Six Frigates

  “neither public property”: Admiral Cockburn to Admiral Warren, May 6, 1813, NW1812 II:344–46.

  “coming up to Norfolk”: Captain Stewart to Secretary Jones, May 21, 1813, quoted in Dudley, Splintering the Wooden Wall, p. 92.

  “What do you think”: Sir David Milne to George Hume, January 2, 1814, “Letters Written During the War of 1812,” p. 290.

  At last, substantial numbers: See Wertenbaker, Norfolk: Historic Southern Port, pp. 121–24.

  Stewart stationed seven gunboats: Captain Charles Stewart to Secretary of the Navy, May 13, 1813, NW1812 II:347.

  “the utmost vigilance”: Anonymous, “Reminiscence of the Last War,” United States Nautical Magazine 2 (February 1846): 341–44.

  “to effect a diversion”: Lord Bathurst to Colonel Sir Thomas Sidney Beckwith, March 20, 1813, NW1812 II:325.

  “a desperate Banditti”: Colonel Sir Thomas Sidney Beckwith to Admiral Warren, July 5, 1813, NW1812 II:364.

  a “heavy, galling fire”: Captain John Cassin to Secretary Jones, June 21, 1813, NW1812 II:358.

  “A brisk fire was kept”: Anonymous, “Reminiscence of the Last War,” p. 343.

  The lead boat was the Centipede: Lossing, The Pictorial Field Book of the War of 1812, chap. 30.

  The gun crews on the island: Captain John Cassin to Secretary Jones, June 23, 1813, ND1812 II:359.

  Most of the British boats: The Naval Chronicle, vol. V, pp. 181–84.

  “we despise the Yankees”: Graves, “Worthless is the Laurel Steeped in Female Tears,” Journal of the War of 1812 (Winter 2002): 9.

  “dressed in red”: Ibid., p. 11.

  “It is important”: Quoted in ibid., pp. 12–13.

  “Every horror”: Napier quoted in Adams, HUSM, p. 812.

  Eight Companies of New Jersey militia: Niles’ Register, April 10, 1813, vol. 4, p. 101.

  “Although invited”: Master Commandant Jacob Lewis to Secretary of the Navy, May 23, 1813, NW1812 II:108–11.

  “the preference which Seamen”: Secretary of the Navy Jones to Senator Samuel Smith, June 17, 1813, NW1812 II:148–51.

  Decatur planned to sortie: Commodore Decatur to Secretary Jones, March 10, 1813, NW1812 II:51.

  In April and May: NW1812 II:134 (editor’s note).

  On Tuesday, May 18: Commodore Decatur to Secretary Jones, June 2, 1813, NW1812 II:135.

  “As you run up”: “A Chart of New York Harbour with the Soundings, Views of Landmarks, and Nautical Directions for the Use of Pilotage,” May 19, 1779.

  The squadron passed through: Niles’ Register, June 5, 1813, vol. 4, p. 245.

  “various information”: Captain Robert Dudley Oliver to Admiral Warren, June 13, 1813, NW1812 II:137; Commodore Decatur to Secretary Jones, June 2, 1813, NW1812 II:135.

  Captain Dudley Oliver: Captain Robert Dudley Oliver to Admiral Warren, June 13, 1813, NW1812 II:137.

  Decatur took the United States: Mackenzie, Life of Stephen Decatur, p. 196.

  Four frigates lay in Boston Harbor: Niles’ Register, April 17, 1813, vol. 4, p. 118.

  “has been so intollerably”: Commodore John Rodgers to Secretary of the Navy Jones, March 8, 1813, NW1812 II:50.

  “not a moment”: Secretary Jones to Captain Samuel Evans, April 19, 1813, NW1812 II:101–2.

  “In most climates”: Napier quoted in Dudley, Splintering the Wooden Wall, p. 52.

  “It is with great mortification”: Captain Capel to Admiral Warren, May 11, 1813, NW1812 II:105.

  “The ship is in better order”: Augustus Ludlow to Charles Ludlow, May 28, 1813, in “The Chesapeake and Lieutenant Ludlow,” Magazine of American History 25(4) (April 1891).

  “does not intend”: Ibid.

  “All the fog”: Broke quoted in Gleaves, James Lawrence, Captain, United States Navy, Commander of the Chesapeake, p. 177.

  “Sir, As the Chesapeake”: Captain Philip B. V. Broke to Captain James Lawrence (undated, probably May 31, 1813), NW1812 II:126–29.

  “The frigate is plain in sight”: James Lawrence to James Montaudevert, June 1, 1813, in Gleaves, James Lawrence, Captain, United States Navy, Commander of the Chesapeake, pp. 173–74.

  In a custom borrowed: James, Naval Occurrences of the War of 1812, p. 115.

  “Bear a hand”: “Affidavit of Benjamin Trefethan,” quoted in Gleaves, James Lawrence, p. 178.

  Her sides were gleaming: Ibid.

  “striving to catch”: Thomas C. Haliburton to Admiral Sir George Broke-Middleton, July 1, 1864, in “The Arrival of the Chesapeake in Halifax in 1813,” American Neptune 57 (1997): 161–65; see also The Naval Chronicle, vol. V, pp. 161–63.

  “No sir. We have always”: Broke quoted in Gleaves, James Lawrence, pp. 185–86.

  Lawrence ordered the Chesapeake’s: Lieutenant George Budd to Secretary of the Navy Jones, June 15, 1813, NW1812 II:133–34.

  “He certainly came down”: Quoted in Gleaves, James Lawrence, p. 179.

  At five forty-five: Lieutenant George Budd to Secretary of the Navy Jones, June 15, 1813, NW1812 II:133–34.

  Lawrence shouted…and the account that follows: Gleaves, James Lawrence, pp. 187–196.

  “the coils and folds of rope”: Thomas C. Haliburton to Admiral Sir George Broke-Middleton, July 1, 1864, “The Arrival of the Chesapeake in Halifax in 1813,” p. 165.

  “Both Ships came out”: Thomas Bladen Capel, “An Account of the Chesapeake-Shannon Action,” June 6, 1813, NW1812 II:129–33.

  “flew from pew to pew”: Thomas C. Haliburton to Admiral Sir George Broke-Middleton, July 1, 1864, “The Arrival of the Chesapeake in Halifax in 1813,” p. 161.

  “We must have a Navy”: JA to TJ, June 11, 1813, in Cappon, ed., The Adams-Jefferson Letters, II:328–29.

  “We have met the enemy”: Captain Oliver H. Perry to Major General William Henry Harrison, September 10, 1813, NW1812 II:553–54.

  “Strong is my dislike”: Napier quoted in Adams, HUSM, p. 813.

  Commodore Rodgers and USS President returned: Commodore Rodgers to Secretary Jones, September 27, 1813, NW1812 II:251–53.

  Jones congratulated Rodgers: Secretary Jones to Commodore Rodgers, October 4, 1813, NW1812 II:254–55.

  On December 14, the Congress: Captain John Smith to Secretary Jones, December 14, 1813, NW1812, II:300–2.

  “Here we are”: Decatur quoted in De Kay, The Battle of Stonington: Torpedoes, Submarines, and Rockets in the War of 1812, p. 29.

  “A desperate engagement”: Quoted in ibid., p. 31.

  “to assure the ladies”: Quoted in ibid., p. 26.

  “any person or persons”: NW1812 II:160.

  “every Physical operation”: Fulton’s Ordnance Experiments (editorial note), NW1812 II:111.

  “[I]s war confined”: Robert Fulton to Secretary of the Navy Hamilton, June 22, 1812, NW1812 I:146–47.

  would “incur no expense”: Robert Fulton to Secretary of the Navy Jones, April 27, 1813 (n), NW1812 II:111–12.

  Jacob Lewis…was enthusiastic: Master Commandant Jacob Lewis to Secretary of the Navy Jones, June 20, 1813, and June 28, 1813, NW1812 II:113–14.

  a floating mine or “powder machine”: “Fulton’s Torpedo” (editorial note), NW1812 II:354.

  Admiral Cockburn…was nevertheless outraged: Rear Admiral George Cockburn to Admiral Sir John B. Warren, June 16, 1813, NW1812 II:355–56.

  “Our blockading ships”: “An American Infernal Machine,” The Naval Chronicle, vol. V, pp. 170–71.

  “great Quantity of Combustibles”: Master Commandant Jacob Lewis to Secretary of the Navy Jones, June 28, 1813, NW1812 II:161.

  Hardy, perhaps suspecting: Captain Hardy to Admiral Warren, June 26, 1813, NW1812 II:162–64.

  “a Diabolical and Cowardly”: Admiral Warren to First Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker, July 22, 1813, NW1812 II:162–64.

  “held in detestation”: The Naval Chronicle, vol. V, pp. 168–69.

  Orders went out: Admiral Sir John B. Warren, General Order No. 87, July 19, 1813, NW1812 II:16
4.

  Two months later: Dudley, Splintering the Wooden Wall, p. 106.

  “the same state of degradation”: President James Madison to Commissary General of Prisoners John Mason, September 23, 1813, NW1812 II:248.

  “If we fall in”: Stackpoole quoted in Mackenzie, Life of Stephen Decatur, p. 205.

  “The son descried”: Decatur quoted in ibid., p. 206.

  Month after month: Adams, HUSM, pp. 813–14.

  from “giving or receiving”: Dudley, Splintering the Wooden Wall, p. 96.

  Decatur…wrote to Hardy: Commodore Decatur to Sir Thomas M. Hardy, January 17, 1814, in James, Naval Occurrences of the War of 1812, appendices.

  Hardy replied the following day: Sir T. M. Hardy to Commodore Decatur, January 18, 1814, in ibid.

  “the guarantee against recapture”: Commodore Decatur to Sir Thomas M. Hardy, January 19, 1814, in ibid.

  “We are here”: Captain Robert Barrie to Eliza Clayton, March 14, 1814, NW1812 III:18–19.

  “Jonathan’s privateers”: Hickey, The War of 1812, p. 97, and The Naval Chronicle, vol. V, p. 237.

  Privateers swarmed: Dudley, Splintering the Wooden Wall, p. 107.

  “Surely the British navy”: Forester, The Age of Fighting Sail, p. 90.

  “What I have written”: Wellington quoted in Dudley, Splintering the Wooden Wall, p. 107.

  “Peace Needed”: The Naval Chronicle, vol. V, pp. 231–32.

  In Parliament, members: Adams, HUSM, pp. 1208–13 and 632.

  between 1812 and 1814, both imports and exports: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, U.S. Census Bureau, Part 2, 1776, series Q 518–23, “Value of Waterborne Imports and Exports,” p. 716. In 1812: imports, $77 million, exports, $39 million, in 1814: imports, $13 million, exports, $7 million.

  “Though France has been”: JA to TJ, July 16, 1814, in Cappon, ed., The Adams-Jefferson Letters, II:434–39.

  “it has been decided”: Secretary of State James Monroe to Peace Commissioners, June 27, 1814, ASP, Foreign Affairs, vol. 3, p. 704.

  The Admiralty had demanded: First Lord of the Admiralty Viscount Robert Saunders Dundas Melville to Admiral Warren, March 26, 1813, NW1812 II:78–79.

  “exceeds very much”: First Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker to Admiral Warren, March 20, 1813, NW1812 II:75–77.

  “materially crippled”: Admiral Warren to First Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker, November 13, 1813, NW1812 II:284.

  “the good Fortune”: Admiral Warren to Captain Robert Barrie, January 19, 1814, NW1812 III:16.

  “The rapidity with which”: Admiral Warren to First Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker, December 30, 1813, NW1812 II:307–8.

  The Admiralty sent orders: Forester, The Age of Fighting Sail, p. 201.

  to “let havock”: Ibid., p. 194.

  “They are struck”: Adams, HUSM, p. 1187.

  “I am of opinion”: “C.H.” to the editor of the Naval Chronicle, July 16, 1814, The Naval Chronicle, vol. V, pp. 232–33.

  “In such countries”: Wellington quoted in Forester, The Age of Fighting Sail, p. 195.

  “to act with the utmost”: Vice-Admiral Cochrane to Rear-Admiral Cockburn, April 24, 1814, in Dudley, Splintering the Wooden Wall, p. 117.

  In February 1814, Cockburn arrived: Ibid., pp. 120–21.

  The entire region was critically: “The Chesapeake Bay Theater, January 1814–May 1815,” NW1812 III:1–3.

  the local American commander: “Naval Preparations for the Defense of Washington,” NW1812 III:198.

  “Never did men”: Lieutenant George Gleig quoted in Boileau, Half-Hearted Enemies: Nova Scotia, New England and the War of 1812, p. 113.

  the “Swiftness with which”: Rear-Admiral Cockburn to Vice-Admiral Cochrane, August 27, 1814, NW1812 III:220–22.

  with “the most marked”: Captain Joshua Barney, Flotilla Service, to Secretary of the Navy Jones, August 29, 1814, NW1812 III:207.

  “so that the rascals”: Adams, HUSM, p. 1015.

  “Oh! My Country!”: Captain’s Clerk Mordecai Booth to Commodore Thomas Tingey, August 24, 1814, NW1812 III:208–14.

  and informed Tingey: Commodore Thomas Tingey to Secretary of the Navy Jones, October 18, 1814, NW1812 III:318–20.

  “Chips, Timber”: Secretary of the Navy Jones to Congressman Richard M. Johnson, October 3, 1814, NW1812 III:315.

  The town council acceded: The Alexandria Common Council’s answer, in appendices, James, Naval Occurrences of the War of 1812.

  The fleet sailed down the bay: Dudley, Splintering the Wooden Wall, pp. 123–24.

  “the Vandalism”: TJ to Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, February 14, 1815, with Postscript dated February 26, TJP.

  “This will be worth”: TJ to James Monroe, January 1, 1815, WTJ, VI:400.

  “in the most precipitate”: Quoted in Hickey, The War of 1812, p. 193.

  “A Treaty concluded”: “The American to the British Ministers,” August 24, 1814, ASP, Foreign Relations, vol. 3, pp. 711–13.

  “a sense of horror”: Morning Chronicle quoted in Hickey, The War of 1812, p. 295.

  a caucus of Liverpool merchants: Dudley, Splintering the Wooden Wall, pp. 138–42.

  Maritime insurance rates: The Naval Chronicle quoted in Hickey, The War of 1812, p. 218.

  “all the ports”: Niles’ Register, January 17, 1815.

  Liverpool was aggravated: Adams, HUSM, p. 1201, and The War of 1812, Hickey, p. 293.

  the Americans rejected: “The American to the British Ministers,” October 24, 1814, ASP, Foreign Relations, vol. 3, p. 725.

  “will probably now be”: Liverpool to Castlereagh, October 28, 1814, quoted in Adams, HUSM, p. 1209.

  “In regard to your present”: Lord Wellington to Castlereagh, November 9, 1814, quoted in ibid., pp. 1211–12.

  “the largest and most important”: John Quincy Adams to Louisa Catherine Adams, January 13, 1815, in Ford, ed., Writings of John Quincy Adams, vol. 5, p. 267.

  “but notwithstanding all that”: Hollins, “Autobiography of Commodore George Nicholas Hollins,” Maryland Historical Magazine 34 (September 1939): 229.

  “Carry on!”: Quoted in MacKenzie, Life of Stephen Decatur, p. 218.

  The body had been: Hollins, “Autobiography of Commodore George Nicholas Hollins,” p. 230.

  The American forces were commanded: Horseman, The War of 1812, p. 244.

  “The vibration seemed”: Quoted in de Grummond, The Baratarians and the Battle of New Orleans, p. 136.

  “We, who only seven weeks ago”: Gleig, Campaigns of the British Army, p. 357.

  “We can serve God”: “Octogenarian,” “Reminiscences of the Last War with England,” Historical Magazine (January 1870): 31–32.

  “fine smart breeze”: Journal of Acting Chaplain Assheton Humphreys in Martin, The U.S.S. Constitution’s Finest Fight, 1815, pp. 5, 27.

  They were the British warships: American Minutes of the action, in appendices of James, Naval Occurrences of the War of 1812.

  “Set every rag in chase”: Assheton Humphreys’s Journal in Martin, The U.S.S. Constitution’s Finest Fight, 1815, p. 28.

  “a perfect slaughter house”: Ibid., p. 30.

  Stewart ordered the topsails: American Minutes of the action in James, Naval Occurrences of the War of 1812, appendices.

  “The mizzenmast for several feet”: Pardon Mawney Whipple, “Letters from Old Ironsides, 1813–1815,” quoted in Martin, The U.S.S. Constitution’s Finest Fight, 1815, p. 62.

  Out of a crew of 159: Captain Stewart to the Secretary of the Navy, May 1815, appendices of James, Naval Occurrences of the War of 1812.

  The Constitution’s damages: Assheton Humphreys’s Journal in Martin, The U.S.S. Constitution’s Finest Fight, 1815, p. 30.

  “We have retired”: The Times quoted in Dudley, Splintering the Wooden Wall, p. 4.

  “the greatest Bull”: Morning Chronicle quoted in Hickey, The War of 1812, p
. 297.

  “[I]t must be allowed”: Letter from “Albion” to the editor of the Naval Chronicle, February 6, 1815, The Naval Chronicle, vol. V, pp. 233–34.

  “I most sincerely”: Sir David Milne to George Hume, May 31, 1815, “Letters Written During the War of 1812,” p. 296.

  “Thus has ended”: Letter from “Albion” to the editor of the Naval Chronicle, March 12, 1815, The Naval Chronicle, vol. V, pp. 281–82.

  EPILOGUE

  “waged with the success”: Adams, HUSM, p. 1238.

  “It is impossible to describe”: American Mercury quoted in Palmer, “Peace Upon Honorable Terms,” Early American Review 4(1) (Winter–Spring 2002).

  Cotton and tea fell: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Part 2, 1976, series Q 506–17, “Net Tonnage Capacity of Vessels Entered and Cleared,” p. 760; series Q 518–23, “Value of Waterborne Imports and Exports of Merchandise,” p. 761.

  the “whole population”: Palmer, “Peace Upon Honorable Terms: The United States Ratification of the Treaty of Ghent,” Early American Review 4(1) (Winter–Spring 2002).

  During the treaty deliberations: Ibid.

  “The treaty must” and “We have triumphed”: Hickey, The War of 1812, pp. 298–99.

  “Have we gained nothing”: Annals, 14th Congr., 1st Sess., p. 783.

  “in fact but an armistice”: TJ to William H. Crawford, February 14, 1815, with Postscript dated February 26, in TJP.

  “would have been fighting”: Calhoun quoted in Palmer, “Peace Upon Honorable Terms: The United States Ratification of the Treaty of Ghent.”

  “Disappointment!”: Hickey, The War of 1812, p. 308.

  “To our country!”: American National Biography Online, www.anb.org.

  “a certain degree of preparation”: See Symonds, Navalists and Anti-Navalists, pp. 198–200.

  “Frigates and seventy fours”: TJ to James Monroe, January 1, 1815, in WTJ, VI:400.

  “That man must be blind”: Annals, 14th Congr., 1st Sess., 1815–16, p. 787.

  “Anti-American sentiment”: Churchill, A History of the English-Speaking People, vol. 3: The Age of Revolution, p. 324.

  “we cannot keep Canada”: Sir David Milne to George Hume, January 29, 1817, “Letters Written During the War of 1812,” p. 297.