USA > New York > New York City > The Memorial History of the City of New York: From Its First Settlement to the Year 1892, Volume III > Part 27
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
When a retrospect is taken of the last Twelve years of our history we find recorded there the violation of one Sacred right after another. We behold one continued series of insults - one long succession of oppressions; our government with the true spirit of a republic, patiently sustaining while temporarily remonstrating until indig- nity has been heaped on indignity and injury heaped upon injury. With a reluctance common only to such as duly appreciate the blessings of peace, have they calmly endured and perseveringly negotiated under a pious but vain expectation that reason and expostulation would at length bring the nations injuring us to a sense of equity, and thereby avert the necessity of a resort to those ulterior measures always direful in their operation even to that party which is most successful.
Our government, mild and peaceful in its very nature, and defenceless on the ocean, has endeavored, in the very spirit of meekness, by every wise and at the same time soothing expedient, to convince the belligerent nations of the justice of our councils: of our ardent wish to conduct in all things agreeably to the established usages of nations, and in such a manner as to give them no just cause of offence; but knowing our maritime weakness in comparison with their strength, they have turned a deaf ear to the equity of our demands: and with the insolence common to superior and arbitrary power, have so accumulated the catalogue of our wrongs, that longer forbear- ance would he attended with the absolute prostration of our national character : an abandonment of the rights of an independent republic : and would reader our govern- ment unworthy of the confidence of its own citizens and of the respect of the world.
241
NEW-YORK IN THE SECOND WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN
Our government therefore with all calm deliberation and with that solemn delay that ever attends those who are forced reluctantly from their tranquil and beloved abodes to launch on a perilous and tempestuous ocean have finally resigned the peace of the country into the hands of the great Disposer of all events-and under His banner with a perfect conviction of the equity of their cause they have declared this country to be at war with Great Britain.
Therefore Resolved That we have viewed with pleasure and approbation the increasing efforts of our government to preserve to our country the blessings of peace; that we duly appreciate their able negotiations and admire their unwearied patience to pro- mote so important an end; and that we consider them standing justified in the eyes of their fellow citizens in all the restrictive measures to which they have resorted as temporary expedients, with the hope of pre- venting thereby the evils of War.
Resolved That while solicitous of peace and ardently attached to its blessings, we believe that the crisis had arrived when it could be no longer with honor retained ; that we therefore hold our government justified in its appeal to arms against Great Britain and yield to its decision our unqualified and de- cided approbation.
Resolved That as our government has now THE SMITH HOUSE, HAVERSTRAW.1 appealed to the world, it becomes the duty of all good citizens at such an eventful period to lay aside all party animosity and private bickering, to rally as becomes brethren equally involved in the welfare of their common country around the National Standard and to yield to their government an undivided support.
Resolved That in placing our reliance in the Most High and soliciting his benediction on our just cause we pledge to our government in support of our beloved country our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
Copies of these resolutions were sent to the president and both houses of Congress, and duly published in the press.
However reluctant the men of property may have felt to undertake a war with Great Britain, whose enormous resources the continental wars had developed, and whose navy, since the victory of Nelson at Trafalgar in 1805, held undisputed sway over both oceans, the war was hailed with joy by thousands of adventurous spirits and the large class of seafaring men who now for many years had been without congenial or profitable occupation. Money and ships were at once forthcoming, and within four months after the declaration of war twenty-six privateers were fitted out from the port of New-York, armed with two hundred and twelve guns, and manned by twenty- two thousand and thirty-nine men, experienced and daring. From its earliest history, as these pages have recited, privateering was a favorite
1 At the house of Joshua Hett Smith, son of William Smith, the historian, standing on what is now called Treason Hill, near Haverstraw, on the Hudson, Major Andre met General Arnold, VOL. III .- 16.
on the morning of August 22, 1780, and arranged the plan of the surrender of West Point. The house can be seen from the river. EDITOR.
242
HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
venture of New-York citizens. Their seamen were especially quali- fied for the management of the fast craft which this service demanded, and for the handling of light guns usually carried by this class of vessels. The Sandy Hook pilots brought their seamanship, and the Long Island whale-boat men of the Revolution retained their tradi- tions of bold enterprise. In the colonial days the scions of the best stock not only fitted out but themselves sailed privateers on the Spanish main, and since the opening of the China trade a sea voyage to the distant Orient was not an unusual preparation for a merchant career,-sometimes maintained for years in their employment as supercargoes on the long trading voyages which were then the habit of trade. Moreover, the danger- ous commerce with the West India Islands, which swarmed with buccaneers from every clime, had familiarized them with the very kind of action Saae Hull which was needed. They could "hunt with the hounds or run with the hares" of the sea. In the Revolution they had not hesitated to attack men-of-war on the station at Sandy Hook, and to run large packets on the reefs was not a singular feat. The ardor of New- York in this direction was kept up by the constant repair of the war- ships of the United States to the anchorage in the lower bay. In the very first days of the war of 1812, a notable incident encouraged their belief in their ability to cope with the skilled captains and the trained tars of Admirals Nelson and Collingwood.
It has been stated already that the young leaders of the war party in Congress looked to successes on land and territorial conquest, and had an indifference to the field which the ocean afforded. And yet the triumphs of our young fleet in the Revolution, the alarm which John Paul Jones excited in English homes, and, later, the brilliant achieve- ments in the Mediterranean, the heroes of which were still in the prime of their service, might have inspired better counsel. Madison's cabinet were said to have without exception opposed the increase and use of our navy; indeed, somewhat after Jefferson's idea in imposing the embargo,-to save our vessels by laying them up. The advice
NEW-YORK IN THE SECOND WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN 243
of Captains Charles Stewart and William Bainbridge, who happened to be in Washington at the time of the declaration of war, deter- mined Madison to bring the navy into active service. One of the chief causes of the war being the impressment of our seamen, it seems to-day surprising that their ardor in defense of "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights"-the cry under which our greatest triumphs were won-should have been either passed by or deprecated.1
The president's proclamation reached Commodore Rodgers at New- York on the 20th. With it came orders to sail on a cruise against the enemy. His squadron consisted of his own ship, the President, 44; the United States, 44, Captain Stephen Decatur; the Con- gress, 38, Captain Joseph Smith ; the Hornet, 18, Captain James Lawrence; and the Argus, 16,
Captain Arthur Sinclair-iu all five ships, carrying 160 guns. The British force cruising off the coast consisted of eight meu-of- THE CONSTITUTION. war, carrying 312 guns, with a number of corvettes and sloops: quite enough to watch American movements and make any concerted ac- tion or descent either on the Canadian coast or the West India Islands hazardous if not impracticable. The United States could ill afford to try the issue of a single naval action with a superior force. Rodgers was aware that the homeward-bound plate fleet had sailed from Jamaica on May 20, under convoy of two small vessels carrying together 44 guns, which he might strike in the Gulf Stream.
Within an hour from the time that he received his instructions, Commodore Rodgers, who was in entire readiness, put to sea. He passed Sandy Hook with his squadron on the afternoon of June 21, and ran southeast. An American sail, spoken that night, reported having seen the Jamaica ships. The squadron crowded sail. Early
1 The beautiful American ship of war Alliance, which had been pronounced a perfect frigate by the high authority of the French construction and naval men, was the last of the Revolutionary navy, and was sold in 1785. In 1794, in con- sequence of the Algerine spoliations, Congress ordered four frigates of 44 and two of 36 guns. Two of the first and one of the second class were built. In 1798, the United States had but three
frigates, the Constitution, the United States, and the Constellation. After the affair of the Chesa- peake in 1807, President Jefferson, with an ap- parent distrust of our ships, asked Congress for no more, but recommended the building of addi- tional gunboats, which carried the number up to two hundred and fifty-seven. It was not till 1808 and 1809 that a number of new frigates were ordered and soon after completed.
244
HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
in the morning of the 23d an enemy's frigate was descried, and a general chase was made. The President, a fast ship, soon distanced the rest of the squadron. The wind failing, Rodgers, despairing of overhauling the frigate, opened with his chase guns. He discharged the forecastle gun himself. This was the first shot fired in the war. The fourth fire exploded one of the battery guns, killing and wounding sixteen men, and throwing into the air the forecastle deck, on which Rodgers was standing. One of the commodore's legs was broken in his fall. The British commander lightened his ship by throwing overboard his boats and his water-tanks, and got away. It proved later to have been the frigate Belvidera, 36, Captain Byron. On July 1 the squadron struck the wake of the Jamaica vessels, which they recognized by the tropical debris (fruit, etc.) which floated on the sea, to the eastward of the Banks of Newfoundland. On July 9 an English letter of marque was taken by the Hornet, Captain Lawrence, and it was learned that BILLET-HEAD. 1 the Jamaica fleet, eighty-five sail, was seen the night before, under convoy of a frigate, a sloop of war, and a brig. The chase was abandoned on the 13th, within a day's sail of the chops of the Channel, and Rodgers returned to Boston by way of the Western Islands and the Grand Banks. The result was meager-seven mer- chantmen taken and one American recaptured. The cruise lasted seventy days.
The report of the Belvidera caused Captain Sir Philip Bowes Vere Broke, of the Shannon, senior officer of the British squadron, to con- centrate it at once, in the hope of intercepting Rodgers's return. It hovered of New-York early in July, and made several captures- among others of the Nautilus, 14, which left the harbor soon after Rodgers in the hope of taking some English Indiaman, fell in with the British squadron the next day, and, unable to get away, struck to the Shannon. This was the first war vessel taken on either side in this contest. The Nautilus had made a proud record in the Tripoli war.
When the war opened, the Essex. 38, was in New-York harbor undergoing repair. She was ordered to sea with an armament of carronades only, in spite of the protests of Captain David Porter. her commander, and put out of harbor on July 3. On her foretopgallant- mast she carried a white flag lettered in blue. "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights" On the 11th she fell in with the Minerva 32, convoying soven troptransports wach with about two hundred men on board.
1 The original riparareend of the constitution was a head of Hermakes This was shiv away dor fax the war with Tripoli, and replaced by the hilles. hrad shown in the eastaring. The lastve was the
mme barne by the Chestration during the war of ISIt and is now supported on a post at the head of the dry dock in the mary-yard at Charlestona. EDITOR
245
NEW-YORK IN THE SECOND WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN
On the way from Barbadoes to Quebec, Porter cut out one of the transports, took out her men, and stood back for a fight. The Minerva declined an action. Porter's men were thoroughly trained as boarders, but the short range of his guns did not permit of his cutting out the Minerva. One of the youngest of the midshipmen of the Essex on this cruise was David Glasgow Farragut, whose fame to-day almost rivals that of England's great admiral. On August 13 the Essex overtook and captured the British sloop of war Alert, which she disarmed and sent in as a cartel to St. John's. The Essex returned to New-York on September 7, having made ten prizes containing four hundred and twenty-three men.
In this month of July, also, the Constitution, 44, Captain Isaac Hull, returned from a run to Europe, and sailed into the Chesapeake, where a new crew was shipped, many of whom had never been on board a vessel of war before. On the 11th she left Annapolis and stood to the northward. On the 17th she fell in with the Guerrière, Captain Dacres, which had joined Broke's squadron. The Nautilus had been taken by them the day before, and was now manned by a British crew and flying British colors. Only by the exercise of the greatest ingenuity, by coolness and precision and the steadiness which Hull had already obtained from his fresh men, was the noble frigate ena- bled to extricate herself from the formidable net into which she had fallen. The three days' chase and the escape are historic in the American navy. Hull had fairly outmanœuvered Broke and Byron. Soon after the chase the British squadron separated, and Hull went into Boston on July 26. On August 2 the Constitution sailed in an easterly course, but met no enemy. Cruising along the coast of Nova Scotia from the Bay of Fundy to Newfoundland, she took her station off Cape Race. Here she captured two British brigs and recaptured an American one, but a British sloop of war escaped.
On the 19th, cruising south, Captain Hull heard from a Salem priva- teer of a British frigate still further to the southward. Standing in that direction, he found the stranger to be the frigate Guerrière, Captain Dacres, this time alone. The Englishman hauled up his courses and took in part of his sail, and made ready to engage. Hull made his own preparations with the greatest deliberation, cleared for action, and beat to quarters. At five o'clock in the afternoon the Guerrière hoisted three English ensigns and opened fire. The Con- stitution set her colors one at each masthead and one at the miz- zen-peak. Hull answered the English fire with a few guns as they bore. The Englishman showing a disposition for a hand-to-hand fight, yard-arm and yard-arm, the Constitution drew closer, and in a few minutes, as the ships were side to side, the Guerrière's mizzenmast came down, shot away. As the vessels touched, both crews prepared
·
246
HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
to board, but the fire was so hot and the sea so heavy that neither party succeeded. As the Constitution shot ahead the Guerrière's foremast fell, and, carrying with it her mainmast, the proud ship lay a helpless wreck. As the Constitution returned to deliver a raking fire, the enemy's colors were lowered. The next morning, the Guer- rière having four feet of water in her hold, Hull sent on board and took off the prisoners. The wreck was set on fire and soon blew up. Hull, encumbered with his prisoners, returned to Boston, where he arrived on the 30th. He brought in two hundred and sixty-seven prisoners, among whom were ten Americans who had refused to fight their countrymen. Hull himself brought the intelligence of his vic- tory. He announced it to the secretary of war by despatch from "United States frigate Constitution, off Boston Light." When the frigate arrived in the harbor she was met by a flotilla of gaily deco- rated boats, and Hull was greeted on his landing by an immense assemblage and welcomed to a splendid entertainment by the prin- cipal citizens of both parties.
From Boston Hull made a progress almost triumphal. He reached New-York city early in September, where he was received with equal enthusiasm. Dacres's desire to meet an American frigate was already known in New-York.' A subscription was raised and swords purchased by the citizens of New-York and presented to Hull and his officers. Hull was voted the freedom of the city by the common council on the 7th, and on the 14th he was requested to sit for his portrait to be placed in the picture-gallery of the City Hall,2 known as the Governors' room, where the portraits of the several governors of the State are preserved, as also those of Washington and other distinguished persons. From New-York Captain Hull proceeded
1 Three days before the action, the John Adams, Captain Fash, from Liverpool, was spoken by the English frigate. Upon Fash's register, which he deposited in the New-York custom-house, the following lines were found written : "Captain Dacres, commander of his Britannic Majesty's frigate Guerrière, of 44 guns, presents his com- pliments to Commodore Rodgers, of the United States frigate President, and will be very happy to meet him or any other American frigate of equal force to the President, off Sandy Hook, for the purpose of having a few minutes' tête-à-tête."
"" At a Common Council, held the 7th day of September, 1812, the Common Council of the City of New-York, considering a naval establishment all important to the protection of our commerce and to the defence of our country and viewing the recent capture of the British Frigate Guerrière by the American Frigate Constitution as not only il- lustrating the advantages of a navy, but as reflect- ing the highest honor on the intrepidity and skill of Captain Hull, his officers and crew, Esteem it their duty as the Municipal Government of this great commercial city to express their sentiments
on this occasion, and to present the thanks of the Citizens of New-York to the gallant officers and seamen who achieved this brilliant victory, and they "Resolve That the Freedom of the City be pre- sented to Captain Hull in a golden box with an appropriate inscription. And that his Honor, the Mayor, be requested to forward the same with a copy of these resolutions."
"At a Common Council held the 14th day of September. 1812, Resolved That as an additional tribute of respect from this Corporation to Cap- tain Hull, he be requested to honor them with a sitting for his portrait to be deposited in the pic- ture-gallery of the City Hall, and transmitted to posterity as a memorial of the high sense enter- tained by this Corporation of the brilliant victory obtained by the United States Frigate Constitu- tion. under his command. over the British Frig- ate Guerrière. Captain Dacres, in his action on the 19th August. 1812." "Burghers and Freemen of New-York," New-York Historical Society Col- lections, 1886, pp. 368, 369.
247
NEW-YORK IN THE SECOND WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN
to Philadelphia, where the citizens in general meeting voted to him "a piece of plate of the most elegant workmanship, with appropriate emblems, devices, and inscriptions," and a like piece of plate to Lieu- tenant Charles Morris, in the name of the citizens of Philadelphia.
On his return to New-York from his south- ern tour, the ceremony of presentation of the freedom of the city to Captain Hull took place in the mayor's office at the City Hall, on December 28. A committee, consisting of Aldermen Fish and Mesier, and General Jacob Morton, introduced the commodore, when Mayor De Witt Clinton rose and ad- dressed him. The mayor then presented the certificate of election to the freedom of the city, and a gold box finely embossed and "A WASP ON A FROLIC." 1 chased, with the scene of the battle engraved in enamel. Hull replied briefly in a modest manner, and the freeman's oath was administered. The Constitution, from her wonderful exemption from damage by the enemy's guns, was already familiarly known as "Old Ironsides." 2
1 A stirring song, now almost forgotten, com- memorating the victory of the Wasp over the Frolic, was sung in public gatherings and in the streets ; one verse concluding with the lines :
"And long shall John Bull rue the terrible day He met the American Wasp on a Frolic."
Mr. Charles, a Philadelphia artist, published a colored caricature, of which the above is a re- duced fac-simile. EDITOR.
At a Common Council held the 28th day of De- cember, 1812. The Board assembled in the Mayor's Office. De Witt Clinton, Mayor, President.
Upon motion, the Common Council adjourned to their Chamber, for the purpose of conferring upon Captain Isaac Hull of the United States Frigate Constitution the Freedom of the City, agreeably to a former Resolution.
It being announced that Captain Hull was in waiting. a Committee, consisting of Alderman Fish, Mr. Lawrence and the Clerk of the Common Coun- cil, were deputed to introduce Captain Hull into the Common Council Chamber. This was accord- ingly done, when his Honor addressed Captain Hull as follows:
In behalf of the Common Council I have the Honor of presenting you with the Freedom of this City and communicating their high sense of the courage and skill displayed by yourself, your off- cers, and crew in the capture of the British Frigate Guerrière.
Deeds of valor and achievements of glory are, at all times, cherished by patriotism and rewarded by true policy, but when we consider that our recent victories on the ocean have exhibited the American character in the most interesting light, have cre- ated a new character in the annals of naval warfare,
and have been the principal means of establishing our navy on a respectable and permanent basis, it must be universally admitted that actors in these scenes of heroism are preeminently entitled to the gratitude of their Country.
That Commerce is essential to our prosperity. that it cannot flourish without protection, and that it cannot be protected without a navy, are truths too evident to be denied, and too impor- tant not to be appreciated by the intelligence and public spirit of America.
We cannot withhold on this occasion our appro- bation of your generous and benevolent treatment of the vanquished. It demonstrates the natural alliance between courage and humanity, and in mitigating the calamities of war, it reflects honor on our national character.
The Freeman's oath, as prescribed by Law, was then administered to Captain Hull by the Mayor, and the certificate thereof, enclosed in a superb Golden Box prepared with suitable Emblems, were delivered to him.
Captain Hull expressed the deep sense he felt at the honors thus conferred upon him. That Box and its highly valued contents, he pledged himself to preserve as an incentive to his zealous and most strenuous exertions in the cause of his coun- try wherever future good fortune should afford him an opportunity. To have it believed, he said, by so highly respectable a body as the Corporation of the City of New-York, that an action of his had contributed to so desirable an event as the estab- lishment of a navy on a permanent Basis, was a source of pleasing reflection which would only cease with life.
After which Captain Hull retired .- "Burghers and Freemen of New-York," pp. 371-375.
248
HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
The effect of this victory was startling on both sides of the Atlan- tic. In the twenty years during which Great Britain had been at war with almost every continental power, and in the course of "about two hundred single conflicts," her ships had been defeated but five times. American ships and American seamanship were spoken of in contempt. The Constitution had been ridiculed by the British press as a "bunch of pine boards under a bit of striped bunting." She had now outsailed England's finest ships and reduced to a wreck one of her choice frigates. Only a short time before a London newspaper had said: "There is not a frigate in the American navy able to cope with the Guerrière." On hearing the news of the action, the London "Times" said : "It is not merely that a British frigate has been taken after what, we are free to confess, may be called a brave resist- ance, but that it has been taken by a new enemy, an enemy unaccustomed to such triumphs and likely to be ren- dered insolent and confident by them. He must be a weak politician who does not see how important the first triumph is in giving a tone and character to the war. Never before in the history of the world did an English frigate strike to an American; and though we cannot say that Captain Dacres under all cir- cumstances is punishable for this act, yet we do say there are commanders in the English navy who would a thousand times rather have gone down with their colors flying than have set their brother officers so fatal an example." Stress has been here laid upon this memorable contest because it was the first of a glorious series of naval triumphs which together forever destroyed the belief, which in England was settled as a religious faith, in Brit- ish invincibility at sea.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.