

**  The Non-Importation Act passed

APRIL 27, 1813

**  Attack on York (modern-day Toronto);  General Zebulon Pike killed

APRIL 29, 1813

**  Raid on  Frenchtown, Maryland, by British flotilla under  the command of Admiral George Cockburn

--Brock-Perry

Jacob Lewis & the N.Y. Flotilla: Problems with Manpower

From "Six Frigates:  The Epic Founding  of the U.S. Navy" by Ian W. Toll.

Even after New York City was in dire threat from the British, it proved to be entirely impossible to mobilize all the city's gunboats because Master Commandant Jacob Lewis could not recruit enough seamen to man them.

"Although invited not one appeared," he told Secretary Jones.  This failure "served to prove incontrovertibly that volunteers cannot be depended on."

And, it wasn't just a New York City thing.  Secretary Jones received similar reports from the flotillas at Baltimore, Norfolk and Delaware Bay.  Jones  informed Congress a few weeks later that the gunboats could not be manned because  of "the preference which Seamen naturally give to Vessels better adapted to their habits and Comfort."

Also, more likely to capture prizes which meant prize money all around.

--Brock-Perry

Jacob Lewis & the N.Y. Flotilla-- Part 4: Torpedo Attack on HMS Ramilles

Commodore Lewis assisted a civilian  in an attempt to win that bounty as put forward by the Torpedo Act.  The civilian crew brought a small schooner loaded with foodstuffs   within range of Admiral  Hardy's flagship Ramillies.  They connected one of the barrels to a charge of gunpowder.

Lewis anticipated that the British would capture the ship and bring it alongside the Ramillies to be unloaded.  removing the barrel would trigger an explosion.

As predicted, the warship sent boats to capture the schooner.  However, winds prevented the British sailors from bring it alongside.  Instead, they unloaded  the cargo into a ship's boat.    The resulting explosion killed an officer and ten seamen.

Afterwards, British captains exercised greater caution in dealing with captured vessels.

Sneaky Americans.  --Brock-Perry

The Torpedo Act

In the last post, I mentioned the Torpedo Act.  

From the Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library.

An Act to Encourage the Destruction of Armed Vessels of War of the Enemy

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, during  the present war with Great Britain, it shall be lawful for any person or persons, to burn, sink, or destroy, any British armed vessel of war, except vessels coming as cartels or flags of truce; and for that purpose to use torpedoes,  submarine instruments, or any other destructive machine whatever: and a bounty of one half the value  of the armed vessel so burnt, sunk, or destroyed, and also one half the value of her guns, cargo, tackle,  and apparel, shall be paid out of the treasury of the United States to such person or persons who shall effect the same, otherwise than by the armed or commissioned vessels of the  United States.

Approved March 3, 1813