Six Frigates
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“hawled so far”: Captain Isaac Hull to Secretary Hamilton, August 2, 1812, NW1812 I:207–9.
“flocking up like pigeons”: Smith, Naval Scenes in the Last War, p. 30.
“NOT THE LITTLE BELT”: Ibid., p. 31.
Dacres had written out: “Correct copy of Captain Dacres’ challenge, on the register of the brig John Adams, arrived at New York,” in Palmer, Victories of Hull, Jones, Decatur, Bainbridge (Philadelphia, 1813), NYHS.
“offended with them”: Niles’ Register, vol. 3, p. 31.
Most of the balls: Smith, Naval Scenes of the Last War, p. 31.
“we paid very little attention”: Henry Gilliam to William Jones, September 7, 1812, “Letters of Henry Gilliam, 1809–1817,” p. 60.
“Every man stood”: Smith, Naval Scenes of the Last War, p. 31.
First Lieutenant Morris asked: Niles’ Register, vol. 3, p. 159.
“a very heavy fire”: Captain Isaac Hull to Secretary of the Navy Hamilton, August 28, 1812, NW1812 I:231–33.
“shook from stem to stern”: Smith, Naval Scenes of the Last War, p. 32.
“hanging in great confusion”: Ibid.
“By God”: Niles’ Register, vol. 3, p. 159.
An Irish seaman: Smith, Naval Scenes of the Last War, p. 33.
As one of Guerrière’s 18-pounders: Martin, A Most Fortunate Ship, p. 117.
“a tremendous explosion”: “Octogenarian” [an American prisoner aboard the Guerrière]. This account was originally written in a letter to the New York Evening Post, December 3, 1868; reprinted as “Reminiscences of the Last War with England,” Historical Magazine (January 1870): 31–33. Moses Smith in Naval Scenes of the Last War, p. 33, identifies “Octogenarian” as Benjamin Hodges.
“One might see”: Smith, Naval Scenes of the Last War, p. 33.
to “pass some turns”: Morris, Autobiography, p. 56.
“in the trough of the sea”: Extract from the logbook of a British officer aboard the Guerrière during the action with the Constitution, in Niles’ Register, vol. 2, p. 109.
“Commodore Hull’s compliments”: “Octogenarian,” “Reminiscences of the Last War with England,” p. 83.
fought “like tigers”: Henry Gilliam to William Jones, September 7, 1812, “Letters of Henry Gilliam, 1809–1817,” p. 60.
“immense mischief”: Evans, “Journal Kept on Board the United States Frigate Constitution, 1812,” No. 3, p. 374.
“pieces of skulls”: Henry Gilliam to William Jones, September 7, 1812, “Letters of Henry Gilliam, 1809–1817,” p. 61.
“to keep in the best position”: Captain Isaac Hull to Secretary of the Navy Hamilton, August 28, 1812, NW1812 I:241.
a “hard set of butchers”: Smith, Naval Scenes of the Last War, p. 35.
“Scarcely a word”: Ibid., p. 36.
“The Constitution has captured”: “Octogenarian,” “Reminiscences of the Last War with England,” p. 83.
“Sir, I am sorry to inform you”: Captain James R. Dacres to Vice-Admiral Herbert Sawyer, Royal Navy, September 7, 1812, NW1812 I:243–45.
“H.M.’s ships of war”: Forester, The Age of Fighting Sail: The Story of the Naval War of 1812, p. 19.
Wellington’s forces in Portugal: See ibid., pp. 80–85.
“if it was not for the supplies”: Sir David Milne to George Hume, April 9, 1812, “Letters Written During the War of 1812 by the British Naval Commander in American Waters (Admiral Sir David Milne),” William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, 2nd ser., 10(4) (October 1930): 286.
as “commander in chief”: Forester, The Age of Fighting Sail, p. 78.
Sailing from Portsmouth, Dudley, Splintering the Wooden Wall, pp. 73–74.
Warren…had nearly forty years: Ibid., p. 69.
As his first official act: NW1812 I:236 (editor’s note).
“that wretched disease”: Commodore John Rodgers to Secretary of the Navy Hamilton, September 1, 1812, NW1812 I:264.
“We have been so completely”: “Letter from a British officer at Halifax, Oct. 15, 1812, to Naval Chronicle,” quoted in Hickey, The War of 1812, p. 93.
“swarming round”: Ibid., pp. 96–97.
“Prizes are pouring into”: Niles’ Register, editorial, vol. 3, p. 14.
“with her masts fished”: Martin, A Most Fortunate Ship, p. 127.
“a very foolish”: Evans, “Journal Kept on Board the United States Frigate Constitution, 1812,” No. 3, p. 385.
“In this action”: Secretary of the Navy Hamilton to Captain Hull, September 9, 1812, NW1812 I:472–73.
“and if he was”: Graham, et al., quoted in Brant, James Madison: Commander-in-Chief, p. 75.
“We have a Hull-up”: Evans, “Journal Kept on Board the United States Frigate Constitution, 1812,” September 6, 1812, entry, No. 3, p. 379.
“a mere matter”: TJ to William Duane, August 4, 1812, TJP.
“to afford protection”: Secretary of the Navy Hamilton to Commodore John Rodgers, September 9, 1812, NW1812 I:470–72.
“the chaos that surrounded”: Boston Navy Agent Amos Binney in an account published 1822, NW1812 I:466.
he authorized a cash warrant: Secretary of the Navy Hamilton to Navy Agent Amos Binney, September 8, 1812, NW1812 I:467.
At dawn on Sunday, October 25: NW1812 I:548–49 (editor’s note).
“When the American officers”: Carden quoted in Palmer, Victories of Hull, Jones, Decatur, Bainbridge, NYHS.
“black, glossy hats”: Samuel Leech account in Every Man Will Do His Duty: An Anthology of Firsthand Accounts from the Age of Nelson, ed. King and Hattendorf, p. 305.
“very ungenerously ordered”: Ibid., p. 306.
“I was not enabled”: Captain John S. Carden, Royal Navy, to Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker, October 28, 1812, NW1812 I:549–52.
“Cease firing”…and the account that follows: Samuel Leech, Thirty Years from Home 1843), in Every Man Will Do His Duty, pp. 307–10.
“a perfect wreck”: Captain John S. Carden, Royal Navy, to Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker, October 28, 1812, NW1812 I:551.
“To me it was”: Samuel Leech account, Every Man Will Do His Duty, p. 311.
“Fragments of the dead”: Unnamed officer quoted in Mackenzie, Life of Stephen Decatur, p. 176.
“covered with the bleeding forms”…and the quotes that follow: Samuel Leech account, Every Man Will Do His Duty, pp. 313–16.
“and his brains and blood”: Niles’ Register, vol. 3, p. 318.
an “undone man”: Samuel Leech account, Every Man Will Do His Duty, p. 316.
The United States was barely scratched: Commodore Decatur to Secretary Hamilton, October 30, 1812, NW1812 I:552–53.
“One half of the satisfaction”: Quoted in Mackenzie, Life of Stephen Decatur, p. 179n.
to compensate Carden: Palmer, Victories of Hull, Jones, Decatur, Bainbridge, NYHS.
“I must here & always”: Carden, A Curtail’d Memoir, p. 265.
“I was always alive”: Ibid.
The Newport Mercury: NW1812 I:615 (editor’s note).
“This day has been”: Perry quoted in De Kay, Chronicles of the Frigate Macedonian, 1809–1922, p. 98.
a “naval ball”: National Intelligencer, December 10, 1812, quoted in Niles’ Register, vol. 3, p. 238.
stepped “as usual”: Mrs. B. H. Latrobe to Mrs. Juliana Miller, December 14, 1812, NYHS.
“amid the loud acclamations”: National Intelligencer, December 10, 1812, quoted in Niles’ Register, vol. 3, p. 238.
“This was rather over doing”: Mrs. B. H. Latrobe to Mrs. Juliana Miller, December 14, 1812, NYHS.
“too much praise”: ASP, Naval Affairs, vol. 1, p. 280.
“Our brilliant naval victories”: Hickey, The War of 1812, p. 97.
a “grand naval dinner”: Palmer, Victories of Hull, Jones, Decatur, Bainbridge, NYHS.
The four-story red brick building: Batterberry, On the Town in New York, pp. 39–40.
Five
hundred guests: Niles’ Register, vol. 3, p. 301, and Palmer, Victories of Hull, Jones, Decatur, Bainbridge, NYHS.
Each table had: Mackenzie, Life of Stephen Decatur, p. 185.
The band struck up: Niles’ Register, vol. 3, pp. 301, 318.
“We came into New York”: Shaw, Short sketch of the life of Elijah Shaw, who served 21 years in the United States Navy (1843), p. 46.
four hundred seamen: Mackenzie, Life of Stephen Decatur, p. 187.
“We found it difficult”: Shaw, Short sketch of the life of Elijah Shaw, p. 46.
“orderly and decorous conduct” and “their admiration”: Palmer, Victories of Hull, Jones, Decatur, Bainbridge, NYHS.
The toasts: Ibid., and Shaw, Short sketch of the life of Elijah Shaw, p. 46.
“It is more than merely”: The Times (London) editorial reprinted in Niles’ Register, vol. 3, pp. 271–72.
“What an unfortunate”: Sir David Milne to George Hume, October 15, 1812, “Letters Written During the War of 1812,” William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, 2nd ser., 10(4) (October 1930):287.
“should undoubtedly” The Naval Chronicle, vol. V, p. 104.
The August 13 capture: Gardner, ed., The Naval War of 1812, p. 45.
“produced a sensation”: Canning quoted in Adams, HUSM, p. 624.
“The land spell”: The Times quoted in ibid., p. 629.
“our trans-atlantic descendents”: Québec Mercury quoted in Niles’ Register, vol. 3, p. 157.
“It is a cruel”: Hickey, The War of 1812, p. 98.
“disguised ships of the line”: See Forester, The Age of Fighting Sail, pp. 134–36.
“Has any person”: “R.” to the Editor, October 13, 1812, The Naval Chronicle, vol. V, p. 114.
“Is not the term”: Ibid., p. 125.
“Is it true”: The Times quoted in Adams, HUSM, p. 629.
“When Carden the ship”: Reprinted in Lossing, The Pictorial Field Book of the War of 1812, chap. VII.
“The size and force”: “Oceanus” to the editor of the Naval Chronicle, December 1812, in The Naval Chronicle, vol. V, p. 115.
a “plan matured”: The Times quoted in Hickey, The War of 1812, p. 98.
“In its defense”: Adams, HUSM, p. 629.
a “war of conciliation”: The Times quoted in ibid., p. 626.
“the arm which should”: Canning’s Speech, November 30, 1812, quoted in ibid., p. 627.
“a right hitherto”: Lord Bathurst quoted in ibid., p. 631.
the Prince Regent published: “The Prince Regent’s Declaration on the Causes of the American War,” in The Naval Chronicle, vol. V, pp. 132–40.
to “punish the temerity”: “Albion” to the Naval Chronicle, The Mariners’ Museum, online at http://www.mariner.org/usnavy/
“Many of our crew”: Smith, Naval Scenes in the Last War, p. 38.
A few replied: Evans, “Journal Kept on Board the United States Frigate Constitution, 1812,” No. 3, p. 382.
“This was appealing”: Smith, Naval Scenes in the Last War, p. 39.
Throughout September and most of October: William Bainbridge to William Jones, October 5, 1812, NW1812 I:510–12, and Martin, A Most Fortunate Ship, pp. 128–30.
“one of the finest Ships”: William Bainbridge to William Jones, October 5, 1812, NW1812 I:510.
He offered John Rodgers: Ibid.
Jones recommended a cruise: William Jones to William Bainbridge, October 11, 1812, NW1812 I:512–15.
Carlton’s book of charts: See McKee, A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession, p. 197.
A six-week passage: See Long, Ready to Hazard: A Biography of Commodore William Bainbridge, pp. 142–66.
the “sacred pledge”: Bainbridge quoted in ibid., pp. 142–66.
Two days later: Ibid.
With passengers and crew: Forester, The Age of Fighting Sail, pp. 116–17.
Shortly after one in the afternoon…and the account that follows: Journal of Commodore William Bainbridge, December 29, 1812, NW1812 I:640–44.
Early in the action: Lieutenant Henry D. Chads to Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker, December 31, 1812, NW1812 I:646–48.
Constitution’s wheel: Niles’ Register, vol. 3, pp. 397–98.
Bainbridge was struck: Martin, A Most Fortunate Ship, pp. 132–34.
An 18-pounder ball: Long, Ready to Hazard: A Biography of Commodore William Bainbridge, pp. 142–66.
required Bainbridge to shout: Martin, A Most Fortunate Ship, p. 132.
With two wounds: Long, Ready to Hazard, pp. 142–66.
At 2:50 p.m., Java’s helm: Minutes of a court-martial assembled on board HMS Gladiator, at Portsmouth, April 23, 1813, to try the surviving officers and crew of the Java, in appendices, James, Naval Occurrences of the War of 1812.
“At 3 The Head”: Journal of Commodore William Bainbridge, December 29, 1812, NW1812 I:641.
“But then over all the din”: O’Brian, The Fortune of War, pp. 119–21.
“I put my finger in”: Surgeon quoted in Long, Ready to Hazard, pp. 142–66.
“pouring in a tremendous”: “Lieutenant Chads’s journal,” in James, Naval Occurrences of the War of 1812, appendices.
“a perfect wreck”: Lieutenant Henry Chads’s testimony, Minutes of court-martial assembled on board HMS Gladiator April 23, 1813, in ibid.
“Now was the time”: O’Brian, The Fortune of War, pp. 123–24.
“The public will learn”: London Pilot, March 20, 1813, reprinted in Niles’ Register, May 8, 1813, vol. 4, p. 163.
“The subject is too painful”: The Naval Chronicle, vol. V, pp. 150–51.
For the first time in years: See Forester, The Age of Fighting Sail, p. 128.
“destructive havoc”: The Naval Chronicle, vol. V, p. 154.
“Are their rammers”: Quoted in Forester, The Age of Fighting Sail, p. 130.
Others expressed concern: Reprinted in Niles’ Register, March 27, 1813, vol. 4, p. 64.
“American seaman have been”: Quoted in Forester, The Age of Fighting Sail, p. 130.
“The good discipline”: Admiral Warren, “Standing Orders on the North American Station,” NW1812 II:59.
daily “spit and polish”: First Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker “To Admirals,” March 23, 1813, NW1812 II:60 (footnote).
“the brutal horrors”: Forester, The Age of Fighting Sail, p. 128.
the “mania of apathy”: Ibid.
a “Secret & Confidential” order: First Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker to Station Commanders in Chief, July 10, 1813, NW1812 II:183–84.
officers derided them as “mules”: Forester, The Age of Fighting Sail, p. 135.
a “most complete and vigorous”: Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to Admiral Sir John B. Warren, NW1812 I:633–34.
“We do not intend”: First Lord of the Admiralty to Admiral Sir John B. Warren, March 26, 1813, NW1812 II:78–79.
Considering New England: Dudley, Splintering the Wooden Wall, pp. 79–90.
In truth, however: Ibid., pp. 60–62.
“the Swarms of Privateers”: Admiral Warren to First Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker, December 29, 1812, NW1812 I:649–51.
“Ships from other important Services”: First Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker to Admiral Sir John B. Warren, January 9, 1813, NW1812 II:14–15.
“a force much greater”: First Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker to Admiral Sir John B. Warren, February 10, 1813, NW1812 II:16–19.
By February 1813, Warren did indeed: Forester, The Age of Fighting Sail, p. 132.
“All the prating”: Evening Star (London), March editorial, quoted in Niles’ Register, April 24, 1813, vol. 4, p. 136.
In rejecting the armistice: ASP, Naval Affairs, vol. 1, p. 280.
“I sincerely congratulate”: TJ to JA, May 27, 1813, in Cappon, ed., The Adams-Jefferson Letters, II:323–24.
“That you were always”: JA to TJ, June 11, 1813, in ibid., II:328.
> a “splendid entertainment”: Niles’ Register, vol. 2, p. 217.
so “as to make the temperature”: Mrs. B. H. Latrobe to Mrs. Juliana Miller, December 14, 1812, NYHS.
“We have no doubt”: Niles’ Register, vol. 2, p. 217.
One unpleasant detail: McKee, A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession, pp. 9–12.
“about as fit for his place”: Quoted in Hickey, The War of 1812, p. 90.
“As to exercise”: McKee, A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession, pp. 9–12.
“the corruption of self-interested”: Secretary of the Navy Jones to Eleanor Jones, January 23, 1813, NW1812 II:34.
“We may have reason”: Mrs. B. H. Latrobe to Mrs. Juliana Miller, December 14, 1812, NYHS.
Negotiating behind closed doors: Adams, HUSM, p. 650.
“to enter into any Negotiation”: First Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker to Admiral Sir John B. Warren, May 17, 1813, NW1812 II:356.
Three days later: Captain Charles Stewart to Secretary of the Navy Jones, February 5, 1813, NW1812 II:311–12.
Admiral George Cockburn: Dudley, Splintering the Wooden Wall, p. 87.
“I am persuaded”: Captain Charles Stewart to Secretary of the Navy Jones, April 4, 1813, NW1812 II:346.
“whenever they wash”: Captain John Cassin to Secretary of the Navy Hamilton, August 25, 1812, NW1812 I:222–23.
“so weakly manned” and “I am getting out”: Captain Charles Stewart to Secretary of the Navy Jones, March 17, 1813, NW1812 II:315.
Norfolk’s civilians: Niles’ Register, March 15, 1813, vol. 4, p. 119.
to “make the best use”: Secretary of the Navy Jones to Captain Charles Stewart, April 8, 1813, NW1812 II:346.
“while a strong squadron”: Secretary of the Navy Jones to Captain Charles Stewart, March 27, 1813, NW1812 II:317.
The Cape Henry Lighthouse: Niles’ Register, vol. 3, p. 398, and Treasury Department notice, March 16, 1813, printed in ibid., vol. 4, p. 51.
“The marines being”: Norfolk Herald reprinted in ibid., April 3, 1813, vol. 4, p. 87.
“Many fled”: Niles’ Register, May 8, 1813, vol. 4, p. 164.
A party of Royal Marines: Admiral Cockburn to Admiral Warren, May 3, 1813, NW1812 II:341–44; see also Sir David Milne to George Hume, January 2, 1814, “Letters Written During the War of 1812 by the British Naval Commander in American Waters (Admiral Sir David Milne),” p. 290.