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

Jacob Lewis & the New York Flotilla-- Part 2: Problems Facing Lewis

Lewis feared that his flotilla would be greatly weakened through drafts of his crews for other duties  These fears were realized when he was asked to recruit for the Lake Champlain service.  Secretary of Navy William Jones also didn't spare New York from the gunboat reduction order.

On 26 February, he was ordered to further reduce his force to fifteen  gun vessels.

Public reaction to this reduction was not very favorable.

In February 6, 1863, he wrote to Secretary Jones saying that he still needed 350 men but that the Rendezvous (place to get recruits) in New York City was closed for lack of money to pay the recruits.  "I am very much apprehensive that the Flotilla which I have the honor to Command will fall very short of that state of preparation which may be expected...."

--Brock-Perry

So, Was There a Gunboat 47?

Richard Hill, according to his gravestone, served aboard Gunboat 47.  I have not been able to find any mention of this ship anywhere.  If someone knows about it, please let me know.

I do know that the Jeffersonian Gunboats were numbered as opposed to having names.

Also, I'm not sure that he would have been on that ship if it was in the New York Flotilla at the Battle of Baltimore and the attack on Fort McHenry.  It would have had to sail in open water to get from New York to Baltimore and that stretch was controlled by the British navy and a gunboat would not do well against a British warship.

I'm thinking he did serve in the U.S. Navy, but perhaps the information we have on him is wrong.

So if anyone out there has any information on Gunboat No. 47, let me know.

So, Lots of Questions About His Service.  --Brock-Perry

Richard Hill Gets His Due-- Part 3: His Story

Historian Hern Adams of Portland, Maine, has found information on the life of Richard Hill, including newspaper accounts of his death. 

Hill was born about 1792, but it is not clear if he was born in Portland or moved there later in life.  records show that during the War of 1812, he served on the  U.S. Gunboat  47 with the New York Flotilla.

"The U.S. Navy was not segregated then, and that might have been the first time in his life that Hill was on equal footing with his co-workers," Adams said.  His gunboat was probably in  Baltimore Harbor on  September 14, 1814, when the British shelled Fort McHenry.  "Both Hill and Key witnessed one of the iconic moments of U.S. history," according to Adams.

I have not been able to find if Gunboat 47 was at the battle.

After the war, he returned to Portland and worked as a common laborer.  He was one of 400 Blacks who lived in  neighborhoods  at the foot of Munjoy Hill.  At one point, he applied for and received 160 acres of government land in the Ohio hills as an 1812 veteran.  Adams said Hill probably sold it for a fraction of what it was worth.

That was the only veterans benefit he ever received (well, now he has the government-issued headstone, even with the incorrect death date).

--Brock-Perry

U.S. Navy in War of 1812-- Part 4: Woefully Unprepared to Take on Britain

To say the U.S. Navy was in no shape to fight the British Navy is a huge understatement.  In 1812, the British Navy included 130 ships of the line mounting 60-120 guns and 600 frigates and smaller warships.

The U.S. Navy at the time had 7 frigates fit for the sea, 3 frigates needing repairs, 8 brigs, schooners or sloops, and 165 gunboats (of which 103 were in ordinary or in need of repairs).  The Navy was never large at any time and almost evaporated after hostilities ended with Tripoli in 1805.

Further cuts continued even after the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair and even up to 1810, despite worsening tensions with Britain.

Naval historian Charles O. Paullin described the shape of the U.S. Navy when war was declared being "unprepared in every essential means, instrument, and material of naval warfare.  It had no dry docks.  It had few ships.  With the exception of the naval establishment at Washington, the navy-yards were in a state of neglect and decay."

Thankfully for our Navy, Napoleon in France had the British attention, nor had they expected a declaration of war.    Of all the British ships, just one ship of the line, 7 frigates and a dozen smaller warships were operating out of the main base in Halifax, Canada.

--Brock-Perry

Dueling Frigates: Why Standard British Frigates Were No Match for U.S. "Super Frigates" Like the USS Constitution

From the New London County (Connecticut) Historical Society "Dueling Frigates."

Not only did Navy personnel on both sides during the War of 1812 engage in duels, but also there were times when a sea battle between two enemy frigates was actually more of a duel in itself.

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

BACKGROUND

With a fleet of just six frigates (including three 44 gun super frigates), five smaller sloops of war, two brigs and a motley collection of  small coastal (Jeffersonian Gunboats) defense vessels, the U.S. navy was in no way in a position to face off with the Royal Navy which had more than 600 active vessels, about 100 of which were 74+ gun ships of the line.

Fleet actions characterized much of the fighting between the French and English,, U.S. ships went out singly or in small  squadrons to raid British commerce and engage single British ships when the opportunity arose.

--Brock-Perry

North Carolina-Built Jeffrsonian Gunboats

From the NC1812 site.

Three were built in North Carolina.  Gunboat No. 166 was built in Smithville (now Southport) and later had its name changed to USS Alligator.

--Brock-Perry

Henry Eckford-- Part 2: The Choice to Build U.S. Navy Great Lakes Ships

Henry Eckford ran in the big circles in New York City with Mayor DeWitt Clinton and John Jacob Astor.

The first ships he built for the U.S. navy were the Jeffersonian coastal gunboats.  In July 1808, he built the US Navy brig Oneida at Oswego, New York, on Lake Ontario.

During his career, he employed many apprentices who went on to great success.

WAR OF 1812

  Eckford offered his services to the U.S. Navy and Commodore Isaac Chauncey, placed in command of the naval forces on the Great Lakes, had been the master of an Eckford-built ship, the Beaver from 1806 to 1807 and had supervised construction of the gunboats, hired him to build his ships.  Plus, Eckford already had experience building ships along the Great Lakes.  Eckford was the obvious choice for shipbuilder.

--Brock-Perry

U.S. Gunboat No. 168-- Part 2: First, Last and a Hurricane

I am unable to find out any more about the battle between the Sappho and 168, however.

From NC1812.

Gunboat No. 168 was built at Wilmington, N.C., one of three Jeffersonian gunboats built there to defend the state as fears of war with Britain grew.  In March 1808, the U.S. Navy issued contracts to shipbuilder Amos Perry to build three gunboats.  They were Nos. 166, 167 and 168.  Jeffersonian gunboats were only numbered and no names given to them (other than 166 which later became known as the USS Alligator).

On March 13, 1812, so, you could say that it fired the first naval shots of the War of 1812.  It is also given credit for firing the last shots of the naval war as well on 16th March 1815.

In 1813 it was driven ashore by a hurricane.

--Brock-Perry

U.S. Gunboat No. 168-- Part 1: Built for Defense

Back on May 18th, I wrote about a brief engagement between the HMS Sappho and an undermatched U.S. Gunboat No. 168 off Fernadina, Florida, which took place on March 13, 1812, several months before the War of 1812 began in June.

From NC1812 site by Jim Greathouse.

Gunboat No. 168 was one of three (Nos. 166, 167 and 168) built for defense of the North Carolina coast as war with Britain approached.  Jum Greathouse has written a detailed history of Gunboat No. 166.

The Jeffersonian gunboats as they were often called were small warships intended just for defense that President Thomas Jefferson preferred because of their small cost to build and operate as opposed to the superfrigates like the USS Constitution.

He has noy yet done an article on the 168, but the stats on 166 were that it was 60 feet long, 80 tons and mounted two 6-pdr. guns instead of the one 24-pdr. or 32-pdr. as called for in the contract.  The 168 was probably similar.  Not too surprising that its short exchange of shots with the 18-gun HMS Sappho was so one-sided.

--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

Battle of Lake Borgne, Louisiana-- Part 2

The British were defeated in September 1814 at Fort Bowyer and thusly denied the capture of Mobile, Alabama. As a result, the British determined to attack New Orleans.  American Commodore Daniel Patterson commanded the New Orleans Squadron and went on immediate alert.

The British fleet, under the command of Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane arrived on December 9, 1814, and Patterson dispatched Lt. Thomas ap Catesny Jones and a small flotilla to Lake Borgne to defend it and its back door entrance to New Orleans.  Jones had with him five Jeffersonian gunboats: Nos. 156, 163, 162, 5 and 23.  Also the schooner USS Sea Horse and two sloops of war, the USS Alligator and Tickler.

Gunboat No. 156 was the flagship of the squadron and mounted one long 24-pdr., four 12-pdr. carronades and four swivel guns with a crew of 41 men.  The whole squadron had 245 men and mounted 16 long guns, 14 carronades, 2 howitzers and 12 swivel guns.

--Brock-Perry

Battle Off Newport News-- Part 4

On Gunboat No. 139, a master's mate from the USS Constellation was killed by a cannonball.  Several of the other boats reported wounded as well as damaged oars and rigging.

Norfolk residents were awakened by this dawn battle and went to the waterfront to watch the action.

Having regular Navy men on the gunboats made a big difference in their handling and firing. (Evidently, the gunboats were usuallu manned by militia.)

Captain Joseph Tarbell broke off the action at 6 a.m..

On the British side, one Royal Marine was killed and several sailors wounded.  American newspapers reported 70 casualties.  The HMS Junon had several hull hits and its sails and rigging cut up.  Its commander, James Sanders ordered a pursuit, but the American gunboats got over the shoals and the British ship stopped.

--Brock-Perry

Battle Off Newport News Point-- Part 3

Meanwhile the HMS Junon had become separated from the other British ships by a mile.  On the 19th, Cassin sent his gunboats out again, this time under the command of Captain Joseph Tarbell.

The gunboats split into two divisions and struggled against squalls, adding hours to the operation.  By the next morning, Tarbell was 3/4 mile from the Junon and opened fire, hitting the British ship four times in its hull.  The British ship was caught completely by surprise.

It slipped its cable to escape, but became becalmed, but the wind returned, turning the tables and the rest of the British fleet began sailing to aide the Junon.  The gunboats were outgunned, but fought on valiantly for more than an hour.

One American said his boat was hit three times and he counted "six or seven hundred shot" from the enemy guns.

--Brock-Perry

Battle Off Newport News Point-- Part 2

The American gunboats were shoal draft coastal ships (so they could go in shallow water) about 65-feet long and mounted 2-3 guns.  The use of oars enabled them to maneuver even in calm winds.  When Thomas Jefferson started to go with these ships to do the Navy's fighting, he started mothballing our super frigates.

Even so, Jefferson's gunboats were called "Bulldogs" and were poorly regarded.  Even militia refused to serve on them.  Many of the USS Constellation's men were reassigned to the gunboats after that frigate was bottled up behind the guns of Fort Norfolk and Fort Nelson by the British.

On June 18,  1813, the commandant of Gosport Navy Yard, John Cassin,  ordered 15 gunboats to go out past Craney Island where they drove off a flotilla of British attack barges that threatened two American sloops and a schooner.

--Brock-Perry

Battle Off Newport News Point-- Part 1

From the June 19, 2013, Hampton Roads (Va.) Daily Press "War of 1812: Gunboats attack off Newport News Point" by Mark St. John Erickson.

Just one British ship of the line with 74 guns in Chesapeake Bay and even that had more firepower than all the American batteries defending the Elizabeth River.  At peak strength, the British had nearly a dozen of these ships as well as frigates, sloops and smaller ships.  Altogether there were nearly 100 British warships for the Americans to fight.

The small American fleet had 20 gunboats and the 38-gun frigate USS Constellation.

The frigate HMS Junon, 38 guns, ran aground and, seeing a target of opportunity, 15 gunboats left the James River on the night of June 19, 1813, using oars.

The small gunboats were ordered by President Thomas Jefferson and modeled after the small North African gunboats that had captured the frigate USS Philadelphia off Tripoli in 1803.

--Brock-Perry

Mr. Jefferson's Gunboat Navy-- Part 4

These little gunboats could cover more ports and provide defense to a larger area and for much less money than one of the USS Constitution frigates.

It would be expected that the gunboats could be used in conjunction with land-based batteries to help offset the odds.  Even so, still no matvh for a British frigate and definitely not one of their ships-of-the-line.

In 1809, President Madison began moving away from the gunboat navy.  Some 100 that had been authorized to be built never were.  He put most of the existing ones into "ordinary," essentially mothballed for possible future use.

When war was declared in June 1812, the US Navy consisted of 7 frigates, 4 schooners, 4 ketches and 170 gunboats.

According to Wikipedia, Jefferson's gunboats were sometimes called "Jeffs" or referred to as being part of a "Mosquito Fleet," one that could do no real damage to an enemy fleet.

So There You Have the U.S. Gunboats.  --Brock-Perry

Mr. Jefferson's Gunboat Navy-- Part 3

Continued from June 17th.

Republicans liked the savings of the gunboats.  Instead of spending $302,000 for a ship like the USS Constitution, the first estimates for the gunboats were put at $5,000, but actually ended up costing around $10,000 apiece.  And, of course, finding names for them was not necessary as they went by numbers.

In 1805, Congress authorized the construction of 25 gunboats, followed by 50 in 1806 and 188 in 1807.  They were built at different ports to spread the money and labor around.

Everyone knew the gunboats were no threat to the Royal Navy and could not ever launch a pre-emptive strike.

More to Come.  --Brock-Perry

Mr. Jefferson's Gunboat Navy-- Part 2

President Thomas Jefferson had two alternatives at this point.  Either it was to be war or an economic embargo.  There was no way the United States was ready for a war with the most powerful country in the world (nor were we in 1812).  So, cessation of trade with any countries interfering with American trade was the order of the day.  In December 1807, the Embargo Act was passed.

Jefferson believed that a suitable naval force for the young country should consist of small gunboats to defend coastal waters so he ordered a cutback in construction of major vessels like frigates (the USS Constitution).  Small gunboats were built.  After all, they had been effective at Tripoli in the Barbary Wars.

These gunboats mostly just carried a number and were 50 feet long, 18 feet wide and shallow draft for use in coastal waters.  These were not offensive weapons.  The ships had different riggings and could be either powered by sail or oars.  A crew of twenty manned the boat which carried 2-3 guns: 18-to 24- pound swivel mounted or 32-pounders mounted on travering carriages weighing 7,000 pounds.

These ships would not fare well in rough seas or against a heavy enemy warship.

More to Come.  --Brock-Perry

Mr. Jefferson's Gunboat Navy-- Part 1

Source: Mariner's Museum, Virginia.

Since I have been writing about United States War of 1812 gunboats, I though this article I found from last year was appropriate.  It also provides some background information on events leading up to the war.

By 1805, tension between the U.S. and Britain continued to mount.  America was angered by the blockade of France, impressment of American sailors and confiscation of our ships.  And, after the defeat of te French fleet at the October 1805 Battle of Trafalgar Britain held complete domination of the sea.

From 1800 to 1805 fifty-nine American merchant ships were taken by the British Navy.

From 1805 to 1807 about half of U.S. merchant ships, 469, were taken.

In the year 1807, there was the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair and the further impressment of 6,000 sailors from American ships.

Clearly, the countries were approaching the brink of war.

War Clouds On the Horizon.  --Brock-Perry