A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Z

The Naval War of 1812

T >> Theodore Roosevelt >> The Naval War of 1812




That night the wind came out squally; and about 1 A.M. on the morning
of the 8th a heavy gust struck the _Hamilton_ and _Scourge_, forcing
them to careen over till the heavy guns broke loose, and they foundered,
but 16 men escaping,--which accident did not open a particularly
cheerful prospect to the remainder of the schooners. Chauncy's force
was, by this accident, reduced to a numerical equality with Yeo's,
having perhaps a hundred more men, [Footnote: This estimate as to men
is a mere balancing of probabilities. If James underestimates the
British force on Ontario as much as he has on Erie and Champlain,
Yeo had as many men as his opponent. Chauncy, in one of his letters
(preserved with the other manuscript letters in the Naval Archives),
says: "I enclose the muster-rolls of all my ships," but I have not
been able to find them, and in any event the complements were
continually changing completely. The point is not important, as each
side certainly had plenty of men on this occasion.] and throwing 144
lbs. less shot at a broadside. All through the two succeeding days
the same manoeuvring went on; the question as to which avoided the
fight is simply one of veracity between the two commanders, and of
course each side, to the end of time, will believe its own leader.
But it is not of the least consequence, as neither accomplished any thing.

On the 10th the same tedious evolutions were continued, but at 7 P.M.
the two squadrons were tolerably near one another, Yeo to windward,
the breeze being fresh from the S. W. Commodore Chauncy formed his
force in two lines on the port tack, while Commodore Yeo approached
from behind and to windward, in single column, on the same tack.
Commodore Chauncy's weather line was formed of the _Julia_, _Growler_,
_Pert_, _Asp_, _Ontario_, and _American_, in that order, and the
lee line of the _Pike_, _Oneida_, _Madison_, _Tompkins_, and
_Conquest_. Chauncy formed his weather line of the smaller vessels,
directing them, when the British should engage, to edge away and
form to leeward of the second line, expecting that Sir James would
follow them down. At 11 the weather line opened fire at very long
range; at 11.15 it was returned, and the action became general and
harmless; at 11.30 the weather line bore up and passed to leeward,
except the _Julia_ and _Growler_, which tacked. The British ships
kept their luff and cut off the two that had tacked; while Commodore
Chauncy's lee line "edged away two points, to lead the enemy down,
not only to engage him to more advantage, but to lead him from the
_Julia_ and _Growler_." [Footnote: Letter of Commodore Isaac Chauncy.
Aug. 13, 1813.] Of course, the enemy did not come down, and the
_Julia_ and _Growler_ were not saved. Yeo kept on till he had cut
off the two schooners, fired an ineffectual broadside at the other
ships, and tacked after the _Growler_ and _Julia_. Then, when too
late, Chauncy tacked also, and stood after him. The schooners,
meanwhile, kept clawing to windward till they were overtaken, and,
after making a fruitless effort to run the gauntlet through the
enemy's squadron by putting before the wind, were captured. Yeo's
account is simple: "Came within gunshot of _Pike_ and _Madison_,
when they immediately bore up, fired their stern-chase guns, and
made all sail for Niagara, leaving two of their schooners astern,
which we captured." [Footnote: Letter of Sir James Lucas Yeo, Aug.
10, 1813.] The British had acted faultlessly, and the honor and
profit gained by the encounter rested entirely with them. On the
contrary, neither Chauncy nor his subordinates showed to advantage.

Cooper says that the line of battle was "singularly well adapted
to draw the enemy down," and "admirable for its advantages and
ingenuity." In the first place it is an open question whether the
enemy needed drawing down; on this occasion he advanced boldly
enough. The formation may have been ingenious, but it was the
reverse of advantageous. It would have been far better to have had
the strongest vessels to windward, and the schooners, with their
long guns, to leeward, where they would not be exposed to capture
by any accident happening to them. Moreover, it does not speak well
for the discipline of the fleet, that two commanders should have
directly disobeyed orders. And when the two schooners did tack, and
it was evident that Sir James would cut them off, it was an
extraordinary proceeding for Chauncy to "edge away two points * * *
to lead the enemy from the _Growler_ and _Julia_." It is certainly
a novel principle, that if part of a force is surrounded the true
way to rescue it is to run away with the balance, in hopes that the
enemy will follow. Had Chauncy tacked at once, Sir James would have
been placed between two fires, and it would have been impossible for
him to capture the schooners. As it was, the British commander had
attacked a superior force in weather that just suited it, and yet had
captured two of its vessels without suffering any injury beyond a few
shot holes in the sails. The action, however, was in no way decisive.
All next day, the 11th, the fleets were in sight of one another, the
British to windward, but neither attempted to renew the engagement.
The wind grew heavier, and the villainous little American schooners
showed such strong tendencies to upset, that two had to run into
Niagara Bay to anchor. With the rest Chauncy ran down the lake to
Sackett's Harbor, which he reached on the 13th, provisioned his
squadron for five weeks, and that same evening proceeded up the lake again.

[Illustration: The ships are shown just before the weather line bore
up; the dotted lines show the courses the vessels kept, and the crosses
indicate their positions shortly after the _Julia_ and _Growler_
had tacked, and after Chauncy's lee line had "kept off two points."]

The advantage in this action had been entirely with the British,
but it is simple nonsense to say, as one British historian does,
that "on Lake Ontario, therefore, we at last secured a decisive
predominance, which we maintained until the end of the war."
[Footnote: "History of the British Navy," by Charles Duke Yonge
(London, 1866), vol. iii. p. 24. It is apparently not a work of any
authority, but I quote it as showing probably the general feeling
of British writers about the action and its results, which can only
proceed from extreme partizanship and ignorance of the subject.]
This "decisive" battle left the Americans just as much in command of
the lake as the British; and even this very questionable "predominance"
lasted but six weeks, after which the British squadron was blockaded
in port most of the time. The action has a parallel in that fought
on the 22d of July, 1805, by Sir Robert Calder's fleet of 15 sail
of the line against the Franco-Spanish fleet of 20 sail of the line,
under M. Villeneuve.[Footnote: "Batailles Navales de la France," par O.
Troude, iii, 352. It seems rather ridiculous to compare these lake
actions, fought between small flotillas, with the gigantic contests
which the huge fleets of Europe waged in contending for the supremacy
of the ocean; but the difference is one of degree and not of kind, and
they serve well enough for purposes of illustration or comparison.]
The two fleets engaged in a fog, and the English captured two ships,
when both sides drew off, and remained in sight of each other the
next day without either renewing the action. "A victory therefore
it was that Sir Robert Calder had gained, but not a 'decisive' nor
a 'brilliant' victory." [Footnote: James' "Naval History," iv, 14.]
This is exactly the criticism that should be passed on Sir James
Lucas Yeo's action of the 10th of August.

From the 13th of August to the 10th of September both fleets were
on the lake most of the time, each commodore stoutly maintaining
that he was chasing the other; and each expressing in his letters
his surprise and disgust that his opponent should be afraid of
meeting him "though so much superior in force." The facts are of
course difficult to get at, but it seems pretty evident that Yeo was
determined to engage in heavy, and Chauncy in light, weather; and
that the party to leeward generally made off. The Americans had
been re-inforced by the _Sylph_ schooner, of 300 tons and 70 men,
carrying four long 32's on pivots, and six long 6's. Theoretically
her armament would make her formidable; but practically her guns
were so crowded as to be of little use, and the next year she was
converted into a brig, mounting 24-pound carronades.

On the 11th of September a partial engagement, at very long range,
in light weather, occurred near the mouth of the Genesee River; the
Americans suffered no loss whatever, while the British had one
midshipman and three seamen killed and seven wounded, and afterward
ran into Amherst Bay. One of their brigs, the _Melville_, received
a shot so far under water that to get at and plug it, the guns had
to be run in on one side and out on the other. Chauncy describes
it as a running fight of 3 1/2 hours, the enemy then escaping into
Amherst Bay. [Footnote: Letter to the Secretary of the Navy, Sept.
13, 1813.] James (p. 38) says that "At sunset a breeze sprang up
from the westward, when Sir James steered for the American fleet;
but the American commodore avoided a close action, and thus the affair
ended." This is a good sample of James' trustworthiness; his account
is supposed to be taken from Commodore Yeo's letter, [Footnote: Letter
to Admiral Warren, Sept. 12. 1813.] which says: "At sunset a breeze
sprang up from the westward, when I steered for the False Duck Islands,
under which the enemy could not keep the weather-gage, but be obliged
to meet us on equal terms. This, however, he carefully avoided doing."
In other words Yeo did _not_ steer _for_ but _away from_ Chauncy.
Both sides admit that Yeo got the worst of it and ran away, and it
is only a question as to whether Chauncy followed him or not. Of
course in such light weather Chauncy's long guns gave him a great
advantage. He had present 10 vessels; the _Pike_, _Madison_,
_Oneida_, _Sylph_, _Tompkins_, _Conquest_, _Ontario_, _Pert_, _American_,
and _Asp_, throwing 1,288 lbs. of shot, with a total of 98 guns. Yeo
had 92 guns, throwing at a broadside 1,374 lbs. Nevertheless, Chauncy
told but part of the truth in writing as he did: "I was much
disappointed at Sir James refusing to fight me, as he was so much
superior in point of force, both in guns and men, having upward of
20 guns more than we have, and heaves a greater weight of shot."
His inferiority in the long guns placed Yeo at a great disadvantage
in such a very light wind; but in his letter he makes a marvellous
admission of how little able he was to make good use of even what
he had. He says: "I found it impossible to bring them to close
action. We remained in this mortifying situation five hours, having
only six guns in all the squadron that would reach the enemy (not
a carronade being fired)." Now according to James himself ("Naval
Occurrences," p. 297) he had in his squadron 2 long 24's, 13 long
18's, 2 long 12's, and 3 long 9's, and, in a fight of five hours,
at very long range, in smooth water, it was a proof of culpable
incompetency on his part that he did not think of doing what Elliott
and Perry did in similar circumstances on Lake Erie--substitute all
his long guns for some of the carronades on the engaged side.
Chauncy could place in broadside 7 long 32's, 18 long 24's, 4 long
12's, 8 long 6's; so he could oppose 37 long guns, throwing 752 lbs.
of shot, to Yeo's 20 long guns, throwing 333 lbs. of shot. The odds
were thus more than two to one against the British in any case; and
their commander's lack of resource made them still greater. But it
proved a mere skirmish, with no decisive results.

The two squadrons did not come in contact again till on the 28th,
in York Bay. The Americans had the weather-gage, the wind being
fresh from the east. Yeo tacked and stretched out into the lake,
while Chauncy steered directly for his centre. When the squadrons
were still a league apart the British formed on the port tack, with
their heavy vessels ahead; the Americans got on the same tack and
edged down toward them, the _Pike_ ahead, towing the _Asp_; the
_Tompkins_, under Lieut. Bolton Finch, next; the _Madison_ next,
being much retarded by having a schooner in tow; then the _Sylph_,
with another schooner in tow, the _Oneida_, and the two other
schooners. The British, fearing their sternmost vessels would be
cut off, at 12.10 came round on the starboard tack, beginning with
the _Wolfe_, Commodore Yeo, and _Royal George_, Captain William
Howe Mulcaster, which composed the van of the line. They opened
with their starboard guns as soon as they came round. When the
_Pike_ was a-beam of the _Wolfe_, which was past the centre of the
British line, the Americans bore up in succession for their centre.

The _Madison_ was far back, and so was the _Sylph_, neither having
cast off their tows; so the whole brunt of the action fell on the
_Pike_, _Asp_, and _Tompkins_. The latter kept up a most gallant
and spirited fire till her foremast was shot away. But already the
_Pike_ had shot away the _Wolfe's_ main-top-mast and main-yard, and
inflicted so heavy a loss upon her that Commodore Yeo, not very
heroically, put dead before the wind, crowding all the canvas he
could on her forward spars, and she ran completely past all her own
vessels, who of course crowded sail after her. The retreat of the
commodore was most ably covered by the _Royal George_, under Captain
Mulcaster, who was unquestionably the best British officer on the
lake. He luffed up across the commodore's stern, and delivered
broadsides in a manner that won the admiration even of his foes.
The _Madison_ and _Sylph_, having the schooners in tow, could not
overtake the British ships, though the _Sylph_ opened a distant fire;
the _Pike_ kept on after them, but did not cast off the _Asp_, and
so did not gain; and at 3.15 the pursuit was relinquished, [Footnote:
Letter of Commodore Chauncy. Sept. 28, 1813.] when the enemy were
running into the entirely undefended port of Burlington Bay, whence
escape would have been impossible. The _Tompkins_ had lost her
foremast, and the _Pike_ her foretop-gallant mast, with her bowsprit
and main-mast wounded; and of her crew five men were killed or wounded,
almost all by the guns of the _Royal George_. These were the only
injuries occasioned by the enemy's fire, but the _Pike's_ starboard
bow-chaser burst, killing or wounding 22 men, besides blowing up
the top-gallant forecastle, so that the bow pivot gun could not be
used. Among the British ships, the _Wolfe_ lost her main-top-mast,
mizzen-top-mast, and main-yard, and the _Royal George_ her foretop-mast;
both suffered a heavy loss in killed and wounded, according to the
report of the British officers captured in the transports a few days
afterward.

[Illustration of the action between _TOMPKINS_, _ASP_, and _PIKE_,
and the _WOLFE_, _ROYAL GEORGE_, and small gun-boats.]

As already mentioned, the British authorities no longer published
accounts of their defeats, so Commodore Yeo's report on the action
was not made public. Brenton merely alludes to it as follows (vol.
ii, p. 503): "The action of the 28th of September, 1813, in which
Sir James Yeo in the _Wolfe_ had his main- and mizzen-top-masts
shot away, and was obliged to put before the wind, gave Mulcaster
an opportunity of displaying a trait of valor and seamanship which
elicited the admiration of friends and foes, when he gallantly
placed himself between his disabled commodore and a superior enemy."
James speaks in the vaguest terms. He first says, "Commodore Chauncy,
having the weather-gage, kept his favorite distance," which he did
because Commodore Yeo fled so fast that he could not be overtaken;
then James mentions the injuries the _Wolfe_ received, and says that
"it was these and not, as Mr. Clark says, 'a manoeuvre of the
commodore's' that threw the British in confusion." In other words,
it was the commodore's shot and not his manoeuvring that threw the
British into confusion--a very futile distinction. Next he says that
"Commodore Chauncy would not venture within carronade range," whereas
he _was_ within carronade range of the _Wolfe_ and _Royal George_,
but the latter did not wait for the _Madison_ and _Oneida_ to get
within range with _their_ carronades. The rest of his article is
taken up with exposing the absurdities of some of the American
writings, miscalled histories, which appeared at the close of the
war. His criticisms on these are very just, but afford a funny instance
of the pot calling the kettle black. This much is clear, that the
British were beaten and forced to flee, when but part of the American
force was engaged. But in good weather the American force was so
superior that being beaten would have been no disgrace to Yeo, had
it not been for the claims advanced both by himself and his friends,
that on the whole he was victorious over Chauncy. The _Wolfe_ made
any thing but an obstinate fight, leaving almost all the work to the
gallant Mulcaster, in the _Royal George_, who shares with Lieutenant
Finch of the _Tompkins_ most of the glory of the day. The battle,
if such it may be called, completely established Chauncy's supremacy,
Yeo spending most of the remainder of the season blockaded in Kingston.
So Chauncy gained a victory which established his control over the
lakes; and, moreover, he gained it by fighting in succession, almost
single-handed, the two heaviest ships of the enemy. But gaining the
victory was only what should have been expected from a superior force.
The question is, did Chauncy use his force to the best advantage?
And it can not be said that he did. When the enemy bore up it was
a great mistake not to cast off the schooners which were being towed.
They were small craft, not of much use in the fight, and they entirely
prevented the _Madison_ from taking any part in the contest, and
kept the _Sylph_ at a great distance; and by keeping the _Asp_ in
tow the _Pike_, which sailed faster than any of Yeo's ships, was
distanced by them. Had she left the _Asp_ behind and run in to engage
the _Royal George_ she could have mastered, or at any rate disabled,
her; and had the swift _Madison_ cast off her tow she could also
have taken an effective part in the engagement. If the _Pike_ could
put the British to flight almost single-handed, how much more could
she not have done when assisted by the _Madison_ and _Oneida_? The
cardinal error, however, was made in discontinuing the chase. The
British were in an almost open roadstead, from which they could not
possibly escape. Commodore Chauncy was afraid that the wind would
come up to blow a gale, and both fleets would be thrown ashore; and,
moreover, he expected to be able to keep a watch over the enemy and
to attack him at a more suitable time. But he utterly failed in
this last; and had the American squadron cast off their tows and
gone boldly in, they certainly ought to have been able to destroy
or capture the entire British force before a gale could blow up.
Chauncy would have done well to keep in mind the old adage, so
peculiarly applicable to naval affairs: "L'audace! toujours l'audace!
et encore l'audace!" Whether the fault was his or that of his
subordinates, it is certain that while the victory of the 28th of
September definitely settled the supremacy of the lake in favor of
the Americans, yet this victory was by no means so decided as it
should have been, taking into account his superiority in force and
advantage in position, and the somewhat spiritless conduct of his foe.

Next day a gale came on to blow, which lasted till the evening of
the 31st. There was no longer any apprehension of molestation from
the British, so the troop transports were sent down the lake by
themselves, while the squadron remained to watch Yeo. On Oct. 2d
he was chased, but escaped by his better sailing; and next day
false information induced Chauncy to think Yeo had eluded him
and passed down the lake, and he accordingly made sail in the
direction of his supposed flight. On the 5th, at 3 P.M., while near
the False Ducks, seven vessels were made out ahead, which proved
to be British gun-boats, engaged in transporting troops. All sails
was made after them; one was burned, another escaped, and five were
captured, the _Mary_, _Drummond_, _Lady Gore_, _Confiance_, and
_Hamilton_, [Footnote: Letter of Commodore Chauncy, Oct. 8, 1813.]--the
two latter being the rechristened _Julia_ and _Growler_. Each
gun-vessel had from one to three guns, and they had aboard in all
264 men, including seven naval (three royal and four provincial)
and ten military officers. These prisoners stated that in the action
of the 28th the _Wolfe_ and _Royal George_ had lost very heavily.

After this Yeo remained in Kingston, blockaded there by Chauncy for
most of the time; on Nov. 10th he came out and was at once chased
back into port by Chauncy, leaving the latter for the rest of the
season entirely undisturbed. Accordingly, Chauncy was able to convert
his small schooners into transports. On the 17th these transports
were used to convey 1,100 men of the army of General Harrison from
the mouth of the Genesee to Sackett's Harbor, while Chauncy blockaded
Yeo in Kingston. The duty of transporting troops and stores went
on till the 27th, when every thing had been accomplished; and a day
or two afterward navigation closed.

As between the Americans and British, the success of the season was
greatly in favor of the former. They had uncontested control over
the lake from April 19th to June 3d, and from Sept. 28th to Nov.
29th, in all 107 days; while their foes only held it from June 3d
to July 21st, or for 48 days; and from that date to Sept. 28th, for
69 days, the two sides were contending for the mastery. York and
Fort George had been taken, while the attack on Sackett's Harbor
was repulsed. The Americans lost but two schooners, both of which
were recaptured; while the British had one 24-gun-ship nearly ready
for launching destroyed, and one 10-gun brig taken, and the loss
inflicted upon each other in transports, gun-boats, store-houses,
stores, etc., was greatly in favor of the former. Chauncy's fleet,
moreover, was able to co-operate with the army for over twice the
length of time Yeo's could (107 days to 48).

It is more difficult to decide between the respective merits of the
two commanders. We had shown so much more energy than the
Anglo-Canadians that at the beginning of the year we had overtaken
them in the building race, and the two fleets were about equally
formidable. The _Madison_ and _Oneida_ were not quite a match for
the _Royal George_ and _Sydney Smith_ (opposing 12 32-pound and 8
24-pound carronades to 2 long 18's, 1 long 12, 1 68-pound and 13
32-pound carronades); and our ten gun-schooners would hardly be
considered very much of an overmatch for the _Melville_, _Motra_,
and _Beresford_. Had Sir James Yeo been as bold and energetic as
Barclay or Mulcaster he would certainly not have permitted the
Americans, when the forces were so equal, to hold uncontested sway
over the lake, and by reducing Fort George, to cause disaster to
the British land forces. It would certainly have been better to risk
a battle with equal forces, than to wait till each fleet received
an additional ship, which rendered Chauncy's squadron the superior
by just about the superiority of the _Pike_ to the _Wolfe_. Again,
Yeo did not do particularly well in the repulse before Sackett's
Harbor; in the skirmish off Genesee river he showed a marked lack
of resource; and in the action of the 28th of September (popularly
called the "Burlington Races" from the celerity of his retreat) he
evinced an amount of caution that verged toward timidity, in allowing
the entire brunt of the fighting to fall on Mulcaster in the _Royal
George_, a weaker ship than the _Wolfe_. On the other hand, he gave
able co-operation to the army while he possessed control of the lake;
he made a most gallant and successful attack on a superior force on
the 10th of August; and for six weeks subsequently by skilful manoeuvring
he prevented this same superior force from acquiring the uncontested
mastery. It was no disgrace to be subsequently blockaded; but it is
very ludicrous in his admirers to think that he came out first best.

Chauncy rendered able and invaluable assistance to the army all the
while that he had control of the water; his attacks on York and Fort
George were managed with consummate skill and success, and on the
28th of September he practically defeated the opposing force with
his own ship alone. Nevertheless he can by no means be said to have
done the best he could with the materials he had. His stronger fleet
was kept two months in check by a weaker British fleet. When he first
encountered the foe, on August 10th, he ought to have inflicted such
a check upon him as would at least have confined him to port and
given the Americans immediate superiority on the lake; instead of
which he suffered a mortifying, although not at all disastrous, defeat,
which allowed the British to contest the supremacy with him for six
weeks longer. On the 28th of September, when he only gained a rather
barren victory, it was nothing but excessive caution that prevented
him from utterly destroying his foe. Had Perry on that day commanded
the American fleet there would have been hardly a British ship left
on Ontario. Chauncy was an average commander; and the balance of
success inclined to the side of the Americans only because they showed
greater energy and skill in shipbuilding, the crews and commanders
on both sides being very nearly equal.

Copyright (c) 2007. famouswriterz.com. All rights reserved.