Jesse Elliott, USN-- Part 7: A Duel, Command of USS Constitution and More Charges

In 1820, Elliott was second to Commodore James Barron when the latter fatally shot Stephen Decatur in a duel.  He was transferred to the Brazil Squadron in 1825, served as the captain of the USS Cyane for two years and commanded the West Indies Squadron from 1829 to 1832.

Elliott commanded the Boston Navy Yard in 1832 and then  to command of the frigate USS Constitution and the Mediterranean Squadron from 3 March 1835 to 18 August 1838.  During his Mediterranean assignment, he was charged for minor offenses by several of his junior officers, including using his official position for personal gain and  transporting animals he had purchased aboard the Constitution.

This looks like an interesting topic for more detail.

--Brock-Perry

USS Vixen (1803)-- Part 4: Capture and Sinking

The Vixen continued patrolling  the Atlantic Coast until the outbreak of the War of 1812, at which time she sailed along the southern coast under Master Commandant Christopher Gadsden, Jr., and after his death on 28 August 1812, under Lt. George Washington Reed, youngest son of General Joseph Reed.

During one of her war cruises in the West Indies, the Vixen encountered the 32-gun British frigate HMS Southampton, under command of Captain James Lucas Yeo.  The Southampton then chased, intercepted and captured the Vixen on 22 November 1812.

Yeo described the Vixen as a brig armed with twelve 19-pounder carronades and two 9-pounder guns.  The Vixen had been at sea for about five weeks at the time, but had not captured anything.

Both vessels were wrecked five days later Conception Island in the Bahamas.  All of the crews and officers survived, but Lt. Reed, however, died later of yellow fever in Jamaica before he could be exchanged.

The Story of a Ship.  --Brock-Perry

USS Portsmouth (1798)

From Wikipedia.

The USS Portsmouth was the first ship (of four) in the U.S. Navy with that name.  It was constructed in 1798 by master shipbuilder James Hackett to the design of Josiah Fox at what is now Badger's Island, in Kittery, Maine,  directly across the Piscataqua River from Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

She was built by funds contributed by the citizens of Portsmouth.  Quite a few ships built around that time were funded by private citizens.  It carried 24 guns.

Commanded by Captain Daniel McNeil, the Portsmouth operated in the West Indies during the Quasi War with France in the squadron commanded by Commodore John Barry.  In 1800, she sailed to France  to bring back the U.S. envoys who had concluded peace negotiations with France.

After a second cruise in the Caribbean, the Portsmouth was sold  less than three years later in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1801 because of the military cutbacks by the new Thomas Jefferson administration after the peace treaty with France was signed, ending the Quasi War.

So, the ship did not participate in the War of 1812.   But, many U.S. Navy officers did who went on to fame in the War of 1812.

--Brock-Perry

Stephen Champlin-- Part 4: Rose Rapidly Through the Ranks

His parents moved to Lebanon, Connecticut about 1795 and Stephen worked there until he was about sixteen years old, at which time he ran away from home to go to sea.  He walked 26 miles to New London,. Ct.,  and then went to sea twice where he was impressed by the British and spent a few days aboard a warship.

However, he had a document describing him physically and saying that he was an American citizen with him that got him released.  Afterwards he went on two more voyages and rapidly rose to become second mate.

He returned to Connecticut in 1808 and because of the trade embargo went to work on farms.  In the fall of 1809, when the embargo was lifted he shipped out as a passenger on ship commanded by his uncle, Christopher R. Perry.

During the return voyage, he attained the rank of second mate.  His cousin Matthew Perry was also a crewman on this trip.  At the time, Matthew was a U.S. Navy midshipman, but on leave.

Later in 1810, Stephen shipped out again on the the Latona for Buenos Aires and again was second mate.  In the summer of 1811 he sailed to the West Indies on the brig Dove, but this time as first mate.  The captain of the Dove died of yellow fever and Stephen acted as captain on the return voyage.

--Brock-Perry

Stephen Champlin, USN-- Part 1: At the Battle of Lake Erie

From GENii Family Tree   Commodore Stephen Champlin.

Stephen Champlin was born 17 November 1789 in South Kingston, Rhode Island,  and lived in Lebanon, Connecticut, on his father's farm until the age of sixteen.  Rejecting a future of farming, he became a seaman and attained the rank of captain in the West Indian trade in six years.

At the beginning o the War of 1812, he was appointed sailing master in the U.S. Navy and given command of a gunboat.  He was later ordered to Lake Erie where he took command of the schooner Scorpion and fought in the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie. He served with a relative, Oliver Hazard Perry.

He is said to have fired the first and last shot of the battle and given credit for capturing the British vessel Little Belt.

--Brock-Perry

"Light-Horse Harry" Lee-- Part 5: Seriously Injured in the Riots and Death

Henry Lee III suffered serious and extensive internal injuries, as well as face and head wounds and even his speech was affected.  His observed symptoms were consistent with what today would be called post traumatic stress disorder.  He went home but was unable to heal and then he went to the West Indies in an effort to recuperate from his injuries.

On his way back to Virginia, he died March 25, 1818, at Dungeness on Cumberland Island, Georgia.  He was cared for there by Nathaniel Greene's daughter  Louisa.

"Light-Horse Harry" Lee was buried at a small cemetery in Dungeness with full military honors provided by the American fleet at St. Marys, Georgia.  In 1913, his remains were removed to the Lee family crypt at Lee Chapel on the campus of Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.

--Brock-Perry

Phineas Riall-- Part 2: Burner of American Towns

As a major in 1805, he went to the West Indies with the 15th Regiment of Foot and participated in the capture of Martinique in 1809 and Guadeloupe in 1810.

After that he returned to Britain and rose to the rank of colonel and then became a major general through seniority.  He then was posted to Canada where he was in command at Montreal.  Then he accompanied Lt. General Drummond to attack the American side of the Niagara River.

He led a detachment across the river at Lewiston 19 December 1813.  He then advanced along the river, burning almost every American village, in reprisal for the U.S. burning of Newark ten days earlier.

And, he later got upset at Campbell doing the same thing?

--Brock-Perry

Stephen Champlin, USN-- Part 2: The Battle of Lake Erie

From Find-A-Grave.

His father was a farmer, but Stephen rejected the idea and went to sea at age 16.  He rose to the rank of captain in the West Indies trade within six years.

In the War of 1812, he was appointed sailing master in the U.S. Navy and given command of a gunboat.  Then he was ordered to Lake Erie and took command of the schooner USS Scorpion and was in the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie.  It is said he fired the first and final shots of the battle.

He captured the HMS Little Belt and afterwards was placed in command of two captured British warships: the Queen Charlotte and Detroit.

--Brock-Perry

Other U.S.N. Ships Named Chesapeake-- Part 2: The USS Patapsco

This one was only temporarily named the USS Chesapeake.  Most likely its name was changed so that the new frigate could have it.

The Patapsco is the name of a river by Baltimore, Maryland.

USS Chesapeake/USS Patapsco, sloop.  During the time the Patapsco spent in the West Indies, it captured two French ships and aided the USS Merrimack, 28 guns, (a ship launched by the Association of Newburyport Shipwrights in 1798 and saw action in the U.S. Navy until it was sold in 1801) in defeating a French invasion of Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles..  A British frigate was also

The Quasi War with France resulted in a number of U.S. navy ships which were in service for just a short time, like the Patapsco.

Afterwards, the Patapsco returned to Philadelphia where it was sold in 1801.

So much for the first USS Chesapeake/Patapsco.