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

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

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

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

The Enduring Journey of the USS Chesapeake-- Part 1: A Book About the Ship

By Chris Dickon, Emmy-winning public radio and television producer from Virginia.

Mr. Dickon made a comment early on in my USS/HMS Chesapeake blog entries and is the author of a book on the subject, so has done a whole lot more research on it than I.

The USS Chesapeake was one of six frigates built in the 1790s and considered an "Unlucky Ship."  There was a death in Gosport Shipyard in Portsmouth on the ship's launching in 1799.  "In 1807 she was involved in a confrontation at sea that shocked the new American nation into a realization that it was now sovereign in the world and needed to be able to defend itself."

--Brock-Perry

The HMS Leopard After the Chesapeake Affair-- Part 2

The HMS Leopard took part in a convoy in the Mauritius Campaign 1809-1811 in the Indian Ocean.  In 1812, it had its guns removed and was converted into a troopship.

On 28 June 1814, en route from Britain to Quebec and carrying 475 Royal Scots Guardsmen, the Leopard grounded on Anticosti Island at the outlet of the St. Lawrence River in a heavy fog.  The ship was destroyed, but all aboard survived.

--Brock-Perry

The HMS Leopard: After the Battle With the Chesapeake-- Part 1

The HMS Leopard was a 50 gun, 4th class warship launched in 1790 and with a main battery of 22 24-pdr. long guns and 22 12-pdr. long guns.

The British were looking for four sailors, one British and three Americans,  known to have deserted and believed to have joined the Chesapeake's crew.

After the battle and removal from the Chesapeake, the four were taken to Halifax, where the British sailor, Jenkin Ratford, was hanged.  The three Americans were initially sentenced to 500 lashes, but hat their sentence dropped and the British offered to return them to the U.S..

--Brock-Perry

Unlucky Ship: The USS Chesapeake

From Wikipedia.

Almost from the beginning, the USS Chesapeake was considered an unlucky ship.  It was "the runt of the leader," the smallest of the frigates built back then.

Then, there were its ill-fated encounters with the HMS Leopard and HMS Shannon.

Two of her captains were court martialed.  And, there were the accidental deaths of several crewmen.

--Brock-Perry

The Same USS Chesapeake

For some reason, I never put the USS Chesapeake that I wrote about on the last post as the one "victimized" by the HMS Leopard, together as being the same USS Chesapeake which was forced to surrender to the HMS Shannon during the War of 1812 and cost the life of its captain James Lawrence but who uttered the famous Navy words, "Don't Give Up the Ship."

The USS Chesapeake was launched in 1799, so I was wondering why eight years later it wouldn't be quite the seasoned warship.  But, I went to Wikipedia and found out it was coming out of an extended ordinary stay, the term used for "mothballed" back then, so had a new crew and was definitely not in top fighting shape when it was stopped and forcibly boarded.

Quite the Duh for Me.  --Brock-Perry

Trouble On the High Seas-- Part 2: The "Leopard" and the "Chesapeake"

In 1807 the American warship Chesapeake was leaving the Virginia coast when the British ship Leopard came up from behind and gave a signal.  The Chesapeake took in sail and slowed down, and a British naval officer went over in a small boat.  He had orders to arrest a British sailor who, he said, was aboard the Chesapeake.

The American captain told him that the sailor he wanted was not aboard the ship, and he would not let him make a search.  The officer went back to the Leopard, and eight minutes later the British surprised the Chesapeake by firing at her.

The Chesapeake was a new ship, not ready for battle.  There were ropes and supplies all over her deck and only a few cannons were in place to fire.  The Americans were badly hit even before they could begin to shoot back.  After twenty men were wounded, the captain lowered his flag.  A British naval party came aboard, lined the crew of the Chesapeake, and found the man they were looking for.  They took him and three other seamen off the ship, and the Chesapeake went limping back to port.

Them's Fighting Words.  --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