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The Naval War of 1812

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1 X 6
1 X 6
1 X 12
8 X 32

or 280 lbs. against the _Argus_':

1 X 12
9 X 24

or, subtracting as usual 7 per cent. for light weight of metal, 210
lbs. The _Pelican's_ crew consisted of but 116 men, according to
the British account, though the American reports make it much larger.
The _Argus_ had started from New York with 137 men, but having manned
and sent in several prizes, her crew amounted, as near as can be
ascertained, to 104. Mr. Low in his "Naval History," published just
after the event, makes it but 99. James makes it 121; as he placed
the crew of the _Enterprise_ at 125, when it was really 102; that
of the _Hornet_ at 162, instead of 135; of the _Peacock_ at 185,
instead of 166; of the _Nautilus_ at 106 instead of 95, etc., etc.,
it is safe to presume that he has overestimated it by at least 20,
which brings the number pretty near to the American accounts. The
_Pelican_ lost but two men killed and five wounded. Captain Maples
had a narrow escape, a spent grape-shot striking him in the chest
with some force, and then falling on the deck. One shot had passed
through the boatswain's and one through the carpenter's cabin; her
sides were filled with grape-shot, and her rigging and sails much
injured; her foremast, main-top-mast, and royal masts were slightly
wounded, and two of her carronades dismounted.

The injuries of the _Argus_ have already been detailed; her hull
and lower masts were also tolerably well cut up. Of her crew, Captain
Allen, two midshipmen, the carpenter, and six seamen were killed or
mortally wounded; her first lieutenant and 13 seamen severely and
slightly wounded: total, 10 killed and 14 wounded.

In reckoning the comparative force, I include the Englishman's
six-pound stern-chaser, which could not be fired in broadside with
the rest of the guns, because I include the _Argus_' 12-pound
bow-chaser, which also could not be fired in broadside, as it was
crowded into the bridle-port. James, of course, carefully includes
the latter, though leaving out the former.

[Illustration: _Argus_ vs. _Pelican_: an engraving published in
London in 1817. (Courtesy Beverley R. Robinson Collection, U.S.
Naval Academy Museum)]

COMPARISON.

Comparative
No. Weight Comparative Loss
Tons. Guns. Metal. Men. Loss. Force. Inflicted.
_Argus_ 298 10 210 104 24 .82 .29
_Pelican_ 467 11 280 116 7 1.00 1.00

[Illustration of _ARGUS_ and _PELICAN_ action from 6.00 A.M. to 6.45]

Of all the single-ship actions fought in the war this is the least
creditable to the Americans. The odds in force, it is true, were
against the _Argus_, about in the proportion of 10 to 8, but this
is neither enough to account for the loss inflicted being as 10 to
3, nor for her surrendering when she had been so little ill used.
It was not even as if her antagonist had been an unusually fine
vessel of her class. The _Pelican_ did not do as well as either
the _Frolic_ previously, or the _Reindeer_ afterward, though perhaps
rather better than the _Avon_, _Penguin_, or _Peacock_. With a
comparatively unmanageable antagonist, in smooth water, she ought
to have sunk her in three quarters of an hour. But the _Pelican's_
not having done particularly well merely makes the conduct of the
Americans look worse; it is just the reverse of the _Chesapeake's_
case, where, paying the highest credit to the British, we still
thought the fight no discredit to us. Here we can indulge no such
reflection. The officers did well, but the crew did not. Cooper
says: "The enemy was so much heavier that it may be doubted whether
the _Argus_ would have captured her antagonist under any ordinary
circumstances." This I doubt; such a crew as the _Wasp's_ or _Hornet's_
probably would have been successful. The trouble with the guns of
the _Argus_ was not so much that they were too small, as that they
did not hit; and this seems all the more incomprehensible when it
is remembered that Captain Allen is the very man to whom Commodore
Decatur, in his official letter, attributed the skilful gun-practice
of the crew of the frigate _United States_. Cooper says that the
powder was bad; and it has also been said that the men of the _Argus_
were over-fatigued and were drunk, in which case they ought not to
have been brought into action. Besides unskilfulness, there is
another very serious count against the crew. Had the _Pelican_ been
some distance from the _Argus_, and in a position where she could
pour in her fire with perfect impunity to herself, when the surrender
took place, it would have been more justifiable. But, on the contrary,
the vessels were touching, and the British boarded just as the
colors were hauled down; it was certainly very disgraceful that the
Americans did not rally to repel them, for they had still four fifths
of their number absolutely untouched. They certainly _ought_ to have
succeeded, for boarding is a difficult and dangerous experiment;
and if they had repulsed their antagonists they might in turn have
carried the _Pelican_. So that, in summing up the merits of this
action, it is fair to say that both sides showed skilful seamanship
and unskilful gunnery; that the British fought bravely and that the
Americans did not.

It is somewhat interesting to compare this fight, where a weaker
American sloop was taken by a stronger British one, with two or three
others, where both the comparative force and the result were reversed.
Comparing it, therefore, with the actions between the _Hornet_ and
_Peacock_ (British), the _Wasp_ and _Avon_, and the _Peacock_
(American) and _Epervier_, we get four actions, in one of which, the
first-named, the British were victorious, and in the other three the
Americans.

Comparative Comparative Loss Per cent.
Force. Inflicted. Loss.

_Pelican_ (British) 1.00 1.00 .06
_Argus_ (American) .82 .29 .23

_Hornet_ (American) 1.00 1.00 .02
_Peacock_ (British) .83 .07 .31

_Wasp_ (American) 1.00 1.00 .02
_Avon_ (British) .80 .07 .33

_Peacock_ (American) 1.00 1.00 .01
_Epervier_ (British) .81 .08 .20

It is thus seen that in these sloop actions the superiority of force
on the side of the victor was each time about the same. The _Argus_
made a much more effectual resistance than did either the _Peacock_,
_Avon_, or _Epervier_, while the _Pelican_ did her work in poorer
form than either of the victorious American sloops; and, on the other
hand, the resistance of the _Argus_ did not by any means show as much
bravery as was shown in the defence of the _Peacock_ or _Avon_,
although rather more than in the case of the _Epervier_.

This is the only action of the war where it is almost impossible
to find out the cause of the inferiority of the beaten crew. In
almost all other cases we find that one crew had been carefully
drilled, and so proved superior to a less-trained antagonist; but
it is incredible that the man, to whose exertions when first lieutenant
of the _States_ Commodore Decatur ascribes the skilfulness of that
ship's men, should have neglected to train his own crew; and this
had the reputation of being composed of a fine set of men. Bad powder
would not account for the surrender of the _Argus_ when so little
damaged. It really seems as if the men _must_ have been drunk or
over-fatigued, as has been so often asserted. Of course drunkenness
would account for the defeat, although not in the least altering its
humiliating character.

"Et tu quoque" is not much of an argument; still it may be as well
to call to mind here two engagements in which British sloops suffered
much more discreditable defeats than the _Argus_ did. The figures
are taken from James; as given by the French historians they make
even a worse showing for the British.

A short time before our war the British brig _Carnation_, 18, had
been captured, by boarding, by the French brig _Palinure_, 16, and
the British brig _Alacrity_, 18, had been captured, also by boarding,
by the corvette _Abeille_, 20.

The following was the comparative force, etc., of the combatants:

Weight Metal. No. Crew. Loss.
_Carnation_ 262 117 40
_Palmure_ 174 100 20

_Alacrity_ 262 100 18
_Abeille_ 260 130 19

In spite of the pride the British take in their hand-to-hand prowess
both of these ships were captured by boarding. The _Carnation_ was
captured by a much smaller force, instead of by a much larger one,
as in the case of the _Argus_; and if the _Argus_ gave up before
she had suffered greatly, the _Alacrity_ surrendered when she had
suffered still less. French historians asserted that the capture of
the two brigs proved that "French valor could conquer British
courage"; and a similar opinion was very complacently expressed by
British historians after the defeat of the _Argus_. All that the
three combats really "proved" was, that in eight encounters between
British and American sloops the Americans were defeated once, and
in a far greater number of encounters between French and British
sloops the British were defeated twice. No one pretends that either
navy was invincible; the question is, which side averaged best?

At the opening of the war we possessed several small brigs; these
had originally been fast, handy little schooners, each armed with
12 long sixes, and with a crew of 60 men. As such they were effective
enough; but when afterward changed into brigs, each armed with a
couple of extra guns, and given 40 additional men, they became too
slow to run, without becoming strong enough to fight. They carried
far too many guns and men for their size, and not enough to give
them a chance with any respectable opponent; and they were almost
all ignominiously captured. The single exception was the brig
_Enterprise_. She managed to escape capture, owing chiefly to good
luck, and once fought a victorious engagement, thanks to the fact
that the British possessed a class of vessels even worse than our
own. She was kept near the land and finally took up her station off
the eastern coast, where she did good service in chasing away or
capturing the various Nova Scotian or New Brunswick privateers,
which were smaller and less formidable vessels than the privateers
of the United States, and not calculated for fighting.

By crowding guns into her bridle-ports, and over-manning herself,
the _Enterprise_, now under the command of Lieutenant William
Burrows, mounted 14 eighteen-pound carronades and 2 long 9's, with
102 men. On September 5th, while standing along shore near Penguin
Point, a few miles to the eastward of Portland, Me., she discovered,
at anchor inside, a man-of-war brig [Footnote: Letter from Lieutenant
Edward R. McCall to Commodore Hull, September 5, 1813.] which proved
to be H.M.S. _Boxer_, Captain Samuel Blyth, of 12 carronades,
eighteen-pounders and two long sixes, with but 66 men aboard, 12 of
her crew being absent.[Footnote: James, "Naval Occurrences," 264.
The American accounts give the _Boxer_ 104 men, on very insufficient
grounds. Similarly, James gives the _Enterprise_ 123 men. Each side
will be considered authority for its own force and loss.] The _Boxer_
at once hoisted three British ensigns and bore up for the _Enterprise_,
then standing in on the starboard tack; but when the two brigs were
still 4 miles apart it fell calm. At midday a breeze sprang up from
the southwest, giving the American the weather-gage, but the latter
manoeuvred for some time to windward to try the comparative rates
of sailing of the vessels. At 3 P.M. Lieutenant Burrows hoisted three
ensigns, shortened sail, and edged away toward the enemy, who came
gallantly on. Captain Blyth had nailed his colors to the mast, telling
his men they should never be struck while he had life in his body.
[Footnote: "Naval Chronicle," vol. xxxii, p. 462.] Both crews cheered
loudly as they neared each other, and at 3.15, the two brigs being
on the starboard tack not a half pistol-shot apart, they opened fire,
the American using the port, and the English the starboard, battery.
Both broadsides were very destructive, each of the commanders falling
at the very beginning of the action. Captain Blyth was struck by
an eighteen-pound shot while he was standing on the quarter-deck;
it passed completely through his body, shattering his left arm and
killing him on the spot. The command, thereupon, devolved on Lieutenant
David McCreery. At almost the same time his equally gallant antagonist
fell. Lieutenant Burrows, while encouraging his men, laid hold of
a gun-tackle fall to help the crew of a carronade run out the gun;
in doing so he raised one leg against the bulwark, when a canister
shot struck his thigh, glancing into his body and inflicting a
fearful wound. [Footnote: Cooper, "Naval History," vol. ii, p. 259.]
In spite of the pain he refused to be carried below, and lay on the
deck, crying out that the colors must never be struck. Lieutenant
Edward McCall now took command. At 3.30 the _Enterprise_ ranged
ahead, rounded to on the starboard tack, and raked the _Boxer_ with
the starboard guns. At 3.35 the _Boxer_ lost her main-top-mast and
top-sail yard, but her crew still kept up the fight bravely, with
the exception of four men who deserted their quarters and were
afterward court-martialed for cowardice. [Footnote: Minutes of
court-martial held aboard H.M.S. _Surprise_, January 8, 1814.] The
_Enterprise_ now set her fore-sail and took position on the enemy's
starboard bow, delivering raking fires; and at 3.45 the latter
surrendered, when entirely unmanageable and defenceless. Lieutenant
Burrows would not go below until he had received the sword of his
adversary, when he exclaimed, "I am satisfied, I die contented."

[Illustration of action between _ENTERPRISE_ and _BOXER_ from
3.15 to 3.45]

Both brigs had suffered severely, especially the _Boxer_, which had
been hulled repeatedly, had three eighteen-pound shot through her
foremast, her top-gallant forecastle almost cut away, and several
of her guns dismounted. Three men were killed and seventeen wounded,
four mortally. The _Enterprise_ had been hulled by one round and
many grape; one 18-pound ball had gone through her foremast, and
another through her main-mast, and she was much cut up aloft. Two
of her men were killed and ten wounded, two of them (her commander
and Midshipman Kervin Waters) mortally. The British court-martial
attributed the defeat of the _Boxer_ "to a superiority in the enemy's
force, principally in the number of men, as well as to a greater
degree of skill in the direction of her fire, and to the destructive
effects of the first broadside." But the main element was the
superiority in force, the difference in loss being very nearly
proportional to it; both sides fought with equal bravery and equal
skill. This fact was appreciated by the victors, for at a naval dinner
given in New York shortly afterward, one of the toasts offered was:
"The crew of the _Boxer_; enemies by law, but by gallantry brothers."
The two commanders were both buried at Portland, with all the honors
of war. The conduct of Lieutenant Burrows needs no comment. He was
an officer greatly beloved and respected in the service. Captain
Blyth, on the other side, had not only shown himself on many occasions
to be a man of distinguished personal courage, but was equally noted
for his gentleness and humanity. He had been one of Captain Lawrence's
pall-bearers, and but a month previous to his death had received a
public note of thanks from an American colonel, for an act of great
kindness and courtesy. [Footnote: "Naval Chronicle," xxxii, 466.]

The _Enterprise_, under Lieut.-Com. Renshaw, now cruised off the
southern coast, where she made several captures. One of them was
a heavy British privateer, the _Mars_, of 14 long nines and 75 men,
which struck after receiving a broadside that killed and wounded 4
of her crew. The _Enterprise_ was chased by frigates on several
occasions; being once forced to throw overboard all her guns but
two, and escaping only by a shift in the wind. Afterward, as she
was unfit to cruise, she was made a guard-ship at Charlestown; for
the same reason the _Boxer_ was not purchased into the service.

On October 4th some volunteers from the Newport flotilla captured,
by boarding, the British privateer _Dart_, [Footnote: Letter of
Mr. Joseph Nicholson, Oct. 5, 1813.] after a short struggle in
which two of the assailants were wounded and several of the
privateersmen, including the first officer, were killed.

On December 4th, Commodore Rodgers, still in command of the
_President_, sailed again from Providence, Rhode Island. On the
25th, in lat. 19° N. and long. 35° W., the _President_, during the
night, fell in with two frigates, and came so close that the head-most
fired at her, when she made off. These were thought to be British,
but were in reality the two French 40-gun frigates _Nymphe_ and
_Meduse_, one month out of Brest. After this little encounter Rodgers
headed toward the Barbadoes, and cruised to windward of them.

On the whole the ocean warfare of 1813 was decidedly in favor of
the British, except during the first few months. The _Hornet's_
fight with the _Peacock_ was an action similar to those that took
place in 1812, and the cruise of Porter was unique in our annals,
both for the audacity with which it was planned, and the success
with which it was executed. Even later in the year the _Argus_ and
the _President_ made bold cruises in sight of the British coasts,
the former working great havoc among the merchant-men. But by that
time the tide had turned strongly in favor of our enemies. From the
beginning of summer the blockade was kept up so strictly that it
was with difficulty any of our vessels broke through it; they were
either chased back or captured. In the three actions that occurred,
the British showed themselves markedly superior in two, and in the
third the combatants fought equally well, the result being fairly
decided by the fuller crew and slightly heavier metal of the
_Enterprise_. The gun-boats, to which many had looked for harbor
defence, proved nearly useless, and were beaten off with ease
whenever they made an attack.

The lessons taught by all this were the usual ones. Lawrence's
victory in the _Hornet_ showed the superiority of a properly trained
crew to one that had not been properly trained; and his defeat in
the _Chesapeake_ pointed exactly the same way, demonstrating in
addition the folly of taking a raw levy out of port, and, before
they have had the slightest chance of getting seasoned, pitting them
against skilled veterans. The victory of the _Enterprise_ showed
the wisdom of having the odds in men and metal in our favor, when
our antagonist was otherwise our equal; it proved, what hardly
needed proving, that, whenever possible, a ship should be so
constructed as to be superior in force to the foes it would be likely
to meet. As far as the capture of the _Argus_ showed any thing, it
was the advantage of heavy metal and the absolute need that a crew
should fight with pluck. The failure of the gun-boats _ought_ to
have taught the lesson (though it did not) that too great economy
in providing the means of defence may prove very expensive in the
end, and that good officers and men are powerless when embarked
in worthless vessels. A similar point was emphasized by the strictness
of the blockade, and the great inconvenience it caused; namely,
that we ought to have had ships powerful enough to break it.

We had certainly lost ground during this year; fortunately we
regained it during the next two.

BRITISH VESSELS SUNK OR TAKEN.

Name. Guns. Tonnage.
_Peacock_ 20 477
_Boxer_ 14 181
_Highflyer_ 6 96
___ ____
40 754

AMERICAN VESSELS SUNK OR TAKEN.

Name. Guns. Tonnage.
_Chesapeake_ 50 1,265
_Argus_ 20 298
_Viper_ 10 148
___ _____
80 1,711

VESSELS BUILT OR PURCHASED.

Name. Rig. Guns. Tonnage. Where Built. Cost.
_Rattlesnake_ Brig 14 278 Medford, Pa. $18,000
_Alligator_ Schooner 4 80
_Asp_ Sloop 3 56 2,600

PRIZES MADE.

Name of Ship. No. of Prizes.
_President_ 13
_Congress_ 4
_Chesapeake_ 6
_Essex_ 14
_Hornet_ 3
_Argus_ 21
Small craft 18
___
79



Chapter VI


1813

ON THE LAKES

_ONTARIO--Comparison of the rival squadrons---Chauncy takes York
and Fort George--Yeo is repulsed at Sackett's Harbor, but keeps
command of the lake--Chauncy sails--Yeo's partial victory off
Niagara---Indecisive action off the Genesee--Chauncy's partial
victory off Burlington, which gives him the command of the
lake--ERIE--Perry's success in creating a fleet--His
victory--CHAMPLAIN--Loss of the Growler and Eagle--Summary._

ONTARIO.

Winter had almost completely stopped preparations on the American
side. Bad weather put an end to all communication with Albany or
New York, and so prevented the transit of stores, implements, etc.
It was worse still with the men, for the cold and exposure so thinned
them out that the new arrivals could at first barely keep the ranks
filled. It was, moreover, exceedingly difficult to get seamen to
come from the coast to serve on the lakes, where work was hard,
sickness prevailed, and there was no chance of prize-money. The
British government had the great advantage of being able to move
its sailors where it pleased, while in the American service, at
that period, the men enlisted for particular ships, and the only
way to get them for the lakes at all was by inducing portions of
crews to volunteer to follow their officers thither. [Footnote:
Cooper, ii, 357. One of James' most comical misstatements is that
on the lakes the American sailors were all "picked men." On p. 367,
for example, in speaking of the battle of Lake Erie he says:
"Commodore Perry had picked crews to all his vessels." As a matter
of fact Perry had once sent in his resignation solely on account of
the very poor quality of his crews, and had with difficulty been
induced to withdraw it. Perry's crews were of hardly average
excellence, but then the average American sailor was a very good
specimen.] However, the work went on in spite of interruptions.
Fresh gangs of shipwrights arrived, and, largely owing to the energy
and capacity of the head builder, Mr. Henry Eckford (who did as
much as any naval officer in giving us an effective force on Ontario),
the _Madison_ was equipped, a small despatch sloop, The _Lady of the
Lake_ prepared, and a large new ship, the _General Pike_, 28, begun,
to mount 13 guns in each broadside and 2 on pivots.

Meanwhile Sir George Prevost, the British commander in Canada, had
ordered two 24-gun ships to be built, and they were begun; but he
committed the mistake of having one laid down in Kingston and the
other in York, at the opposite end of the lake. Earle, the Canadian
commodore, having proved himself so incompetent, was removed; and
in the beginning of May Captain Sir James Lucas Yeo arrived, to act
as commander-in-chief of the naval forces, together with four captains,
eight lieutenants, twenty-four midshipmen, and about 450 picked
seamen, sent out by the home government especially for service on
the Canada lakes. [Footnote: James, vi, 353.]

The comparative force of the two fleets or squadrons it is hard to
estimate. I have already spoken of the difficulty in finding out
what guns were mounted on any given ship at a particular time, and
it is even more perplexing with the crews. A schooner would make
one cruise with but thirty hands; on the next it would appear with
fifty, a number of militia having volunteered as marines. Finding
the militia rather a nuisance, they would be sent ashore, and on
her third cruise the schooner would substitute half a dozen frontier
seamen in their place. It was the same with the larger vessels. The
_Madison_ might at one time have her full complement of 200 men;
a month's sickness would ensue, and she would sail with but 150
effectives. The _Pike's_ crew of 300 men at one time would shortly
afterward be less by a third in consequence of a draft of sailors
being sent to the upper lakes. So it is almost impossible to be
perfectly accurate; but, making a comparison of the various authorities
from Lieutenant Emmons to James, the following tables of the forces
may be given as very nearly correct. In broadside force I count
every pivot gun, and half of those that were not on pivots.

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