USA > Massachusetts > Commonwealth history of Massachusetts, colony, province and state, volume 3 > Part 44
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The force of 1,600 men under General Hull's command arrived at Detroit July 5, whence it was to operate against Canada. On the 12th, Hull crossed the river with his army into Canada. He then proceeded to lay siege to Malden, which lies on the lake at the mouth of the Detroit River. It was held by a small force and probably could have been taken without great difficulty. The slow process of siege was fatal. With Malden in his possession, the British would have been deprived of their only base within striking distance of Detroit. General Hull relied upon a simultaneous movement against Niagara, which would have created a diversion and have held
From a process print
Courtesy of Dr. Gardner W. Allen
THE LAST PERIOD OF THE ACTION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES FRIGATE "CONSTITUTION" AND THE BRITISH FRIGATE "GUERRIERE," WHICH TOOK PLACE ON AUGUST 19, 1812
Original painting by Joseph Howard
Courtesy of Essex Institute, Salem
FRIGATE ESSEX, 1799, OF SALEM, MASS.
479
THE WAR AT SEA
British forces away from Detroit; but nothing of the sort took place until it was too late.
If the American commanders had had to deal only with men as incompetent and dilatory as themselves, all might have been well. But General Isaac Brock, governor of Upper Canada, was a man of great ability and tireless energy, and he was in early middle life. Collecting a small force, he hurried west by water along the north shore of Lake Erie, and joined the garrison at Malden. Hull had already recrossed the river to Detroit. Brock promptly attacked him; and Hull, thinking to avoid an Indian massacre and without offering the least resistance, surrendered, August 16, 1812, not only Detroit but the whole of Michigan Territory.
Meanwhile General Dearborn had difficulties to contend with which would have taxed the powers of a much younger and abler man. First at Boston and later at Albany, he attempted to collect and organize his army; but recruits came in very slowly. He never reached Niagara, and the operations there were conducted by subordinate officers, incompetent and refusing to cooperate with each other, and compelled to work with raw militia. The belated attack, which was to have served as a diversion in favor of General Hull, came off in October and was a failure. General Brock was killed, but not until after he had saved Canada.
THE WAR AT SEA AND THE CONSTITUTION (1812)
In cheerful contrast to this dismal tale of the consequences of unpreparedness, the story of the Navy's 1812 campaign teaches what highly trained officers and disciplined men can do, even with limited means. The United States Navy at this time was composed of 18 vessels, ranging from 44-gun frigates to 12-gun brigs. The British navy boasted 230 ships- of-the-line together with 600 frigates and smaller vessels.
The frigate Constitution, 44 guns, commanded by Captain Isaac Hull, a nephew of General Hull and a New Englander, though not of Massachusetts, sailed from Annapolis, Mary- land, July 5, bound to New York. Off the Jersey coast, July 17, she fell in with a British squadron of five ships of war. Then followed one of the most remarkable chases in naval history, lasting three days. For much of the time a dead calm
480
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR OF 1812
prevailed, sea anchors and kedges were made use of for warping the vessels, and boats were employed in towing. By consumnate seamanship, Hull escaped and reached Boston in safety.
On August 2 he again set sail and cruised to the eastward. August 19, off the Banks of Newfoundland, the Constitution fell in with the British frigate Guerrière, 38 guns. It may be here stated that all warships habitually carried more guns than their rate would indicate. After a period of manoeuvring, during which the English ship kept up an active though inef- fective fire, the Constitution delivered her first broadside at about six o'clock in the afternoon, within pistol-shot. Fifteen minutes later the Guerrière's mizzenmast went over the side, in another quarter of an hour or so the mainmast went by the board, and about the same time the foremast also fell. The British frigate now surrendered, a complete wreck. This was one of the most famous sea fights in American naval history. Although the Constitution was superior in the number of guns and men, the injury inflicted on her enemy was out of all proportion to the difference in force. The British loss was 15 killed and 64 wounded, 8 of them mortally; the American, 7 killed and 7 wounded. Although the Constitution suffered considerable injury to her spars and rigging, it was trivial compared to the plight of the Guerrière, a helpless hulk rolling in the heavy sea. She could not be brought into port, so was set on fire and blown up.
In this action and in later ones the British ships fired more rapidly, and this was claimed by their captains to show superiority of fire, a description seemingly inconsistent with their evidently poor marksmanship. The British fired high, damaging their enemy's spars and rigging ; the Americans low, smashing their adversary's hull and masts and killing his men. Captain Dacres, of the Guerrière, expressed confidence that if he could fight the battle over again under the same conditions he would win, and took credit to himself for firing three broadsides to the Constitution's two. This being the case, the Guerrière threw a slightly greater weight of metal within a given time than her adversary, which would seem to have made them about equal in force. In nearly every naval action of this war the Americans were greatly superior in seamanship
481
THE WAR AT SEA
and gunnery, which was a better criterion than the number of guns and weight of broadsides.
Captain Hull, after disposing of the wreck of the Guerrière, brought his prisoners to Boston in the Constitution. Great was the rejoicing on her arrival, in which even the Federalists joined, for their own favorite ship had won a great victory. Hull was escorted to Faneuil Hall by a procession of "about five hundred of the most respectable citizens of both parties," as reported in the Columbian Centinel, a Federalist paper. There he was tendered a public dinner, at which many of the most prominent Federalists were present.
Two historians of the Adams family have recalled the events of this momentous episode. Henry Adams in his History of the United States says: "No experience of history ever went to the heart of New England more directly than this victory, so peculiarly its own; but the delight was not confined to New England, and extreme though it seemed it was still not extravagant, for however small the affair might appear on the general scale of the world's battles, it raised the United States in one half-hour to the rank of a first-class Power in the World." Charles Francis Adams, in a paper read before the American Historical Association in 1912, speaks of "the intense feeling" which "found utterance in every form of shouting and tumult. There was, too, sufficing occasion for it all. Its sense of self-respect had suddenly been restored to a people."
The Constitution changed her commanding officer, and was soon taken to sea again by Captain William Bainbridge, who had been made. commodore of a small squadron. He sailed from Boston late in October, 1812, in company with the sloop- of-war Hornet, 18 guns, Captain James Lawrence. The ships separated off the coast of Brazil and, December 29, the Consti- tution fell in with the British frigate Java, 38 guns, which was captured after an engagement of an hour and three quar- ters. She lost 48 killed and over a hundred wounded; the Constitution 9 killed and 25 wounded, 3 of them mortally. The Java was somewhat inferior in force, but the damage she suffered was entirely out of proportion to this difference. She was reduced to a complete wreck, with the loss of all her masts; and it was necessary to burn her. Here again the Americans showed immense superiority in gunfire. Bain-
482 MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR OF 1812
bridge returned to Boston, and was given the same enthusiastic welcome which Hull had received, in which the Federalists took their full share.
THE ESSEX (1812 - 1814)
The frigate Essex, 32 guns, built in Salem and commanded by Captain David Porter, a native of Boston, was one of the first ships of the Navy to get to sea, sailing from Sandy Hook June 26, 1812. She cruised with success several weeks, taking a number of British merchantmen. The first naval action of the war took place August 13, off the American coast, when the Essex in eight minutes captured the British sloop-of-war Alert, 20 guns. The Alert, with apparent confidence, had boldly attacked the Essex, under the impression that she was a merchantman. Of course, considering the disparity in force, any other result was hardly possible, but the action showed courage and spirit.
One of the most interesting episodes of the war was the cruise of the Essex in the Pacific Ocean. Having been ordered to join the small squadron of Commodore Bainbridge, Captain Porter sailed from Delaware Bay for the coast of Brazil late in 1812. But he failed to find the Constitution and Hornet, the other vessels of the squadron, and thereupon decided to cruise alone. He was well provided with money taken from a prize, and determined to try his fortune in the Pacific Ocean. There were no British naval vessels in the Pacific at that time, but there were many American and English whalers, the latter being armed and having letters of marque, while the Americans were unarmed. Porter's arrival was opportune, for the American whale fishery was in danger of destruction. He rescued many American ships which had been taken by the British and also by Peruvian corsairs.
After touching at Valparaiso, he cruised among the Gala- pagos Islands, the favorite resort of British whalers. On the way he overhauled a Peruvian vessel which had seized two American whalers. In the course of a few weeks Porter had captured several British vessels, and later on many others- twelve altogether, with more than a hundred guns and three hundred men; he also recaptured their American prizes. Nine of his prizes he armed, and became commodore of a for-
From print in Analectic Magazine Courtesy of Harvard College Library DAVID PORTER, ESQ.
483
OTHER SEA FIGHTS
midable squadron. One of the best of these vessels he armed with twenty guns, called her the Essex Junior, and put Lieu- tenant John Downes, a Massachusetts man, in command. Porter proceeded to the Marquesas Islands with his squadron, and there established a naval station and refitted his ships. From his prizes he obtained provisions and naval stores in abundance. He made friends with the natives and aided them in a war with other tribes. He remained there about six weeks.
The British Government at last sent the frigate Phoebe, 36 guns, and sloop-of-war Cherub, 22 guns, in pursuit of Captain Porter. It seems a pity that he did not return to the United States by way of the Indian Ocean and Cape of Good Hope, but he wished to meet the Phoebe and went back to Varparaiso, arriving there in February, 1814, with the Essex and Essex Junior. Not long after, the Phoebe and Cherub appeared off the port' and blockaded the American ships. On the 28th of March, Porter attempted to run out of the harbor, but was struck by a violent squall which disabled his ship. He was therefore obliged to fight. He was greatly overmatched, especially as the Phoebe carried mostly long guns, and the Essex, carronades. The action lasted two hours and a half and was one of the most desperate and bloody of naval battles. The Essex lost nearly half her crew in killed and wounded; and then, in order to save the rest, Porter struck his flag.
OTHER SEA FIGHTS (1812 - 1813)
During the first year of the war other notable single-ship actions took place. In October, 1812, the frigate United States, 44 guns, Captain Stephen Decatur, captured the British frigate Macedonian, 38 guns, and brought her into port. The sloop-of-war Wasp, 18 guns, Captain Jacob Jones, took the brig Frolic, 18 guns, but both vessels were soon afterwards retaken by a British seventy-four. In February, 1813, the Hornet, Captain Lawrence, which had continued her cruise after parting with the Constitution, encountered the English sloop-of-war Peacock, of equal force, and sank her by gunfire in fifteen minutes. Lawrence then returned to the United States. To offset these victories, the Americans lost in addi-
484
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR OF 1812
tion to the Wasp, just mentioned, two small brigs, the Nautilus and the Vixen, which fell into the hands of the enemy.
Then came a serious reverse of fortune-and in Massa- chusetts Bay. Captain Lawrence, after bringing the Hornet home, took command of the frigate Chesapeake, 38 guns. She sailed out of Boston Harbor, June 1, 1813, and fought the frigate Shannon, of about the same force. The Chesapeake had a fresh crew, undisciplined and undrilled. Captain Broke, of the Shannon, unlike his brother officers, had for a long time most carefully drilled his crew in gunnery. The result was that he captured the Chesapeake, killing Captain Lawrence and several other officers, and took her a prize to Halifax.
This misfortune was soon followed by another. The brig Argus, 18 guns, Captain William Henry Allen, built in Boston in 1803, after taking the American minister William H. Craw- ford to France, cruised in British waters with great success until, August 14, 1813, he encountered the English brig Peli- can, of superior force. After a hard-fought action, in which Captain Allen was mortally wounded, the Argus was captured.
Another battle took place in Massachusetts waters off the coast of Maine in September, and ended in another American victory. The brigs Enterprise, Lieutenant William Burrows, and Boxer, of about equal force, came together near Portland. The Enterprise won the fight in three quarters of an hour. Both captains were killed.
THE NORTHERN FRONTIER (1813 - 1814)
During the years 1813 and 1814 war was waged with varying fortune along the northern frontier. Having built a fleet on Lake Erie, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, Sep- tember 10, 1813, gained his famous and brilliant victory over the British fleet and secured complete control of the lake. Thereupon General Harrison came north with a considerable force, and with the help of Perry's fleet recaptured Detroit, pursued the British army up the Thames River, and gained a decisive victory, November 5. The whole of Michigan was thereby recovered. It was Perry's victory and command of Lake Erie that won back the lost territory.
General Dearborn remained in command of the front from Niagara to Lake Champlain until midsummer, 1813. Com-
485
THE NORTHERN FRONTIER
modore Isaac Chauncey, with headquarters at Sackett's Harbor, gathered a sufficient number of vessels to give him temporary command of Lake Ontario, though he won no such victory as Perry's on Lake Erie. In April, 1813, Dearborn sent an expedition across the lake which captured York (Toronto). Kingston should have been attacked instead of York, but a large British force at Kingston, existing apparent- ly only in Dearborn's imagination, led to the change of plan. In May, Fort George, at the mouth of the Niagara River, was captured by another combined naval and military force.
After this the war along the Niagara River during the next twelve months was for the most part a story of failures; but in the course of time men of superior ability and military talent emerged from the common mass of incompetence. Jacob Brown, Winfield Scott, and other officers of merit, and the capture of Fort Erie and the battles of Chippawa and Lundy's Lane, in 1814, were bright spots against a sombre background.
The Battle of Chippawa, July 5, 1814, was a fair and square fight on an open plain between fifteen hundred British regulars with six hundred militia on one side, and thirteen hundred United States regulars on the other. The British were also superior in artillery. The American force engaged was the First Brigade, commanded by General Scott. One of the regi- ments was the Ninth Infantry, from Massachusetts. The Americans advanced "steady as veterans," and the "British line broke and crumbled away." The battle was over in less than an hour, before the rest of the American army had time to get into it. Like the naval victories, it was a case of superior marksmanship. Henry Adams says: "Never again after that combat was an army of American regulars beaten by British troops. Small as the affair was, and unimportant in military results, it gave to the United States Army a charac- ter and pride it had never before possessed."
In the Battle of' Lundy's Lane, fought during the evening of July 25, American troops again distinguished themselves by steadiness and courage. General Brown's whole army at this time included something over twenty-six hundred rank and file present for duty, but not more than two thousand were actually engaged. The Second Brigade was commanded by Brigadier-General Eleazar Wheelock Ripley, a Massachusetts
486
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR OF 1812
man though born in New Hampshire. One of his regiments, the Twenty-first, was recruited in Massachusetts. The British force numbered three thousand. The most brilliant episode was the capture of the British battery from its position imme- diately in front of the enemy's main force by the 21st Regiment of less than five hundred men. Eventually, the Americans, in the face of superior numbers, were obliged to withdraw from the field, leaving the captured guns behind.
After the Battle of Lundy's Lane, the American army with- drew to Fort Erie, on the lake shore opposite Buffalo. This work had been captured by the Americans, July 3. The fort was greatly strengthened, and fortified lines were extended to the lake on both sides. This work was gallantly and suc- cessfully defended against a determined assault by the enemy, August 15. On September 17, the Americans made a sortie and assaulted the British entrenchments. The attack was repulsed ; but the Americans inflicted greater losses on their enemy than they themselves suffered, and a few days later the British army withdrew and retreated down the river. During all this time, the enemy's forces greatly exceeded the American in numbers. In these operations the Massachusetts regiments distinguished themselves. About six weeks later Fort Erie was blown up, and the American army was withdrawn from the Niagara frontier. The failure of Commodore Chauncey, who at that time controlled Lake Ontario, to make full use of his advantage affected the course of events.
On the St. Lawrence border, plans for the invasion of Canada and the capture of Montreal came to nothing. The British in turn collected an army of twelve thousand or more men, including great numbers of Wellington's veterans, released from service in Spain. Under the command of Sir George Prevost this force was destined for the invasion of the United States, supported by a fleet on Lake Champlain. Pre- vost occupied the village of Plattsburg and the American army under General Alexander Macomb retired across the Saranac River, destroying the bridges, and occupied the extensive fortifications south of the town. This force consisted of four or five thousand militia, hastily gathered from New York and Vermont, and fifteen hundred regulars, including the 33rd and 34th Regiments, recruited in Massachusetts. In the skir- mishing that took place, the Americans behaved well.
487
LATER NAVAL OPERATIONS
To oppose the British on the lake, Commodore Thomas Macdonough, of the United States Navy, had also collected a fleet. These sea forces came together in the celebrated Battle of Lake Champlain, September 11, 1814, which resulted in a complete victory for Macdonough. Having thus lost command of the lake, the British abandoned their purpose and withdrew into Canada.
Brief mention may be made here of operations farther south. In 1813 and 1814 a greatly increased British naval force maintained a much closer blockade of the American coast, at first especially from New York south and later extended along the New England shore. Chesapeake Bay was occupied, and the shores of the bay were harassed by raids from the fleet. In 1814, a British army joined the fleet and landed in the Patuxent River. All preparations for such an event had been neglected; yet it might have been repulsed, but for the bad behavior of the Maryland militia. Washington was captured, August 24. A later attack on Baltimore failed.
Andrew Jackson, through his successful warfare against the southern Indians in 1813 and 1814, achieved a high mili- tary reputation. He was made a major general in the Regular Army, and in 1814 was appointed to the command of New Orleans. With great difficulty and from all sorts of material he brought together an army which on January 8, 1815, utterly defeated a much larger army of British veterans in the famous. Battle of New Orleans.
LATER NAVAL OPERATIONS (1814 - 1815)
As a result of renewed interest in the Navy, stimulated by the succession of brilliant victories, and of more intelligent comprehension of the importance of sea power, a considerable building program was planned and carried out in 1813 and 1814, including the construction of three sloops-of-war. These were the Peacock, Frolic, and Wasp, and the two last named were built in Massachusetts, at Boston and Newburyport respectively. The Frolic was captured by a superior force at an early period. The Peacock, 18 guns, Captain Lewis War- rington, captured the British brig Epervier, 18 guns, April 29, 1814, off the coast of Florida. The Wasp, 18 guns, Captain Johnston Blakely, cruised in the English Channel, where she
488
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR OF 1812
took many prizes. June 28, 1814, she fell in with the sloop- of-war Reindeer, 18 guns, and after a hard-fought engagement of half an hour, captured her. She was badly shattered; and after taking out the prisoners, Captain Blakely burned her. The Wasp fought another half hour's action, September 1, with the sloop Avon, 18 guns. The Avon surrendered and soon afterwards sank. Just at this time a British squadron appeared, and the Wasp was obliged to fly. A month later she was spoken by another vessel, and was never heard of afterwards. The Hornet, now commanded by Captain James Biddle, captured the brig Penguin, 18 guns, March 23, 1815. This was the last regular naval action of the war.
Meanwhile the frigates had made no important captures since 1812, and before the last victory there was a loss. The President, 44 guns, Captain Stephen Decatur, while attempting to run the blockade off New York and get to sea, was captured January 15, 1815, by the British squadron. The Constitution, now under the command of Captain Charles Stewart, made another narrow escape from a British squadron in 1814, being chased into Marblehead harbor. Late in the year she got to sea again and cruised in the eastern Atlantic, where she fell in with the British frigate Cyane, 36 guns, and sloop Levant, 18 guns, February 20, 1815. By skillful manoeuvring both these vessels were captured in a single action. The Levant was afterwards recaptured by a British squadron, from which the Constitution and Cyane with difficulty escaped. This was the third remarkable chase of the Constitution. This last great victory of the American frigate took place two days after the ratification of the treaty of peace, but nearly a month before the expiration of the time after which prizes must be restored. This noble Massachusetts man-of-war did much, at this trying period in our history, to retrieve the good name of her native State, tarnished by some of her citizens.
PREPARATION FOR DEFENSE (1814)
It must not be supposed that Massachusetts did nothing in support of the war. Those citizens who were loyal did their full share. The work of Massachusetts regiments at Chip- pawa and Lundy's Lane and Fort Erie has already been spoken of. The record of the State was creditable as compared with
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BRITISH &
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BELGIUM
Argus vs. Pelican 1813
CANADA
Wasp vs. Reindeer -- 1814 11
1
FRANCE
Wasp es. Avon-1814 12-
+ 1 Constitution vs. Guerriere-1812
Enterprise vs. Bover -- 1813
BOSTON
MADRID
NEW YORK-
SPAINY
WASHINGTON
President es. Endymion-1815
LISBON
STATES
== 2 Wasp es. Frolic-1812
AZORES IS.
0
Constitution es. Cyane and Lavant-1815
MADEIRA IS .: - 15
BERMUDA IS .*
FLORIDA
49 Peacock vs. Epervier-1814
United States rs. Macedonia-1812
+3
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7
WEST
D. .. INDIA
0
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CAPE VERDE IS.
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+5 Hornet es. Peacock-1813
NEW GRANADA
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From Sanford's American History Maps
Courtesy of A. J. Nystrom & Co.
NAVAL BATTLES, WAR OF 1812
CANARY IS.
PORTUGAL
13
76 Chesapeake vs. Shannon-1813
PARIS
489
PREPARATION FOR DEFENSE
other States. Virginia and Massachusetts did not differ greatly in population, but the latter contributed four times as much money to support the war as her southern sister, and many more men. In 1814 six regiments-The Ninth, Twenty- first, Thirty-third, Thirty-fourth, Fortieth, and Forty-fifth- were recruited in Massachusetts for the Regular Army, and only three in Virginia. Moreover Massachusetts and New England manned the Navy in much larger proportion than other parts of the country; and the privateers of Boston and Salem played an important part in harassing the enemy.
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