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The Naval War of 1812

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




In the American navy, unlike the British, there was no impressment;
the sailor was a volunteer, and he shipped in whatever craft his
fancy selected. Throughout the war there were no "picked crews" on
the American side, [Footnote: James' statements to the contrary
being in every case utterly without foundation. He is also wrong
in his assertion that the American ships had no boys; they had nearly
as many in proportion as the British. The _Constitution_ had 31,
the _Adams_ 15, etc. So, when he states that our midshipmen were
generally masters and mates of merchantmen; they were generally
from eleven to seventeen years old at the beginning of the war,
and besides, had rarely or never been in the merchant marine.]
excepting on the last two cruises of the _Constitution_. In fact
(as seen by the letter of Captains Stewart and Bainbridge to
Secretary Hamilton), there was often much difficulty in getting
enough men. [Footnote: Reading through the volumes of official
letters about this war, which are preserved in the office of the
Secretary of the Navy, one of the most noticeable things is the
continual complaints about the difficulty of getting men. The
_Adams_ at one time had a crew of but nineteen men--"fourteen of
whom are marines," adds the aggrieved commander. A log-book of
one of the gun-boats records the fact that after much difficulty
_two_ men were enlisted--from the jail, with a parenthetical
memorandum to the effect that they were both very drunk. British
ships were much more easily manned, as they could always have
recourse to impressment.

The _Constitution_ on starting out her last cruises had an
extraordinary number of able seamen aboard, viz., 218, with but 92
ordinary seamen, 12 boys, and 44 marines, making, with the officers,
a total of 440 men. (See letter of Captain Bainbridge, Oct. 16,
1814; it is letter No. 51, in the fortieth volume of "Captains'
Letters," in the clerk's office of the Secretary of the Navy.)]
Many sailors preferred to serve in the innumerable privateers, and,
the two above-mentioned officers, in urging the necessity of
building line-of-battle ships, state that it was hard work to
recruit men for vessels of an inferior grade, so long as the enemy
had ships of the line.

One of the standard statements made by the British historians about
this war is that our ships were mainly or largely manned by British
sailors. This, if true, would not interfere with the lessons which
it teaches; and, besides that, it is _not_ true.

In this, as in every thing else, all the modern writers have merely
followed James or Brenton, and I shall accordingly confine myself
to examining their assertions. The former begins (vol. iv, p. 470)
by diffidently stating that there is a "similarity" of language between
the inhabitants of the two countries--an interesting philological
discovery that but few will attempt to controvert. In vol. vi, p.
154, he mentions that a number of blanks occur in the American Navy
List in the column "Where Born"; and in proof of the fact that these
blanks are there because the men were not Americans, he says that
their names "are all English and Irish." [Footnote: For example,
James writes: "Out of the 32 captains one only, Thomas Tingey, had
England marked as his birthplace.... Three blanks occur, and we
consider it rather creditable to Captains John Shaw, Daniel S.
Patterson, and John Ord Creighton, that they were ashamed to tell
where they were born." I have not been able to find out the latter's
birth-place, but Captain Shaw was born in New York, and I have seen
Captain Patterson incidentally alluded to as "born and bred in
America." Generally, whenever I have been able to fill up the
vacancies in the column "Where Born," I have found that it was in
America. From these facts it would appear that James was somewhat
hasty in concluding that the omission of the birth-place proved the
owner of the name to be a native of Great Britain.] They certainly
are; and so are all the other names in the list. It could not well
be otherwise, as the United States Navy was not officered by Indians.
In looking over this same Navy List (of 1816) it will be seen that
but a little over 5 per cent, of the officers were born abroad--a
smaller proportion by far than would exist in the population of the
country at large--and most of these had come to America when under
ten years of age. On p. 155 James adds that the British sailors
composed "one third in number and one half in point of effectiveness"
of the American crews. Brenton in his "Naval History" writes: "It
was said, and I have no reason to doubt the fact, that there were
200 British seamen aboard the _Constitution_." [Footnote: New
edition, London, 1837, vol. ii, p. 456.] These statements are mere
assertions unsupported by proof, and of such a loose character as
to be difficult to refute. As our navy was small, it may be best
to take each ship in turn. The only ones of which the British could
write authoritatively were, of course, those which they captured.
The first one taken was the _Wasp_. James says many British were
discovered among her crew, instancing especially one sailor named
Jack Lang; now Jack Lang was born in the town of Brunswick, New
Jersey, _but had been impressed and forced to serve in the British
Navy_. The same was doubtless true of the rest of the "many British"
seamen of her crew; at any rate, as the only instance James mentions
(Jack Lang) was an American, he can hardly be trusted for those
whom he does not name.

Of the 95 men composing the crew of the _Nautilus_ when she was
captured, "6 were detained and sent to England to await examination
as being suspected of being British subjects." [Footnote: Quoted
from letter of Commodore Rodgers of September 12, 1812 (in Naval
Archives, "Captains' Letters," vol xxv, No. 43), enclosing a "List
of American prisoners of war discharged out of custody of Lieutenant
William Miller, agent at the port of Halifax," in exchange for
some of the British captured by Porter. This list, by the way,
shows the crew of the _Nautilus_ (counting the six men detained
as British) to have been 95 in number, instead of 106, as stated
by James. Commodore Rodgers adds that he has detained 12 men of
the _Guerrière's_ crew as an offset to the 6 men belonging to the
_Nautilus_.] Of the other small brigs, the _Viper_, _Vixen_,
_Rattlesnake_, and _Syren_, James does not mention the composition
of the crew, and I do not know that any were claimed as British.
Of the crew of the _Argus_ "about 10 or 12 were believed to be
British subjects; the American officers swore the crew contained
none" (James, "Naval Occurrences," p. 278). From 0 to 10 per cent
can be allowed. When the _Frolic_ was captured "her crew consisted
of native Americans" (_do_, p. 340). James speaks ("History," p.
418) of "a portion of the British subjects on board the _Essex_,"
but without giving a word of proof or stating his grounds of belief.
One man was claimed as a deserter by the British, but he turned out
to be a New Yorker. There were certainly a certain number of British
aboard, but the number probably did not exceed thirty. Of the
_President's_ crew he says ("Naval Occurrences," p. 448): "In the
opinion of several British officers there were among them many
British seamen" but Commodore Decatur, Lieutenant Gallagher, and
the other officers swore that there were none. Of the crew of the
_Chesapeake_, he says, "about 32" were British subjects, or about
10 per cent. One or two of these were afterward shot, and some 25,
together with a Portuguese boatswain's mate, entered into the
British service. So that of the vessels captured by the British,
the _Chesapeake_ had the largest number of British (about 10 per
cent. of her crew) on board, the others ranging from that number
down to none at all, as in the case of the _Wasp_. As these eleven
ships would probably represent a fair average, this proportion, of
0 to 10 per cent., should be taken as the proper one. James, however,
is of the opinion that those ships manned by Americans were more
apt to be captured than those manned by the braver British; which
calls for an examination of the crews of the remaining vessels.
Of the American sloop _Peacock_, James says ("Naval Occurrences,"
p. 348) that "several of her men were recognized as British seamen";
even if this were true, "several" could not probably mean more
than sixteen, or 10 per cent. Of the second _Wasp_ he says,
"Captain Blakely was a native of Dublin, and, along with some
English and Scotch, did not, it may be certain, neglect to have
in his crew a great many Irish." Now Captain Blakely left Ireland
when he was but 16 months old, and the rest of James' statement is
avowedly mere conjecture. It was asserted positively in the American
newspapers that the _Wasp_, which sailed from Portsmouth, was
manned exclusively by New Englanders, except a small draft of men
from a Baltimore privateer, and that there was not a foreigner in
her crew. Of the _Hornet_ James states that "some of her men were
natives of the United Kingdom"; but he gives no authority, and the
men he refers to were in all probability those spoken of in the
journal of one of the _Hornet's_ officers, which says that "Many
of our men (Americans) had been impressed in the British service."
As regards the gun-boats, James asserts that they were commanded
by "Commodore Joshua Barney, a native of Ireland." This officer,
however, was born at Baltimore on July 6, 1759. As to the
_Constitution_, Brenton, as already mentioned, supposes the number
of British sailors in her crew to have been 200; James makes it
less, or about 150. Respecting this, the only definite statements
I can find in British works are the following: In the "Naval
Chronicle," vol. xxix, p. 452, an officer of the _Java_ states
that most of the _Constitution's_ men were British, many being
from the _Guerrière_; which should be read in connection with
James' statement (vol. vi, p. 156) that but eight of the _Guerrière's_
crew deserted, and but two shipped on board the _Constitution_.
Moreover, as a matter of fact, these eight men were all impressed
Americans. In the "Naval Chronicle" it is also said that the
_Chesapeake's_ surgeon was an Irishman, formerly of the British
navy; he was born in Baltimore, and was never in the British navy
in his life. The third lieutenant "was supposed to be an Irishman"
(Brenton, ii, 456). The first lieutenant "was a native of Great
Britain, we have been informed" (James, vi, 194); he was Mr. George
Parker, born and bred in Virginia. The remaining three citations,
if true, prove nothing. "One man had served under Mr. Kent" of the
_Guerrière_ (James, vi, p. 153). "One had been in the _Achille_"
and "one in the _Eurydice_" (Brenton, ii, 456). These three men
were most probably American seamen who had been impressed on British
ships. From Cooper (in "Putnam's Magazine," vol. I, p. 593) as well
as from several places in the _Constitution's_ log, [Footnote: See
her log-book (vol. ii, Feb. 1, 1812 to Dec. 13, 1813); especially
on July 12th, when twelve men were discharged. In some of Hull's
letters he alludes to the desire of the British part of the crew
to serve on the gun boats or in the ports; and then writes that
"in accordance with the instructions sent him by the Secretary of
the Navy," he had allowed the British-born portion to leave the
ship. The log-books are in the Bureau of Navigation.] we learn
that several of the crew who were British deserters were discharged
from the _Constitution_ before she left port, as they were afraid
to serve in a war against Great Britain. That this fear was
justifiable may be seen by reading James, vol. iv, p. 483. Of the
four men taken by the _Leopard_ from the _Chesapeake_, as deserters,
one was hung and three scourged. In reality the crew of the
_Constitution_ probably did not contain a dozen British sailors;
in her last cruises she was manned almost exclusively by New
Englanders. The only remainder vessel is the _United States_,
respecting whose crew some remarkable statements have been made.
Marshall (vol. ii, p. 1019) writes that Commodore Decatur "declared
there was not a seaman in his ship who had not served from 5 to 12
years in a British man-of-war," from which he concludes that they
were British themselves. It may be questioned whether Decatur ever
made such an assertion; or if he did, it is safe to assume again
that his men were long-impressed Americans. [Footnote: At the
beginning of the war there were on record in the American State
Department 6,257 cases of impressed American seamen. These could
represent but a small part of the whole, which must have amounted
to 20,000 men, or more than sufficient to man our entire navy five
times over. According to the British Admiralty Report to the House
of Commons, February 1, 1815, 2,548 impressed American seamen, who
refused to serve against their country, were imprisoned in 1812.
According to Lord Castlereagh's speech in the House, February 18,
1813, 3,300 men claiming to be American subjects were serving in
the British navy in January, 1811, and he certainly did not give
any thing like the whole number. In the American service the term
of enlistment extended for two years, and the frigate, _United
States_, referred to, had not had her crew for any very great
length of time as yet. If such a crew were selected at random
from American sailors, among them there would be, owing to the
small number serving in our own navy and the enormous number
impressed into the British navy, probably but one of the former
to two of the latter. As already mentioned the American always
left a British man-of-war as soon as he could, by desertion or
discharge; but he had no unwillingness to serve in the home navy,
where the pay was larger, and the discipline far more humane, not
to speak of motives of patriotism. Even if the ex-British
man-of-war's man kept out of service for some time, he would be
very apt to enlist when a war broke out, which his country
undertook largely to avenge his own wrongs.]

Of the _Carolina's_ crew of 70 men, five were British. This fact
was not found out till three deserted, when an investigation was
made and the two other British discharged. Captain Henly, in
reporting these facts, made no concealment of his surprise that
there should be any British at all in his crew. [Footnote: See
his letter in "Letters of Masters' Commandant," 1814, I. No. 116.]

From these facts and citations we may accordingly conclude that
the proportion of British seamen serving on American ships _after
the war broke out_, varied between none, as on the _Wasp_ and
_Constitution_, to ten per cent., as on the _Chesapeake_ and
_Essex_. On the average, nine tenths of each of our crews were
American seamen, and about one twentieth British, the remainder
being a mixture of various nationalities.

On the other hand, it is to be said that the British frigate
_Guerrière_ had ten Americans among her crew, who were permitted
to go below during action, and the _Macedonian_ eight, who were
not allowed that privilege, three of them being killed. Three of
the British sloop _Peacock's_ men were Americans, who were forced
to fight against the _Hornet_: one of them was killed. Two of the
_Epervier's_ men were Americans, who were also forced to fight.
When the crew of the _Nautilus_ was exchanged, a number of other
American prisoners were sent with them; among these were a number
of American seamen who had been serving in the _Shannon_, _Acasta_,
_Africa_, and various other vessels. So there was also a certain
proportion of Americans among the British crews, although forming
a smaller percentage of them than the British did on board the
American ships. In neither case was the number sufficient to at all
affect the result.

The crews of our ships being thus mainly native Americans, it may
be interesting to try to find out the proportions that were
furnished by the different sections of the country. There is not
much difficulty about the officers. The captains, masters commandant,
lieutenants, marine officers, whose birthplaces are given in the
Navy List of 1816,--240 in all,--came from the various States as
follows:

.- N.H.. 5-.
| Mass.. 20 |
New England -| R.I. 11 |- 42
'- Conn.. 6-'

.- N.Y.. 17-.
| N.J.. 22 |
Middle States-| Penn.. 35 |- 78
'- Del.. 4-'

District of Columbia -[D.C.. 4]- 4


.- Md.. 46-.
| Va.. 42 |
| N.C.. 4 |
Southern States-| S.C.. 16 |-116
| Ga.. 2 |
| La.. 4 |
'- Ky.. 2-'
---------
Total of given birthplaces 240


Thus, Maryland furnished, both absolutely and proportionately, the
greatest number of officers, Virginia, then the most populous of
all the States, coming next; four fifths of the remainder came
from the Northern States.

It is more difficult to get at the birthplaces of the sailors.
Something can be inferred from the number of privateers and letters
of marque fitted out. Here Baltimore again headed the list; following
closely came New York, Philadelphia, and the New England coast
towns, with, alone among the Southern ports, Charleston, S.C. A
more accurate idea of the quotas of sailors furnished by the
different sections can be arrived at by comparing the total amount
of tonnage the country possessed at the outbreak of the war.
Speaking roughly, 44 per cent, of it belonged to New England, 32
per cent, to the Middle States, and 11 per cent, to Maryland. This
makes it _probable_ (but of course not certain) that three fourths
of the common sailors hailed from the Northern States, half the
remainder from Maryland, and the rest chiefly from Virginia and
South Carolina.

Having thus discussed somewhat at length the character of our
officers and crews, it will now be necessary to present some
statistical tables to give a more accurate idea of the composition
of the navy; the tonnage, complements, and armaments of the ships, etc.

At the beginning of the war the Government possessed six navy-yards
(all but the last established in 1801) as follows: [Footnote: Report
of Naval Secretary Jones, Nov. 30. 1814.]

Place Original Cost. Minimum number of
men employed.

1. Portsmouth. N. H., $ 5,500 10

2. Charleston, Mass., 39,214 20

3. New York, 40,000 102

4. Philadelphia, 37,000 13

5. Washington, 4,000 36

6. Gosport, 12,000 16

In 1812 the following was the number of officers in the navy:
[Footnote: "List of Vessels" etc., by Gen. H Preble U.S.N (1874)]

12 captains
10 masters commandant
73 lieutenants
53 masters
310 midshipmen
42 marine officers
-----
500

At the opening of the year, the number of seamen, ordinary seamen,
and boys in service was 4,010, and enough more were recruited to
increase it to 5,230, of whom only 2,346 were destined for the
cruising war vessels, the remainder being detailed for forts,
gun-boats, navy yards, the lakes, etc. [Footnote: Report of Secretary
Paul Hamilton, Feb. 21, 1812.] The marine corps was already ample,
consisting of 1,523 men. [Footnote: _Ibid_.]

No regular navy lists were published till 1816, and I have been
able to get very little information respecting the increase in
officers and men during 1813 and 1814; but we have full returns
for 1815, which may be summarized as follows: [Footnote: Seybert's
"Statistical Annals," p. 676 (Philadelphia, 1818)]

30 captains,
25 masters commandant,
141 lieutenants,
24 commanders,
510 midshipmen,
230 sailing-masters,
50 surgeons,
12 chaplains,
50 pursers,
10 coast pilots,
45 captain's clerks,
80 surgeon's mates,
530 boatswains, gunners, carpenters, and sailmakers,
268 boatswain's mates, gunner's mates, etc.,
1,106 quarter gunners, etc.,
5,000 able seamen,
6,849 ordinary seamen and boys.
Making a total of 14,960, with 2,715 marines.
[Footnote: Report of Secretary B. W. Crowninshield, April 18, 1816.]

Comparing this list with the figures given before, it can be seen
that during the course of the war our navy grew enormously,
increasing to between three and four times its original size.

At the beginning of the year 1812, the navy of the United States
on the ocean consisted of the following vessels, which either
were, or could have been, made available during the war. [Footnote:
Letter of Secretary Benjamin Stoddart to Fifth Congress, Dec. 24,
1798; Letter of Secretary Paul Hamilton, Feb. 21, 1812; "American
State Papers," vol. xix, p. 149. See also The "History of the Navy
of the United States," by Lieut. G. E. Emmons, U. S. N. (published
in Washington, MDCCCLIII, under the authority of the Navy Department.)]

Rate When
(Guns). Name. Where Built. Built. Tonnage. Cost.
44 _United States_, Philadelphia, 1797 1576 $299,336
44 _Constitution_, Boston, 1797 1576 302,718
44 _President_, New York, 1800 1576 220,910
38 _Constellation_, Baltimore, 1797 1265 314,212
38 _Congress_, Portsmouth, 1799 1268 197,246
38 _Chesapeake_, Norfolk, 1799 1244 220,677
32 _Essex_, Salem, 1799 860 139,362
28 _Adams_, New York, 1799 560 76,622
18 _Hornet_, Baltimore, 1805 480 52,603
18 _Wasp_, Washington, 1806 450 40,000
16 _Argus_, Boston, 1803 298 37,428
16 _Syren_, Philadelphia, 1803 250 32,521
14 _Nautilus_, Baltimore, 1803 185 18,763
14 _Vixen_, Baltimore, 1803 185 20,872
12 _Enterprise_, Baltimore, 1799 165 16,240
12 _Viper_, Purchased, 1810 148

There also appeared on the lists the _New York_, 36, _Boston_, 28,
and _John Adams_, 28. The two former were condemned hulks; the latter
was entirely rebuilt after the war. The _Hornet_ was originally a
brig of 440 tons, and 18 guns; having been transformed into a ship,
she was pierced for 20 guns, and in size was of an intermediate
grade between the _Wasp_ and the heavy sloops, built somewhat later,
of 509 tons. Her armament consisted of 32-pound carronades, with
the exception of the two bow-guns, which were long 12's. The whole
broadside was in nominal weight just 300 pounds; in actual weight
about 277 pounds. Her complement of men was 140, but during the war
she generally left port with 150. [Footnote: In the _Hornet's_ log
of Oct. 25, 1812, while in port, it is mentioned that she had 158
men; four men who were sick were left behind before she started.
(See, in the Navy Archives, the Log-book, _Hornet_, _Wasp_, and
_Argus_, July 20, 1809, to Oct. 6, 1813.)] The _Wasp_ had been a
ship from the beginning, mounted the number of guns she rated (of
the same calibres as the _Hornet's_) and carried some ten men less.
She was about the same length as the British 18-gun brig-sloop, but,
being narrower, measured nearly 30 tons less. The _Argus_ and _Syren_
were similar and very fine brigs, the former being the longer. Each
carried two more guns than she rated; and the _Argus_, in addition,
had a couple thrust through the bridle-ports. The guns were 24-pound
carronades, with two long 12's for bow-chasers. The proper complement
of men was 100, but each sailed usually with about 125. The four
smaller craft were originally schooners, armed with the same number
of light long guns as they rated, and carrying some 70 men apiece;
but they had been very effectually ruined by being changed into
brigs, with crews increased to a hundred men. Each was armed with
18-pound carronades, carrying two more than she rated. The
_Enterprise_, in fact, mounted 16 guns, having two long nines thrust
through the bridle-ports. These little brigs were slow, not very
seaworthy, and overcrowded with men and guns; they all fell into
the enemy's hands without doing any good whatever, with the single
exception of the _Enterprise_, which escaped capture by sheer good
luck, and in her only battle happened to be pitted against one of
the corresponding and equally bad class of British gun-brigs. The
_Adams_ after several changes of form finally became a flush-decked
corvette. The _Essex_ had originally mounted twenty-six long 12's
on her main-deck, and sixteen 24-pound carronades on her spar-deck;
but official wisdom changed this, giving her 46 guns, twenty-four
32-pound carronades, and two long 12's on the main-deck, and
sixteen 32-pound carronades with four long 12's on the spar-deck.
When Captain Porter had command of her he was deeply sensible of
the disadvantages of an armament which put him at the mercy of any
ordinary antagonist who could choose his distance; accordingly he
petitioned several times, but always without success, to have his
long 12's returned to him.

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