History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 43

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534

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The act of the British naval officer was promptly disavowed by the English government, but they still persisted in their right of search, nor did they offer adequate reparation for the injury and indignity suffered. The exasperated feelings of national hos- tility beeame deep-seated; foreign complications arising out of contentions between France and England still further embarrassed American shipping interests. Napoleon, by his Berlin Decree of 1806, had forbidden the introduction of any English mer- chandise to the continent of Europe, even in neutral vessels that should touch at an English port. Great Britaiu retaliated by prohibiting the trade from port to port of neutrals belonging to the enemy, and, declaring the whole coast of Europe in a state of blockade, rendering the vessels of all neutrals pass- ing to European ports liable to capture. Upon learning of this measure, Napoleon issued his famous Milan Decree, confiscating not only the vessels that should touch at a British port, but such as should sub- mit to be searched by the English. These measures were very injurious to American shipping interests, and induced the American Congress, in December, 1807, to pass an Embargo Act, prohibiting American vessels to leave their ports. This was admittedly a preparatory step in the direction of war with England, and a cautionary measure to call home all trading vessels and seamen in order to put the country in the best possible condition for the struggle that all sagacious minds saw to be near at hand. In March, 1809, the Embargo Act was repealed, and an aet prohibiting all commercial intercourse with both England and France was passed.

The non-intercourse act expired by its own limita- tion in 1810. In anticipation of this event, the administration invoked France and England to re-

move their restrictive measures from American ship- ping. Napoleon promptly responded through his min- ister directing a suspension of his decrees so far as they affected American interests. Encouraged by this snecess, efforts were made to induce England to fol- low the example of France. The British diplomats of the period sought delay in skillfully devised dilatory proceedings, questioning the formality of the seemingly friendly aet of France. Mr. Pinckney, the American envoy in London, grew weary and impatient at "the shuffling behavior of the British government," and demanded his andience of leave. Continuous breaches of national amity on the high seas by British naval officers, commented on by a free press, and made the subject of debate in and out of Congress, kept the public mind inflamed and strengthened the President and his Cabinet in their preparatory efforts for actual hostility. On the 20th of May, 1812, the "Hornet " arrived from London, conveying the intelligence that England refused to repeal or suspend her restrictions upon American shipping interests, and further insisting upon her right of search and impressment. This information brought public affairs to a crisis, and in the follow- ing June the President transmitted to Congress a special message, disclosing to the nation the unwar- ranted attitude of England, the necessity of pro- tecting the rights of naturalized citizens, enumerating the grievances suffered, and submitting the question "whether they should be longer endured or imme- diate resource had to the ultimate resort of injured nations, a declaration of war." Congress deliberated on the measure with closed doors, and on the 18th of June passed an act declaring war against Great Britain.

The lapse of time and the remarkable events that have intervened, including the war with Mexico and the great Rebellion, have in some measure obscured the importance attached to the war of 1812 and the principles settled by it. But it is certain that the national administration was warmly sustained by the people of Pennsylvania, and there is an honorable sense of pride associated with the memory of the men who served the nation in the struggle, as well as the publie men who were in official position at that time.1

1 ll'ar of 1×12-14, General Orders .- "The President of the United States having, in conformity to an act of Congress, required a draft of fourteen thousand men as the quota of Pennsylvania towards the detach- ment of one hundred thousand militia, the Governor is desirons with promptitude to performn all the duties which the Constitution und laws, principle and patriotism assign him. He feels his high responsibility. He knows the ardent, heart-warm zeal of the Pennsylvania militia, and his sensibilities are alive to the honor of his country. The Revolution of America, that great and mighty struggle, which issued in giving to the United States that place among the powers of the earth to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitled them, had scarcely been con- summiated when the King over whom we had been triumphant began an invasion of our rights and property which has almost uninterruptedly been continued and yearly aggravated in kind and in degree. Remon- strance has followed remonstrance, but they 'have been only answered by repeated injury' and new ontrage. Their promises, their written engagements, their plighted faith have all been wantonly violated.

182

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

The nation took a new growth in the emergency. The army which, until the year 1808, numbered but three thousand troops, was increased to six thousand. In January, 1812, Congress further increased the regular army to thirty-five thousand men. This force was organized in twenty-five regiments of in- fantry, three regiments of artillery, two regiments of dragoons, two regiments of light artillery, two regi- ments of rifles and one of engineers. In addition to this, the President was authorized to accept the ser- vices of volunteers, who were to be armed and equipped by the United States, and further authority was given the executive to call upon the Governors of the several States for detachments of militia, the whole force at any one time not to exceed one hundred thousand men. Similar provision was made for the increase of the navy. This branch of the publie service at that date consisted of ten frigates, ten sloops and smaller vessels and a number of small gunboats used in the

defense of coast and harbors. The commerce and extensive New England fisheries employed a large number of vessels and seafaring men, all which were recalled by the government or driven from the ocean by England's cruisers, most of which were quickly converted into war-vessels, this being practicable when wooden vessels only were known to naval archi- tecture.

The subsequent achievements of this arm of the service have gone into national history as among the most brilliant exploits known in civilized warfare. Thirty years of peace, chiefly devoted to the develop- ment of agriculture and manufacture, had left the country without military officers of experience and distinction. The organization of the land forces was experimental, and, as results proved, extremely unfor- tuuate in the early campaigns of the war. A general plan of operations was decided upon, aggressive in its character. It was believed that England's fear

These wrongs have been so long endured that our motives have been mistaken, and our national character misrepresented. Our forbearance has been called cowardice ; our love of peace a slavish fear to encounter the dangers of war. We know that these representations have no foundation in truth ; but it is time that our enemies, that our friends, that the world should know we are not degenerated sous of gallant sires. " For nearly thirty years we have been at peace with all the nations of the earth. The gales of prosperity and the full tide of happiness have borne us along, while the storm of war has been desolating the greater part of the civilized world, and inundated it with the bitter waters of affliction. All the means which wisdom and patriotism could devise have been in vain resorted to in the hope of peace. The cup of patience, of humiliation and long suffering, has been filled to overflowing, aod the indignant arm of an injured people must be raised to dash it to the earth, and grasp the avenging sword. In the cultivation of the earth, and in manufacturing and transporting its products, the people of the United States have been honestly, usefully and harmlessly employed, and for many years have we been feeding the nation whose navy 'has plundered our seas, ravaged our coast, and destroyed the lives of our people ;' our ability and disposition to serve them has whetted their commercial jeal- ousy and monopolizing animosity. It is our property that has been plun- dered ; it is our rights that have been invaded ; it is the persons of our friends, relatives, and countrymen that have been 'taken captive of the high seas,' and constrained 'to bear arms against their country, to be- come the executioners of their friends nud brethren, or fall themselves by their hands.' It is our flag that has been bathed in our waters, made red with the blood of our fellow-citizens. Every gale from the ocean wafts to our cars the sighs, the groans of our impressed seamen, demand- ing retribution. It is our homes and firesides that have been invaded by the 'merciless Indian savages,' who have been instigated to pollute our sacred soil with hostile fret, and tomahawk our citizens reporing in peace io the bosom of our country. The seeds of discord have been sowo amongst our people by an accredited spy of the British government, at a time, too, when the relations of peace and amity were subsisting between our own and that goverment, founded on reiterated assurances from them of national esteem and friendship. If ever a nation had justifiable canse of war, that nation is the United States.

" If ever people had motives to fight, we are that people. Our Govern- ment, the watchful guardians of our welfare, have sounded the alarm ; they have called upon us to gird on our swords, and to be ready to go forth and meet our enemies. Let us hasten to obey the Govern- ment of our choice, and rally around the constituted authorities of the Union. Let an honorable zeal glow in our bosoms as we eagerly press forward to render our services. It would give the Governor inex- pressible satisfaction if Pennsylvania would volunteer her quota. May each State animate the others, and every citizen act as if the public weal, the national honor and independence rested on his single arm. The example of the heroes and statesmen of our Revolution, and the rich inheritance their courage and wisdom achieved, cannot fail to urge all who love their country to flock around her standard. Upborne by

the right hand of freemen, planted in the sacred soil their valor woD and consecrated by a righteous canse, this nation may well go forth ' with a firm reliance on the protection of a Divine Providence, " and a conscious belief that the srin of the Lord of Hosts, the strength ef the mighty one of Israel, will be on our side. The last appeal being now made by an injured and indignant nation, it remains for the militia and the volunteers of Pennsylvania, by a prompt co-operation with her sister States, to render efficient the measures which are or may here- after be adopted by the United States Government. The adjutant- general is charged with the necessary organization of the quota of the State conformably to the following plan :

"Ist. There shall forthwith be drafted, in the manner prescribed hy law, fourteen thousand militia officers and privates, to be formed into two divisions, four brigades, and twenty-two regiments. The offer of service to the Governor of any flank company or companies attached to any regiment, of a number equal to the number of militia required to be drafted from such regiment, may be accepted in substitution of such draft from the regiment.

"The corps of artillery, cavalry, riffemen and infantry shall be in the following general proportions, as nearly as practicable : artillery, 700; cavalry, 700; riflemen, 1400; infantry, 11,200.

"2d. The whole quota required shall be apportioned among the several divisions of the State, agreeably to a detail to be furnished by the ad- jutant-general. The quotas of the several divisions of the State shall be formed into two divisions for the present service. The quotas of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh divisions of the State shall form the first division for service, under the command of Major-General Isaac Worrell, with a brigadier-general from the first division and a briga- dier-general from the third division of the State.

" The quotas ol the eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, funrteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth divisions of the State shall form the second division for service, under the command of Major-General Adamn- son Tannehill, with a brigadier-general from the second division and a brigadier-general from the fourth division of the State.

"3d. The men shall be mustered and inspected as soon as tbe drafts are made, and without delay returos shall be made to the adjutant-general, who shall thereupon transmit copies to the Secretary of War.

"When the organization of the detachment shall be effected, then the respective corps will be exercised under the officers set over them,- drafted militia, by their proper officers ; volunteers as prescribed by law. The corps, either of drafted militia or volunteers, will not remain em- bodied, nor be considered as in actual service, until by subsequent orders they are directed to take the held.

" SIMON SNYDER,

" Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. " N. B. BOILEAU,

" JOHN B. GIMSON,

" Aids-de-Camp. " Harrisburg, May 12, 1812."

Pennsylvania Archives, vol. ii.

183

THE WAR OF 1812 AND THE MEXICAN WAR.

of Napoleon's hostile designs in Europe would detain the western frontier with great ability, recapturing her regular troops, and with three thousand miles of all that was lost by the unfortunate campaign of General Hull the preceding year.1 General Andrew ocean between the two countries, the American troops could successfully invade Canada and capture the ' Jackson conducted a vigorous campaign against the province before an army could be organized or trans- Creeks and Seminoles in Georgia. The naval officers were successful on lake2 and ocean, and but for the destructive incursions, at many points on the Atlantic coast, by the blockading squadrons of the enemy's navy the country escaped the blight and scourge inevitably associated with marching armies, canton- ments and great battle-fields. The presence of large blockading fleets, the exposed situation of our prin- cipal seaport cities, the threatened attacks upon the capital of the nation and the untrained troops or militia relied upon for coast or defensive service were at all times sources of apprehension, largely shared by the people of the most populous States. ferred there for its protection. General William Hull, then Governor of Michigan Territory and in command of an army of two thousand troops, was intrusted with the initial movement. He failed, and was relieved from his command and gravely censured by the gov- ernment. Gens. Harrison, Van Rensselear and Smyth subsequently were charged with the execution of the general plan, all being under the direction of Major- General Dearborn. The year 1812 closed without vietory or advantage to the American forces. On the veean, Captain Ilull, commanding the "Constitu- tion," forty-four guns, attacked a British frigate, thirty-eight guns, August 19th, and in thirty minutes rendered the latter vessel a complete wreck. Captain Jones, of the "Wasp," eighteen guns, captured the British sloop "Frolic," twenty-two guns; Captain Decatur, with the frigate "United States," encoun- tered the British frigate "Macedonia," and, after a severe engagement, brought the captured prize to New York. In addition to these thrilling adventures, a number of American privateers were constantly cruising, and by the last of December had captured over five hundred English merchant vessels. Interest in public affairs for the year was further intensified by a Presidential canvas and the reelection of James Madison.

Congress convened in November. The President's message stated with frankness the defeats experienced on the Canadian frontier, condemned the employment of the Indians by the British, complained of the conduet of Massachusetts and Connecticut in with- holding their quota of militia and cited with pride and satisfaction the signal victories of the navy. He ! also suggested the more efficient organization of the army, with increase of numbers and pay. His recom- mendations were promptly granted, and twenty addi- tional regiments of regular infantry were organized. The field of actual hostilities embraced a wide range of territory. The Indian tribes of the North and West, with the Creeks and Seminoles of the South, were ineited to hostilities, and necessarily employed a large number of troops, while the Atlantic coast from Maine to South Carolina was in danger from the powerful navy of the enemy. It was these exposed points on the coast or situations on navigable rivers that invited attack, and for the defense of which the government relied upon the militia of the several States.

The campaigns of 1813, or the second year of the war, were in some measure a repetition of the first. The policy of invading Canada was still pursued, Montreal being the objective point. General Dear- born, ably supported by General Pike, led several expeditions over the border, but all without definite results. General Harrison conducted operations on

The year 1814 witnessed the downfall of Napoleon, and left Great Britain in peace with all nations except the United States, and to this country she transported her veteran troops in the hope of terminating a war upon terms of her own dictation. The political party in power still received the approbation of the country, and maintained its supporting majority in Congress, while the Federalists were active in the employment

1 Some conception of the dangers apprehended by the people in the northwestern part of our own State, resulting from the defeat of General Hull, will be manifest from the petition addressed to Governor Snyder, dated September, 1812.

"His Excellency the Governor of the State of Pennsylvania : Your petition- ers, inhabitants of the county of Tinga and its vicinity, viewing with anxious solicitude the alarming situation in which the sound of war has placed them, beg leave to suggest to your Excellency the propriety of taking some effective measures to guard against and repel the inroads and depredations of our common enemy on the unprotected inhabitants of the conuties of Tioga, Potter and McKrau. We have no longer any confidener in such a part of our red brethren as have lately left their home> to join our enemy (as we suppose), and fear many acts of cruelty and barbarity may be perpetrated by those above described and others who may lead them on. The country west ot this to Lake Erie is thinly inhabited, which will be favorable to any desperate fellows to hold inter- course with those among us, and excente their black designs and escape with impunity. We therefore pray your Excellency to take our unpro- terted situation into consideration, and canse such a part of the militia as have lately bren drafted from Colonel Satterlee's and Colonel Kilburn's regiments to be stationed in the most convenient situation in Potter or Mckean for the protection of our defenseless frontiers. We hope your Excellency will not consider us as presuming or ofbrious by renewing our solicitations that our destitute situation may be inunediately taken into consideration, and we, your petitioners, in duty bound, will ever pray.

"Signed by MAJOR BENJAMIN BERKLEY and forty-nine privates of the militia of the counties named."

2 " To COLONEL REES IIII.L. :

"Sir: By a resolution of the Legislature, the Governor is directed to present to each of those citizens of Pennsylvania who volunteered on board the American squadron on Lake Erie, at the time the British fleet were captured, a silver medal, with such emblematical devices as he may think proper. In order to comply with the resolution it is necessary he should be furnished with the names of those volunteers. I have, there- fore, to request that you will take the earliest opportunity of forwarding a correct list of their names. If you are not in possession of their names, you will please to apply to Capt. Perry, or to some other person who may be in possession of the proper information competent to certify their names, and transmit with all convenient dispatch such information.

" Very respectfully, Sir, " Your obedient servant, "N. B. BOILEAU."

184

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

of all honorable measures looking to peace and the amicable adjustment of existing disagreements. Commissioners of peace were at all times ready to meet those of England, but in the mean time measures for the more vigorous proseention of hostilities on land and sea were inaugurated in Congress and exe- cuted by the administration. It was this last year of the struggle that most keenly affected the people and drew most directly upon them for the supplies of men and means, as the seaport towns were now in imminent danger, and men for their defense must come from the militia of the States whose cities were in danger.

Early in the spring of 1814 the four great commer- cial cities, New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore, displayed great activity in extending and strengthening their fortifications, and the militia of the several States were mustered in large bodies and ordered to camp for defensive duty.1 On the 10th

1 Twenty-odd years of national government had inspired a just pride of country, and all men upheld the canse in public assemblies as they un- derstoud it ; but in society the old sympathies for France and England reappeared on each side. Unfortunately for the Federalists, while they were wholly right in many of their criticisms on the manner in which the war enme about, they put themselves in the wrong ns to its main feature. We can now see that in their just wrath against Napoleon they would have let the uation remain in a position of perpetual childhood and subordination before England. No doubt there were various points at issue in the impending contest, but the most important one, and the only one that remained in dispute all through the war, was that of the right of search and impressment, the English claiming the right to visit American vessels and impress into the naval service any sailors who ap- peared to be English. The one great object of the war of 1812 was to get rid of this insolent and degrading practice. It must be understood that this was not a question of reclaiming deserters from the British navy, for the seamen in question had very rarely belonged to it. There existed in England at that time an outrage on civilization, now aban- doned, called impressment, by which any sailor and many who were not Bailors, could be seized and compelled to serve in the navy. The horrors of the "press-gang," as exhibited in the seaside towns of England, have formed the theme of many novels. It was bad enough at home, but when applied on board the vessels of a nation with which England was at peace, it became one of those outrages which only proceed from the strong to the weak, and are never reciprocated. Lord Collingwood eaid well, in one of bis letters, that England would not submit to such an aggression for an hour. Merely to yield to visitation for such a purpose Was a confession of national weakness ; but the actual case was far worse than this. Owing to the similarity of language, it was always difficult to distinguish between English and American seamen, and the temptation was irresistible to the visiting officer, anxious for the enlargement of his own crew, to give England the benefit of the doubt. The result was that an English lieutenant, or even midshipman, once on board an American ship, was, in the words of the English writer Cobbett, "at once accuser, witness, judge and captor," and we have also Cobbett's statement of the consequences. "Great numbers of Americans have been impressed, " he adıls, "and are now in the navy . . . That many of these inen have died on board our ships, that many have been worn out in the service, there is no doubt. Some obtain their release through the application of the American consul, and of these the suffering's have been in many in- stances very great. There have been instances where men have thus got free after having been flogged through the fleet for desertion."

Between 1797 and 1801 more than two thousand applications for im- pressed seamen were made through the American minister, and of these only one-twentieth were proved to be English subjects, though nearly one-half were retained for further prouf. When the "Hornet" captured the British sloop " Peacock," the victors found on board three American eeamen who had been forced, by hokling pistols at their heads, to fight against their own countrymen. Four American seamen on the British ship "Actara " were ordered five dozen lashes, then four dozen, then two dozen, then kept in irons three months, for refusing to obey orders under similar circumstances. There was nothing new about the grievance; it

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History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 43

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1534

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534