Jesse Elliott, USN-- Part 2: Pre War of 1812 Service

From Wikipedia.

JESSE DUNCAN ELLIOTT  (14 July 1782 - 10 December 1845) was a United States naval officer and commander on American naval forces on Lake Erie during the War of 812.  He is well-known for his controversial actions during the Battle of Lake Erie.

He was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, and enlisted in the Navy as a midshipman in April 1804 and saw action in the Mediterranean Sea during the Barbary Wars between 1805 and 1807, serving on the USS Essex under Commodore James Barron.

In June 1807, Elliott was on board the USS Chesapeake when Barron was forced to allow his ship to be searched by the HMS Leopard.

Elliott was promoted to lieutenant in April 1810 and was assigned to Lake Erie to oversee the construction of the American squadron there upon the outbreak of the War of 1812.

--Brock-Perry

Things You Didn't Know About Oliver Hazard Perry-- Part 5: 'Don't Give Up the Ship'

Perry is known for his "Don't Give Up the Ship" flag, which serves even to this day as a rallying cry for the U.S. Navy.

As a tribute to his dying friend Captain James Lawrence of the USS Chesapeake, killed in a June  1813 battle in Boston Harbor.  Lawrence had issued a plea to his crew during his clash with the HMS Shannon as he lay dying.  (Sadly, they did surrender.)

Perry had a group of women in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he was building his fleet.  The flag became a symbol of victory and perseverance when it flew over Perry's flagship, the USS Lawrence, at the Battle of Lake Erie.  When his ship was so battered that it could no longer fight, Perry transferred himself and that flag to the USS Niagara, continued the fight and won dramatically.

--Brock-Perry  (The Perry in my signoff is for Oliver Hazard Perry.)

This Month in the War of 1812

From the June American Battlefield Trust calendar.

JUNE 6, 1813

**  Engagement at Stoney Creek.

JUNE 18, 1812

**  U.S. declares war on Great Britain.

JUNE 22, 1807

**  The HMS Leopard fires on the USS Chesapeake.

JUNE 22, 1812

**  A mob in Baltimore destroys the printing offices of an anti-war newspaper.

JUNE 22, 1813

**  Battle of Craney Island.

JUNE 1, 1813

**  The USS Chesapeake captured by the British frigate HMS Shannon.    Captain James Lawrence of the Chesapeake dies days later.  He is the person who gave the U.S. Navy the "Don't Give Up the Ship" motto.

--Brock-Perry

USS Congress (1799)-- Part 6: An Inauspicious Maiden Voyage

The USS Congress was launched on 15 August 1799 under the command of Captain James Sever.  It fit-out at Rhode Island and set off on its maiden voyage 6 January 1800 in company with the USS Essex to escort merchant ships to the East Indies.

Six days later she lost all of her masts in a gale.  Because her rigging had been set and tightened in a cold climate, it had slackened once she reached warmer waters.  Without the full support of all her rigging, all the masts fell within a four hour period, killing one crew member trying to do repairs.

The crew rigged a temporary sail and the Congress limped to the Gosport Navy Yard for repairs.  While there, some of Server's junior officers announced that they had no confidence in his ability as a commanding officer.  A hearing was held, and Captain sever was cleared  of any wrongdoing and remained in command of the Congress, though many of his crew soon transferred out to the USS Chesapeake.

Of course, the USS Chesapeake went on to have a somewhat checkered career as an unlucky ship.

--Brock-Perry

The Super-Frigates of the U.S. Navy (or, the Original Six Frigates )

 Wikipedia.

In case you're wondering about these six frigates built as per the Naval Act of 1794, of which the USS Congress was one, here is a list of them, along with site built, guns, naval contractor and Navy superintendent:

CHESAPEAKE:  Gosport, Virginia (Norfolk, Va.), 44 guns, Josiah Fox, Richard Dale

CONSTITUTION:  Boston, Massachusetts,  44 guns, George Claghorn, Samuel Nicholson

PRESIDENT:  New York, New York, 44 guns,  Christian Bergh, Silas Talbot

UNITED STATES:  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,  44 guns, Joshua Humphreys,  John Barry

CONGRESS:  Portsmouth, New Hampshire,  36 guns, James Hackett,  James Sever

CONSTELLATION:  Baltimore, Maryland,  36,  David Stodder,  Thomas Truxton

--Brock-Perry

U.S. Navy in War of 1812-- Part 3: That Impressment Thing and Other Affronts Lead to War

The Chesapeake-Leopard Affair, as it came to be known, enraged the American public and embarrassed the Navy.  President Jefferson levied a big embargo against the British and the British Admiralty recalled the Leopard's commander and admitted the error.   The situation deescalated  and soon was replaced with Vice President Aaron Burr's  conspiracy and trial for treason.

Actually, the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair didn't end until 1820, when the disgraced American commander of the Cheasapeake, James Barron, challenged American naval hero Stephen Decatur to a duel stemming from it and killed Decatur.

But, impressments continued.  Since 1800, Great Britain had captured 917 American ships and impressed 6,257 American seamen.

On June 1, 1812, President James Madison spoke before Congress, citing British impressment of American sailors, disregard for American sovereignty and plundering of American commerce, and asked that a state of war be declared.

With support from the War Hawks, who were seeking to gain control of Canada, Congress declared war on June 18, 1812.  Ironically, the British had rescinded the Orders in Council two days earlier.

--Brock-Perry

U.S. Navy in the War of 1812-- Part 2: Impressment and the Chesapeake-Leopard Incident

After the Quasi War with France was settled in 1800 and the situation with the Barbary States was normalized in 1805, the major remaining threat to the U.S. Navy was clearly the British Navy.  The biggest thing the weak U.S. Navy had going for it was the almost uninterrupted war between Britain and France ever since the French Revolution.

This conflict intensified after Napoleon took over France in 1803.  To keep their ships manned, the British relied on impressment.  American sailors became a prime source for this.

In 1807, the British government increased their blockade on France, resulting in the stopping of American ships and the impressment of American sailors.  Then, on June 22, 1807, the British frigate HMS Leopard stopped the American frigate USS Chesapeake and opened fire when the American commander, James Barron, refused to let them come on board.  The British forced their way on board after a very one-sided fight with three American  dead and eighteen wounded and four sailors taken off for impressment.

Thomas Jefferson always believed that war between the two countries might have been declared right then had Congress been in session.

--Brock-Perry

Naval Officers Dueling: An "Honorable" Way to Die, the End of Stephen Decatur

Captain Stephen Decatur himself died in a duel in 1820. 

As a military officer, Decatur believed he was obligated to accept  a challenge from anybody who was his social or professional equal or better.  He had survived a 1799 duel  and he was actually opposed to duels between midshipmen under his command.

However, Captain James Barron had taken offense in the role Decatur had taken at his court-martial after the 1807 Chesapeake-Leopard Affair, and he increasingly grew bitter afterwards.

He finally challenged Decatur and mortally wounded  him at Bladensburg, Maryland, the most famous duel in U.S. Navy history.

The blog entries on dueling were all taken from "Dueling Frigates" New London (CT.) Historical Society by Andrew W. German.

--Brock-Perry

Dueling Frigates-- Part 3: It's the HMS Shannon vs. USS Chesapeake

Two broadsides were exchanged between the two ships.  When the two ships became entangles, Broke order his men to board the Chesapeake.  What ended was a huge loss for the Americans.  With more than a third of her crew killed or wounded and its commander, James Lawrence mortally wounded and taken below for treatment, the ship struck her colors just 15 minutes after the engagement had begun.

Captain Lawrence reportedly uttered these famous words as he was being taken below, "Don't Give Up the Ship."

The Chesapeake became the first American frigate lost during the war

--Brock-Perry.

Dueling Frigates-- Part 3: The Shannon Versus Chesapeake

Proud of their ships and eager to fight them, captains sometimes went to the extreme of issuing an outright challenge  for a ship-to-ship duel.

One of the most famous ones of these took place between the HMS Shannon and USS Chesapeake on June 1, 1813.

British Captain Philip Bowes Vere Broke had such a well-trained crew on the HMS Shannon that he was really looking for a fight with an American frigate.  His counter-part, Captain James Lawrence, formerly of the USS Hornet, was also looking for a fight on his USS Chesapeake.

Both ships were rated at 38-guns, but both had  about 50, mostly 18-pounders.  The Chesapeake had a crew of 379 and Shannon 330.

On June 1, 1813, Captain Broke sent a challenge to Captain Lawrence, but he didn't get it as he was already on his way out of Boston Harbor and looking for a fight.  Late that afternoon, about 18 miles off of Boston, the Chesapeake, flying a large white banner reading "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights," came across the Shannon.

--Brock-Perry

John Rodgers, U.S. Navy-- Part 2: Quasi-War, Barbary War and War of 1812

United States Navy officer.

He married Minerva Denison in 1806 and they had eight children.  Many of the children served in the military.

He became a hero in the pre-War of 1812 naval squabbles with France and Great Britain.  Served with distinction in the Quasi-War with France.  Helped defeat the Tripolitan naval forces in the Barbary War and defeated  a British sloop-of-war  in 1811, which brought back a measure of respect  for the U.S. Navy in the wake of the USS Chesapeake-HMS Shannon affair.

He commanded several squadrons in the War of 1812 and helped defend to successfully defend Baltimore against the British  in 1814.

After the war, he was named President of the U.S.  Navy Board of Commissioners (which included fellow  commodores Isaac Hull and David D. Porter).

--Brock-Perry

The USS Constitution Goes to Washington Navy Yard-- Part 3: Heaved Over and Ready to Go

In contrast to the slow work done on the USS Chesapeake, not so for the USS Constitution.  There was a sense of urgency because of the increasingly bad relations with Britain and all the cries for conflict from the Congressional War Hawks.

The Constitution arrived on March 5, 1812.  The Secretary of the Navy, Paul Hamilton visited the ship to determine what needed to be done.  Once the spars and uppermasts were removed and anything else removable removed, the ship was heaved down.  Heaved down is when a ship is turned onto her side so that work below the waterline can be done.  This would occur in very shallow water where a dry dock was not available.

It was heaved down on May 2 using teams of oxen to perform the heavy moving.  First the port side was exposed, then the starboard.  By May 12, cleaning and patching  the copper sheathing  and caulking was completed.  Work began to re-rig the ship with new spars and foremast.

The bowsprit had been intended for the USS Constellation, but Captain Hull redirected this  and other timbers to his ship.  The Constellation would have to wait.  Sky poles  and a double dolphin striker (no idea what these are) were added.

Preparing for War.  --Brock-Perry

The USS Constitution Goes to Washington Navy Yard-- Part 2

Thomas Tingey was a former British naval officer who had served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolution and distinguished himself during the Quasi-War .  At Washington Navy Yard (WNY) he proved himself an able administrator and remained at that post from 1799 until his death in 1829.  His residence is now home of the Chief of Navy Operations.

During his long tenure, WNY turned into a nearly full-service facility just coming up short because it did not have a drydock.  In 1806, the sloop of war Wasp became the first of several 19th century warships built there.

Despite being an excellent facility, however, the competence of its workforce came into question when the frigate USS Chesapeake took six months to refit for recommissioning in 1807.  When she was finally ready to go this is when the Chesapeake/Leopard Affair took place when the ship was engaged by the British frigate HMS Leopard, boarded and four American sailors taking off.

This is one of the reasons for the War of 1812.

However, work on the USS Constitution, with the threat of war with Britain impending, went on quickly when it arrived for repairs March 5, 1812.

--Brock-Perry

Some More On Joseph Willcocks-- Part 3: What Caused Him to Cross Over to the American Side

Most likely, from what I've read is his adherence to the letter of the law and opposition to any suspension of rights (especially when the military was involved.  And this was just what was going  on in 1813 in Upper Canada.

This source says that during the USS Chesapeake Affair of 1807, Willcocks had written an American correspondent over the British Navy's forced enforcement of capturing runaway seamen:  "The honest part of us say that if the States pocket the indignity they can no longer style themselves a nation."

In 1813, Upper Canadians were, to Willcocks, willing to suffer  the indignity of arbitrary and, what was worse, military rule.  He was definitely not pro-American, and once described Americans as "not an honest people.'    But, even so, the subversion of local legislative supremacy was more than he could stand.

He crossed over the river to the American side and offered his services.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Gibson, NY-- Part 4: Worsening Tensions Between the U.S. and Britain

HMdb.

Fort Gibson:  Oyster Banks to Batteries

The earliest fort at this site was built in 1794.  Britain's navy had begun seizing American merchant vessels and forcing sailors to serve on their warships.  (Impressment)  Congress decided that America's most important harbors should be defended in case of war.

Charles Vincent, a French engineer, was hired to construct defenses in New York Harbor.  He chose tiny Oyster Island (as Ellis Island was then called), known only for its ouster banks and shad fishing as the location of an eight-gun battery.

Tensions between Britain and the United States continued to worsen and in 1807, a British frigate attacked the frigate USS Chesapeake.  This led President Jefferson to further improve the nation's defenses and many of the earlier forts were rebuilt.

--Brock-Perry

USS Revenge, Perry's Lost Ship-- Part 1: Enforcing the Embargo Act

From Wikipedia.

The ship was bought by the U.S. Navy in 1806 and ran aground 9 January 1811 and sank.

It was 70 feet long and mounted 12 X 6-pdr cannons.

The Navy bought the Baltimore-built schooner Ranger in New Orleans in December 1806.  It was renamed the Revenge and commissioned.

In 1807, it was ordered to the Atlantic Ocean and sailed under Lt. Jacob Jones.  It joined Commodore John Rodgers' New York Flotilla which assembled shortly after the USS Chesapeake-HMS Leopard Affair.  With the passage of Thomas Jefferson's Embargo Act on 22 December 1807, the flotilla established a blockade of the U.S, coast to prevent foreign commerce.

--Brock-Perry

Casualties in the USS Chesapeake-HMS Shannon Engagement

HMS Shannon

24 killed, 59 wounded, including Captain broke who received a head wound while leading the boarding party.  Lt. Provo Wallis took command of the Shannon after the wounding of his captain.

USS Chesapeake

56 killed, 85 wounded.

Captain Lawrence died of wounds received on June 4.

--Brock-Perry

HMS Shannon Legacy-- Part 3: Books, Coins, Parks

**  A fine detailed account of the battle between the USS Chesapeake and HMS Shannon is in the book "Enduring Journey of the USS Chesapeake" by Chris Dickon.

**  A fictionalized account of the battle appears in the book "Fortunes of War" by Patrick O'Brien.

**  A special Canadian ten dollar coin was made to commemorate the War of 1812 and depicts the HMS Shannon.

**  South West Western Australia has a Broke Inlet and a Shannon River.  There is also a Chesapeake Road in Shannon National Park.

--Brock-Perry

HMS Shannon Legacy-- Part 2: Provo Wallis

**  The Shannon's bell is displayed at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax.  It also has a surgeon's chest and mess kettle from the Chesapeake.

**  A cannon, believed to have been from the Shannon, is on the north side of Province House., Nova Scotia's legislative building.

A lieutenant named Provo Wallis was acting captain of the Shannon for six days following the wounding of Captain Broke.  because of this, he became senior to many other lieutenants during the Napoleonic-era Royal Navy.

This enabled him to eventually become Admiral of the Fleet.

--Brock-Perry

Some Confusion on Thomas O. Selfridge in the Last Post

In the last post on the court martial trial of William S. Cox, for the surrender of the USS Chesapeake on June 1, 1813, I wrote that Naval hero Stephen Decatur served as president at the proceedings and Thomas O. Selfridge was judge advocate.  This was according to the June 28, 2014, "The War" newspaper.

The name Selfridge is a very familiar one to me because of Thomas O. Selfridge, Jr.,'s service during the Civil War.  Must be his father.

The problem with Thomas O. Selfridge being the judge advocate in Mr. Cox's court martial is that Thomas was born April 24, 1804 and that would have made him just ten years old in 1814.  Kind of young to have been a judge advocate, I think.

Plus, Wikipedia says Thomas O. Selfridge was appointed a midshipman on January 1, 1818, at age 13.

I couldn't find any other Selfridge who would have been a naval officer during the War of 1812.

--Brock-Perry