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

John M. Gamble, USMC-- Part 4: The Only Marine Officer to ....

Lt. Colonel John M. Gamble is chiefly remembered in history as the only Marine to ever command a U.S. Naval vessel, and he did this not once, but twice.  He commanded two separate prizes captured by the USS Essex while operating in the Pacific Ocean.  

The Essex was commanded by David Porter, father of eventual Union Admiral David Dixon Porter. and raised another Union Admiral who achieved fame also in the Civil War, David Glasgow Farragut.  As a matter of fact, Farragut accompanied David Porter in this Pacific cruise.

The two ships that Gamble commanded were the aforementioned Sir Andrew Hammond and Greenwich.  For want of Navy officers, Gamble was placed in charge.

--Brock-Perry

John M. Gamble, USMC-- Part 2

From Wikipedia.

JOHN MARSHALL GAMBLE

(1791 - 11 September 1836)

He remains the first and only-known U.S. Marine to command a U.S. Naval vessel for commanding the prize ships Greenwich and Andrew Hammond.

He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and commissioned a second lieutenant in the USMC on 16 January 1809, at the age of 17.

During the War of 1812, he was stationed in the Pacific Ocean on the frigate US Essex where he rose to be a captain by June 1814.  Among his accomplishments during that time was sailing the whaling ship Albert Hammond, a prize taken by the Essex, with a 4-man crew and without benefit of a chart to the Hawaiian Islands in 17 days.

--Brock-Perry

John Downes, USN-- Part 3: Cruising with the Essex and the Second Barbary War

Among the prizes taken by the USS Essex was the whaler Atlantic.  Captain Porter fitted it out as a cruiser and classified it as a sloop-of-war with twenty guns and named her Essex Junior.  The ship was placed  under the command of Lieutenant Downes.  The Essex and Essex Junior were both captured at the same time on 28 March 1814.

Downes was promoted to master commandant in 1813 and two years later commanded  the brig Epervier in the squadron under the command of  Stephen Decatur against Algiers.  On June 17, 1815, he assisted in the capture of the Algerian frigate Mashouda.  Two days later, the Eperviere and three smaller vessels captured the Algerian brig Estedio off Cape Palos.  

After the conclusion of peace with Algiers, Decatur transferred Downes to his ship, the USS Guerriere.

Downes also served on the Ontario and Independence before becoming a captain in 1817.

--Brock-Perry

John Downes, USN-- Part 2: Service in the First Barbary War and War of 1812

From Wikipedia.

Commodore John Downes (December 23, 1784-August  11, 1854) was a career naval officer, whose service covered the first half of the 19th century.

John Downes was born in Canton, Massachusetts,  on December 23, 1784.  He served as  acting midshipman from September 9, 1800, and was appointed midshipman from June 1, 1802.  He rendered distinguished service during the  First Barbary War in  1804 on the frigate Congress and distinguished himself again on the frigate New York in a boat attack upon Tripolita feluccas (a type of ship).

In March 1807, he was made a lieutenant and served as executive officer for Captain David Porter on the USS Essex during her cruise in the Pacific during the War of 1812..  In an action off James Island (in the South Pacific) Downes was in command of the sloop Georgiana during the capture of three British whalers.

He also participated in the action off Charles Island (Galapagos Islands) before sailing to Nuku Hiva to assist in building America's first base in the Pacific Ocean.

--Brock-Perry

HMS Alert-- Part 2: Surrender to the USS Essex

The Royal Navy bought the collier Oxford in May 1804, for 6805 pounds and renamed her the HMS Alert and was fitted out for naval service at an additional cost of 3730 pounds.  She went through a succession of commanders until Commander Thomas Lamb Poldue Langharne assumed command in January 1812.  On April 5, she sailed to Newfoundland.

Langhorne and the Alert were sailing off Newfoundland searching for the American sloop USS Hornet when they sighted a vessel.  They sailed toward the unknown ship and prepared to engage and as they got closer the stranger raised the American flag.

Shortly thereafter, it was discovered that this American ship was a frigate, the USS Essex, and an attempt was made to disengage, but they were unable to escape.  Outgunned and outnumbered, Langharne was forced to strike.  Casualties on the Alert were three wounded.

The Alert was the first British ship to surrender to the Americans in the War of 1812.

--Brock-Perry

HMS Alert: A Former Collier

From Wikipedia.

The HMS Alert was captured by the frigate USS Essex.

The HMS Alert was the collier  Oxford launched in 1803, that the Royal Navy bought in 1804.  (In case you're wondering, a collier is a bulk cargo ship designed to carry coal.  Well, I had to look it up as well.)

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

Length:  105 feet  (keel 86 feet)

Beam:  29.4 feet

Complement:

Royal Navy:  80

U.S. Navy:  100

Armament:

Royal Navy:  two 9-pinder long guns, Sixteen 18-pdr. carronades

U.S. Navy:  Two 12 pounder long guns, Eighteen 32-pdr. carronades

--Brock-Perry

USS Essex: General Characteristics

From Wikipedia.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

Cost:  $139,362

Commissioned:  17 December 1799

Length:  138.7 feet

Beam:  37.3 feet

Armament (as an American warship, it was captured by the British)

Forty 32-pounder carronades

Six 12-pounder long guns

Captured by British:  28 March 1814

--Brock-Perry

Francis B. Gamble: How He Ended Up on the Captured HMS Alert and was Captured

I was more than a little bit confused in the last post when the source said that Francis B. Gamble was captured on the British ship Alert, a prize of the USS Essex and that he was made prisoner and eventually exchanged.  

So, I looked up further information on it.

From Wikipedia.

USS Essex

The ship was a 32 or 36 gun U.S. frigate that was in the Quasi-War with France, the First Barbary War and the War of 1812.  The British captured her in  1814 and she then became the HMS Essex and served the British Navy until sold at public auction in 1837.

When  the War of 1812 broke out, the Essex was commanded by Captain David Porter (the father of later Civil War Admirals David Dixon Porter, and adoptive son David G. Farragut) made a successful cruise southward.  On 11 July, she attacked a British convoy and captured one of them.  On 13 August she engaged and captured the HMS Alert.  

(This would be when Francis Gamble ended up on the Alert which evidently was recaptured by the British when he was aboard it.)

By the time the Essex returned to Boston, it had taken, she had captured ten prizes.

--Brock-Perry

Francis B. Gamble

From records of officers and men on New Jersey in wars 1791-1815" by New Jersey Adjutant General's Office.

Another one of the Gamble Boys.

GAMBLE, FRANCIS B.

Midshipman, May 18, 1809

Ordered to Frigate "Essex,"  Captain David Porter, North Atlantic Squadron February 5, 1812.

Captured with British ship "Alert," a prize of the "Essex," and sent to Halifax, N.S., August 1812

Exchanged and returned to duty, October 17, 1813

Ordered to sloop-of-war at Navy Yard Boston, Mass., December 21, 1813;

Ordered to duty  on Lake Champlain, 1814.

Ordered to New York, N.Y., for duty with Captain David Porter, November 17, 1814;

Lieutenant December 19, 1814, and remained on station until the close of the war, 1815.

(For subsequent and continued record, see War with Algiers."

--Brock-Perry

Captain Thomas Gamble in the War of 1812

From the same source as the previous post.

GAMBLE, THOMAS (For previous record see War with Tripoli)--  Midshipman; on Frigate "Essex," 1806; transferred to merchant service. August 25,  1806, and again transferred to the same service, April 20, 1807;

Ordered to duty at New York, N.Y., August 5, 1807; ordered to duty under command of Lieutenant Melancthon T. Woolsey for service on the lakes, July 5, 1808; ordered to duty  at New York, N.Y., April 27, 1809;n  transferred to merchant service, July 10,  1809; ordered to duty under Captain John Rodgers, August 16, 1809;

Lieutenant, April 27, 1810; on Frigate "President," Captain John Rodgers, North Atlantic Squadron, May 1811; ordered to Baltimore, Md. September 3, 1814; on Frigate "Guerriere," November 13, 1814; ordered to New York, N.Y., to join West  India Squadron, Captain David Porter, November 28, 1814.  

(For subsequent service and continued record, see War with Algiers.)

--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 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

Oliver Hazard Perry and the USS Revenge Sinking-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

Oliver Hazard Perry was appointed a midshipman in 1799.  In the First Barbary War, he served on the USS Adams and later became a first lieutenant and second in command of the USS Nautilus.

He then served under Captain John Rodgers on the USS Constitution and then on the USS Essex.

After that, he was placed in charge of the construction of gunboats in Newport and Westerly, Connecticut.

In April 1809, he commanded the sloop USS Revenge and did patrol duties off New England to enforce the Embargo Act.  He also led a successful raid which resulted in the recapture of an American ship held in Spanish Territory in Florida.

--Brock-Perry

Marblehead in the War of 1812-- Part 2: Fortifying

Both the USS Essex and USS Constitution had many sailors from Marblehead in their crews as did privateers from Salem.

There was a distinct danger to Marblehead from the sea.  It was decided at a Town Meeting to reinforce the arsenal and Fort Sewall at the mouth of the harbor which had been neglected and falling into disrepair ever since the Revolution.

To protect Little Harbor, Fountain Park was fortified with a battery of cannons as designated as Fort Washington.

A 42-pounder was placed at Skinner's Head (now Glover's Landing).  Smaller cannons were placed at Goodwin's Head and Gilberts Heights.  Guards were stationed at Marblehead Neck.

--Brock-Perry

How a Prank Almost Sank the Port City

From the April 17, 2014, Alexandria (Va.) Times "My View: How a Prank Almost Sank the Port City" by Daniel Lee.

Seven British warships dropped anchor alongside Alexandria's waterfront in late August 1814.  Captain James Gordon's men "maintained a remarkable level of discipline while obsconding with large amounts of flour, tobacco and beef" while many residents claimed they were not paid for it either.

While leaving the town, British Midshipman John Went Frasier of the HMS Euryalus, was collared by American Captain David Porter (father of the Civil War's David Dixon Porter and foster father of David Glasgow Farragut) and Master Commandant John Orde Creighton.

Upon hearing this, British Captain Gordon turned his guns on the town and that "shirt collar gave way" and Frasier got back to his ship.

Porter went on to command the new USS Essex, formerly the frigate USS Columbia.  Creighton went on to command the new corvette USS Argus.

Both men are buried in Washington, D.C..

--Brock-Perry

James P. Wilmer-- Part 3

Lt. Wilmer wrote his will while on the USS Essex on July 14, 1814, saying that if he was killed doing his duty, his sisters Mary and Sarah at Havre de Grace should receive his gold watch, clothes, effects and any prize money he had coming.

A fortunate move on his part because he was killed at Valparaiso, Chile, in March 28, 1814, when the British destroyed the Essex.

The 12-year-old cabin boy aboard the Essex at the time was a friend of crew member #61, a slave named Henry Ruff, who was listed simply as 'boy."  He said that when Ruff was told that Wilmer had been killed, he was so distraught that he jumped into the sea and drowned.  This story comes from the Essex's Captain Porter's foster son and future famous Civil War Admiral David Glasgow Farragut.  Porter's son was another famous Civil War Admiral, David D. Porter, who became even more famous with the capture of Fort Fisher in North Carolina on January 15, 1865, almost 150 years ago this month.

--Brock-Perry

James P. Wilmer-- Part 2: U.S. Naval Hero

Young Midshipman Wilmer was on the first U.S. Navy ship to cross the equator and first to double the Cape of Good Hope, Africa, in 1800.  He served in the First Barbary War and in the War of 1812 in the Caribbean Sea and the coasts of South America.

"The United States ship of war Alext, commanded by Lieutenant James P. Wilmer, arrived at this port yesterday, in 14 days from St. John's, Newfoundland, with 232 prisoners.  She was captured on the 13th of August by Captain Porter, of the United States' frigate Essex, who on the 19th stripped her of all armaments excepting one gun, and sent her as cartel to St. John's with her officers, crew and other English prisoners of war amounting to 120 men," the National Intelligencer reported on September 22, 1812.

--Brock-Perry

James P. Wilmer-- Part 1: His Father

From the December 28, 2013, Cecil (Md.) Whig "Havre de Grace sailor killed in final War of 1812 battle"by Ericka Quesenbery Sturgill.

James P. Wilmer was appointed midshipman on Dec. 27, 1802.  His daring War of 1812 exploits were covered in the newspapers but overshadowed by his father, Reverend James Jones Wilmer, Episcopal clergyman who served as chaplain of the U.S. Senate..

He was then appointed chaplain in the U.S. Army in 1813 and served in that until his death in 1814 at the age of 65.  As editor of the Baltimore American newspaper, he covered the burning of Havre de Grace.  He also wrote a lot about his son, who had by then retained the rank of first lieutenant on the USS Essex.

--Brock-Perry

Timeline for March 1814-- Part 2

MARCH 12TH:

The 5th Battalion of Lower Canada Select Embodied Militia is transformed to a light infantry unit known as the Chasseurs Canadiens. (I would imagine a French-Canadian unit.)

MARCH 22ND:

Amerivan raids on Missisiquoi Bay, Lower Canada.

MARCH 27TH:

Battle of Horseshoe Bend in Central Alabama. Essentially ended the Creek War.

MARCH 28TH:

The HMS Phoebe and HMS Cherub defeated the USS Essex and Essex Junior, off Valparaiso, Chile. The Essex had been very successful as a commerce raider attacking British merchant ships in the South Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

--Brock-Perry