The Attack on Andrew Jackson's Head-- Part 2

There was a thunderstorm of unusual violence on the night of July 2, 1834 and the young  Sam Dewey, he was just 28,  took his row boat from Billy Gray's Wharf in Boston and rowed over to the USS Constitution.  Climbing over the ship's side by use of the manropes, he went to the bow.

There he accomplished the decapitation and rowed back to safety.  He took the fruits of his labor with him with the idea of presenting the head to President Jackson himself.  However, Jackson was seriously ill and no one permitted to visit him.

He did get to see Vice President Van Buren though, who was not amused.

Dewey then gave the head to the Secretary of the Navy, Mahlon Dickerson, and no charges were filed, however.

You Sure Would Have Thought. --Brock-Perry

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 NY Flotilla-- Part 2: Who Pays for More Gunboats and Their Crews?

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

Jacob Lewis Writes to Secretary of State Monroe About His New York Flotilla

February 27, 1813

** "I am very desirous of possessing the confidence of the present  Secretary of the Navy as I did the late Mr. Secy. Hamilton.'  (Paul Hamilton)  The Secretary of the Navy after Hamilton was William Jones.  (Evidently Lewis did not get along with Jones very well.  At first I thought Mr. Secy. Hamilton was Alexander Hamilton.)

**  Raising and organizing crews of NY Flotilla.    Intends to make them able to fight on land as well as sea.    Wants to be able to put as many as 1000 on the shore and also be be able to "place the  flotilla in of perfect safety where the Enemy could not possibly  get at them."

**  Will train crews on landing, embarking marching, forming and "displaying  Colloms."  (columns)

**  "They shall be  amphibious Soldiers."

**  But needs  the support of the Secretary of the Navy.  (Evidently not getting it.)

**  The gunboats are  "held in the utmost contempt" by the City of New York.

--Brock-Perry

Jacob Lewis & the New York Flotilla-- Part 1

From the "Naval War of 1812:  A Documentary History" by William S. Dudley.

Jacob Lewis & the New York Flotilla.

Jacob Lewis was the commander of the privateer Bunker Hill early in the war and was appointed master commandant in the U.S. Navy in 1812.  Given command of all the  gunboats and fire ships stationed at New York, Lewis accepted this new challenge and set out to immediately assess the status of his flotilla.

One of his new ships was probably Gunboat No. 47, Richard Hill's ship.

He found his new command to be undermanned and "in a pitiable State owing to the prejudice against it."  Lewis knew that he had local support because the committee for harbor defense, fearful of a swarm of British ships in the spring, exhorted the state legislature for money for defense.

Unsure of Navy Secretary Jones' support, he enlisted the support of Secretary of State James Monroe in convincing the Navy Department that gunboats used in  coastal defense freed frigates for sea duty.

Brock-Perry

The USS Constitution Goes to Washington-- Part 1

From the USS Constitution Museum 14 March 2018.   By David F. Winkler.

The USS Constitution was built in Boston and has spent most all of the last  120 years at the Charlestown Navy Yard, but there was a time it visited many U.S. navy yards.

The need for repairs and outfitting led the ship to Washington Navy Yard just before the War of 1812.  It was originally supposed to go to the yard in 1801 when President Thomas Jefferson wanted to decommission all of the Navy's frigates and maintain them in Washington as a cost-saving measure.

However, the Constitution remained in ordinary for two years and then saw duty in the Mediterranean at the outbreak of the first Barbary War.  By 1805, eight of the Navy's eleven frigates were at the Washington Navy yard, but the Constitution remained in the Mediterranean as the flagship, along with the USS Essex.  The USS Adams sailed the eastern U.S. seaboard.

The land for the Washington Navy Yard was originally acquired in 1799 by Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Stoddert and in the first decade of the 19th century was a work in progress with Thomas Tingey
 the first commandant.

--Brock-Perry

The Washington Navy Yard in the Early 1800s

From Wikipedia.

The land was purchased under an Act of Congress in 1799, and the Navy Yard was established in October of that year.  It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy and was built under the direction of Benjamin Stoddert, the first Secretary of the Navy and supervised by  by the yard's first commandant, Thomas Tingey, who served in that capacity for 29 years.

The Navy Yard became the main shipbuilder of the U.S. Navy.  Twenty-two vessels were constructed there from small  70 foot gunboats to the 246-foot steam frigate USS Minnesota (which was at the Battles of Fort Fisher and the Battle of the Ironclads between the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia during the Civil War).

The USS Constitution came to the yard in 1812 for a refit.

Good thing it wasn't there when the British came.

--Brock-Perry

Samuel Smith-- Part 5: His Statue

Samuel Smith's statue is at Federal Hill.  The monument was dedicated on July, 4, 1918. and was created by sculptor Hans Shuler.  From 1918 to 1953, it was located in Wyman Park at Charles and 29th Street.  In 1953 it was moved to Pratt and Light Street and finally moved top its present location in 1970.

From HMDB

Inscription:    "1752-1839   Under his command the attack by the British upon Baltimore  by land and sea Sept., 12-14, 1814 was repulsed.

 "Member of Congress forty successive years, president U.S. Senate, Secretary of the Navy, Mayor of Baltimore."

Quite a Busy Man.  --Brock-Perry

Abel P. Upshur-- Part 2: Secretary of the Navy

His father was Littleton Upshur, a plantation owner, member of the Virginia legislature and a captain in the U.S. Army in the War of 1812.

Abel P. Upshur attended Princeton and Yale Colleges and was expelled from Princeton for his participating in a student rebellion.  From October 11, 1841, to July 23, 1843, he was Secretary of the Navy and during that time introduced the Bureau Systems, regularization of the officer corps, increased Navy appropriations and established the U.S. Navy Observatory and Hydrographic Office.

--Brock-Perry

Commodore Joshua Barney's Personal Items Donated to Maryland Historical Society-- Part 2

Joshua Barney was born in Baltimore 6 July 1759 and died 1 December 1818.  He was a hero in both the American Revolution and the War of 1812, going to sea at age 13.  During the Revolution, he was captured three times, held in a notorious prison ship and escaped twice.

In the 1790s, he was hired by the French to run their West Indies Squadron.

He achieved his biggest fame during the War of 1812, first commanding the legendary Baltimore privateer Rossie.

In 1813, he presented a plan to Secretary of Navy William Jones for defense of the Chesapeake Bay by proposing a flotilla of small, inexpensive barges perfect for the shallow bay waters and hence referred to as the "Mosquito Fleet."

This fleet proved a great disruption to British plans in the area and Barney became commander of this United States Chesapeake Flotilla.

--Brock-Perry