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90 “the British cannot hold”: Hull to Eustis, March 6, 1812, quoted in Berton, The Invasion of Canada, 89.
91 “My situation is most”: Quoted in Alfred L. Burt, The United States, Great Britain and British North America from the Revolution to the Establishment of Peace After the War of 1812 (Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1940), 327–28.
91 Given this political reality, Madison: The Secretary of War to Major General Dearborn, June 26, 1812, in Ernest A. Cruikshank, ed., Documents Relating to the Invasion of Canada and the Surrender of Detroit, 1812 (Ottawa, Canada: Government Printing Bureau, 1912), 33.
91 “of the unanimity”: Quoted in Irving Brant, James Madison, vol. 6: Commander in Chief, 1812–1836 (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1961), 6:53.
91 “sacrificing the Western”: Madison to Jefferson, Aug. 17, 1812, quoted in Brant, James Madison, vol. 6: Commander in Chief, 53.
92 The Canadian Provincial Marine: Commodore Isaac Chauncey to Secretary Hamilton, Nov. 6, 1812, in The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, ed. William S. Dudley (Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1985), 1:343–44; Robert Malcomson, A Very Brilliant Affair: The Battle of Queenston Heights, 1812 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2003), 53.
92 “The decided superiority”: Prevost to Bathurst, Aug. 24, 1812, quoted in Henry Adams, History of the United States of America During the Administrations of James Madison (New York: Library of America, 1986), 529.
92 Hull was compelled: Berton, The Invasion of Canada, 89–90.
93 From the rapids: Stagg, Mr. Madison’s War, 193, and Donald R. Hickey, War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989), 81.
94 “You will be emancipated”: Quoted in J. Mackay Hitsman, The Incredible War of 1812: A Military History (Montreal: Robin Brass Studio, 1999), 65.
94 “The surrender opened”: Hull to Eustis, Aug. 26, 1812, in John Brannan, Official Letters of the Military and Naval Officers of the United States During the War with Great Britain, in the Years 1812–1815 (Washington City: Way and Gideon, 1823), 45.
95 Tecumseh was keeping: Berton, The Invasion of Canada, 146–48.
95 Ignoring instructions: Eustis to Dearborn, June 4 and 26, 1812, quoted in Malcomson, A Very Brilliant Affair, 44–45.
96 “I consider the agreement”: Quoted in Adams, History of the United States, 519.
96 “you will inform”: Eustis to Dearborn, Aug. 15, 1812, quoted in Adams, History of the United States, 534–35.
96 “which I had considered”: Dearborn to Madison, Aug. 15, 1812, quoted in Adams, History of the United States, 534.
97 “If the troops”: Dearborn to Eustis, Aug. 15, 1812, quoted in Adams, History of the United States, 535.
97 “secure Upper Canada”: Eustis to Dearborn, Aug. 15, 1812, quoted in Adams, History of the United States, 534–35.
98 “It is far from”: Brock to Hull, Aug. 15, 1812, in Brannan, Official Letters, 41.
99 Brock’s unexpected triumph: Brannan, Official Letters, 42; Malcomson, A Very Brilliant Affair, 78.
100 Tecumseh’s dream of expelling: Sugden, Tecumseh, 310.
100 “The treachery of Hull”: Jefferson to Thomas Duane, Oct. 1, 1812, quoted in Adams, History of the United States, 528.
100 “weak, indecisive”: Monroe to Jefferson, Aug. 31, 1812, in Stagg, Mr. Madison’s War, 207.
100 Colonel Lewis Cass: National Intelligencer, Sept. 15, 1812; Colonel Lewis Cass to the Secretary of War, Sept. 10, 1812, in Cruikshank, ed., Documents Related to the Invasion of Canada, 153–56.
101 “was a glorious”: Times (London), Oct. 7, 1812.
101 “The disaster”: Times (London), Oct. 7, 1812.
101 “We would gladly”: Times (London), Oct. 21, 1812.
101 In the middle of September: Brant, James Madison, vol. 6: Commander in Chief, 73–75.
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103 “The President”: Hamilton to Chauncey, Aug. 31, 1812, in The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, ed. William S. Dudley (Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1985), 1:297–98.
103 “the finest frigate”: Eugene S. Ferguson, Truxtun of the Constellation (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1956), 217.
103 Before joining the service: Robert Malcomson, Lords of the Lake: The Naval War on Lake Ontario, 1812–1814 (1998; reprint, Montreal: Robin Brass Studio, 2009), 38–42.
104 Daniel Dobbins appeared: Hamilton to Dobbins, Sept. 11, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:307.
106 “cut out [the] two British”: Elliott to Hamilton, Oct. 9, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:329–31.
107 Despite the loss: Brock to Prevost, Oct. 11, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:331–33.
107 On August 17: Henry Adams, History of the United States of America During the Administrations of James Madison (New York: Library of America, 1986), 536.
107 When Major General Van Rensselaer: Solomon Van Rensselaer, A Narrative of the Affair of Queenstown: In the War of 1812 (New York: Leavitt, Lord, 1836), 10–14.
107 Van Rensselaer’s position: Van Rensselaer, A Narrative of the Affair of Queenstown, 15–16.
108 He believed that Brock had 3,000: Pierre Berton, The Invasion of Canada: 1812–1813 (Boston: Little, Brown: 1980), 209.
108 By the middle of October: Robert Malcomson, A Very Brilliant Affair: The Battle of Queenston Heights, 1812 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2003), 117.
109 Even with all his difficulties: Malcomson, A Very Brilliant Affair, 107–20.
109 “the partial success of Lieutenant: Major General Van Rennsselaer to Dearborn in John Brannan, Official Letters of the Military and Naval Officers of the United States During the War with Great Britain, in the Years 1812–1815 (Washington City: Way and Gideon, 1823), 74.
109 Continuing to be overly cautious: Malcomson, A Very Brilliant Affair, 150–51.
111 George Jervis: Malcomson, A Very Brilliant Affair, 155.
111 If reinforcements arrived: Malcomson, A Very Brilliant Affair, 153.
112 In the meantime: Malcomson, A Very Brilliant Affair, 121–92.
112 “the victory was really”: General Stephen Van Rensselaer to General Henry Dearborn, Oct. 14, 1812, in Brannan, Official Letters, 74–78. 11
3 “showed fortitude equal”: McFeeley to General Smythe, Nov. 25, 1812, in Brannon, Official Letters, 93–95, and John K. Mahon, The War of 1812 (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1972; reprint, New York: DaCapo Press, 1991), 82–83.
114 Many wanted to kill: Smyth to a Citizens Committee of Buffalo, Dec. 3, 1812, in Brannon, Official Letters, 101–4.
114 “showed no talent”: Winfield Scott, Memoirs of Lieutenant-General Scott, LLD: Written by Himself (New York: Sheldon, 1964), 1:31.
114 Having lost the confidence: Lt. Samuel Angus to Secretary Hamilton, Dec. 1, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:355–59; and Malcomson, A Very Brilliant Affair, 203–5.
115 With good intelligence: Pierre Berton, Flames Across the Border: The Canadian-American Tragedy, 1813–1814 (Boston: Little, Brown, 1981), 22; Adams, History of the United States, 669–89.
116 Before Chauncey arrived: Woolsey to Hamilton, June 9, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:274; Woolsey to Hamilton, July 21, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:283–84.
117 “rather a latish month”: James Fenimore Cooper, Ned Myers; or Life Before the Mast (1843; reprint, Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1989), 56.
117 Hard as it was for Chauncey: Chauncey to Hamilton, Nov. 4, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 341–42.
118 Although he failed: Chauncey to Hamilton, Nov. 13, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:344–46; Robert Malcomson, Capital in Flames: The American Attack on York, 1813 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2008), 49–58.
118 “nine weeks since”: Chauncey to Hamilton, Nov. 26, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:353.
119 Like Chauncey, Macdonough: Sidney Smith to Hamilton, June 16, 1812, in Dudl
ey, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:275; and New York Navy Agent John Bullus to Hamilton, July 16, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:281–83.
119 By then, Macdonough had: Macdonough to Hamilton, Dec. 20, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:370.
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121 Secretary Hamilton ordered: Secretary of the Navy to Commodore John Rodgers, Sept. 9, 1812, in The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, ed. William S. Dudley (Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1985), 1:471.
121 “pursue that course”: Secretary Hamilton to Commodore John Rodgers, Sept. 9, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:471.
123 “seems to assume”: Admiral John Warren to Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker, Oct. 5, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:508–9.
123 “The Orders in Council”: American State Papers: Foreign Relations (Washington DC: Gales & Seaton, 1833–58), 3:495–96.
123 Lord Melville wrote: Lord Melville to Admiral John Warren, March 26, 1813, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 2:78–79.
123 Melville wanted naval traffic: First Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker to Admiral John Warren, March 20, 1813, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 2:75–78.
124 the Times of London had fed: Times (London), Aug. 1, 1812.
124 the Admiralty was far more: Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to Admiral Sir John B. Warren, R.N., Dec. 26, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:633–34.
124 the Admiralty told him: First Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker to Warren, Jan. 9, 1813, and Feb. 10, 1813, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 2:14–19; Times (London), March 20 and 24, 1813.
125 With the addition of all: Admiral John Warren to Secretary Croker, Oct. 5 and Dec. 29, 1812, Jan. 25 and Feb. 26, 1813, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:508–9.
126 The President then headed: 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), 261.
127 “We chased everything”: Commodore John Rodgers to Secretary Hamilton, Jan. 2, 1813, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 2:5.
128 Jones’s triumph was short-lived: Captain Whinyates to Admiral Sir John Warren, Oct. 23, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:539–540; Captain Jones to Secretary Hamilton, Nov. 24, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:579–83; Captain John P. Beresford, Journal of H.M.S. Poitiers, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:536–39.
129 Decatur put a prize master: Decatur to Hamilton, Oct. 12, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:527.
129 By the end of 1812: Christopher Bell, Wellington’s Navy: Sea Power and the Peninsula War, 1807–14 (London: Chatham, 2004), 6.
129 “The first quality”: Leonard F. Guttridge, Our Country, Right or Wrong: The Life of Stephen Decatur, The U.S. Navy’s Most Illustrious Commander (New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2006), 46.
130 Sinclair seized the vessel: Henry Denison to Secretary Hamilton, Nov. 11, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:566.
134 When men from the United States: Samuel Leech, Thirty Years from Home: A Seaman’s View of the War of 1812 (1843; reprint, Tucson, AZ: Fireship Press, 2008), 78–79; Captain John S. Carden to Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker, Oct. 28, 1812, and Decatur to Hamilton, Oct. 30, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:548–53. Of the many accounts of this famous battle, the best are James Tertius de Kay, Chronicles of the Frigate Macedonian, 1809–1922 (New York: Norton, 1995), 63–99; Ira Dye, The Fatal Cruise of the Argus: Two Captains in the War of 1812 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1994), 78–100; C. S. Forester, The Age of Fighting Sail (New York: Doubleday, 1956), 107–11; and Alfred T. Mahan, Sea Power in Its Relations to the War of 1812 (Boston: Little, Brown, 1905), 1:415–23.
134 “Oh! what a charm”: Times (London), Dec. 29, 1812.
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135 Bainbridge would have preferred: Bainbridge to Jones, Oct. 5, 1812, in The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, ed. William S. Dudley (Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1985), 1:510–12.
136 “after devoting near fifteen”: Lawrence to Hamilton, Oct. 10, 1812; Sinclair to Hamilton, Oct. 7, 1812; Bainbridge to Hamilton, Oct. 8, 1812; Hamilton to Lawrence, Oct. 17, 1812; Lawrence to Hamilton, Oct. 22, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:516–23.
137 “clear the coast”: Hamilton to Captain John H. Dent, Oct. 24, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:583–84.
137 Dent had tried to counteract: Hamilton to Dent Oct. 24, 1812, and Dent to Hamilton, Nov. 5, Nov. 14, Nov. 16, and Nov. 24, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:583–87.
138 “one of the finest”: Bainbridge to William Jones, Oct. 5, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:510–12.
138 The Constitutions’ unhappiness: Ira Dye, The Fatal Cruise of the Argus: Two Captains in the War of 1812 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1994), 6.
138 “I have zealously”: Bainbridge to Preble, Nov. 12, 1803, Naval Documents Related to the United States Wars with the Barbary Powers (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1939–44), 3:174.
139 “apprehension which constantly”: Commodore Bainbridge to Susan Bainbridge, Nov. 1, 1803, quoted in Thomas Harris, The Life and Services of Commodore William Bainbridge, United States Navy (Philadelphia: Carey Lea & Blanchard, 1837), 91–93.
139 Bainbridge saw this voyage: Linda M. Maloney, The Captain from Connecticut: The Life and Times of Isaac Hull (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1986), 200; David F. Long, Ready to Hazard: A Biography of Commodore William Bainbridge, 1774–1833 (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1981), 138–39.
140 “My dear Mediterranean”: David Porter, Journal of a Cruise (1815; reprint, Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1986), 52.
140 After anchoring off: Long, Ready to Hazard, 145–47.
142 “being sufficiently from”: Tyrone G. Martin, A Most Fortunate Ship: A Narrative History of “Old Ironsides” (Chester, CT: Globe Pequot, 1980), 131–34; and Long, Ready to Hazard , 151.
143 “[with] a great part of”: Lieutenant Henry D. Chads to Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker, Dec. 31, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:639–49.
143 “loss must have been”: Journal of Commodore William Bainbridge, Dec. 30, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:639–49.
144 The Constitution was a good deal: Bainbridge to Dr. John Bullus, Jan. 23, 1813, quoted in Long, Ready to Hazard, 158–159.
145 During that time: Albert Gleaves, James Lawrence, Captain, United States Navy, Commander of the Chesapeake (New York: Putnam, 1904), 123.
146 At 5:25 the two ships: Lawrence to Secretary Jones, March 19, 1813, and Lieutenant Frederick A. Wright, R.N., to Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, March 26, 1813, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 2:70–75.
146 “I have only time”: James Lawrence to Julia Lawrence, March 19, 1813, James Lawrence Papers, Misc. Mss., New York Historical Society.
147 “In the continuation of”: Gleaves, James Lawrence, 138.
148 The British navy managed: Yeo to Vice Admiral Charles Stirling, Nov. 22 and Dec. 11, 1812, in Dudley, ed., Naval War of 1812, 1:594–95.
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152 Had he been able: Samuel E. Morison, Harrison Gray Otis: The Urbane Federalist (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1969), 257–63; James M. Banner Jr., To the Hartford Convention: The Federalists and the Origins of Party Politics in Massachusetts, 1798–1815 (New York: Knopf, 1970), 294–312.
153 The grain shipments: Sean Wilentz, The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln (New York: Norton, 2005), 158; Norman K. Risjord, “Election of 1812,” in History of American Presidential Elections, 1789–1968, ed. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. et al. (New York: Chelsea House, 1985), 1:249–96.
153 “wholly unfit for”: James F. Hopkins, ed., The Papers of Henry Clay: Volume I, The Rising Statesman, 1797–1814 (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1959), 750–51.
154 “we are determined”: Linda M. Maloney, The Captain from Connecticut: The Life and Times of Isaac Hull (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1986), 202.
154 “which will be by far”: Hamilton to Congressman Burwell Bassett, Nov. 13, 1812, in The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, ed. William S. Dudley (Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1985), 1:571–73; Charles Stewart to Hamilton, Nov. 12, 1812, in American State Papers, Naval Affairs (Washington, DC: Gales and Seaton, 1834), 1:278–79.
154 To aid the lobbying effort: National Intelligencer, Nov. 28, 1812.
154 In the middle of the festivities: Claude Berube and John Rodgaard, A Call to the Sea: Captain Charles Stewart of the USS Constitution (Washington, DC: Potomac Books, 2005), 65–67; Irving Brant, James Madison, vol. 6: Commander in Chief, 1812–1836 (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1961), 122–25; Spencer Tucker, Stephen Decatur: A Life Most Bold and Daring (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2005), 121.
155 Since Decatur brought: Maloney, Captain from Connecticut, 204.
156 “Frigates and seventy-fours”: Jefferson to Monroe, Jan. 1, 1815, in Henry Adams, History of the United States of America During the Administrations of James Madison (New York: Library of America, 1986), 598–99.
156 For a solid bloc: Craig Symonds, Navalists and Anti-Navalists: The Naval Policy Debate in the United States, 1785–1827 (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1980), 171–91.
156 Despite the stunning victories: Christopher McKee, A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession: The Creation of the U.S. Naval Officer Corps, 1794–1815 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1991), 9–11.