Major Andrew Hunter Holmes-- Part 4: Honors

The British held Fort Mackinac until the end of the War of 1812 until it was returned with the Treaty of Ghent.  When the Americans reoccupied it, the name was changed to Fort Holmes in honor of the Major.  (Well, actually Fort Mackinac remained with that name, but nearby British Fort George had its name changed to Fort Holmes.)

Holmes was to receive other honors.  A town and county in Ohio were named after him.  On December 16, 1816, an act was passed by the Mississippi General Assembly to name a town in Pike County Holmesville in his honor.

--Brock-Perry

Jesse Elliott, USN-- Part 3: A Remarkable Feat and Replacement

On 8 October 1812, he and Army Captain Nathan Towson captured captured the British brigs HMS Caledonia and HMS Detroit, anchored near the British Fort Erie in the upper reaches of the Niagara River (the Detroit was the former American USS Adams).

The Caledonia was loaded with furs and managed to make it to an American port.  The Detroit, on the other hand, was swept down the Niagara River into range of the British guns at the fort.  Elliott battled the fort until he ran out of ammunition and then beached his ship on Squaw Island and fled to the American side of the river.

British and American guns then destroyed the ship.  Elliott and Towson were later commended  for this action by Congress.

However, in February 1813, Elliott was replaced as commander of the Lake Erie American fleet by Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry.

(This very likely led to the problems between the two men at the Battle of Lake Erie later that year.)

--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

Charles Morris, USN-- Part 2

Charles Morris was promoted to captain in 1813 and in 1814, commanded the frigate USS Adams on raiding expeditions against British commerce.

The ship was cornered in the Penobscot River in Maine and put his crew and guns ashore to help American militia fight off a British amphibious attack at the Battle of Hampden, but enemy regulars routed the Americans and Morris was forced to scuttle the Adams and he and the crew escaped overland.

Later in his career, he commanded the Mediterranean Squadron and from 1823-1827 was a Navy Commissioner, Chief of the Bureau of Construction, Equipment and Repairs 1844-1847 and also Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance.

His daughter eloped and married William W. Corcoran in 1835, one of the richest men in the country.

--Brock-Perry

Charles Morris, USN-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

I was researching about William W. Corcoran for my Civil War blog and found out he eloped and married Louise Morris, the daughter of naval officer Charles Morris in 1835.  Further research showed that Charles Morris fought during the War of 1812.

CHARLE MORRIS (1789-1856) was a U.S. naval officer and administrator.  Born in Maine and appointed midshipman in 1799.  Served in the Quasi War with France, both First and Second Barbary Wars and the War of 1812.

In 1812, he was the executive officer aboardthe USS Constitution under Isaac Hull in its famous fight with the HMS Guerriere where he was severely wounded..

--Brock-Perry

Some War of 1812 Ship Clarification: Cruizer Class and USS Adams

CRUIZER CLASS--  This was a class of British brig-sloops, usually mounting 18 guns.  The HMS Nimrod was a member of this class.

USS ADAMS--  Not to be confused with the USS John Adams.  these were two different ships.

--Brock-Perry

USS Adams

From Wikipedia.

In the last post about the second HMS Pictou, I mentioned that it had taken part in a British expedition in Maine to capture or destroy the frigate USS Adams. I was unfamiliar with the ship, so did some more research.

The Adams was commissioned in 1799 as a 28-gun frigate and took part in the Quasi War With France recapturing the brig Zylpha and working with the USS Insurgent on several occasions. It was also in the First Barbary War.

In the War of 1812, it was completely rebuilt and rerated as a sloop of war mounting 26 18-pdr. guns at the Washington Navy Yard. It was blockaded there until able to slip out to sea 18 January 1814 under the command of Captain Charles Morris, who had been executive officer under Isaac Hull on the USS Constitution during its battle with the HMS Guerriere.

It then cruised the U.S. eastern seaboard and over to Africa, capturing five British merchant vessels. It returned to Savannah, Georgia, in April 1814.

Its next voyage was to the Newfoundland Banks and over to the British Isles where it took five more ships and chased two into the Shannon River. After escaping a large British warship, it captured the Woolbridge before having to give it up when the HMS Dannemark and HMS Albacore arrived on the scene.

Homeward, it ran aground at the Isle au Haut and only skillful seamanship and rising tide enabled the heavily damaged Adams to refloat. It escaped to the Penobscot River and went up as far as Hampden, Massachusetts (now Maine) where it was scuttled and set on fire to prevent capture during the Battle of Hampden.

--Brock-Perry

The Second HMS Pictou (1814)

From Wikipedia.

The ship was 101 feet long and mounted 16 guns. It was originally the American privateer Zebra and captured by the British frigates HMS Pyramus and HMS Belle Poule off the west coast of France April 20, 1813.

Bought by the British Navy and in August 1814 was in an expedition to Penobscott River in Maine to capture the U.S. 26-gun frigate Adams. The Adams had offloaded its guns and set them up in batteries ashore.

The following Battle of Hampden resulted in the Btitish capture of Bangor, Maine, and the American destruction of the Adams. The British also captured 11 American ships and destroyed 6 others.

On September 8, 1814, it captured the American schooner Fox at Machias, Maine.

On 20 January 1815 the Pictou left for England with news of the capture of the USS President on Jan. 15, 1815. It was sold in 1818. These are the only two British ships named Pictou.

--Brock-Perry