GEORGE C. DAUGHAN
BASIC
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Copyright © 2013 by George C. Daughan
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Daughan, George C.
The shining sea : David Porter and the epic voyage of the U.S.S. Essex during the War of 1812 / George C. Daughan.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-465-06994-1 (e-book) 1. Porter, David, 1780-1843. 2. Essex (Frigate) 3. United States—History—War of 1812—Naval operations, American. 4. United States. Navy—History—War of 1812. 5. United States. Navy—Officers—Biography. I. Title.
E353.1.P7D38 2013
973.5'2573—dc23
2013018564
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Kay, Mary, Mark, Alex, and Tyler
The love of fame for the founders was the ruling passion of the noblest of minds.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION: THE WAR OF 1812
MAPS
PROLOGUE
1PRESIDENT MADISON’S WAR PLAN
2THE MAKING OF A SEA WARRIOR
3DISASTER IN TRIPOLI
4PRIMED FOR BATTLE
5THE ESSEX: PAST AND PRESENT
6FIRST RENDEZVOUS: PORTO PRAIA
7IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC, DREAMING OF THE PACIFIC
8DOUBLING CAPE HORN
9NAVIGATING CHILE’S POLITICAL WATERS
10A PACKED WEEK AT VALPARAISO
11PERU AND THE ELUSIVE NIMROD
12FORTUNE SMILES IN THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS
13UNPARALLELED SUCCESS
14THE HUNT FOR THE ESSEX
15THE MARQUESAS ISLANDS: “IN VALES OF EDEN”
16NUKU HIVA
17ANNEXATION AND WAR
18MUTINY
19SHOWDOWN IN VALPARAISO
20THE BUTCHER’S BILL
21THE HEROES COME HOME
22LIEUTENANT GAMBLE AT NUKU HIVA
EPILOGUE: FOUR LIVES AFTER THE WAR
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
GLOSSARY
NOTES
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
INTRODUCTION
THE WAR OF 1812
ALTHOUGH ONE OF AMERICA’S LESSER-KNOWN CONFLICTS, THE War of 1812 was one of her most important. Beginning on June 18, 1812, the fighting continued unabated for a grueling thirty-two months before ending on February 17, 1815. The struggle spread over a wide area, including all of the United States east of the Mississippi, many parts of Canada, the Great Lakes, and Lake Champlain, as well as most of the world’s oceans. Despite being underappreciated, the war had a profound effect on the nation’s future. It brought about a rapprochement between Britain and America that changed world history. The enmity that had characterized their relationship since the War of Independence ended. In the final year of the war, the United States demonstrated a military capacity that secured Britain’s respect and caused her to fundamentally alter her North American policy. By winning battles at Fort Erie in the Niagara area, at Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain, at Baltimore, and at New Orleans, the United States forced London to confront a new international reality—a strong republic on the other side of the Atlantic.
Led by their prescient foreign minister, Lord Castlereagh, Britain dealt with this new phenomenon by changing her policy toward America from confrontation to accommodation. Castlereagh recognized, before any other British statesman, the critical importance of maintaining friendship with the United States. Instead of treating her as a rival and a potential enemy, where every dispute might become lethal, he sought ways to build amicable relations. He feared that if Britain and America remained enemies, they could be fighting over one issue or another for the next hundred years. Prime Minister Robert Jenkinson (Lord Liverpool) and the rest of the cabinet followed his lead. The two great English-speaking countries never fought again. The serious disagreements they had during the nineteenth century—over boundaries with Canada, the westward expansion of the United States, Texas, the Mexican War, the American Civil War, and a fiercely competitive maritime rivalry—were all resolved peacefully.
The new diplomatic reality spawned by the War of 1812 eventually made possible the remarkable collaboration, indeed partnership, of the two countries during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, a partnership that was to be of incalculable benefit to themselves and to the world.
Perhaps as important as beginning a new era in relations with Britain, the war strengthened the country’s democratic impulses while solidifying respect for the Constitution. The franchise was extended. Property qualifications were lowered so that all those who fought the war could vote. And just as important, President James Madison led the fight without becoming a dictator, which many in Europe thought he would be forced to do. Throughout the struggle, he scrupulously observed the constitutional limits placed on the presidency and gave the country confidence that it could manage its most challenging problems without altering or discarding its form of government.
The heroic efforts of the American navy were critical in winning the war and the peace. Victory in the key battles at Plattsburgh, Baltimore, and New Orleans would have been impossible without the navy. It’s true that the Battle of New Orleans was fought (on January 8, 1815) after the peace treaty had been signed at Ghent, on December 24, 1814. But the lopsided outcome at New Orleans showed the potential of American arms and had a major impact on Castlereagh. The navy’s part in the battle is not well known, but the hero of the Battle of New Orleans, General Andrew Jackson himself, was the first to acknowledge that the tiny naval contingent played a key part in securing a tremendous victory.
The war revealed hidden strengths that made the small American fleet far more potent than its meager size would indicate. Several factors accounted for its surprising success. To begin with, the ships were as good as, and often better, than their British counterparts, and so were their crews. American men-of-war were manned by volunteers who were required to sign on for only two years, unlike British tars who were forced to serve until the war was over. American seamen exhibited an inspiring degree of patriotism, willingly enduring unbelievably harsh conditions. British seamen were patriotic, too, but their unusually high rate of desertion demonstrated, as nothing else could, how brutal conditions were aboard their ships. American desertions, by comparison, were minuscule. There were no impressed men aboard American men-of-war as there were in the Royal Navy. And the treatment of the crews was far better in the American fleet. Pay, health, food, and discipline were all superior.
Perhaps the most important factor accounting for the success of the American navy was its superb officer corps. Unlike the army, which had not fought (except against small numbers of poorly armed Indians) since the Revolution, the navy’s leaders were experienced fighters, having begun their baptism of fire during the Q
uasi-War with France from 1798 to 1800. Their skills were further honed during the war with Tripoli, which lasted from 1801 until 1805.
A strong naval tradition, dating back to the War of Independence, added to the navy’s strength. Heroes like John Paul Jones, John Barry, Silas Talbot, and many, many others inspired the young officers. So, too, did their fathers and uncles who fought with distinction in the Continental and state navies during the Revolution. Lesser-known heroes, like Christopher Perry, Stephen Decatur Sr., George Farragut, and David Porter Sr. inspired their sons to follow in their footsteps. The navy’s young stars also benefited from gifted mentors like Thomas Truxtun and Silas Talbot during the Quasi-War and Edward Preble during the war with Tripoli.
David Porter Jr. was among the navy’s more promising young officers. He had joined the service in 1798 and had been in the thick of the fight during the Quasi-War and the war with Tripoli. When he sensed the War of 1812 coming, he wanted, more than anything else, to be a part of it. He viewed it as an opportunity to achieve everlasting fame, one that might never come again. His chance came early in the fighting, and he eagerly grasped it. Beginning in October 1812, he began a seventeen-month cruise in the USS Essex that would become the most famous voyage of the war, and one of the most spectacular in the entire age of fighting sail. What follows is the remarkable story of his unforgettable odyssey.
THE SAILS OF A SQUARE-RIGGED SHIP
1. Flying jib
2. Jib
3. Fore topmast staysail
4. Fore staysail
5. Foresail, or course
6. Fore topsail
7. Fore topgallant
8. Mainstaysail
9. Maintopmast staysail
10. Middle staysail
11. Main topgallant staysail
12. Mainsail, or course
13. Maintopsail
14. Main topgallant
15. Mizzen staysail
16. Mizzen topmast staysail
17. Mizzen topgallant staysail
18. Mizzen sail
19. Mizzen topsail
20. Mizzen topgallant
21. Spanker
PROLOGUE
FIRST VICTORY
IT WAS 9:30 ON THE MORNING OF AUGUST 13, 1812, FIFTY-SIX days after the United States had declared war on Great Britain. Captain David Porter, a short, wiry intense man of thirty-two, was standing on the quarterdeck of the 32-gun American frigate Essex, looking through his telescope at an interesting ship to windward. She appeared to be an armed West Indiaman, but he suspected she was something else—a poorly disguised British man-of-war, hoping to take him by surprise.
The Essex was camouflaged herself. She was sailing in latitude 41° north and longitude 38° 10’ west, roughly halfway between New York and Portugal. Porter wanted his ship to look like an easy target. Her gun ports were closed, the topgallant masts were housed, and the sails were trimmed in the careless manner of a merchantman. If the stranger was an enemy warship, Porter wanted to encourage her to attack. The Essex had British colors flying, and Porter kept them up, hoping the stranger would think they were a clumsy ruse by an American merchant. Satisfied with his disguise, he quietly cleared for action, while concealing every appearance of doing so.
The approaching stranger was a much smaller ship than the Essex, the 20-gun sloop of war HMS Alert, based in St. John’s, Newfoundland. As the Alert drew closer, Porter could see how tiny she was, but he did not believe size would matter to her captain. The Royal Navy had a well-deserved reputation for successfully attacking larger enemy warships. It was a tradition in the British navy—going back to Sir Francis Drake in the sixteenth century—for enterprising captains to ignore the odds and attack. Every major and minor navy in Europe and the Mediterranean had suffered galling defeats at the hands of what looked like inferior British men-of-war. Nonetheless, Porter wanted to make sure that this captain did not back off. As the Alert got closer, Porter made it look as if the Essex was making a run for it. He shook out the reefs from the topsails and hoisted the topgallant yards, but while doing so, he put out drag sails from the stern unseen to slow the Essex.
Nothing Porter did had the slightest effect on the Alert. She continued to bear down, her sails straining to capture every bit of wind. Despite her array of canvas, she looked slow, which made her an even easier target than Porter originally thought. When the Alert drew near, she made a signal and hoisted British colors. Her gun ports were open and cannon thrust out, obviously poised to attack. By 11:30 she approached to within pistol shot on the Essex’s starboard quarter, intending to rake her. At which point, Porter hoisted the Stars and Stripes and wore short around, causing the enemy to pass under his stern to a position off his lee quarter. Suddenly, the Alert’s crew gave a loud shout and fired a full broadside of canister and grape shot. But by then she was too far abaft the Essex’s beam and delivered only a glancing blow.
Porter quickly put up the Essex’s helm and brought her deadly larboard carronades to bear. The Alert responded by hauling her wind on the starboard tack. Porter wore again and brought his starboard guns to bear. By this time, the enemy was on the starboard tack, trying to prevent the Essex from getting alongside and boarding.
Porter countered by standing on a wind on the starboard tack until the ships were separated by about a musket shot (a hundred yards). He then wore suddenly and raked the enemy with his powerful 32-pound carronades, delivering a devastating blow. The Alert’s tars were stunned. They got so rattled they panicked. And so did their first lieutenant, Andrew Duncan, who led the frightened tars aft to the quarterdeck and pleaded with the captain to strike the colors. He refused. Instead, he attempted to escape, but Porter was right after him; making more sail; hoisting his favorite flag with the motto “FREE TRADE AND SAILORS RIGHTS”; and ranging up to within pistol shot on the Alert’s starboard quarter. From there, it was certain that every shot from the Essex would find its target. Porter was about to deliver a final crushing fusillade, when the British captain—seeking to avoid the dreadful consequences of the broadside he knew was coming—prudently struck his colors. The battle had lasted less than twelve minutes.
The Alert turned out to be a former collier the Royal Navy had purchased in 1804. A sturdy, well-built vessel, she had been used to carry coal from Newcastle to London, which she did a good job of, but she was too slow for combat. The British had been at war with the French for twenty years, first in the French Wars and then the Napoleonic Wars. The Royal Navy was so desperate for ships that it was forced to acquire a few colliers and turn them into men-of-war. When the Alert was converted, she carried twenty 18-pound carronades, making her nominally a sloop of war, but without the fighting capacity of Britain’s other sloops, which had heavier guns and were much faster.
Porter sent First Lieutenant John Downes to take possession of the Alert, and while he did, her captain, Thomas L. P. Laugharne, came aboard the Essex to surrender his sword. Before doing so he told Porter that the Alert had six feet of water in the hold and was in danger of sinking. Porter reacted quickly, ordering her wore round on the other tack to bring her shot holes above water, and he sent carpenters to plug the holes, which they did rather easily.
When Lieutenant Downes arrived on the Alert with his party he found what he expected—her hull, sails, and rigging badly damaged. But he did not expect her crew to be in the excellent physical shape they were. Only three of her ninety men were seriously wounded and none were dead. What surprised him more, however, was the extent to which discipline had broken down. Once Captain Laugharne left the ship, his crew went wild, breaking into the spirits room, the purser’s room, other store rooms—even the captain’s cabin and stores, drinking as much liquor as they could, and throwing overboard whatever they could not consume.
The Essex for her part suffered no casualties. She had a few small musket and grape shots in her hull, but otherwise she remained untouched, except for her cabin windows, which had been broken by the concussion of her own guns.
&n
bsp; Porter took the Alert’s officers and the better part of her crew aboard the Essex, and appointed Second Lieutenant James P. Wilmer as prize master to take charge on the sloop. His instructions were to proceed in company with the Essex to America. Porter hoped that the navy would buy the Alert and turn her into a guard or block ship, but not a cruising man-of-war.
The Alert was the American navy’s first victory of the war over a British warship, which was surprising, since the Royal Navy was supposed to win every encounter regardless of the odds. Even more amazing was Porter’s success before he met the Alert.
Since leaving New York on July 3, he had hunted in the North Atlantic between Bermuda and Newfoundland, ranging as far west as 38 degrees longitude. The game was plentiful. Before running across the Alert, he had taken eight other prizes. On July 11 he took the troop ship Samuel & Sarah (Captain L.T. Somes). She was part of a small convoy of seven, sailing under the protection of the 32-gun frigate, HMS Minerva (Captain Richard Hawkins). When Porter first saw the Samuel & Sarah, she was trailing the rest of the convoy, and a single shot across her bows brought her to. Seeing this, the Minerva broke away from the rest of the convoy and stormed after the Essex. Porter was delighted. He wanted nothing more than to fight an enemy frigate of equal size, and here was one coming right for him—and only a few days into the war.
Suddenly, as Porter was hastily preparing for the Minerva’s onslaught, Captain Hawkins changed his mind, reversed course, and returned to the troop ships, all of which were well armed. Porter could not believe it. He was furious, but there was nothing he could do—attacking the entire convoy would have been suicide.
Hawkins undoubtedly wanted to fight as much as Porter did. The contempt for American men-of-war in Britain, and particularly in the Royal Navy, was palpable. Hawkins must have felt confident of a quick victory and easy prize money, not to mention plaudits from the Admiralty. Yet, at the same time, his orders required him to shepherd the First Regiment of Royal Scots infantrymen from Barbados to Quebec, where they were desperately needed, and battling the Essex could compromise his mission. Even if he succeeded, he might get so banged up that his convoy would be at risk. So, unquestionably with great reluctance, he declined combat and continued on his way. The Samuel & Sarah and all her troops were left to their fate.
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