USS Constitution Gets Underway for the 4th-- Part 1

From the June 28, 2024, Navy "USS Constitution to go underway in honor of Independence Day.'

The ship is scheduled to go underway from Charleston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, on Thursday, July 4, at 10 a.m..

It will be closed in the morning and will reopen to the public for tours following the underway from to 3 to 6 p.m..

The underway will celebrate the United States' 248th birthday and will include a 21-gun salute viewable from Fort Independence on Castle Island at approximately 11:30 a.m..

The USS Constitution will fire an additional 17-gun salute as she passes the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Boston, the former site of Edmund Hartt's Shipyard, where the USS Constitution was built and launched on October 21, 1797.

--Brock-Perry

Patrick Gass-- Part 4: No Problems and the War of 1812

Despite his duties as a non-commissioned officer, Gass sometimes joined  the expedition's hunting trips.  He experienced no outstanding  adventures on the journey,  and no major injuries or illnesses.  However, he did slip in a canoe and fell back across the  gunwale which invalided him off the Jefferson River and into Lewis' advance party that located the Shoshones in August 1805.

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AFTERWARDS

Gass stayed in the Army after the expedition and served in the War of 1812.  

At one point during the war, he worked  under Daniel Boone in the construction of a small, temporary fort on the Mississippi River known as Fort Independence, or "Cap-au-Gris."

At the Battle of Lundy's Landing, he suffered the loss of an eye and was discharged from the Army.

--Brock-Perry

Sylvanue Thayer, Father of West Point"-- Part 6: Long and Distinguished Career

From 1814-1815, Sylvanue Thayer was on professional duty to Europe, examining fortifications, military schools and the establishment and operation of the Allied armies then occupying France after the fall of Napoleon.

He was the superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, from July 28, 1817 to July 1, 1833.

From 1833 to 1843, he was Superintendent of Engineers during the construction of Forts Warren and Independence in Boston Harbor.

On professional duty to Europe in 1846 and general supervisor for harbor improvements in Maine and Massachusetts 1836-1843.

He was on sick leave of absence from 1858-1963.

--Brock-Perry