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The Naval War of 1812

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[Illustration of the action between _WASP_ and _AVON_ from 9.25
to 10.00.]

Counting the _Wasp's_ complement as full (though it was probably
two or three short), taking James' statement of the crew of the
_Avon_ as true, including the boat carronades of both vessels, and
considering the _Avon's_ stern-chaser to have been a six-pounder,
we get the

COMPARATIVE FORCE.
No. Weight No.
Tons. Guns. Metal. Men. Loss.
_Wasp,_ 509 12 327 160 3
_Avon,_ 477 11 280 117 42


It is self-evident that in the case of this action the odds, 14 to
11, are neither enough to account for the loss inflicted being as
14 to 1, nor for the rapidity with which, during a night encounter,
the _Avon_ was placed in a sinking condition. "The gallantry of the
_Avon's_ officers and crew cannot for a moment be questioned; but
the gunnery of the latter appears to have been not one whit better
than, to the discredit of the British navy, had frequently before
been displayed in combats of this kind. Nor, judging from the specimen
given by the _Castilian_, is it likely that she would have performed
any better." [Footnote: James, vi, 435.] On the other hand, "Capt.
Blakely's conduct on this occasion had all the merit shown in the
previous action, with the additional claim of engaging an enemy
under circumstances which led him to believe that her consorts were
in the immediate vicinity. The steady, officer-like way in which
the _Avon_ was destroyed, and the coolness with which he prepared
to engage the _Castilian_ within ten minutes after his first antagonist
had struck, are the best encomiums on this officer's character and
spirit, as well as on the school in which he had been trained."
[Footnote: Cooper, ii, 291.]

The _Wasp_ now cruised to the southward and westward, taking and
scuttling one or two prizes. On Sept. 21st, lat. 33° 12' N., long.
14° 56' W., she captured the brig _Atalanta_, 8, with 19 men, which
proved a valuable prize, and was sent in with one of the midshipmen,
Mr. Geisinger, aboard, as prize-master, who reached Savannah in safety
on Nov. 4th. Meanwhile the _Wasp_ kept on toward the southeast. On
Oct. 9th, in lat. 18° 35' N., long. 30° 10' W., she spoke and boarded
the Swedish brig _Adonis_, and took out of her Lieut. McKnight and
Mr. Lyman, a master's mate, both late of the _Essex_, on their way
to England from Brazil.

This was the last that was ever heard of the gallant but ill-fated
_Wasp_. How she perished none ever knew; all that is certain is that
she was never seen again. She was as good a ship, as well manned,
and as ably commanded as any vessel in our little navy; and it may
be doubted if there was at that time any foreign sloop of war of her
size and strength that could have stood against her in fair fight.

As I have said, the _Wasp_ was manned almost exclusively by Americans.
James says they were mostly Irish; the reason he gives for the
assertion being that Capt. Blakely spent the first 16 months of his
life in Dublin. This argument is quite on a par with another piece
of logic which I cannot resist noticing. The point he wishes to prove
is that Americans are cowards. Accordingly, on p. 475: "On her capstan
the _Constitution_ now mounted a piece resembling 7 musket barrels,
fixed together with iron bands. It was discharged by one lock, and
each barrel threw 25 balls. * * * What could have impelled the Americans
to invent such extraordinary implements of war but fear, down-right
fear?" Then a little further on: "The men were provided with leather
boarding-caps, fitted with bands of iron, * * * another strong symptom
of fear!" Now, such a piece of writing as this is simply evidence
of an unsound mind; it is not so much malicious as idiotic. I only
reproduce it to help prove what I have all along insisted on, that
any of James' unsupported statements about the Americans, whether
respecting the tonnage of the ships or the courage of the crews,
are not worth the paper they are written on; on all points connected
purely with the British navy, or which can be checked off by official
documents or ships' logs, or where there would be no particular object
in falsifying, James is an invaluable assistant, from the diligence
and painstaking care he shows, and the thoroughness and minuteness
with which he goes into details.

A fair-minded and interesting English critic, [Footnote: Lord Howard
Douglass, "Treatise on Naval Gunnery," p. 416.] whose remarks are
generally very just, seems to me to have erred somewhat in commenting
on this last sloop action. He says that the _Avon_ was first crippled
by dismantling shot from _long guns_. Now, the _Wasp_ had but _one_
long gun on the side engaged, and, moreover, began the action with
the shortest and lightest of her carronades. Then he continues that
the _Avon_, like the _Peacock_, "was hulled so low that the shot-holes
could not be got at, and yielded to this fatal circumstance only."
It certainly cannot be said when a brig has been dismasted, has had
a third of her crew placed _hors de combat_, and has been rendered
an unmanageable hulk, that she yields _only_ because she has received
a few shot below the water-line. These shot-holes undoubtedly hastened
the result, but both the _Peacock_ and the _Avon_ would have
surrendered even if they had remained absolutely water-tight.

The _Adams_, 28, had been cut down to a sloop of war at Washington,
and then lengthened into a flush-decked, heavy corvette, mounting
on each side 13 medium 18's, or columbiads, and 1 long 12, with a
crew of 220 men, under the command of Capt. Charles Morris, late
first lieut. of the _Constitution_. [Footnote: "Autobiography of
Commodore Morris," Annapolis, 1880, p. 172.] She slipped out of the
Potomac and past the blockaders on Jan. 18th, and cruised eastward
to the African coast and along it from Cape Mount to Cape Palmas,
thence to the Canaries and Cape de Verd. She returned very nearly
along the Equator, thence going toward the West Indies. The cruise
was unlucky, but a few small prizes, laden with palm-oil and ivory,
being made. In hazy weather, on March 25th, a large Indiaman (the
_Woodbridge_) was captured; but while taking possession the weather
cleared up, and Capt. Morris found himself to leeward of 25 sail,
two of which, a two-decker and a frigate, were making for him, and
it took him till the next day to shake them off. He entered Savannah
on May 1st and sailed again on the 8th, standing in to the Gulf
Stream, between Makanillan and Florida, to look out for the Jamaica
fleet. He found this fleet on the 24th, but the discovery failed
to do him much good, as the ships were under the convoy of a 74,
two frigates, and three brigs. The _Adams_ hovered on their skirts
for a couple of days, but nothing could be done with them, for the
merchant-men sailed in the closest possible order and the six war
vessels exercised the greatest vigilance. So the corvette passed
northward to the Newfoundland Banks, where she met with nothing but
fogs and floating ice, and then turned her prow toward Ireland. On
July 4th she made out and chased two sail, who escaped into the mouth
of the Shannon. After this the _Adams_, heartily tired of fogs and
cold, stood to the southward and made a few prizes; then, in lat.
44° N., long. 10° W., on July 15th, she stumbled across the 18-pounder
36-gun frigate _Tigris_, Capt. Henderson. The frigate was to leeward,
and a hard chase ensued. It was only by dint of cutting away her
anchors and throwing overboard some of her guns that the _Adams_
held her own till sunset, when it fell calm. Capt. Morris and his
first lieutenant, Mr. Wadsworth, had been the first and second
lieutenants of _Old Ironsides_ in Hull's famous cruise, and they
proved that they had not forgotten their early experience, for they
got out the boats to tow, and employed their time so well that by
sunrise the frigate was two leagues astern. After 18 hours' more
chase the _Adams_ dropped her. But in a day or two she ran across
a couple more, one of which, an old bluff-bows, was soon thrown out;
but the other was very fast, and kept close on the corvette's heels.
As before, the frigate was to leeward. The _Adams_ had been built
by contract; one side was let to a sub-contractor of economical
instincts, and accordingly turned out rather shorter than the other;
the result was, the ship sailed a good deal faster on one tack than
on the other. In this chase she finally got on her good tack in the
night, and so escaped. [Footnote: This statement is somewhat
traditional; I have also seen it made about the _John Adams_. But
some old officers have told me positively that it occurred to the
_Adams_ on this cruise.] Capt. Morris now turned homeward. During
his two cruises he had made but 10 prizes (manned by 161 men), none
of very great value. His luck grew worse and worse. The continual
cold and damp produced scurvy, and soon half of his crew were
prostrated by the disease; and the weather kept on foggy as ever.
Off the Maine coast a brig-sloop (the _Rifleman_, Capt. Pearce) was
discovered and chased, but it escaped in the thick weather. The fog
grew heavier, and early on the morning of Aug. 17th the _Adams_ struck
land--literally struck it, too, for she grounded on the Isle of Haute,
and had to throw over provisions, spare spars, etc., before she could
be got off. Then she entered the Penobscot, and sailed 27 miles up
it to Hampden. The _Rifleman_ meanwhile conveyed intelligence of
her whereabouts to a British fleet, consisting of two line-of-battle
ships, three frigates, three sloops, and ten troop transports, under
the joint command of Rear-Admiral Griffeth and Lieutenant-General
Sherbrooke. [Footnote: James, vi, 479.]

This expedition accordingly went into the Penobscot and anchored
off Castine. Captain Morris made every preparation he could to defend
his ship, but his means were very limited; seventy of his men were
dead or disabled by the scurvy; the remainder, many of them also
diseased, were mustered out, to the number of 130 officers and seamen
(without muskets) and 20 marines. He was joined, however, by 30
regulars, and later by over 300 militia armed with squirrel guns,
ducking- and fowling-pieces, etc.,--in all between 500 and 550 men,
[Footnote: "Autobiography of Commodore Morris."] only 180 of whom,
with 50 muskets among them, could be depended upon. On Sept. 3d the
British advanced by land and water, the land-force being under the
direction of Lieutenant-Colonel John, and consisting of 600 troops,
80 marines, and 80 seamen. [Footnote: James, vi. 481. Whenever militia
are concerned James has not much fear of official documents and lets
his imagination run riot; he here says the Americans had 1,400 men,
which is as accurate as he generally is in writing about this species
of force. His aim being to overestimate the number of the Americans
in the various engagements, he always supplies militia _ad libitum_,
to make up any possible deficiency.] The flotilla was composed of
barges, launches, and rocket-boats, under the command of Captain
Barry of the _Dragon_, 74. In all there were over 1,500 men. The
seamen of the _Adams_, from the wharf, opened fire on the flotilla,
which returned it with rockets and carronades; but the advance was
checked. Meanwhile the British land-forces attacked the militia,
who acted up to the traditional militia standard, and retreated with
the utmost promptitude and celerity, omitting the empty formality
of firing. This left Captain Morris surrounded by eight times his
number, and there was nothing to do but set fire to the corvette
and retreat. The seamen, marines, and regulars behaved well, and
no attempt was made to molest them. None of Captain Morris' men
were hit; his loss was confined to one sailor and one marine who
were too much weakened by scurvy to retreat with the others, who
marched to Portland, 200 miles off. The British lost ten men killed
or wounded.

On Sept. 9th Gunboats No. 160 and 151, commanded by Mr. Thomas M.
Pendleton, captured off Sapoleo Bar, Ga., the British privateer
_Fortune of War_, armed with two heavy pivot guns, and 35 men. She
made a brief resistance, losing two of her men. [Footnote: Letter
from Commodore H. E. Campbell, St. Mary's, Sept. 12, 1814.]

On Sept. 15th the British 20-gun ship-sloops _Hermes_ and _Carron_,
and 18-gun brig-sloops _Sophie_ and _Childers_, and a force of 200
men on shore, [Footnote: James, vi, 527.] attacked Fort Bowyer, on
Mobile Point, but were repulsed without being able to do any damage
whatever to the Americans. The _Hermes_ was sunk and the assailants
lost about 80 men.

[Illustration: Captain Samuel C. Reid: a portrait painted by John
Wesley Jarvis in 1815. (Courtesy U.S. Naval Academy Museum)]

On the 26th of September, while the privateer-schooner _General
Armstrong_, of New York, Captain Samuel C. Reid, of one long 24,
eight long 9's, and 90 men, was lying at anchor in the road of Fayal,
a British squadron, composed of the _Plantagenet_, 74, Captain Robert
Floyd, _Rota_, 38, Captain Philip Somerville, and _Carnation_, 18,
Captain George Bentham, hove in sight. [Footnote: Letter of Captain
S. C. Reid, Oct. 7, 1814; and of John B. Dabney, Consul at Fayal,
Oct. 5, 1814.] One or more boats were sent in by the British, to
reconnoitre the schooner, as they asserted, or, according to the
American accounts, to carry her by a _coup de main_. At any rate,
after repeatedly warning them off, the privateer fired into them,
and they withdrew. Captain Reid then anchored, with springs on his
cables, nearer shore, to await the expected attack, which was not
long deferred. At 8 P.M. four boats from the _Plantagenet_ and three
from the _Rota_, containing in all 180 men, [Footnote: James, vi,
509: Both American accounts say 12 boats, with 400 men, and give
the British loss as 250. According to my usual rule, I take each
side's statement of its own force and loss.] under the command of
Lieutenant William Matterface, first of the _Rota_, pulled in toward
the road, while the _Carnation_ accompanied them to attack the schooner
if she got under way. The boats pulled in under cover of a small
reef of rocks, where they lay for some time, and about midnight
made the attack. The Americans opened with the pivot gun, and
immediately afterward with their long 9's, while the boats replied
with their carronades, and, pulling spiritedly on amidst a terrific
fire of musketry from both sides, laid the schooner aboard on her
bow and starboard quarter. The struggle was savage enough, the British
hacking at the nettings and trying to clamber up on deck, while the
Americans fired their muskets and pistols in the faces of their
assailants and thrust the foremost through with their long pikes.
The boats on the quarter were driven off; but on the forecastle all
three of the American lieutenants were killed or disabled, and the
men were giving back when Captain Reid led all the after-division
up and drove the British back into their boats. This put an end to
the assault. Two boats were sunk, most of the wounded being saved
as the shore was so near; two others were captured, and but three
of the scattered flotilla returned to the ships. Of the Americans,
2 were killed, including the second lieutenant, Alexander O. Williams,
and 7 were wounded, including the first and third lieutenants,
Frederick A. Worth and Robert Johnson. Of the British, 34 were killed
and 86 were wounded; among the former being the Rota's first and
third lieutenants, William Matterface and Charles R. Norman, and
among the latter her second lieutenant and first lieutenant of
marines, Richard Rawle and Thomas Park. The schooner's long 24 had
been knocked off its carriage by a carronade shot, but it was replaced
and the deck cleared for another action. Next day the _Carnation_
came in to destroy the privateer, but was driven off by the judicious
use the latter made of her "Long Tom." But affairs being now hopeless,
the _General Armstrong_ was scuttled and burned, and the Americans
retreated to the land. The British squadron was bound for New Orleans,
and on account of the delay and loss that it suffered, it was late
in arriving, so that this action may be said to have helped in saving
the Crescent City. Few regular commanders could have done as well
as Captain Reid.

On October 6th, while Gun-boat No. 160 was convoying some coasters
from Savannah, it was carried by a British tender and nine boats.
[Footnote: Letter from Commander H. C. Campbell, Oct. 12, 1814.]
The gun-vessel was lying at anchor about eight leagues from St.
Mary's, and the boats approached with muffled oars early in the
morning. They were not discovered till nearly aboard, but the defence
though short was spirited, the British losing about 20 men. Of the
gun-boat's 30 men but 16 were fit for action: those, under
Sailing-master Thomas Paine, behaved well. Mr. Paine, especially,
fought with the greatest gallantry; his thigh was broken by a
grape-shot at the very beginning, but he hobbled up on his other
leg to resist the boarders, fighting till he was thrust through by
a pike and had received two sabre cuts. Any one of his wounds would
have been enough to put an ordinary man _hors de combat_.

On October 11th, another desperate privateer battle took place.
The brigantine _Prince-de-Neufchatel_, Captain Ordronaux, of New
York, was a superbly built vessel of 310 tons, mounting 17 guns,
and originally possessing a crew of 150 men. [Footnote: "History
of American Privateers," by George Coggeshall, p. 241, New York,
1876.] She had made a very successful cruise, having on board goods
to the amount of $300,000, but had manned and sent in so many prizes
that only 40 of her crew were left on board, while 37 prisoners were
confined in the hold. One of her prizes was in company, but had
drifted off to such a distance that she was unable to take part in
the fight. At mid-day, on the 11th of October, while off Nantucket,
the British frigate _Endymion_, 40, Captain Henry Hope, discovered
the privateer and made sail in chase. [Footnote: James, vi, p. 527.]
At 8.30 P.M., a calm having come on, the frigate despatched 5 boats,
containing 111 men, [Footnote: According to Captain Ordronaux; James
does not give the number, but says 28 were killed, 37 wounded, and
the crew of the launch captured. Ten of the latter were unwounded,
and 18 wounded. I do not know if he included these last among his
"37 wounded."] under the command of the first lieutenant, Abel Hawkins,
to take the brigantine; while the latter triced up the boarding
nettings, loaded the guns with grape and bullets, and prepared herself
in every way for the coming encounter. She opened fire on the boats
as they drew near, but they were soon alongside, and a most desperate
engagement ensued. Some of the British actually cut through the
nettings and reached the deck, but were killed by the privateersmen;
and in a few minutes one boat was sunk, three others drifted off,
and the launch, which was under the brigantine's stern, was taken
possession of. The slaughter had been frightful, considering the
number of the combatants. The victorious privateersmen had lost
7 killed, 15 badly and 9 slightly wounded, leaving but 9 untouched!
Of the _Endymion's_ men, James says 28, including the first lieutenant
and a midshipman, were killed, and 37, including the second lieutenant
and a master's mate, wounded; "besides which the launch was captured
and the crew made prisoners." I do not know if this means 37 wounded,
_besides_ the wounded in the launch, or not [Footnote: I think James
does not include the wounded in the launch, as he says 28 wounded
were sent aboard the _Saturn_; this could hardly have included the
men who had been captured.]; of the prisoners captured 18 were
wounded and 10 unhurt, so the loss was either 28 killed, 55 wounded,
and 10 unhurt prisoners; or else 28 killed, 37 wounded, and 10
prisoners; but whether the total was 93 or 75 does not much matter.
It was a most desperate conflict, and, remembering how short-handed
the brigantine was, it reflected the highest honor on the American
captain and his crew.

After their repulse before Baltimore the British concentrated their
forces for an attack upon New Orleans. Accordingly a great fleet
of line-of-battle ships, frigates, and smaller vessels, under
Vice-Admiral Cochrane, convoying a still larger number of store-ships
and transports, containing the army of General Packenham, appeared
off the Chandeleur Islands on Dec. 8th. The American navy in these
parts consisted of the ship _Louisiana_ and schooner _Carolina_ in
the Mississippi river, and in the shallow bayous a few gun-boats,
of course without quarters, low in the water, and perfectly easy
of entrance. There were also a few tenders and small boats. The
British frigates and sloops anchored off the broad, shallow inlet
called Lake Borgne on the 12th; on this inlet there were 5 gun-boats
and 2 small tenders, under the command of Lieut. Thomas Catesby Jones.
It was impossible for the British to transport their troops across
Lake Borgne, as contemplated, until this flotilla was destroyed.
Accordingly, on the night of the 12th, 42 launches, armed with
24-, 18-, and 12-pounder carronades, and 3 unarmed gigs, carrying
980 seamen and marines, under the orders of Capt. Lockyer, [Footnote:
James, vi, 521.] pushed off from the _Armide_, 38, in three divisions;
the first under the command of Capt. Lockyer, the second under Capt.
Montresor, and the third under Capt. Roberts. [Footnote: Letter of
Capt. Lockyer to Vice-Admiral Cochrane, Dec. 18, 1814.] Lieut. Jones
was at anchor with his boats at the Malheureux Islands, when he
discovered, on the 13th, the British flotilla advancing toward Port
Christian. He at once despatched the _Seahorse_ of one 6-pounder
and 14 men, under Sailing-master William Johnston, to destroy the
stores at Bay St. Louis. She moored herself under the bank, where
she was assisted by two 6-pounders. There the British attacked her
with seven of their smaller boats, which were repulsed after sustaining
for nearly half an hour a very destructive fire. [Footnote: James,
vi, 521.] However, Mr. Johnston had to burn his boat to prevent it
from being taken by a larger force. Meanwhile Lieut. Jones got under
way with the five gun-vessels, trying to reach Les Petites Coquilles,
near a small fort at the mouth of a creek. But as the wind was light
and baffling, and the current very strong, the effort was given up,
and the vessels came to anchor off Malheureux Island passage at
1 A.M. on the 14th. [Footnote: Official letter of Lieut. Jones, March
12, 1815.] The other tender, the _Alligator_, Sailing-master Sheppard,
of one 4-pounder and 8 men, was discovered next morning trying to
get to her consorts, and taken with a rush by Capt. Roberts and his
division. At daybreak Lieut. Jones saw the British boats about nine
miles to the eastward, and moored his 5-gun vessel abreast in the
channel, with their boarding nettings triced up, and every thing
in readiness; but the force of the current drifted two of them,
Nos. 156 and 163, a hundred yards down the pass and out of line,
No. 156 being the headmost of all. Their exact force was as follows:
No. 156, Lieut. Jones, 41 men and 5 guns (1 long 24 and 4 12-pound
carronades); No. 163, Sailing-master Geo. Ulrick, 21 men, 3 guns
(1 long 24 and 2 12-pound carronades); No. 162, Lieut. Robert Speddes,
35 men, 5 guns (1 long 24 and 4 light sixes); No. 5, Sailing-master
John D. Ferris, 36 men, 5 guns (1 long 24, 4 12-pound carronades);
No. 23, Lieut. Isaac McKeever, 39 men and 5 guns (1 long 32 and 4
light sixes). There were thus, in all, 182 men and a broadside of
14 guns, throwing 212 pounds of shot. The British forces amounted,
as I have said, to 980 men, and (supposing they had equal numbers
of 24's, 18's and 12's,) the flotilla threw seven hundred and
fifty-eight pounds of shot. The odds of course were not as much
against the Americans as these figures would make them, for they
were stationary, had some long, heavy guns and boarding nettings;
on the other hand the fact that two of their vessels had drifted
out of line was a very serious misfortune. At any rate, the odds
were great enough, considering that he had British sailors to deal
with, to make it any thing but a cheerful look-out for Lieut. Jones;
but nowise daunted by the almost certain prospect of defeat the American
officers and seamen prepared very coolly for the fight. In this
connection it should be remembered that simply to run the boats on
shore would have permitted the men to escape, if they had chosen to
do so.

[Illustration: The Battle of Lake Borgne: an early-19th-century
painting by Thomas Hornbrook. (Courtesy U.S. Naval Academy Museum)]

Captain Lockyer acted as coolly as his antagonist. When he had reached
a point just out of gun-shot, he brought the boats to a grapnel,
to let the sailors eat breakfast and get a little rest after the
fatigue of their long row. When his men were rested and in good trim
he formed the boats in open order, and they pulled gallantly on against
the strong current. At 10.50 the Americans opened fire from their
long guns, and in about 15 minutes the cannonade became general on
both sides. At 11.50 [Footnote: Lieut. Jones' letter.] Captain Lockyer's
barge was laid alongside No. 156, and a very obstinate struggle ensued,
"in which the greater part of the officers and crew of the barge were
killed or wounded," [Footnote: Captain Lockyer's letter.] including
among the latter the gallant captain himself, severely, and his equally
gallant first lieutenant, Mr. Pratt, of the _Seahorse_ frigate, mortally.
At the same time Lieut. Tatnall (of the _Tonnant_) also laid his
barge aboard the gun-boat, only to have it sunk; another shared the
same fate; and the assailants were for the moment repulsed. But at
this time Lieut. Jones, who had shown as much personal bravery during
the assault, as forethought in preparing for it, received a dangerous
and disabling wound, while many of his men received the same fate;
the boarding nettings, too, had all been cut or shot away. Several
more barges at once assailed the boats, the command of which had
devolved on a young midshipman, Mr. George Parker; the latter, fighting
as bravely as his commander, was like him severely wounded, whereupon
the boat was carried at 12.10. Its guns were turned on No. 163, and
this, the smallest of the gun-boats, was soon taken; then the British
dashed at No. 162 and carried it, after a very gallant defence, in
which Lieut. Speddes was badly wounded. No. 5 had her long 24 dismounted
by the recoil, and was next carried; finally, No. 23, being left
entirely alone, hauled down her flag at 12.30. [Footnote: Minutes
of the Court of Inquiry, held May 15, 1851.*] The Americans had lost
6 killed and 35 wounded; the British 17 killed and 77 (many mortally)
wounded. The greater part of the loss on both sides occurred in boarding
No. 156, and also the next two gun-boats.

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