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The Naval War of 1812

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The American 38's were about the size of the British frigates of
the same rate, and armed almost exactly in the same way, each
having 28 long 18's on the main-deck and 20 32-pound carronades on
the spar-deck. The proper complement was 300 men, but each carried
from 30 to 80 more. [Footnote: The _Chesapeake_, by some curious
mistake, was frequently rated as a 44, and this drew in its train
a number of attendant errors. When she was captured, James says
that in one of her lockers was found a letter, dated in February,
1811, from Robert Smith, the Secretary of War, to Captain Evans,
at Boston, directing him to open houses of rendezvous for manning
the _Chesapeake_, and enumerating her crew at a total of 443.
Naturally this gave British historians the idea that such was the
ordinary complement of our 38-gun frigates. But the ordering so
large a crew was merely a mistake, as may be seen by a letter from
Captain Bainbridge to the Secretary of the Navy, which is given in
full in the "Captains' Letters," vol. xxv. No. 19 (Navy Archives).
In it he mentions the extraordinary number of men ordered for the
_Chesapeake_, saying, "There is a mistake in the crew ordered for
the _Chesapeake_, as it equals in number the crews of our 44-gun
frigates, whereas the _Chesapeake_ is of the class of the _Congress_
and _Constellation_."]

Our three 44-gun ships were the finest frigates then afloat (although
the British possessed some as heavy, such as the _Egyptienne_, 44).
They were beautifully modelled, with very thick scantling, extremely
stout masts, and heavy cannon. Each carried on her main-deck thirty
long 24's, and on her spar-deck two long bow-chasers, and twenty
or twenty-two carronades--42-pounders on the _President_ and _United
States_, 32-pounders on the _Constitution_. Each sailed with a crew
of about 450 men--50 in excess of the regular complement. [Footnote:
The _President_ when in action with the _Endymion_ had 450 men
aboard, as sworn by Decatur; the muster-roll of the _Constitution_,
a few days before her action with the _Guerrière_ contains 464
names (including 51 marines); 8 men were absent in a prize, so she
had aboard in the action 456. Her muster-roll just before the
action with the _Cyane_ and _Levant_ shows 461 names.]

It may be as well to mention here the only other class of vessels
that we employed during the war. This was composed of the ship-sloops
built in 1813, which got to sea in 1814. They were very fine vessels,
measuring 509 tons apiece, [Footnote: The dimensions were 117 feet
11 inches upon the gun-deck, 97 feet 6 inches keel for tonnage,
measuring from one foot before the forward perpendicular and along
the base line to the front of the rabbet of the port, deducting
3/5 of the moulded breadth of the beam, which is 31 feet 6 inches;
making 509 21/95 tons. (See in Navy Archives, "Contracts," vol. ii.
p. 137.)] with very thick scantling and stout masts and spars. Each
carried twenty 32-pound carronades and two long 12's with a crew
nominally of 160 men, but with usually a few supernumeraries.
[Footnote: The _Peacock_ had 166 men, as we learn from her commander
Warrington's letter of June 1st (Letter No. 140 in "Masters'
Commandant Letters," 1814, vol. i). The _Frolic_ took aboard "10
or 12 men beyond her regular complement" (see letter of Joseph
Bainbridge, No. 51, in same vol.). Accordingly when she was
captured by the _Orpheus_, the commander of the latter, Captain
Hugh Pigot, reported the number of men aboard to be 171. The
_Wasp_ left port with 173 men, with which she fought her first
action; she had a much smaller number aboard in her second.]

The British vessels encountered were similar, but generally
inferior, to our own. The only 24-pounder frigate we encountered
was the _Endymion_ of about a fifth less force than the _President_.
Their 38-gun frigates were almost exactly like ours, but with
fewer men in crew as a rule. They were three times matched against
our 44-gun frigates, to which they were inferior about as three is
to four. Their 36-gun frigates were larger than the _Essex_, with
a more numerous crew, but the same number of guns; carrying on
the lower deck, however, long 18's instead of 32-pound carronades,--a
much more effective armament. The 32-gun frigates were smaller,
with long 12's on the main-deck. The largest sloops were also
frigate-built, carrying twenty-two 32-pound carronades on the
main-deck, and twelve lighter guns on the quarter-deck and
forecastle, with a crew of 180. The large flush-decked ship-sloops
carried 21 or 23 guns, with a crew of 140 men. But our vessels
most often came in contact with the British 18-gun brig-sloop;
this was a tubby craft, heavier than any of our brigs, being about
the size of the _Hornet_. The crew consisted of from 110 to 135 men;
ordinarily each was armed with sixteen 32-pound carronades, two
long 6's, and a shifting 12-pound carronade; often with a light
long gun as a stern-chaser, making 20 in all. The _Reindeer_ and
_Peacock_ had only 24-pound carronades; the _Epervier_ had but
eighteen guns, all carronades. [Footnote: The _Epervier_ was taken
into our service under the same name and rate. Both Preble and
Emmons describe her as of 477 tons. Warrington, her captor, however,
says: "The surveyor of the port has just measured the _Epervier_
and reports her 467 tons." (In the Navy Archives, "Masters'
Commandant Letters," 1814, i. No. 125.) For a full discussion of
tonnage, see Appendix, A.]

Among the stock accusations against our navy of 1812, were, and
are, statements that our vessels were rated at less than their
real force, and in particular that our large frigates were "disguised
line-of-battle ships." As regards the ratings, most vessels of
that time carried more guns than they rated; the disparity was
less in the French than in either the British or American navies.
Our 38-gun frigates carried 48 guns, the exact number the British
38's possessed. The worst case of underrating in our navy was the
_Essex_, which rated 32, and carried 46 guns, so that her real was
44 per cent, in excess of her nominal force; but this was not as
bad as the British sloop _Cyane_, which was rated a 20 or 22, and
carried 34 guns, so that she had either 55 or 70 per cent, greater
real than nominal force. At the beginning of the war we owned two
18-gun ship-sloops, one mounting 18 and the other 20 guns; the
18-gun brig-sloops they captured mounted each 19 guns, so the
average was the same. Later we built sloops that rated 18 and
mounted 22 guns, but when one was captured it was also put down in
the British navy list as an 18-gun ship-sloop. During all the
combats of the war there were but four vessels that carried as
few guns as they rated. Two were British, the _Epervier_ and
_Levant_, and two American, the _Wasp_ and _Adams_. One navy was
certainly as deceptive as another, as far as underrating went.

The force of the statement that our large frigates were disguised
line-of-battle ships, of course depends entirely upon what the
words "frigate" and "line-of-battle ship" mean. When on the 10th
of August, 1653, De Ruyter saved a great convoy by beating off Sir
George Ayscough's fleet of 38 sail, the largest of the Dutch admiral's
"33 sail of the line" carried but 30 guns and 150 men, and his own
flag-ship but 28 guns and 134 men. [Footnote: La Vie et les Actions
Memorables du Sr. Michel de Ruyter, à Amsterdam, Chez Henry et
Theodore Boom. MDCLXXVII. The work is by Barthelemy Pielat, a
surgeon in de Ruyter's fleet, and personally present during many
of his battles. It is written in French, but is in tone more
strongly anti-French than anti-English.] The Dutch book from which
this statement is taken speaks indifferently of frigates of 18, 40,
and 58 guns. Toward the end of the eighteenth century the terms had
crystallized. Frigate then meant a so-called single-decked ship;
it in reality possessed two decks, the main- or gun-deck, and the
upper one, which had no name at all, until our sailors christened
it spar-deck. The gun-deck possessed a complete battery, and the
spar-deck an interrupted one, mounting guns on the forecastle and
quarter-deck. At that time all "two-decked" or "three-decked" (in
reality three- and four-decked) ships were liners. But in 1812
this had changed somewhat; as the various nations built more and
more powerful vessels, the lower rates of the different divisions
were dropped. Thus the British ship _Cyane_, captured by the
_Constitution_, was in reality a small frigate, with a main-deck
battery of 22 guns, and 12 guns on the spar-deck; a few years
before she would have been called a 24-gun frigate, but she then
ranked merely as a 22-gun sloop. Similarly the 50- and 64-gun ships
that had fought in the line at the Doggerbank, Camperdown, and
even at Aboukir, were now no longer deemed fit for the purpose,
and the 74 was the lowest line-of-battle ship.

The _Constitution_, _President_, and _States_ must then be compared
with the existing European vessels that were classed as frigates.
The French in 1812 had no 24-pounder frigates, for the very good
reason that they had all fallen victims to the English 18-pounder's;
but in July of that year a Danish frigate, the _Nayaden_, which
carried long 24's, was destroyed by the English ship _Dictator_, 64.

The British frigates were of several rates. The lowest rated 32,
carrying in all 40 guns, 26 long 12's on the main-deck and 14
24-pound carronades on the spar-deck--a broadside of 324 pounds.
[Footnote: In all these vessels there were generally two long 6's
or 9's substituted for the bow-chase carronades.] The 36-gun
frigates, like the _Phoebe_, carried 46 guns, 26 long 18's on the
gun-deck and 32-pound carronades above. The 38-gun frigates, like
the _Macedonian_, carried 48 or 49 guns, long 18's below and
32-pound carronades above. The 32-gun frigates, then, presented in
broadside 13 long 12's below and 7 24-pound carronades above; the
38-gun frigates, 14 long 18's below and 10 32-pound carronades
above; so that a 44-gun frigate would naturally present 15 long
24's and 12 42-pound carronades above, as the _United States_ did
at first. The rate was perfectly proper, for French, British, and
Danes already possessed 24-pounder frigates; and there was really
less disparity between the force and rate of a 44 that carried 54
guns than there was in a 38 that carried 49, or, like the
_Shannon_, 52. Nor was this all. Two of our three victories were
won by the _Constitution_, which only carried 32-pound carronades,
and once 54 and once 52 guns; and as two thirds of the work was
thus done by this vessel, I shall now compare her with the largest
British frigates. Her broadside force consisted of 15 long 24's on
the main-deck, and on the spar-deck one long 24, and in one case
10, in the other 11 32-pound carronades--a broadside of 704 or 736
pounds. [Footnote: Nominally; in reality about 7 per cent, less on
account of the short weight in the metal.] There was then in the
British navy the _Acasta_, 40, carrying in broadside 15 long 18's
and 11 32-pound carronades; when the spar-deck batteries are equal,
the addition of 90 pounds to the main-deck broadside (which is all
the superiority of the _Constitution_ over the _Acasta_) is
certainly not enough to make the distinction between a frigate and
a disguised 74. But not considering the _Acasta_, there were in the
British navy three 24-pounder frigates, the _Cornwallis_,
_Indefatigable_, and _Endymion_. We only came in contact with the
latter in 1815, when the _Constitution_ had but 52 guns. The
_Endymion_ then had an armament of 28 long 24's, 2 long 18's, and
20 32-pound carronades, making a broadside of 674 pounds, [Footnote:
According to James 664 pounds; he omits the chase guns for no
reason.] or including a shifting 24-pound carronade, of 698
pounds--just _six pounds_, or 1 per cent, less than the force of
that "disguised line-of-battle ship" the _Constitution_! As the
_Endymion_ only rated as a 40, and the _Constitution_ as a 44, it
was in reality the former and not the latter which was underrated.
I have taken the _Constitution_, because the British had more to
do with her than they did with our other two 44's taken together.
The latter were both of heavier metal than the _Constitution_,
carrying 42-pound carronades. In 1812 the _United States_ carried
her full 54 guns, throwing a broadside of 846 pounds; when captured,
the _President_ carried 53, having substituted a 24-pound carronade
for two of her 42's, and her broadside amounted to 828 pounds, or
16 per cent _nominal_, and, on account of the short weight of her
shot, 9 per cent, _real_ excess over the _Endymion_. If this
difference made her a line-of-battle ship, then the _Endymion_ was
doubly a line-of-battle ship compared to the _Congress_ or
_Constellation_. Moreover, the American commanders found their
42-pound carronades too heavy; as I have said the _Constitution_
only mounted 32's, and the _United States_ landed 6 of her guns.
When, in 1813, she attempted to break the blockade, she carried
but 48 guns, throwing a broadside of 720 pounds--just 3 per cent
more than the _Endymion_. [Footnote: It was on account of this
difference of 3 per cent that Captain Hardy refused to allow the
_Endymion_ to meet the _States_ (James, vi. p. 470). This was
during the course of some challenges and counter-challenges which
ended in nothing, Decatur in his turn being unwilling to have the
_Macedonian_ meet the _Statira_, unless the latter should agree
not to take on a picked crew. He was perfectly right in this; but
he ought never to have sent the challenge at all, as two ships but
an hour or two out of port would be at a frightful disadvantage
in a fight.] If our frigates were line-of-battle ships the disguise
was certainly marvellously complete, and they had a number of
companions equally disguised in the British ranks.

The 44's were thus _true frigates_, with one complete battery of
long guns and one interrupted one of carronades. That they were
better than any other frigates was highly creditable to our
ingenuity and national skill. We cannot, perhaps, lay claim to
the invention and first use of the heavy frigate, for 24-pounder
frigates were already in the service of at least three nations,
and the French 36-pound carronnade, in use on their spar-decks,
threw a heavier ball than our 42-pounder. But we had enlarged and
perfected the heavy frigate, and were the first nation that ever
used it effectively. The French _Forte_ and the Danish _Nayaden_
shared the fate of ships carrying guns of lighter calibre; and
the British 24-pounders, like the _Endymion_, had never accomplished
any thing. Hitherto there had been a strong feeling, especially
in England, that an 18-pound gun was as effective as a 24- in
arming a frigate; we made a complete revolution in this respect.
England had been building only 18-pounder vessels when she ought
to have been building 24-pounders. It was greatly to our credit
that our average frigate was superior to the average British frigate;
exactly as it was to our discredit that the _Essex_ was so
ineffectively armed. Captain Porter owed his defeat chiefly to his
ineffective guns, but also to having lost his topmast, to the
weather being unfavorable, and, still more, to the admirable
skill with which Hilyar used his superior armament. The _Java_,
_Macedonian_, and _Guerrière_ owed their defeat partly to their
lighter guns, but much more to the fact that their captains and
seamen did not display either as good seamanship or as good gunnery
as their foes. Inferiority in armament was a factor to be taken
into account in all the four cases, but it was more marked in that
of the _Essex_ than in the other three; it would have been fairer
for Porter to say that he had been captured by a line-of-battle
ship, than for the captain of the _Java_ to make that assertion.
In this last case the forces of the two ships compared almost
exactly as their rates. A 44 was matched against a 38; it was not
surprising that she should win, but it _was_ surprising that she
should win with ease and impunity. The long 24's on the
_Constitution's_ gun-deck no more made her a line-of-battle ship
than the 32-pound carronades mounted on an English frigate's
quarter-deck and forecastle made _her_ a line-of-battle ship when
opposed to a Frenchman with only 8's and 6's on his spar-deck.
When, a few years before, the English _Phoebe_ had captured the
French _Nereide_, their broadsides were respectively 407 and 258
pounds, a greater disparity than in any of our successful fights;
yet no author thought of claiming that the _Phoebe_ was any thing
but a frigate. So with the _Clyde_, throwing 425 lbs., which took
the _Vestale_, throwing but 246. The facts were that 18-pounder
frigates had captured 12-pounders, exactly as our 24-pounders in
turn captured the 18-pounders.

Shortly before Great Britain declared war on us, one of her
18-pounder frigates, the _San Florenzo_, throwing 476 lbs. in a
broadside, captured the 12-pounder French frigate _Psyché_, whose
broadside was only 246 lbs. The force of the former was thus
almost double that of the latter, yet the battle was long and
desperate, the English losing 48 and the French 124 men. This
conflict, then, reflected as much credit on the skill and seamanship
of the defeated as of the victorious side; the difference in loss
could fairly be ascribed to the difference in weight of metal.
But where, as in the famous ship-duels of 1812, the difference in
force is only a fifth, instead of a half and yet the slaughter,
instead of being as five is to two, is as six to one, then the
victory is certainly to be ascribed as much to superiority in skill
as to superiority in force. But, on the other hand, it should always
be remembered that there was a very decided superiority in force.
It is a very discreditable feature of many of our naval histories
that they utterly ignore this superiority, seeming ashamed to
confess that it existed. In reality it was something to be proud
of. It was highly to the credit of the United States that her
frigates were of better make and armament than any others; it
always speaks well for a nation's energy and capacity that any of
her implements of warfare are of superior kind. This is a perfectly
legitimate reason for pride.

It spoke well for the Prussians in 1866 that they opposed
breech-loaders to the muzzle-loaders of the Austrians; but it would
be folly to give all the credit of the victory to the breech-loaders
and none to Moltke and his lieutenants. Thus, it must remembered
that two things contributed to our victories. One was the excellent
make and armament of our ships; the other was the skilful seamanship,
excellent discipline, and superb gunnery of the men who were in
them. British writers are apt only to speak of the first, and Americans
only of the last, whereas both should be taken into consideration.

To sum up: the American 44-gun frigate was a true frigate, in build
and armament, properly rated, stronger than a 38-gun frigate just
about in the proportion of 44 to 38, and not exceeding in strength
an 18-pounder frigate as much as the latter exceeded one carrying
12-pounders. They were in no way whatever line-of-battle ships;
but they were superior to any other frigates afloat, and, what is
still more important, they were better manned and commanded than
the _average_ frigate of any other navy. Lord Codrington says
("Memoirs," i, p. 310): "But I well know the system of favoritism
and borough corruption prevails so very much that many people are
promoted and kept in command that should be dismissed the service,
and while such is the case the few Americans chosen for their merit
may be expected to follow up their successes except where they meet
with our best officers on even terms." [Footnote: To show that I am
not quoting an authority biassed in our favor I will give Sir
Edward Codrington's opinion of our rural better class (i, 318).
"It is curious to observe the animosity which prevails here among
what is called the better order of people, which I think is more
a misnomer here than in any other country I have ever been. Their
_whig_ and _tory_ are democrat and federalist, and it would seem
for the sake of giving vent to that bitterness of hatred which
marks the Yankee character, every gentleman (God save the term)
who takes possession of a property adopts the opposite political
creed to that of his nearest neighbor."] The small size of our
navy was probably to a certain extent effective in keeping it up
to a high standard; but this is not the only explanation, as can
be seen by Portugal's small and poor navy. On the other hand, the
champions or pick of a large navy _ought_ to be better than the
champions of a small one. [Footnote: In speaking of tonnage I wish
I could have got better authority than James for the British side
of the question. He is so bitter that it involuntarily gives one
a distrust of his judgment. Thus, in speaking of the _Penguin's_
capture, he, in endeavoring to show that the _Hornet's_ loss was
greater than she acknowledged, says, "several of the dangerously
wounded were thrown overboard because the surgeon was afraid to
amputate, owing to his want of experience" ("Naval Occurrences,"
492). Now what could persuade a writer to make such a foolish
accusation? No matter how utterly depraved and brutal Captain
Biddle might be, he would certainly not throw his wounded over
alive because he feared they might die. Again, in vol. vi, p. 546,
he says: "Captain Stewart had caused the _Cyane_ to be painted to
resemble a 36-gun frigate. The object of this was to aggrandize his
exploit in the eyes of the gaping citizens of Boston." No matter
how skilful an artist Captain Stewart was, and no matter how great
the gaping capacities of the Bostonians, the _Cyane_ (which by the
way went to New York and not Boston) could no more be painted to
look like a 36-gun frigate than a schooner could be painted to look
like a brig. Instances of rancor like these two occur constantly
in his work, and make it very difficult to separate what is matter
of fact from what is matter of opinion. I always rely on the British
official accounts when they can be reached, except in the case of
the _Java_, which seem garbled. That such was sometimes the case
with British officials is testified to by both James (vol. iv,
p. 17) and Brenton (vol. ii, p. 454, note). From the "Memoir of
Admiral Broke" we learn that his public letter was wrong in a number
of particulars. See also any one of the numerous biographies of
Lord Dundonald, the hero of the little _Speedy's_ fight. It is
very unfortunate that the British stopped publishing official
accounts of their defeats; it could not well help giving rise to
unpleasant suspicions.

It may be as well to mention here, again, that James' accusations do not
really detract from the interest attaching to the war, and its value for
purposes of study. If, as he says, the American commanders were cowards,
and their crews renegades, it is well worth while to learn the lesson that
good training will make such men able to beat brave officers with loyal
crews. And why did the British have such bad average crews as he makes
out? He says, for instance, that the Java's was unusually bad; yet
Brenton says (vol. ii, p. 461) it was like "the generality of our crews."
It is worth while explaining the reason that such a crew was generally
better than a French and worse than an American one.]

Again, the armaments of the American as well as of the British
ships were composed of three very different styles of guns. The
first, or long gun, was enormously long and thick-barrelled in
comparison to its bore, and in consequence very heavy; it possessed
a very long range, and varied in calibre from two to forty-two
pounds. The ordinary calibres in our navy were 6, 9, 12, 18, and
24. The second style was the carronade, a short, light gun of
large bore; compared to a long gun of the same weight it carried
a much heavier ball for a much shorter distance. The chief calibres
were 9, 12, 18, 24, 32, 42, and 68-pounders, the first and the
last being hardly in use in our navy. The third style was the
columbiad, of an intermediate grade between the first two. Thus
it is seen that a gun of one style by no means corresponds to a
gun of another style of the same calibre. As a rough example, a
long 12, a columbiad 18, and a 32-pound carronade would be about
equivalent to one another. These guns were mounted on two different
types of vessel. The first was flush-decked; that is, it had a
single straight open deck on which all the guns were mounted.
This class included one heavy corvette, (the _Adams_), the
ship-sloops, and the brig-sloops. Through the bow-chase port, on
each side, each of these mounted a long gun; the rest of their guns
were carronades, except in the case of the _Adams_, which had all
long guns. Above these came the frigates, whose gun-deck was
covered above by another deck; on the fore and aft parts (forecastle
and quarter-deck) of this upper, open deck were also mounted guns.
The main-deck guns were all long, except on the _Essex_, which
had carronades; on the quarter-deck were mounted carronades, and
on the forecastle also carronades, with two long bow-chasers.

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