In Pursuit of Glory
Page 44
Newport, Rhode Island, a town enormously dependent on the sea trade for its economic prosperity, was suffering when Oliver and his shipmates arrived there. Jefferson’s embargo had kept many of the town’s ships rotting at the piers and, without question, there was enormous resentment, not only in Rhode Island, but also throughout all of New England. The Vernon house, described by Oliver, still stands today and was used by French General Rochambeau as a headquarters during the American Revolution. While the building housing the “grand ballroom” has been torn down, records and other period homes would indicate it’s description is accurate. Oliver, however, was misled, intentionally by the builders, when he mentioned the house was built of stone; the house is of wood, cut and formed to appear as though of stone. The process is called “rustication,” a relatively common practice in eighteenth century America, designed to mimic the stonework of Europe.
That Oliver Hazard Perry had a sister named Ann is fabricated. He did have three sisters, but none named Ann. His mother was, indeed, descended from William Wallace, the famed Scots rebel who, in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, led his people against England’s Edward I. The movie, “Braveheart” told Wallace’s story in somewhat fanciful form. The Perrys did live in South Kingston; Captain Christopher Perry sailed, during the Quasi War, with his midshipman son who later had the difficulties detailed. Of course, O. H. Perry met his glory on Lake Erie in 1813. And Matthew Perry, who Oliver met at the ball, would go on to his own fame and fortune.
Henry Allen’s account of the Dragon/George Washington encounter did, in fact, happen as he described it and was one of the major factors, along with the Chesapeake/Leopard Incident, which contributed to Allen’s hatred of the British. Lieutenant Allen subsequently commanded the United States brig Argus in heroic actions against English shipping in British waters. He died in single ship combat with HMS Pelican there and was buried ashore with full honors. His grave is still maintained in a churchyard in Plymouth, England.
When John Rodgers attacked HMS Little Belt, he was in fact seeking the larger British frigate, Guerriere. That ship, along with others, both English and French, had been harassing American shipping in the area of New York Harbor. Of course, the United States frigate President made short work of the smaller ship before Rodgers discovered his error; during the brief night action, Little Belt (or Lille Belt, as she was properly known) suffered major damage to her hull and rig, nine men killed, and twenty three wounded. A Court of Inquiry was convened and lasted for twelve days, examining more than fifty witnesses. It ultimately exonerated Rodgers based on the determination that Little Belt had commenced the exchange. The English rejected the ruling and, to this day, Captain Bingham’s (Little Belt) version is widely accepted as the true version, at least in Great Britain.
HMS Macedonian did call at Norfolk in February of 1812; President Madison had opened our ports to foreign shipping and it was not uncommon to see warships of other nations riding to their anchors in American harbors. Decatur and several of his officers, including Henry Allen, had been invited to visit the ship, which they did. Stephen Decatur and his wife, Susan, held a party at their home in Norfolk for Captain Carden of Macedonian and his officers and, while the conversation following the meal between Carden and Decatur is as represented, the wager of a beaver hat is unsubstantiated in fact. Decatur’s answer to Captain Carden’s offer, however, is clearly within his character.
Edward Baldwin’s description of Constitution being chased by British cruisers off the New Jersey coast is accurate. The same ship was subsequently chased in Massachusetts Bay, escaping into Marblehead after using her boats in much the same manner as she did off New Jersey.
Oliver’s description of Isaac Hull’s arrival on Long Wharf is taken from a contemporary account written by Moses Smith, a sailor in Constitution. It was published some years after the event in Naval Scenes in the Last Wan Or, Three Years Aboard the Frigates Constitution and Adams, Including the Capture of the Guerriére. Boston: Gleason’s Publishing House, 1846.
Of note also is the Army general to whom the intoxicated citizen of Boston—he couldn’t quite remember the name—referred in connection with the surrender of Fort Detroit. It was, in fact, William Hull, a fifty-nine-year-old veteran of the Revolutionary War and governor of Michigan Territory. He was Isaac Hull’s uncle and adopted father. Isaac obviously restored some credibility to the family name!
The description of the engagement of United States and Macedonian was taken from letters written by the commanders of both ships to their superiors following the engagement. A subsequent letter from Captain Carden spoke eloquently of Decatur’s fair, and even generous, treatment of his prisoners while they were aboard United States en route to New London. This ultimately paid handsome dividends as, when Decatur, commanding the frigate President, fell in with English warships off Sandy Hook, New Jersey in January of 1815 (the war was officially over by then, but that fact was, of course, unknown in America). He was forced by overwhelming opposition to strike his colors and, while naturally the ship was taken as a prize, he and his officers were released in consideration of the treatment British prisoners had received at his hand.
While Henry Allen did take his prize into Newport (where Master Commandant O. H. Perry was in command of the Naval Station), he subsequently sailed her to New London, where he rendezvoused with Commodore Decatur and sailed in company with him to New York City, arriving there to great fanfare and celebration, on 16 December. At a reception in Washington City (to which Decatur traveled by coach from New London), he presented Macedonians colors to First Lady Dolley Madison, who was representing her husband. Congress subsequently voted gold medals to the captains of Constitution and United States and silver medals to their officers in commemoration of their victories. A representation of the medals given to the officers of United States can be found within this volume.
Macedonian, fully repaired and commissioned a unit of the United States Navy, became Decatur’s flagship for a Mediterranean cruise in 1815 to deal with Algerian troubles. The ship led a productive life in the Navy, ultimately being abandoned in City Island, New York (well after the Navy had sold her out of service to the firm of Wiggin & Robinson, who paid the princely sum of $14,071). After a quarter-century passed, the hulk was broken up and her timbers (purchased for $25) used by a Jake Smith to build the Hotel Macedonian on City Island. On June 9, 1922, a devastating fire destroyed what remained of this heroic vessel.
William H. White
Rumson, New Jersey
Medal presented to the officers of USS United States by Congress following the capture of HMS Macedonian. Courtesy, USS Constitution Museum, Boston, MA.
About the Author
Mr. White is a former United States Naval officer with combat service. He is also an avid, life-long, sailor. As a maritime historian, he specializes in Age of Sail events in which the United States was a key player and lectures frequently on the impact of these events on our history. He lives in New Jersey where he is currently working on a new book which focuses on a little -known event in the Royal Navy. More information can be found on his website, www.seafiction.net.
For seven years, marine artist Paul Garnett was the shipwright on the “Bounty” for MGM, built for their 1962 production “Mutiny on the Bounty.” The artist’s originals can be found at the J. Russell Jinishian Gallery in Fairfield, CT, the Kensington-Stobart Gallery in Salem, M.A, and is a member of the International Society of Marine Painters. More of his work can be seen at his website, http://paulgarnett.com/.
S ail with Oliver Baldwin, recently back from the Barbary Wars, in th US Frigate Chesapeake as the leaves Hampton Roads VA on a routine patrol. The patrol truns out to anything but routine as the ship is confronted by the fifty gun HMS Leopard outside the Virginia Capes. The British ship is seeking Royal Navy deserters and, when Commodore James Barron refuses the British captain’s orders to procedure them, fires into the ill-prepared American frigate with disastrous results. The lop-sided figh
t, the Chesapeake/ Leopard Incident, was one of the major contributors to the war of 1812 which started five years later.
Following the ensuring court martial, Stephen Decatur takes command of Chesapeake to enforce the Jeffersonian Embargoes on the Atlantic seaboard with Oliver, Henry Allen, and others from William H. White’s The Greater The Honor. Oliver will experience more — though less disastrous — encounters with ships of the Royal Navy, nad ultimately, the start of the War of 1812.
In October of that year, sailing in the American Frigate United States, Oliver, now a lieutenant, and Henry Allen, under the command of Barbary Wars hero Stephen Decatur, cross tacks with HMS Macedonian. A bloody battle ensues, concluding with the capture of the British frigate.
White’s portrayal of the significant early naval encounters of the war, told by his well-constructed characters, bring to life a period not well known but of crucial importance to the development of the fledgling United States and her Navy.
“White cleverly recreates the language and manners of days long past white sticking closely to the basic historical facts. He weaves his fictional and historic personages seamlessly into the context of the times and vividly brings to life a time when th U.S. Navy was emerging from infancy to adolescence.”
William Dudley, PhD
“William H. White had taken his place in the charmed circle of writers of really good fiction about the days of fighting sail: Melville, Forester, O’Brian, Nelson, and Kent. Like them , his attention to the detail of ships and their hulls, spars, and rigging and sails is meticulous. And, like them, his characters are not only credible, but memorable. He is a thoroughly welcome writer to this genre, which has brought so much pleasure to so many.”
Donald A. Petrie author of
The Prize Game: Lawful Looting
on the High seas in the Days
of Fighting Sail (1999)
BY THE SAME AUTHOR:
The War Of 1812 Trilogy:
A Press Of Canvas (2000)
A Fine Tops’l Breeze (2001)
The Evening Gun (2001)
The Greater The Honor - A novel of the (1803) Barbary Wars (2003)
All available from Tiller Publishing
www.tillerbooks.com