Jesse Elliott, USN-- Part 7: A Duel, Command of USS Constitution and More Charges

In 1820, Elliott was second to Commodore James Barron when the latter fatally shot Stephen Decatur in a duel.  He was transferred to the Brazil Squadron in 1825, served as the captain of the USS Cyane for two years and commanded the West Indies Squadron from 1829 to 1832.

Elliott commanded the Boston Navy Yard in 1832 and then  to command of the frigate USS Constitution and the Mediterranean Squadron from 3 March 1835 to 18 August 1838.  During his Mediterranean assignment, he was charged for minor offenses by several of his junior officers, including using his official position for personal gain and  transporting animals he had purchased aboard the Constitution.

This looks like an interesting topic for more detail.

--Brock-Perry

Jesse Elliott, USN-- Part 6: The Feud Continues and Further Service

Oliver Hazard Perry left his list of charges and specifications against Elliott with his friend, Commodore Stephen Decatur when he left for his diplomatic mission to Venezuela (during which he died).  Elliott served as second for Captain James Barron in the duel in which Barron killed Decatur in 1820.

Decatur's widow published Perry's charges years later as she held Elliott at least partially responsible for her husband's death.

These people obviously did not like each other.

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LATER CAREER

Elliott commanded the sloop USS Ontario during the Second Barbary War, and was promoted to captain in 1818, serving as on a naval commission selecting sites for navy yards, lighthouses and other coastal fortifications until 1822.

--Brock-Perry

John Montgomery's Congressional Sword

 Military Service Institution of the United States Museum

Listed as Item 261 Sword of Honor

Presented by Congress to  Midshipman (later Rear Admiral) John B. Montgomery, U.S.N., for services rendered  at the Battle of Lake Erie, 1813.

Loaned by  his great-grandson.  (See first page of cover.)

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Also at the museum is DECATUR'S SWORD  "The quarterdeck sword of Commodore Stephen Decatur, U.S.N."

--Brock-Perry

John B. Montgomery, USN-- Part 2: War of 1812 Service

From Wikipedia.

He was born in New Jersey and entered service in the US Navy as a midshipman during the War of 1812 where he served during the attack on Kingston, Upper Canada, in Novenber 1812 and in the capture of York in April of the following year.

For gallantry and distinguished service aboard the USS Niagara at the Battle of Lake Erie, he received a vote of thanks and a sword from Congress.

In 1815, he served in Stephen Decatur's squadron in the Second Barbary War in the Mediterranean Sea.

From Geni.

He was also involved in the capture of Little York, Fort George and Newark.  In 1814, he was at the blockade and attack on Mackinaw Island in August.

--Brock-Perry

John Downes, USN-- Part 3: Cruising with the Essex and the Second Barbary War

Among the prizes taken by the USS Essex was the whaler Atlantic.  Captain Porter fitted it out as a cruiser and classified it as a sloop-of-war with twenty guns and named her Essex Junior.  The ship was placed  under the command of Lieutenant Downes.  The Essex and Essex Junior were both captured at the same time on 28 March 1814.

Downes was promoted to master commandant in 1813 and two years later commanded  the brig Epervier in the squadron under the command of  Stephen Decatur against Algiers.  On June 17, 1815, he assisted in the capture of the Algerian frigate Mashouda.  Two days later, the Eperviere and three smaller vessels captured the Algerian brig Estedio off Cape Palos.  

After the conclusion of peace with Algiers, Decatur transferred Downes to his ship, the USS Guerriere.

Downes also served on the Ontario and Independence before becoming a captain in 1817.

--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

Decatur (Illinois) Named After War of 1812 Hero Stephen Decatur-- Part 2

 Today a statue stands at the southwest corner of the Decatur Civic Center property overlooking downtown and a mural is on the side  of the building at 145 South Water Street.

The statue was erected in 1952 at West Main and Pine Street on the Millikin  Homestead grounds, overlooking  the home of  its main donors, the Scovill  family.  It was moved to its current location in 1991.

The mural, painted by Jerry Johnson, depicts Decatur leading the 1804 raid to burn the USS Philadelphia.

On its time, the City of Decatur has shared the triumphs and struggles of its nation and emerged with its eyes on the horizon.  Navigating  by a shining star whose name recalls unfailing courage, the City of Decatur proudly bears his name.

--Brock-Decatur

Decatur (Illinois) Named After War of 1812 Hero-- Part 1

From the May 10, 2021, Decatur (Illinois) Herald and Review "City bears name of a hero, Decatur" by John Reidy.

When Stephen Decatur lead a successful raiding party into Tripoli Harbor to burn the captured U.S. frigate Philadelphia, it was called "the most daring act of the age" by none other than Britain's Admiral Horatio Nelson.

On that night in February 1804, the United States had a new hero as well, 21-year-old Lieutenant Stephen Decatur.

In 1829, nine years after his death in a duel at the hands of another rival in the Navy, a new city was founded in Central Illinois which bore his name.

Decatur was our country's first post-Revolutionary War  national hero, leading by example in the Quasi-War vs. France, the Barbary  Wars of North Africa before reaching legendary status when his frigate USS United States defeated the British frigate HMS Macedonian in the War of 1812.

He was swiftly promoted to captain then commodore.

--Brock-Perry

USS Vixen (1803)-- Part 2: Action in the Mediterranean Against the Barbary Pirates

Commodore Preble dispatched the Vixen and frigate USS Philadelphia in October to establish a blockade of Tripoli.  However, the Vixen was searching for two Tripolitan warships when the Philadelphia ran aground and was captured on October 31.

The Vixen ended up carrying dispatches about the Philadelphia's capture and the imprisonment of Captain William Bainbridge, officers and crew to Gibraltar in December.

Retribution for the Philadelphia's capture came quickly, and on 16 February 1804, Lt. Stephen Decatur, Jr.  boarded the ship in Tripoli Harbor and after determining it wasn't seaworthy, destroyed it.  Commodore Preble then followed up on this with heavy bombardments of the city on fiver different dates.

The Vixen participated in all five bombardments and also performed tactical actions to coordinate American movement in the Mediterranean Sea.    While in Malta on October 16, 1804, the Vixen was rerigged as a brig to improve its sailing ability.

The American Mediterranean Squadron was now commanded by Commodore John Rodgers and had actions at Tunis in August 1805.  The Vixen returned to the U.S.  in August 1806, now captained by Master Commandant George Cox.

Lots of Future War of 1812 Leaders.  --Brock-Perry

U.S. Navy in War of 1812-- Part 7: The War at Sea to Capture Enemy Warships and Merchantmen

The war at sea to capture British warships and  merchantmen  was the most desirable objective for naval officers and has received the most writing in historical accounts.  The U.S. Navy had numerous victories in ship-to-ship duels.  Some of them are still the most recognizable events in our Navy's history.

They include Captain Isaac Hull and his frigate Constitution's capture of the HMS Guerriere, Captain Stephen Decatur and his frigate United States' capture of the frigate HMS Macedonian  and Captain William Bainbridge and his USS Constitution's capture of the frigate HMS Java.

However, these and most other U.S. victories occurred in the opening months of the war.

By early 1813, the British had eleven ships of the line, thirty-four frigates and fifty -two other warships operating off North America, while  the U.S. only had two frigates at sea.

By November 1813, Britain had established a commercial blockade that stopped all sea traffic regardless of nationality across the entire east coast south of New England.

--Brock-Perry

U.S. Navy in War of 1812-- Part 3: That Impressment Thing and Other Affronts Lead to War

The Chesapeake-Leopard Affair, as it came to be known, enraged the American public and embarrassed the Navy.  President Jefferson levied a big embargo against the British and the British Admiralty recalled the Leopard's commander and admitted the error.   The situation deescalated  and soon was replaced with Vice President Aaron Burr's  conspiracy and trial for treason.

Actually, the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair didn't end until 1820, when the disgraced American commander of the Cheasapeake, James Barron, challenged American naval hero Stephen Decatur to a duel stemming from it and killed Decatur.

But, impressments continued.  Since 1800, Great Britain had captured 917 American ships and impressed 6,257 American seamen.

On June 1, 1812, President James Madison spoke before Congress, citing British impressment of American sailors, disregard for American sovereignty and plundering of American commerce, and asked that a state of war be declared.

With support from the War Hawks, who were seeking to gain control of Canada, Congress declared war on June 18, 1812.  Ironically, the British had rescinded the Orders in Council two days earlier.

--Brock-Perry

Decatur County, Indiana, Named for Naval Hero Stephen Decatur, Greensburg Founded By War of 1812 Colonel

From the November 8, 2019, Greensburg (Indiana) Daily News  "Decatur County veterans through the years" by Pat Smith.

The county was named for Stephen Decatur, a War of 1812 naval hero who was killed in a duel in 1820.    The following year, the county was named after him.

Decatur County historian Russell Wilhoit says there are 52 known War of 1812 veterans buried in the county and another ten buried in nearby counties who lived at one time or another in Decatur County.  He is doing a book on veterans from the American Revolution, War of 1812, Mexican War and Civil War who are buried in the county.

The founder of Greensburg, Thomas Hendricks, was a colonel in the War of 1812 and came with other surveyors to the newly opened land and purchased four 80-acre tracts of land in the county.  He built the first cabin in what was to become Greensburg and donated 100 acres of land  for the town of Greensburg which he named for his wife Elizabeth Trimble's native town in Pennsylvania.

He was uncle to Thomas A. Hendricks, governor of Indiana and vice president of the United States.

--Brock-Perry

Naval Officers Dueling: An "Honorable" Way to Die, the End of Stephen Decatur

Captain Stephen Decatur himself died in a duel in 1820. 

As a military officer, Decatur believed he was obligated to accept  a challenge from anybody who was his social or professional equal or better.  He had survived a 1799 duel  and he was actually opposed to duels between midshipmen under his command.

However, Captain James Barron had taken offense in the role Decatur had taken at his court-martial after the 1807 Chesapeake-Leopard Affair, and he increasingly grew bitter afterwards.

He finally challenged Decatur and mortally wounded  him at Bladensburg, Maryland, the most famous duel in U.S. Navy history.

The blog entries on dueling were all taken from "Dueling Frigates" New London (CT.) Historical Society by Andrew W. German.

--Brock-Perry

Dueling Frigates-- Part 10: Well, Now Dueling Sloops of War

Captain William Bowen Mends  of the HMS Loup Cervier suggested that he would make his crew equal to that of the USS Hornet and they could have their own little ship-to-ship duel if  Biddle would tell him the size of the Hornet's crew.

Biddle forwarded the proposal to Decatur, who replied that  'the Hornet shall meet the Loup Cervier, under a mutual and satisfactory pledge," but with their normal crews.

Since the Hornet's crew outnumbered the Loup Cervier's 167 to 103, another duel was averted, and Decatur soon moved his squadron back up the river to Gales Ferry.

So, Not Only Duels Between Men, But Also Ships.  Must Have Been a Naval Thing.  --Brock-Perry

Dueling Frigates-- Part 9: A Hornet-Loup Cervier Duel of Sloops?

The British had played a bit of psychological warfare in June 1813 when HMS Loup-Cervier   (French for the Canadian lynx) joined the squadron off New London.  When the war began, she had been the U.S. sloop of war Wasp and a part of Decatur's squadron at Hampton Roads in Virginia.

At the time, it was commanded by Jacob Jones, now commander of the former British frigate Macedonian.  In October 1812, the Wasp captured the HMS Frolic, but was then captured herself and placed into British service.

Perhaps, Captain Biddle of the Wasp's former sister ship Hornet (formerly Jones' lieutenant on the Wasp) was sent to the HMS Ramilles to arrange the challenge, he met Captain William Bowen Mends of the Loup Cervier.

Perhaps a ship duel was arranged between their two ships.

--Brock-Perry

Dueling Frigates-- Part 8: There Will Be No Frigate Duel

Then it was Sttephen Decatur's turn to balk:  "But sir, if the [HMS] Statira is to avail herself alone of this concession [ of adding crew], it must be obvious to you and everyone,that should I be yielding to you an advantage I could not excuse to my government; and in making the crew of the Macedonian in any degree equal to such a conflict I should be compelled to break up the crews of this ship and the Hornet, and thus render a compliance with my orders to proceed to sea utterly impracticable."

Like Hardy, he saved face for his subordinate:  "You will have the goodness, sir, to inform Capt. Stakpoole that his letter was shewn to Capt. Jones according to his request, that Capt. Jones is  is extremely desirous of  that a meeting should take place between the Statira and Macedonian, but it is controlled by me for the reasons I have stated."

Of interest, both Decatur and Stackpoole were later killed in duels.

--Brock-Perry

Dueling Frigates-- Part 7: Still Negotiating for That Duel

Presumably, had a frigate duel come to pass, with an American victory, at least that frigate would be free of the blockade and able to make its escape, since the rest of the British fleet would be held back from pursuing in the name of good sportsmanship. At least one of Decatur's ships would be free to roam.

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STILL NEGOTIATING FOR A SHIP-TO-SHIP DUEL

British officer Richard Coote, commander of the brig HMS Borer, was sent to Stephen by Thomas Hardy with Hardy's reply.    According to the Connecticut Gazette, the meeting went like this:

"Com. Decatur  offered to dismount (dismount cannons from his ships) until their force was precisely equal; but Captain Coote  replied, that they did not consider two or three guns of any consequence -- 'the difference  was in the men' --  'the crews were everything' -- because battles were commonly won by  boarders swarming aboard the enemy vessel."

--Brock-Perry

Dueling Frigates-- Part 6: Duel Turned Down

It was Decatur's thought that which ever American frigate fought the British one and won, she would be able to escape out to sea as the rest of the British fleet would be held back from chasing in the name of good sportsmanship.

Although the HMS Endymion was the largest and most heavily armed of the British frigates, Thomas Hardy decided not to put her in play as he was afraid it couldn't match the USS United States' fire power and he informed Decatur:  "I must consider it my duty (tho very contrary to the wishes of Captain Hope) to decline the invitation on his part."

But, speaking with naval etiquette, he continued:  "The Captains of His Britannic Majesty's ships under my orders, as well as myself, cannot too highly appreciate the gallant spirit that has led to the communication from you, sir,  and are equally convinced that no personal feelings toward each other can ever influence a laudible ambition to add to the Naval renown of our respective countries."

Of interest, the HMS Endymion engaged the even heavier armed USS President in 1815 and was victorious.

--Brock-Perry

Dueling Frigates-- Part 4: Get Out With a Duel?

The day of the battle between the Chesapeake and Shannon off Boston, Captain Stephen Decatur of the 56-gun frigate USS United States, 38-gun frigate USS Macedonian (previously the HMS Macedonian) and 20-gun USS Hornet, into the Thames River, by New London, Connecticut.

They then found themselves blockaded there by British ships for the next six months.

Decatur tried various schemes to break out.  One of the first attempts were the blue light signals which caused him to cancel one attempt.  Then, he hit upon another scheme.

Captain Decatur was at Brown's tavern in New London, Ct., in January 1813, when Captain Nicholas Moran, a coasting ship commander, came to him and said that he had just been the "guest" aboard the HMS Ramillies, and that Captain Henry Hope of the 46-gun HMS Endymion had said he thought Decatur was afraid of an engagement between their two ships.

Moran also claimed that Sir Thomas Hardy had "remarked, that he should be delighted to see a match between the [HMS] Statira and [USS] Macedonian since they were sister ships."

In Other Word, "Duel."  --Brock-PerryDuel

Dueling in the Early 1800s in the United States

I have been writing about Hassard Stackpoole of the Royal Navy, who was killed by another officer of the British Navy in a duel in 1814.

Duels were popular in this era.

From Wikipedia.

In the 1600s and 1700s, most duels were with swords and rapiers, but starting in the 1800s, the pistol became weapon of choice.

Dueling became a popular way of settling differences in the United States.  In 1804, former secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton was killed in a duel by sitting Vice President Aaron Burr.

Between 1798 and the Civil War, the U.S. Navy lost  two-thirds more of its officers to dueling than to combat with the enemy at sea.  One of those was naval hero Stephen Decatur.  Most of the officers killed were midshipmen and junior officers.

Despite prominent deaths and public outcry, dueling continued before the Civil War, particularly in the South because of contemporary ideals of chivalry and because of threat of ridicule if a duel challenge was declined.

And, as we will see in upcoming posts, there was also "dueling" between warships.

--Brock-Perry