Richard Hill Gets His Due for War of 1812 Service-- Part 1

From the September 15, 2002, Central Maine.com "War of 1812 veteran gets his due" by Beth  Quimby, Portland   Press Herald.

Taps was finally played for Richard Hill on Saturday, some 151 years after his death.  He was a black War of 1812 sailor and these military honors were delivered at the so-called "Colored Ground" burial area at Portland, Maine's Eastern Cemetery.

Hill is believed to have witnessed the British attack on Fort McHenry in 1814 which led to Francis Scott Key writing the words to what is today known as the "Star-Spangled Banner."

He and his grave site were forgotten after his death in 1861 at the hands of his son, who murdered him outside their home on Munjoy Hill.  Unfortunately, all is not yet correct with him as his new stone is engraved with his death year as being 1881.

Military honors were  provided by the Harold T. Andrews American Legion Post 17 of Portland and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6859 0f Portland.

His new stone was paid for by the  federal government and stands  beside Portland's black American Revolutionary War veterans at Congress and Mountfort streets.

--Brock-Perry

Black War of 1812 Sailor Richard Hill gets His Due in Portland, Maine

From the September 15, 2012,  WMTW Channel 8, ABC, Portland (Maine)  "War of 1812 veteran gets his due." 

Yesterday, I included the name Richard Hill, a seaman on the Gunboat 47 in the New York Flotilla during the War of 1812, who is buried at Portland, Maine's Eastern Cemetery.

Seaman Richard Hill, a black man who fought in the War of 1812,  has finally received honors at Portland, Maine's Eastern Cemetery,  150 years after his death in 1861.

The honors were delivered Saturday by the local American Legion and veterans of Foreign Wars posts.

His new headstone, paid for by the federal government,  stands beside the graves of Portland's Black American Revolution veterans who are buried in the historic cemetery.

The Portland Press-Herald newspaper said Larry Glatz of  South Portland came across Hill's name while researching Portland residents who served in the country's federal forces during the War of 1812.

Richard Hill is believed to have witnessed the British attack on Fort McHenry which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner."

He was killed by his own son in 1861.

His gravestone says that he served on Gunboat 47 of the New York Flotilla.  I can't find out anything about this gunboat.

--Brock-Perry

Privateer Nathaniel Shaler-- Part 2

From the New London Historical Society "Connecticut Privateers in the War of 1812."

Connecticut  masters and vessels figured as prominent privateers for New York as well.    The Middleton-built Anaconda, commanded by Connecticut-born Nathaniel Shaler took a number of prizes before she was captured off the North Carolina coast in 1813.  (It was later taken into British service as the HMS Anaconda.)

Shaler then commanded the New York privateer Governor Thompkins until he was lost overboard in 1814.

Reporting on an engagement  between the Governor Thompkins and a British frigate in 1813, Nathaniel Shaler  memorialized two of his black sailors who, though mortally wounded as before mentioned in my posts.

--Brock-Perry

The Story of Two Heroic Black Privateers-- Part 2: Even Dying, They Were Brave

Nathaniel Shaler had this to say about two of his sailors in that battle:

"The name of one of my poor fellows who was killed ought to be registered in the book of fame, and remembered with reverence as long as bravery is considered a virtue.

"He was a black man, by the name of John Johnson.  A twenty-four pound shot struck him in the hip, and took away all the lower part of his body.  In this state, the poor fellow lay on the deck, and several times exclaimed to his shipmates, 'Fire away, my boy: no haul a color down.'

"The other was also a black man, by the name of John Davis,  and was struck in much the same way.  he fell near me, and several times requested to be thrown overboard, saying he was only in the way of others.

"When America has such tars [sailors were often referred to as Tars back then], she has little to fear from the tyrants of the ocean."

--Brock-Perry

Blacks a Key to the War of 1812-- Part 3

Charles Ball, a former Maryland slave, served as a seaman in Commodore Joshua Barney's Chesapeake Flotilla , but was sold into slavery after the war.

William Williams ran away from his Maryland owner in 1814, and on April 14, enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army, despite a federal law prohibiting slaves from joining. He served in the 38th U.S. Infantry Regiment.

In September 1814, he was severely wounded at Fort McHenry by a cannonball that blew his leg off. He was taken to a Baltimore hospital afterwards, but died two months later.

--Brock-Perry

Blacks a Key to War of 1812-- Part 2

Some 500 of the 6,000 Americans at the Battle of New Orlans were black.

Black sailors served on U.S. warships. Commodore Isaac Chauncey wrote, "I have nearly fifty Blacks on this boat and many of them are among the best of my men.

Oliver Hazard Perry commended the courage of his black sailors at the Battle of Lake Erie.

Three blacks: William Ware, Daniel Martin and John Stachan were taken off the USS Chesapeake and impressed into British service by the HMS Leopard on June 22, 1807.

More to Come. --Brock-Perry

Black Sailors Played a Key Role in War of 1812-- Part 1

From the March 28, 2013, GoErie.com "Guest Voice: Black sailors played key role in War of 1812" by Ayodele Osibodu and John Paul Rossi.

Blacks during the war typically made up between 15-20% of crews on US Naval vessels during the war and had roughly an equality with white sailors.  Blacks were also pressed into the British Navy.

During the USS Constitution-HMS Guerriere battle, blacks performed so ably, that Captain Isaac Hull, the Constitution's commander, wrote, "They stripped to the waist and fought like devils."

All Pulling for the United States.  --Brock-Perry

The USS Constitution's "Forgotten Crews" Honored-- Part 2

Historians combed through pension applications, military documents and personal correspondence to come up with the stories of the hundreds who served on the ship.  Fortunately, there was a solid list of crewmen.  In addition, there were pension records and protection certificates which crewmen used as proof of citizenship.

DAVID Debias, a freeborn black from Beacon Hill, was just 8 when he joined the crew and became the servant of a master's mate.  He was among the crew members selected to sail the HMS Levant after the Constitution captured it.

The British seized the ship on its way to the U.S. and he was imprisoned in Barbados for a few months before being sent to his family.  He was discharged in 1815 and earned $32 for his 7-month stint in the Navy.

But, he was back at sea again, joining the merchant fleet then enlisted again on the USS Constitution.  In 1838, he left the ship while docked in Alabama and was seized in Mississippi as a runaway slave.

Researchers found a letter from Debias' lawyer to the Secretary of the Navy asking for proof of military service, but they were unable to find a response at first.  They finally did find one saying he was in the military, but it is not known whether he regained his freedom.

Now, That Is One Really Interesting Story.  --Brock-Perry