In February, before the British announced their blockade of New York, Secretary of the Navy William Jones had reduced the number of gunboats in the New York Flotilla to fifteen as a cost-cutting measure. He stipulated that Lewis could bring the excess gunboats back into service in an emergency and have them crewed by volunteers.
When the Royal Navy squadron appeared off Sandy Hook, Lewis returned the laid off gunboats to service and requested the Navy Department to pay for the crews. This request brought a strong rebuke from Jones, who reminded him that he was to find volunteer crews to man the gunboats and that Lewis could be held personally responsible for any costs his actions incurred. He then ordered Lewis to take the extra gunboats out of service unless the British were to attack.
(Don't you know that Lewis hit the ceiling when told this which was most likely the reason he tried to get Secretary of State James Monroe in on his side.)
Nicholas Fish, the Federalist chairman of New York City's Committee of Defense, asked Jones to authorize the addition gunboats for which the city would pay for the crews. Jones agreed to this compromise and told Lewis to bring up to fifteen additional gunboats into service.
This situation was a successful example of sharing defense responsibilities between the federal and state governments.
--Brock-Perry
