Back to Lawrence Rousseau-- Part 4: The USS Jefferson, Finally Some Action

The USS Jefferson finally received her cannons and sailed on 31 July and blockaded Niagara with the USS Sylph and USS Oneida, while the rest of Isaac Chauncey's fleet went to Kingston to blockade that British base.  After a month the Jefferson sailed to join Chauncey at Kingston.

A severe storm on September 12 almost sank the Jefferson which was almost swamped.  Ten guns had to be thrown overboard.

Back at Sackets Harbor, it was laid up for winter in November where it stayed as peace was declared early the next year.  The USS Erie's crew and Charles Ridgely returned to their ship.  It remained in ordinary until it was sold 30 April 1815.

--Brock-Perry

Back to Lawrence Rousseau-- Part 3: The USS Jefferson

From Wikipedia.

This is the second ship Lawrence Rousseau served on after he was on the USS Erie.

The USS Jefferson was a 117-foot long brig with a crew of 160 mounting sixteen 42-pdr. carronades and four 24-pdr. long guns.

It was built at Sackets Harbor for service in Commodore Isaac Chauncey's fleet on Lake Ontario.  It was launched 7 April 1814, and manned by the crew of the USS Erie which was laid up in Baltimore because of the British blockade there.  Its commander was Charles G. Ridgeley (Ridgely) who also commanded the Erie.

Most of its guns were not yet at Sackets Harbor when the British fleet arrived offshore on 19 May and started their blockade.

--Brock-Perry

Lawrence Rousseau: Also Was an Officer In Confederate States Navy

While researching an event for my Civil War Navy blog, Running the Blockade, I came across the name of a Confederate officer sent to New Orleans on March 17, 1861, to look into purchasing gunboats for the new Confederate Navy.  He was Lawrence Rousseau.

I'd never heard of his name so did further research and when I saw he was born July 15, 1790, I was thinking that would have made him quite old by the time of the Civil War.  That date also would have made him old enough to have been in the War of 1812.

He was commissioned as a midshipman in the U.S. Navy on January 16, 1809.  During the War of 1812 he was commissioned a lieutenant on July 14, 1813 and on the sloop of war USS Erie, blockaded by the British at the port of Baltimore, and then the brig USS Jefferson on Lake Ontario.

--Brock-Perry

USS Jefferson

Wikipedia. //// In the last post, I mentioned the USS Jefferson being launched at Sackets Harbor, NY, on April 7, 1814. Some more information on it. //// It was a brig with 160 crew, 117 feet long and 20 cannons. Its crew had formerly been on the USS Erie, which was blockaded in Baltimore, and captained by Cmdr. Charles G. Ridgely. //// After completion, it sailed with Isaac Chauncey and blockaded off Niagara and Kingston. While sailing to Kingston, a big storm on September 12th almost swamped the ship, forcing them to throw ten of its guns overboard. It remained off Kingston to November and then returned to Sackets Harbor and placed in ordinary where it remained because of the end of the war. It was sold in 1825. //// --Brock-Perry

War of 1812 Timeline for April 1814 Launch of the USS Jefferson and Saratoga

APRIL 7, 1814: Americans launch the brig USS Jefferson at Sackets Harbor, New York, adding to Commodore Isaac Chauncey's Lake Ontario squadron. //// APRIL 9, 1814: The remaining 98 men and officers of 2nd Battalion 8th (or king's) Regiment sail from New Brunswick to Quebec. //// APRIL 11TH, 1814: The American ship Saratoga (26 guns) is launched at Vergennes, Vermont, increasing Master Commandant Thomas Macdonough's Lake Champlain fleet. //// --Brock-Perry

USS Oneida-- Part 4

On April 25, 1813, the American fleet, led by the Oneida, sailed to York, Upper Canada (now Toronto) and on the 27th, the troops of Gen. Zebulon Pike disembarked and captured the town.  On May 27th, the Americans took Fort George.

On July 27th, the fleet sailed back to York to liberate prisoners and seize provisions.

The following year, July 31, the Oneida went to the Niagara River and with the USS Jefferson and USS Sylph and other ships, blockaded Kingston.

One of the Oneida's cannons is at Clayton, New York, and another is at the French Creek Bay Marina.

And, you never heard of the USS Oneida.  I hadn't either.

Brock-Perry