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The Naval War of 1812

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As New England's loyalty to the Union was, not unreasonably, doubted
abroad, her coasts were at first troubled but little. A British
squadron was generally kept cruising off the end of Long Island
Sound, and another off Sandy Hook. Of course America had no means
of raising a blockade, as each squadron contained generally a 74
or a razee, vessels too heavy for any in our navy to cope with.
Frigates and sloops kept skirting the coasts of New Jersey, the
Carolinas, and Georgia. Delaware Bay no longer possessed the
importance it had during the Revolutionary War, and as the only war
vessels in it were some miserable gun-boats, the British generally
kept but a small force on that station. Chesapeake Bay became the
principal scene of their operations; it was there that their main
body collected, and their greatest efforts were made. In it a number
of line-of-battle ships, frigates, sloops, and cutters had been
collected, and early in the season Admiral Sir John Warren and Rear
Admiral Cockburn arrived to take command. The latter made numerous
descents on the coast, and frequently came into contact with the
local militia, who generally fled after a couple of volleys. These
expeditions did not accomplish much, beyond burning the houses and
driving off the live-stock of the farmers along shore, and destroying
a few small towns--one of them, Hampton, being sacked with revolting
brutality. [Footnote: James (vi, 340) says: The conduct of the
British troops on this occasion was "revolting to human nature"
and "disgraceful to the flag."] The government of the United States
was, in fact, supported by the people in its war policy very largely
on account of these excesses, which were much exaggerated by American
writers. It was really a species of civil war, and in such a contest,
at the beginning of this century, it was impossible that some
outrages should not take place.

The American frigate _Constellation_ had by this time got ready for
sea, and, under the command of Captain Stewart, she prepared to put
out early in January. As the number of blockaders rendered a fight
almost certain within a few days of her departure, her crew were
previously brought to the highest state of discipline, the men being
exercised with especial care in handling the great guns and in firing
at a target. [Footnote: Life of Commodore Tatnall, by C. C. Jones
(Savannah, 1878), p. 15.] However, she never got out; for when she
reached Hampton Roads she fell in with a British squadron of
line-of-battle ships and frigates. She kedged up toward Norfolk,
and when the tide rose ran in and anchored between the forts; and
a few days later dropped down to cover the forts which were being
built at Craney Island. Here she was exposed to attacks from the
great British force still lying in Hampton Roads, and, fearing they
would attempt to carry her by surprise, Captain Stewart made every
preparation for defence. She was anchored in the middle of the
narrow channel, flanked by gun-boats, her lower ports closed, not
a rope left hanging over the sides; the boarding nettings, boiled in
half-made pitch till they were as hard as wire, were triced outboard
toward the yard arms, and loaded with kentledge to fall on the
attacking boats when the tricing lines were cut, while the carronades
were loaded to the muzzle with musket balls, and depressed so as
to sweep the water near the ship. [Footnote: For an admirable account
of these preparations, as well as of the subsequent events, see Cooper,
ii, 242.] Twice, a force of British, estimated by their foes to number
2,000 men, started off at night to carry the _Constellation_ by
surprise; but on each occasion they were discovered and closely
watched by her guard-boats, and they never ventured to make the
attack. However, she was unable to get to sea, and remained
blockaded to the close of the war.

At the beginning of the year several frigates and smaller craft were
at sea. The _Chesapeake_, Captain Evans, had sailed from Boston on
Dec. 13, 1812. [Footnote: Statistical "History of the U. S. Navy,"
by Lieutenant G. E. Emmons.] She ran down past Madeira, the Canaries,
and Cape de Verde, crossed the equator, and for six weeks cruised
to the south of the line between longitudes 16° and 25°. Thence she
steered to the west, passing near Surinam, over the same spot on
which the _Hornet_ had sunk the _Peacock_ but a day previous.
Cruising northward through the West Indies, she passed near the
Bermudas, where she was chased by a 74 and a frigate; escaping
from them she got into Boston on April 9th, having captured five
merchantmen, and chased unsuccessfully for two days a brigsloop.
The term of two years for which her crew were enlisted now being up,
they, for the most part, left, in consequence of some trouble about
the prize-money. Captain Evans being in ill health, Captain James
Lawrence was appointed to command her. He reached Boston about the
middle of May [Footnote: He was still on the _Hornet_ at New York
on May 10th, as we know from a letter of Biddle's, written on that
date (in letters of "Masters' Commandant," 1813, No. 58), and so
could hardly have been with the _Chesapeake_ two weeks before he
put out; and had to get his crew together and train them during
that time.] and at once set about enlisting a new crew, and tried,
with but partial success, to arrange matters with the old sailors,
who were now almost in open mutiny.

When the year 1812 had come to an end, the _Essex_, 32, was in the
South Atlantic, and Captain Porter shortly afterward ran into St.
Catherines to water. Being at a loss where to find his consorts,
he now decided to adopt the exceedingly bold measure of doubling
Cape Horn and striking at the British whalers in the Pacific. This
was practically going into the enemy's waters, the Portuguese and
Spanish countries being entirely under the influence of Britain,
while there were no stations where Porter could revictual or repair
in safety. However, the _Essex_ started, doubled the Horn, and on
March 13th anchored in the harbor of Valparaiso. Her adventurous
cruise in the Pacific was the most striking feature of the war; but
as it has been most minutely described by Commodore Porter himself,
by his son, Admiral Porter, by Admiral Farragut, and by Cooper, I
shall barely touch upon it.

On March 20th the _Essex_ captured the Peruvian corsair _Nereyda_,
16, hove her guns and small arms overboard, and sent her into port.
She made the island of San Gallan, looked into Callao, and thence
went to the Gallipagos, getting every thing she wanted from her
prizes. Then she went to Tumbez, and returned to the Gallipagos;
thence to the Marquesas, and finally back to Valparaiso again. By
this year's campaign in the Pacific, Captain Porter had saved all
our ships in those waters, had not cost the government a dollar,
living purely on the enemy, and had taken from him nearly 4,000
tons of shipping and 400 men, completely breaking up his whaling
trade in the South Pacific.

The cruise was something _sui generis_ in modern warfare, recalling
to mind the cruises of the early English and Dutch navigators. An
American ship was at a serious disadvantage in having no harbor of
refuge away from home; while on almost every sea there were British,
French, and Spanish ports into which vessels of those nations could
run for safety. It was an unprecedented thing for a small frigate
to cruise a year and a half in enemy's waters, and to supply herself
during that time, purely from captured vessels, with every
thing--cordage, sails, guns, anchors, provisions, and medicines,
and even money to pay the officers and men! Porter's cruise was the
very model of what such an expedition should be, harassing the enemy
most effectually at no cost whatever. Had the _Essex_ been decently
armed with long guns, instead of carronades, the end might have
been as successful as it was glorious. The whalers were many of them
armed letters-of-marque, and, though of course unable to oppose the
frigate, several times smart skirmishes occurred in attacking them
with boats, or in captured ships; as when Lieutenant Downs and 20
men in the prize _Georgiana_ after a short brush captured the _Hector_,
with 25 men, two of whom were killed and six wounded; and when, under
similar circumstances, the prize _Greenwich_, of 25 men, captured
the _Seringapatam_ of 40. The cruise of the _Essex_, the first
American man-of-war ever in the Pacific, a year and a half out and
many thousand miles away from home, was a good proof of Porter's
audacity in planning the trip and his skill and resource in
carrying it out.

[Illustration: Captain James Lawrence: a portrait by Gilbert Stuart
painted in Boston in 1812, shortly before Lawrence's promotion to
captain, showing him wearing the single epaulet of a master
commandant. (Courtesy U.S. Naval Academy Museum) ]

To return now to the _Hornet_. This vessel had continued blockading
the _Bonne Citoyenne_ until January 24th, when the _Montagu_, 74,
arrived toward evening and chased her into port. As the darkness
came on the _Hornet_ wore, stood out to sea, passing into the open
without molestation from the 74, and then steered toward the
northeast, cruising near the coast, and making a few prizes, among
which was a brig, the _Resolution_, with $23,000 in specie aboard,
captured on February 14th. On the 24th of February, while nearing
the mouth of the Demerara River, Captain Lawrence discovered a
brig to leeward, and chased her till he ran into quarter less five,
when, having no pilot, he hauled off-shore. Just within the bar a
man-of-war brig was lying at anchor; and while beating round Caroband
Bank, in order to get at her, Captain Lawrence discovered another
sail edging down on his weather-quarter. [Footnote: Letter of
Captain Lawrence, March 29, 1813.] The brig at anchor was the
_Espiègle_, of 18 guns, 32-pound carronades, Captain John Taylor
[Footnote: James, vi, 278.]; and the second brig seen was the _Peacock_,
Captain William Peake, [Footnote: _Do_.] which, for some unknown
reason, had exchanged her 32-pound carronades for 24's. She had
sailed from the _Espiègle's_ anchorage the same morning at 10 o'clock.
At 4.20 P.M. the _Peacock_ hoisted her colors; then the _Hornet_
beat to quarters and cleared for action. Captain Lawrence kept close
by the wind, in order to get the weather-gage; when he was certain
he could weather the enemy, he tacked, at 5.10, and the _Hornet_
hoisted her colors. The ship and the brig now stood for each other,
both on the wind, the _Hornet_ being on the starboard and the
_Peacock_ on the port tack, and at 5.25 they exchanged broadsides,
at half pistol-shot distance, while going in opposite directions,
the Americans using their lee and the British their weather battery.
The guns were fired as they bore, and the _Peacock_ suffered severely,
while her antagonist's hull was uninjured, though she suffered
slightly aloft and had her pennant cut off by the first shot fired.
[Footnote: Cooper, p. 200.] One of the men in the mizzen-top was
killed by a round shot, and two more were wounded in the main-top.
[Footnote: See entry in her log for this day (In "Log-Book of _Hornet_,
_Wasp_, and _Argus_, from July 20, 1809, to October 6, 1813,") in
the Bureau of Navigation, at Washington.] As soon as they were clear,
Captain Peake put his helm hard up and wore, firing his starboard
guns; but the _Hornet_ had watched him closely, bore up as quickly,
and coming down at 5.35, ran him close aboard on the starboard quarter.
Captain Peake fell at this moment, together with many of his crew,
and, unable to withstand the _Hornet's_ heavy fire, the _Peacock_
surrendered at 5.39, just 14 minutes after the first shot; and
directly afterward hoisted her ensign union down in the forerigging
as a signal of distress. Almost immediately her main-mast went by
the board. Both vessels then anchored, and Lieutenant J. T Shubrick,
being sent on board the prize, reported her sinking. Lieutenant D.
Connor was then sent in another boat to try to save the vessel; but
though they threw the guns overboard, plugged the shot holes, tried
the pumps, and even attempted bailing, the water gained so rapidly
that the _Hornet's_ officers devoted themselves to removing the
wounded and other prisoners; and while thus occupied the short
tropical twilight left them. Immediately afterward the prize settled,
suddenly and easily, in 51/2 fathoms water, carrying with her three
of the _Hornet's_ people and nine of her own, who were rummaging
below; meanwhile four others of her crew had lowered her damaged
stern boat, and in the confusion got off unobserved and made their
way to the land. The foretop still remained above water, and four
of the prisoners saved themselves by running up the rigging into it.
Lieutenant Connor and Midshipman Cooper (who had also come on board)
saved themselves, together with most of their people and the
remainder of the _Peacock's_ crew, by jumping into the launch, which
was lying on the booms, and paddling her toward the ship with pieces
of boards in default of oars.

The _Hornet's_ complement at this time was 150, of whom she had 8
men absent in a prize and 7 on the sick list, [Footnote: Letter of
Captain Lawrence.] leaving 135 fit for duty in the action; [Footnote:
Letter of Lieutenant D. Connor, April 26, 1813] of these one man
was killed, and two wounded, all aloft. Her rigging and sails were
a good deal cut, a shot had gone through the foremast, and the
bowsprit was slightly damaged; the only shot that touched her hull
merely glanced athwart her bows, indenting a plank beneath the
cat-head. The _Peacock's_ crew had amounted to 134, but 4 were absent
in a prize, and but 122 [Footnote: Letter of Lieutenant F. W. Wright
(of the _Peacock_), April 17, 1813.] fit for action; of these she
lost her captain, and seven men killed and mortally wounded, and
her master, one midshipman, and 28 men severely and slightly
wounded,--in all 8 killed and 30 wounded, or about 13 times her
antagonist's loss. She suffered under the disadvantage of light
metal, having 24's opposed to 32's; but judging from her gunnery
this was not much of a loss, as 6-pounders would have inflicted
nearly as great damage. She was well handled and bravely fought;
but her men showed a marvellous ignorance of gunnery. It appears
that she had long been known as "the yacht," on account of the
tasteful arrangement of her deck; the breechings of the carronades
were lined with white canvas, and nothing could exceed in brilliancy
the polish upon the traversing bars and elevating screws. [Footnote:
James, vi, 280.] In other words, Captain Peake had confounded the
mere _incidents_ of good discipline with the essentials. [Footnote:
Codrington ("Memoirs," i. 310) comments very forcibly on the
uselessness of a mere martinet.]

The _Hornet's_ victory cannot be regarded in any other light than
as due, _not_ to the heavier metal, but to the far more accurate
firing of the Americans; "had the guns of the _Peacock_ been of the
largest size they could not have changed the result, as the weight
of shot that do not hit is of no great moment." Any merchant-ship
might have been as well handled and bravely defended as she was; and
an ordinary letter-of-marque would have made as creditable a defence.

During the entire combat the _Espiégle_ was not more than 4 miles
distant and was plainly visible from the _Hornet_; but for some
reason she did not come out, and her commander reported that he knew
nothing of the action till the next day. Captain Lawrence of course
was not aware of this, and made such exertions to bend on new sails,
stow his boats, and clear his decks that by nine o'clock he was again
prepared for action, [Footnote: Letter of Captain Lawrence.] and at
2 P.M. got underway for the N.W. Being now overcrowded with people
and short of water he stood for home, anchoring at Holmes' Hole in
Martha's Vineyard on the 19th of March.

On their arrival at New York the officers of the _Peacock_ published
a card expressing in the warmest terms their appreciation of the way
they and their men had been treated. Say they: "We ceased to consider
ourselves prisoners; and every thing that friendship could dictate
was adopted by you and the officers of the _Hornet_ to remedy the
inconvenience we would otherwise have experienced from the unavoidable
loss of the whole of our property and clothes owing to the sudden
sinking of the _Peacock_." [Footnote: Quoted in full in "Niles'
Register" and Lossing's "Field Book."] This was signed by the first
and second lieutenants, the master, surgeon and purser.

[Illustration of _Peacock_ and _Hornet_ action from 5.10 to 5.35.]

Weight
Tonnage. Guns. Metal. Men. Loss.
_Hornet_ 480 10 279 135 3
_Peacock_ 477 10 210 122 38

Relative Relative Loss
Force. Inflicted.
_Hornet_ 1.00 1.00
_Peacock_ .83 .08

That is, the forces standing nearly as 13 is to 11, the relative
execution was about as 13 is to 1.

The day after the capture Captain Lawrence reported 277 souls aboard,
including the crew of the English brig _Resolution_ which he had
taken, and of the American brig _Hunter_, prize to the _Peacock_.
As James, very ingeniously, tortures these figures into meaning what
they did not, it may be well to show exactly what the 277 included.
Of the _Hornet's_ original crew of 150, 8 were absent in a prize, 1
killed, and 3 drowned, leaving (including 7 sick) 138; of the _Peacock's_
original 134, 4 were absent in a prize, 5 killed, 9 drowned, and 4
escaped, leaving (including 8 sick and 3 mortally wounded) 112; there
were also aboard 16 other British prisoners, and the _Hunter's_ crew
of 11 men--making just 277. [Footnote: The 277 men were thus divided
into: _Hornet's_ crew, 138; _Peacock's_ crew, 112; _Resolution's_
crew, 16; _Hunter's_ crew, 11. James quotes "270" men, which he divides
as follows: _Hornet_ 160, _Peacock_ 101, _Hunter_ 9,--leaving out
the _Resolution's_ crew, 11 of the _Peacock's_, and 2 of the _Hunter's_.]
According to Lieutenant Connor's letter, written in response to one
from Lieutenant Wright, there were in reality 139 in the _Peacock's_
crew when she began action; but it is, of course, best to take each
commander's account of the number of men on board his ship that were
fit for duty.

On Jan. 17th the _Viper_, 12, Lieutenant J. D. Henly was captured
by the British frigate _Narcissus_, 32, Captain Lumly.

On Feb. 8th, while a British squadron, consisting of the four frigates
_Belvidera_ (Captain Richard Byron), _Maidstone_, _Junon_, and
_Statira_, were at anchor in Lynhaven Bay, a schooner was observed
in the northeast standing down Chesapeake Bay. [Footnote: James,
vi, 325.] This was the _Lottery_, letter-of-marque, of six 12-pounder
carronades and 25 men, Captain John Southcomb, bound from Baltimore
to Bombay. Nine boats, with 200 men, under the command of Lieutenant
Kelly Nazer were sent against her, and, a calm coming on, overtook
her. The schooner opened a well-directed fire of round and grape,
but the boats rushed forward and boarded her, not carrying her till
after a most obstinate struggle, in which Captain Southcomb and 19
of his men, together with 13 of the assailants, were killed or wounded.
The best war ship of a regular navy might be proud of the discipline
and courage displayed by the captain and crew of the little _Lottery_.
Captain Byron on this, as well as on many another occasion, showed
himself to be as humane as he was brave and skilful. Captain Southcomb,
mortally wounded, was taken on board Byron's frigate, where he was
treated with the greatest attention and most delicate courtesy, and
when he died his body was sent ashore with every mark of the respect
due to so brave an officer. Captain Stewart (of the _Constellation_)
wrote Captain Byron a letter of acknowledgment for his great courtesy
and kindness. [Footnote: The correspondence between the two captains
is given in full in "Niles' Register," which also contains fragmentary
notes on the action, principally as to the loss incurred.]

On March 16th a British division of five boats and 105 men, commanded
by Lieutenant James Polkinghorne, set out to attack the privateer
schooner _Dolphin_ of 12 guns and 70 men, and the letters-of-marque,
_Racer_, _Arab_, and _Lynx_, each of six guns and 30 men. Lieutenant
Polkinghorne, after pulling 15 miles, found the four schooners all
prepared to receive him, but in spite of his great inferiority in
force he dashed gallantly at them. The _Arab_ and _Lynx_ surrendered
at once; the _Racer_ was carried after a sharp struggle in which
Lieutenant Polkinghorne was wounded, and her guns turned on the
_Dolphin_. Most of the latter's crew jumped overboard; a few rallied
round their captain, but they were at once scattered as the British
seamen came aboard. The assailants had 13, and the privateersmen 16
men killed and wounded in the fight. It was certainly one of the most
brilliant and daring cutting-out expeditions that took place during
the war, and the victors well deserved their success. The privateersmen
(according to the statement of the _Dolphin's_ master, in "Niles'
Register") were panic-struck, and acted in any thing but a brave
manner. All irregular fighting-men do their work by fits and starts.
No regular cruisers could behave better than did the privateers
_Lottery_, _Chasseur_, and _General Armstrong_; none would behave
as badly as the _Dolphin_, _Lynx_, and _Arab_. The same thing appears
on shore. Jackson's irregulars at New Orleans did as well, or almost
as well, as Scott's troops at Lundy's Lane; but Scott's troops would
never have suffered from such a panic as overcame the militia at
Bladensburg.

On April 9th the schooner _Norwich_, of 14 guns and 61 men,
Sailing-master James Monk, captured the British privateer _Caledonia_,
of 10 guns and 41 men, after a short action in which the privateer
lost 7 men.

On April 30th Commodore Rodgers, in the _President_. 44, accompanied
by Captain Smith in the Congress, 38, sailed on his third cruise.
[Footnote: Letter of Commodore Rodgers, Sept. 30, 1813.] On May 2d
he fell in with and chased the British sloop _Curlew_, 18, Captain
Michael Head, but the latter escaped by knocking away the wedges of
her masts and using other means to increase her rate of sailing. On
the 8th, in latitude 39° 30' N., long. 60° W., the _Congress_ parted
company, and sailed off toward the southeast, making four prizes,
of no great value, in the North Atlantic; [Footnote: Letter of Captain
Smith, Dec. 15, 1813.] when about in long. 35 ° W. she steered south,
passing to the south of the line. But she never saw a man-of-war,
and during the latter part of her cruise not a sail of any kind;
and after cruising nearly eight months returned to Portsmouth Harbor
on Dec. 14th, having captured but four merchant-men. Being unfit to
cruise longer, owing to her decayed condition, she was disarmed and
laid up; nor was she sent to sea again during the war. [Footnote:
James states that she was "blockaded" in port by the _Tenedos_,
during part of 1814; but was too much awed by the fate of the
_Chesapeake_ to come out during the "long blockade" of Captain
Parker. Considering the fact that she was too decayed to put to sea,
had no guns aboard, no crew, and was, in fact, laid up, the feat of
the _Tenedos_ was not very wonderful; a row-boat could have "blockaded"
her quite as well. It is worth noticing, as an instance of the way
James alters a fact by suppressing half of it.]

Meanwhile Rodgers cruised along the eastern edge of the Grand Bank
until he reached latitude 48°, without meeting any thing, then stood
to the southeast, and cruised off the Azores till June 6th. Then
he crowded sail to the northeast after a Jamaica fleet of which he
had received news, but which he failed to overtake, and on June 13th,
in lat. 46°, long. 28°, he gave up the chase and shaped his course
toward the North Sea, still without any good luck befalling him.
On June 27th he put into North Bergen in the Shetlands for water,
and thence passed the Orkneys and stretched toward the North Cape,
hoping to intercept the Archangel fleet. On July 19th, when off the
North Cape, in lat. 71° 52' N., long. 20° 18' E., he fell in with
two sail of the enemy, who made chase; after four days' pursuit the
commodore ran his opponents out of sight. According to his letter
the two sail were a line-of-battle ship and a frigate; according
to James they were the 12-pounder frigate _Alexandria_, Captain
Cathcart, and _Spitfire_, 16, Captain Ellis. James quotes from the
logs of the two British ships, and it would seem that he is correct,
as it would not be possible for him to falsify the logs so utterly.
In case he is true, it was certainly carrying caution to an excessive
degree for the commodore to retreat before getting some idea of what
his antagonists really were. His mistaking them for so much heavier
ships was a precisely similar error to that made by Sir George Collier
and Lord Stuart at a later date about the _Cyane_ and _Levant_. James
wishes to prove that each party perceived the force of the other,
and draws a contrast (p. 312) between the "gallantry of one party
and pusillanimity of the other." This is nonsense, and, as in similar
cases, James overreaches himself by proving too much. If he had made
an 18-pounder frigate like the _Congress_ flee from another 18-pounder,
his narrative would be within the bounds of possibility and would
need serious examination. But the little 12-pounder _Alexandria_,
and the ship-sloop with her 18-pound carronades, would not have stood
the ghost of a chance in the contest. Any man who would have been
afraid of them would also have been afraid of the _Little Belt_, the
sloop Rodgers captured before the war. As for Captains Cathcart and
Ellis, had they known the force of the _President_, and chased her
with a view of attacking her, their conduct would have only been
explicable on the ground that they were afflicted with emotional
insanity.

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