This Month in War of 1812: Forts Meigs and George, York and USS President

From the 2023 American Battlefield Trust May calendar.

MAY 1, 1813

**  Siege of Fort Meigs, Ohio.

MAY 1, 1813

**  American forces evacuate York, Upper Canada.  (Toronto today).

MAY 3, 1813

**  Burning of Havre de Grace, Maryland.

MAY 16, 1811

**  The American frigate USS President fires on British sloop HMS Little Belt.

MAY 27, 1813

**  Engagement at Fort George.

MAY 29, 1813

**  Battle of Sacketts Harbor, New York.

--Brock-Perry

Amherstburg Royal Navy Dockyard-- Part 4: Four British Ships Captured at Battle of Lake Erie Built Here

The last four ships listed in the last post were all captured by the Americans at the Battle of Lake Erie  "We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Ours."

HMS General Hunter  10 gun brig

HMS Queen Charlotte  17 gun ship/sloop

HMS Lady Prevost   13 gun schooner

 2nd HMS Detroit  19  gun ship/sloop

There were two other British ships captured at the Battle of Lake Erie but not built at the Amherstburg Royal Navy Dockyard:

HMS Chippawa (Chippeway)  schooner 1 gun

HMS Little Belt   sloop  2 guns

--Brock-Perry:

Stephen Champlin and the Battle of Lake Erie-- Part 15: An American Victory

"Soon after Commodore Perry got on board of the Niagara, Captain Elliot left her to bring up  the small vessels that were kept astern by the lightness of the wind.  Commodore Perry now made signal for close action.

"The smaller vessels put out their sweeps (oars) and made every exertion to comply with with the order.  At this time the Niagara bore up with a view to break the enemy's line, which threw them into confusion.  In passing the enemy, she poured in her starboard and larboard broadsides within half a pistol shot, supported by the smaller vessels, which were at that time enabled, with the aid of their sweeps, to get up.

"The enemy soon struck, with the exception of the Little Belt and Chippewa, which were brought to by the Scorpion and Trippe -- the Little Belt by the former -- and so near were they to making their escape that it was 12 p.m. before I came to an anchor under the stern of the Niagara with the Little Belt in tow."

An American Victory.  --Brock-Perry

Stephen Champlin-- Part 7: Fired First and Last Shots at Battle of Lake Erie

Champlin's force marched from Sackets Harbor  that evening.  At Schlosser, he chartered a two masted boat and  went up the river by rowing with barge poles to Buffalo.  There the group took on arms before continuing on to Oliver Hazard Perry at Erie, Pennsylvania, arriving there on July 24, 1813.  This was a full ten days earlier than another group which had left Sackets Harbor two hours before Champlin.

On July 25, he was ordered to fit out and take command of the USS Scorpion.

As second in command to Perry at Erie, Champlin participated in expeditions against Fort George and Fort York (Toronto) aboard the USS Asp.  Later in command of the two gun schooner USS Scorpion, Champlin led the attack on the British fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie on September 13, 1813.

He is credited with firing the first shot of the battle which effectively ended British control of the Great Lakes.  And, in capturing the HMS Little Belt he also fired the last shots.

--Brock-Perry

Stephen Champlin, USN-- Part 1: At the Battle of Lake Erie

From GENii Family Tree   Commodore Stephen Champlin.

Stephen Champlin was born 17 November 1789 in South Kingston, Rhode Island,  and lived in Lebanon, Connecticut, on his father's farm until the age of sixteen.  Rejecting a future of farming, he became a seaman and attained the rank of captain in the West Indian trade in six years.

At the beginning o the War of 1812, he was appointed sailing master in the U.S. Navy and given command of a gunboat.  He was later ordered to Lake Erie where he took command of the schooner Scorpion and fought in the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie. He served with a relative, Oliver Hazard Perry.

He is said to have fired the first and last shot of the battle and given credit for capturing the British vessel Little Belt.

--Brock-Perry

Stephen Champlin, USN-- Part 2: The Battle of Lake Erie

From Find-A-Grave.

His father was a farmer, but Stephen rejected the idea and went to sea at age 16.  He rose to the rank of captain in the West Indies trade within six years.

In the War of 1812, he was appointed sailing master in the U.S. Navy and given command of a gunboat.  Then he was ordered to Lake Erie and took command of the schooner USS Scorpion and was in the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie.  It is said he fired the first and final shots of the battle.

He captured the HMS Little Belt and afterwards was placed in command of two captured British warships: the Queen Charlotte and Detroit.

--Brock-Perry

Stephen Champlin, USN-- Part 1: Commanded USS Scorpion at Battle of Lake Erie

From Wikipedia.

17 November 1789 to February 1870.

U.S. Naval officer in the War of 1812.  Born in Kingston, Rhode Island, and entered the U.S. Navy as a sailing master 22 May 1812.  Commanded the schooner USS Porcupine at the Battle of Lake Erie and captured the British ship HMS Little Belt.

He was later wounded when the Scorpion was taken on Lake Huron.  (The Scorpion was not the ship he was wounded on, it was the the USS Tigress.)

Retired from the Navy in 1855 and was later promoted to the rank of commodore on the Retired List.

Died at Buffalo, New York and was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo.

Two ships in the Navy have been named for him.

--Brock-Perry

USS Trippe-- Part 3: Battle of Lake Erie and Aftermath

When Commodore Barclay's British fleet left the Detroit River to deliver supplies to British soldiers, the American fleet came out and offered battle.

The American fleet outnumbered the British 9 ships to 6, but were outgunned 63-54.

With battle engaged, the British concentrated their fire on the lead American ships: the Lawrence, Caledonia and Niagara.  The Trippe was at the end of the American line and fought a long range duel with the HMS Lady Prevost and Little Belt and put the Prevost out of action.

The USS Lawrence was also battered by British fire, forcing Perry to leave it and continue the fight from the Niagara.  The Trippe charged into the fray.  The British ships were forced to surrender one by one.  When the Cheppeway and Little Belt attempted to flee, the USS Trippe and Scorpion chased them down for a complete sweep as Perry so happily reported.

The Battle of Lake Erie was the Trippe's only engagement in the war.  For the rest of its career it carried supplies to support General William Harrison's land operations.

In October the British attacked Buffalo and captured the city.  They found the Trippe aground near Buffalo Creek and set fire to her, burning the ship completely.

--Brock-Perry

Frigate USS President-- Part 2" The Little Belt Affair

George Washington picked the name for the ship to reflect a principle of the U.S. Constitution.

In 1811, the President was involved in the Little Belt Affair when the ship mistook the HMS Little Belt for the HMS Guerriere, which had been impressing American seamen.  There was an exchange of gunfire for several minutes, but no serious damage.  Blame for the incident was not placed, but it helped add to tensions between the United States and Britain.

The ship served in the Quasi War with France and First and Second Barbary wars.

During the War of 1812, the USS President made several extended cruises as far away as the English Channel and Norway.  It captured the armed schooner HMS Highflyer and numerous merchant ships.

--Brock-Perry