HMS Canso-- Part 3: Capturing American Vessels

The attack on Fort Peter occurred at the same time as the siege of Fort St. Phillip in Louisiana and was part of the British occupation of St. Marys and Cumberland Island.

At Fort St. Peter, the British captured two American gunboats and twelve merchant ships, including the East  Indianman Countess of Harcourt which an American privateer had captured on her way between India and London.  Prize money from it and other Canso captures was finally paid in April 1824  (and it had to be a lot).

During her service with the British, the former American privateer did much better than she did in U.S. service.

On 31 January, the British squadron captured St. Simons, Georgia, and later three more prizes.  In July 1815, the Canso seized four more vessels at Bermuda.

The Royal Navy sold the Canso 30 May 1816.

A Real Bane to America.  --Brock-Perry

HMS Canso-- Part 2: As A Ship in the Royal Navy

So, the Lottery didn't have much success as a privateer. but, considering the odds she faced when captured, it was no surprise that she was taken.

After capture, she convoyed several prizes to Bermuda and was taken into British service and renamed the HMS Canso  under the command of Lt. Wentworth P. Croke, who commanded her the whole time she was in the Royal Navy.  On September 11, it captured the Massachusetts and in November, it and several other vessels were  grounded in hurricane off Halifax, but soon got off.

On 11 May 1814, the Canso recaptured the brig Traveller, which had previously been captured by the American privateer Surprise.

In the second half of the year, the Canso operated with several other ships in the Chesapeake Bay, capturing six American ships.  The squadron then sailed to St. Mary's, Georgia, under Admiral George Cockburn, where they attacked Fort Peter in January 1815.  This was after the Treaty of Ghent, but before it was ratified.

--Brock-Perry

HMS Terror

A British bomb vessel completed 31 July 1813 and commissioned 7 October 1813.  Abandoned in Victoria Strait, Canada 22 April 1848.

Its armament was one 13-inch mortar and one 10-inch one.  Commanded by John Sheridan.

Bombarded Stonington, Connecticut in August 1814, at the Battle of Baltimore and Fort McHenry 13-14 September 1814 and was one of those bombs bursting in air ships.

In January 1815 was at Battle of Fort Peter and the attack on St. Marys, Georgia.

After the war, it was used for Arctic exploration until laid up in 1828.  After which it saw service in the Mediterranean.

--Brock-Perry

British Fleet at Battle of Fort Peter, Jan. 13-14, 1815

From Wikipedia.

The British fleet consisted of 1 ship-of-the-line, 6 frigates, 2 bomb-vessels and two schooners.  British losses were 3 killed and 5 wounded.  U.S. losses were 1 killed, 4 wounded and 9 missing as well as two gunboats captured.

British Ships:

Albion
Dragon--74-guns
Regulus--  44-guns
Brune-- 56-guns
Severn--  40-guns
Hebrus--  36-guns
Rota--  38-guns

Primrose--  18 guns
Terror and Devastation, 8-guns each (bomb-vessels)
Canso and Whiting--  12-guns (schooners)

--Brock-Perry

Battle of Fort Peter-- Part 3

In the fall of 1812, the Camden County Battalion was raised at Point Peter.

The Battle of Fort Point Peter, 1815


On January 10, 1815, British forces under Admiral Sir George Cockburn landed at Cumberland Island off the Georgia coast.  On Jan. 13th they bombarded Fort Peter and then landed and took the fort without casualties before heading for the town of St. Marys where they drove off  American defenders and captured it on Jan. 15th.

They captured two American gunboats and twelve merchant ships.  Fort St. Tammany was not a factor in these actions.  They ended their occupation of St. Marys and Fort St. Tammany after a week.  Then they burned Fort Peter and withdrew to Cumberland Island.

British officers lived in Dungeness, former mansion of deceased Revolutionary War American hero General Nathaniel Greene.

--Brock-Perry

The Battle of Fort Peter, Georgia-- Part 2: Patriot War of East Florida

The first fort in the area was probably Fort St. Tammany built in 1794.  It may have been called Fort Gunn.

The military at Point Peter were responsible for enforcing tariffs and protecting the southern border of the United States with Spanish Florida.  In 1809, a new fort was approved which became Fort peter.

The importance of this post is exemplified by the fact that in 1811, eleven of the Navy's 165 gunboats were stationed there.

In 1811, Fort Point Peter (as it was also called) was commanded by Lt.Col. Thomas Adam Smith.  he was ordered to assist an American takeover of Spanish Florida if a rebellion or invasion took place.  However, the garrison did not get involved in the Patriot War of East Florida.

(I've never heard of this war.)

--More to Come.  --Brock-Perry

The Battle of Fort Peter, Georgia-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

I found out that I hadn't done much writing about this battle that took place even after the Battle of New Orleans, which was after the Treaty of Ghent.  In a few months, we will be in Savannah for a wedding and we will go to Florida afterwards, so planning on spending some time along the St. Marys River along the Georgia/Florida border.

The attacks of Fort Peter and Fort St. Tammany took place in January 1815, after the Treaty of Ghent was signed, ending the War of 1812, but before it was ratified by the United States which officially ended it.  Even then, the war could continue as long as the participants were not aware of its ratification as in the case of the USS Constitution and HMS Cyane and Levant.

This battle took place at the same time as the Siege of Fort St. Philip in Louisiana and the British occupation of St. Marys and Cumberland Island in Georgia.

Point Peter is the first landing spot on the Georgia side of the St. Marys River.

--Brock-Perry

200 Years Ago Today: British Capture Fort Peter in Georgia

JANUARY 13, 1815"  A British amphibious force attacks and captures Ft. Peter and the town of St. Marys, Georgia, right on the Florida border.  They occupy the town for a month before withdrawing.

More on this tomorrow.

--Brock-Perry