1812: The Navy's War

by George Daughan

  27 “commerce, character”: Quoted in David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler, Henry Clay: The Essential American (New York: Random House, 2010), 91.

  27 In April, with war: J. C. A. Stagg, Mr. Madison’s War: Politics, Diplomacy, and Warfare in the Early American Republic, 1783–1830 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983), 175.

  28 “was not more at a loss”: Quoted in Henry Adams, History of the United States of America During the Administrations of James Madison (New York: Library of America, 1986), 493.

  28 Macon’s slur against Paul Hamilton: Frank L. Owsley Jr., “Paul Hamilton,” in American Secretaries of the Navy, ed. Paolo E. Coletta (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1980), 1:93–98.

  29 “a powerful engine”: Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, 12th Congress, 1st Session, 825, 830.

  30 its small size: For the debate on expanding the navy in early 1812, see Annals of Congress, 12th Congress, 1st Session, 803ff. Congressman Cheves for the Naval Committee proposed building twelve 74-gun ships and twenty frigates at a cost of $7.5 million in January 1812. Craig Symonds, Navalists and Anti-Navalists: The Naval Policy Debate in the United States, 1785–1827 (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1980).

  CHAPTER 4

  31 “there is . . . nobody”: George Dangerfield, The Era of Good Feelings (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1952), 49.

  32 War between Napoleon: Dominic Lieven, Russia Against Napoleon (New York: Viking, 2010), 92–96; Samuel Flagg Bemis, John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy (New York: Knopf, 1950), 176–79.

  32 When the reluctant guests: Harold Nicolson, The Congress of Vienna: A Study in Allied Unity, 1812–1822 (1946; reprint, New York: Viking, 1961), 7–8.

  33 “Our government will not”: National Intelligencer, Aug. 4, 1812.

  34 protected by British licenses: For a copy of one of these licenses, see Alfred T. Mahan, Sea Power in Its Relations to the War of 1812 (Boston: Little, Brown, 1905), 1:410–11.

  34 “in the event of a pacification”: Irving Brant, James Madison, vol. 6: Commander in Chief, 1812–1836 (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1961), 63.

  34 “Had the French emperor”: Madison to Henry Wheaton, Feb. 26, 1827, quoted in Henry Adams, History of the United States of America During the Administrations of James Madison (New York: Library of America, 1986), 476–77.

  34 Legislation in April 1808: J. C. A. Stagg, Mr. Madison’s War: Politics, Diplomacy, and Warfare in the Early American Republic, 1783–1830 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983), 164.

  35 The tiny War Department: Stagg, Mr. Madison’s War, 155.

  35 Even if the public were: Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989), 80.

  35 The time to act: For a different point of view, see Stagg, Mr. Madison’s War, 3–47.

  35 “It had become impossible”: Madison quoted in Stagg, Mr. Madison’s War, 109.

  36 “The acquisition of Canada”: Jefferson to William Duane, Aug. 1, 1812, quoted in Adams, History of the United States, 528; Mahan, Sea Power, 1:291.

  36 “The partisans of England”: Jefferson to General Thaddeus Kosciusko, June 28, 1812, in Thomas Jefferson: Writings, ed. Merrill D. Peterson (New York: Library Classics of the United States, 1984), 1265.

  36 Imperialism was inherent: Jefferson to Madame de Stael, May 24, 1813, in Peterson, ed., Thomas Jefferson, 1271–77.

  36 Conquering Canada would: Stagg, Mr. Madison’s War, 7–47.

  37 Tecumseh’s power grew: James H. Madison, The Indiana Way: A State History (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986), 3–50; Frederick Merk, History of the Westward Movement (New York: Knopf, 1978), 153.

  37 “The Author of Nature marked”: Annals of Congress, 12th Cong., 1st Sess., 657.

  38 “We must take”: David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler, Henry Clay: The Essential American (New York: Random House, 2010), 88–89.

  38 Clay’s enthusiasm was strengthened: Mark Zuehlke, For Honor’s Sake: The War of 1812 and the Brokering of an Uneasy Peace (Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2006), 71.

  38 Four of the War Hawks: Dangerfield, The Era of Good Feelings, 38. For a brief, solid description of the political makeup of the 12th Congress, see Hickey, The War of 1812, 29–30.

  38 “In case of war”: Mahan, Sea Power, 1:293.

  39 “difficult to relinquish”: Stagg, Mr. Madison’s War, 4; Gordon Wood, Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815, Oxford History of the United States (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 676.

  39 Southerners, including the president: J. C. A. Stagg, Borderlines in Borderlands: James Madison and the Spanish-American Frontier, 1776-1821 (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009), 122–24.

  39 Some thought: Secretary Hamilton to Representative Langdon Cheves, Chairman of the House Naval Committee, Dec. 3, 1811, in The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, ed. William S. Dudley (Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1985), 1:56

  40 He had heard a version: Monroe to Jefferson, quoted in Mahan, Sea Power, 1:281.

  40 Instead of wasting: Stagg, Mr. Madison’s War, 145.

  40 Concerned about the president’s: David Long, Ready to Hazard: A Biography of Commodore William Bainbridge, 1774–1833 (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1981), 129–33; Mahan, Sea Power, 281.

  CHAPTER 5

  43 Madison approached his call: See Bradford Perkins, Prologue to War: England and the United States, 1805-1812 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970).

  43 He tried to convince: Ralph Ketcham, James Madison: A Biography (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1990), 530.

  44 It did not help matters: Ambassador Foster to Wellesley, Jan. 31, 1812, quoted in Bradford Perkins, Prologue to War: England and the United States, 1805–1812 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970), 372.

  44 The ambassador was encouraged: Perkins, Prologue to War, 343–76.

  44 “British cruisers”: “Madison’s War Message, June 1, 1812,” in James Madison’s Writings, ed. Jack N. Rakove (New York: Library Classics of the United States, 1999), 685–92.

  45 Federalist strength: Roger H. H. Brown, The Republic in Peril, 1812 (New York: Norton, 1971), 193.

  45 “Go to war”: Henry Adams, History of the United States of America During the Administrations of James Madison (New York: Library of America, 1986), 440.

  45 Randolph insisted that war: Richard Buel Jr., America on the Brink: How the Political Struggle Over the War of 1812 Almost Destroyed the Young Republic (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), 130–31.

  46 “against the nation”: Adams, History of the United States, 574.

  46 Governor Strong wanted: Buel, America On the Brink, 160.

  46 “let the sound”: Samuel Eliot Morison, Harrison Gray Otis: The Urbane Federalist (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1969), 326.

  46 “an event awful”: Robert A. McCaughey, Josiah Quincy, 1772–1864: The Last Federalist (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1974), 58.

  46 That night, a menacing crowd: Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989), 52–71.

  47 The mob’s violence upset: Adams, History of the United States, 578–81.

  47 On May 11, a man: Spencer Walpole, The Life of the Right Honorable Spencer Perceval Including His Correspondence with Numerous Distinguished Persons (London: Hurst and Blackett, 1874), 2:293–99.

  47 the veteran Lord Liverpool: Charles D. Yonge, The Life and Administration of Robert Banks, Second Earl of Liverpool (London: Macmillan, 1868), 1:401.

  48 “Arguments and expostulations”: “Second Inaugural Address,” in Rakove, ed., James Madison’s Writings, 693–96.

  48 “not independent people”: Robert Rutland, James Madison: The Founding Father (New York: Macmillan, 1987), 225.

  49 “As our councils”: Richard Beale Davis, ed., Jeffersonian America: Notes by Sir Augustus John Foster
(San Marino, CA: Huntington Library, 1954), 99–103.

  49 Pinkney departed: Ambassador Pinkney to Secretary of State Robert Smith, March 1, 1811, in American State Papers: Foreign Relations (Washington DC: Gales & Seaton, 1833–58), 3:415.

  50 “To render the justice”: “Second Inaugural Address,” in Rakove, ed., James Madison’s Writings, 695.

  50 The president’s terms: Irving Brant, James Madison, vol. 6: Commander in Chief, 1812–1836 (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1950), 34–5.

  51 The president did not want: Brant, James Madison, vol. 6, 62.

  51 “consent to suspend”: Castlereagh to Russell, Aug. 29, 1812, and Sept. 18, 1812, in American State Papers: Foreign Relations, 3:589–92; Times (London), Aug. 1812.

  51 “to give assurance”: Russell to Castlereagh, Aug. 24, 1812, in Times (London), Dec. 26, 1812.

  51 “to give assurance: Secretary of State Monroe to Ambassador Jonathan Russell, June 26, 1812, in American State Papers: Foreign Relations, 3:585.

  51 “demand of us”: Times (London), Dec. 25, 1812.

  51 Castlereagh was willing: Castlereagh to Russell, Aug. 29 and Sept. 18, 1812; Russell to Monroe, Sept. 17, 1812 ; and Castlereagh to Russell, Sept. 18, 1812, in American State Papers: Foreign Relations, 3:592–95.

  51 “Still more precise”: National Intelligencer, Aug. 4, 1812.

  CHAPTER 6

  53 “For God’s sake”: Charles O. Paullin, Commodore John Rodgers: A Biography (Cleveland: Arthur H. Clark, 1910), 247.

  54 “Now lads”: Paullin, Commodore John Rodgers, 248.

  54 As on all American warships: Christopher McKee, A Gentleman and Honorable Profession: The Creation of the U.S. Naval Officer Corps, 1794–1815 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1991), 219.

  54 After the Quasi-War: Paullin, Commodore John Rodgers, 31–207.

  55 “out with as large”: Captain Decatur to Secretary Hamilton, June 8, 1812, in The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, ed. William S. Dudley (Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1985), 1:122–24.

  56 “menacing them in the very teeth”: Commodore John Rodgers to Secretary Hamilton, June 3, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:119–22.

  56 “I apprize you”: Paullin, Commodore John Rodgers, 249–50.

  57 “We may be able”: Commodore Rodgers to Secretary Hamilton, June 19, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:138.

  57 Within ten minutes: Spencer Tucker, Stephen Decatur: A Life Most Bold and Daring (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2005), 123.

  57 The Jamaica convoy: Samuel Eliot Morison, Old Bruin: Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, 1794–1858 (Boston: Little, Brown, 1967), 34.

  58 “arrivals from foreign”: Irving Brant, James Madison, vol. 6: Commander in Chief, 1812–1836 (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1961), 37; Henry Adams, History of the United States of America During the Administrations of James Madison (New York: Library of America, 1986), 553.

  58 Hamilton wrote to Rodgers: Secretary Hamilton to John Rodgers, June 22, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:148–49.

  58 The orders appeared: Wade G. Dudley, Splintering the Wooden Wall: The British Blockade of the United States, 1812–1815 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2003), 65.

  59 The commandant of the New York Navy Yard: Captain Isaac Chauncey to Secretary Hamilton, June 22, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:144.

  59 As he passed Sandy Hook: David Long, Nothing Too Daring: A Biography of Commodore David Porter, 1780–1843 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1970), 64–65.

  60 Porter decided it: Captain Porter to Secretary Hamilton, Sept. 3, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:446; Long, Nothing Too Daring, 65.

  61 In short order: Lieutenant Crane to Secretary Hamilton, July 29, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:209–11.

  62 “If . . . you fall in”: Secretary Hamilton to Captain Hull, July 3, 1812, quoted in Linda M. Maloney, The Captain from Connecticut: The Life and Times of Isaac Hull (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1986), 170.

  63 Luckily, Nathaniel: Captain Tingey to Secretary Hamilton, July 9, 1812 and July 15, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:188–89.

  64 “The crew, you will”: Captain Hull to Secretary Hamilton, July 2, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:160–61.

  66 “At midnight moderate breeze”: Quoted in Tyrone G. Martin, A Most Fortunate Ship: A Narrative History of “Old Ironsides” (Chester, CT: Globe Pequot, 1980), 9.

  67 Having won this: Captain Hull to Secretary Hamilton, July 21, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:161–65; Martin, A Most Fortunate Ship, 102–11; Maloney, The Captain from Connecticut, 168–210.

  67 Inevitably, details were: Maloney, The Captain from Connecticut, 26–27, 178; Louis Arthur Norton, Captains Contentious: The Dysfunctional Sons of the Brine (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2009), 61.

  68 When he met Admiral Duckworth: Admiral Duckworth to Captain Porter, Aug. 5, 1812, and Admiral Duckworth to Secretary Hamilton, Aug. 21, 1812, quoted in David Dixon Porter, Memoir of Commodore David Porter of the United States Navy (Albany, NY: J. Munsell, 1875), 95–96.

  69 The Essex’s larboard guns: Captain Porter to Secretary Hamilton, Sept. 3, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:443–44.

  69 “trifling”: Captain Porter to Secretary Hamilton, Sept. 3, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:444.

  70 In a flash, the: Charles Lee Lewis, David Glasgow Farragut: Admiral in the Making (Annapolis, MD: United States Naval Institute, 1941), 44–45; Long, Nothing Too Daring, 66–67; Loyall Farragut, The Life of David Glasgow Farragut, First Admiral of the United States Navy, Embodying His Journal and Letters (New York: D. Appleton, 1882), 16–17.

  70 Porter was unhappy: Captain Porter to Secretary Hamilton, Sept. 5, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:462–63.

  70 “At least 6 days”: Commodore Rodgers to Secretary Hamilton, Aug. 31, 1812, quoted in John H. Schroeder, Commodore John Rodgers: Paragon of the Early American Navy (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2006), 117.

  CHAPTER 7

  74 Hull sent a letter: Captain Hull to Secretary Hamilton, July 28, 1812, in The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, ed. William S. Dudley (Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1985), 1:206–7.

  74 “remain at Boston”: Linda M. Maloney, The Captain from Connecticut: The Life and Times of Isaac Hull (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1986), 180–82.

  76 In these waters: Benjamin W. Labaree, Patriots and Partisans: The Merchants of Newburyport, 1764–1815 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1962), 187–88.

  77 “Hull was now”: Moses Smith, Naval Scenes in the Last War; or, Three Years on Board the Frigate Constitution, and the Adams, Including the Capture of the Guerriere (Boston: Gleason’s Publishing Hall, 1846), 30–31.

  79 “I feel it my duty”: Dacres to Sawyer, Sept. 7, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 2:243–45.

  80 Lieutenant Morris: Charles Morris, The Autobiography of Commodore Charles Morris, U.S. Navy (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2002), 61–63.

  80 his report to Secretary Hamilton: Captain Hull to Secretary Hamilton, Aug. 28, 1812, and Captain Dacres to Vice Admiral Sawyer, Sept. 7, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:238–45; Maloney, Captain from Connecticut, 184–94; and Charles Francis Adams, “Wednesday, August 19, 1812, 6:30 P.M.: The Birth of a World Power,” American Historical Review (1918): 519–20.

  80 It was common: Christopher McKee, A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession: The Creation of the U.S. Navy Officer Corps, 1794–1815 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute, 1991), 219.

  81 “At daylight discovered”: Charles O. Paullin, Commodore John Rodgers: Captain, Commodore, and Senior Officer of the American Navy, 1773-1838 (1909; reprint, Annapolis, MD: United States Naval Institute, 1967), 257–58.

  81 because of scurvy: Paullin, Commodore John Rodgers, 258. Paullin claims there were three hundred men on the two frigates suffering sy
mptoms, but that figure seems too high; see John H. Schroeder, Commodore John Rodgers: Paragon of the Early American Navy (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2006), 117.

  81 “Even if I did”: Paullin, Commodore John Rodgers, 258–59.

  82 A remarkable 250: Wade G. Dudley, Splintering the Wooden Wall: The British Blockade of the United States, 1812–1815 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2003), 76; George Coggeshall, History of American Privateers and Letters of Marque During Our War with England, 1812, ’13, ’14 (New York, George Putnam, 1856), 81.

  82 “having been much favored”: Paullin, Commodore John Rodgers, 258.

  82 when news of the Constitution’s: Times (London), Oct. 7, 1812; Henry Adams, History of the United States of America During the Administrations of James Madison (New York: Library of America, 1986), 624.

  82 At his court-martial: “Court Martial of Captain James R. Dacres, Formerly of HMS Guerriere,” Naval Chronicle 28:422–24, quoted in The Naval Chronicle: The Contemporary Record of the Royal Navy at War, 1811–1815, ed. Nicholas Tracy (London: Chatham, 1999), 5:113–14.

  CHAPTER 8

  86 Thanks to the wise: John Sugden, Tecumseh: A Life (New York: Henry Holt, 1997), 310; Gerald M. Craig, Upper Canada: The Formative Years, 1784–1841 (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1963), 5.

  86 Brigadier General William Hull: J. C. A. Stagg, Mr. Madison’s War: Politics, Diplomacy, and Warfare in the Early American Republic, 1783–1830 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983), 177–88.

  87 Tecumseh was open to: Sugden, Tecumseh, 271.

  88 Along with Hanks: Pierre Berton, The Invasion of Canada: 1812–1813 (Boston: Little, Brown: 1980), 103–13.

  89 Governor-General Sir George Prevost: Kenneth McNaught, The Penguin History of Canada (London: Penguin, 1988), 60–75.

  90 Far more cautious: Mark Zuehlke, For Honor’s Sake: The War of 1812 and the Brokering of an Uneasy Peace (Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2006), 90–94.