A full and correct account of the chief Naval Occurrences of the late War between Great Britain and the United States of America, preceded by a cursory examination of the American account of their Naval Actions fought previous to that period, etc

Front matter

FULL AND CORRECT ACCOUNT OF THE CHIEF NAVAL OCCURRENCES OF THE LATE WAR BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; PRECEDED BY A CURSORY EXAMINATION .4 OF THE AMERICAN ACCOUNTS OF THEIR NAVAL ACTIONS FOUGHT PREVIOUS TO THAT PERIOD: TO WHICH IS ADDED AN APPENDIX; WITH PLATES. By WILLIAM JAMES. " Truth is always brought to light by time and reflection ; while the He of tbe day lives by buutle, noise, and precipitation." Murphy's Tacitus, B. ii. ■?!?. H-onUon : PHINTEO FOR T. EGERTON, WHITEHALL. 1817. J»i/ce Gold, Printer, 103, Shoe-lane, London. TO SIR PHILIP BOWES VERE BROKE, BARONET, KNIGHT-COMMANDER OF THE MOST HONORABLE ORDER OF THE BATH, AND CAPTAIN IN THE ROYAL NAVY; ■WHO, ON THE FIRST OF JUNE, 1813, IN HIS MAJESTY'S FRIGATE SHANNON, CAPTURED, AFTER A CLOSE ACTION OF FIFTEEN MINUTES, FOUGHT OFF BOSTON LIGHT-HOUSE, (HIMSELF LEADING THE BOARDERS,) THE UNITED STATES FRIGATE CHESAPEAKE, OF THE SAME FORCE; THIS WORK IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BY THE AUTHOR.

Preface

. X HE account that an American 44, had captured a British 49, gun frigate, reached the author, when a prisoner in the United States. An Englishman, early accustomed to regard the navy as the bulwark of his country, and not aware of any difference between the no minal or rated, and the real force of a ship, might well feel a degree of humiliation in the Guerriere's loss. The event naturally excited a spirit of inquiry; truth and fiction separated by degrees; and, before the author effected his escape from the United States, he had learned duly to appreciate the tales of American victories, both by sea and land. Convinced that, the moment the actions between British and American ships could VI

PREFACE.

. be submitted to arithmetical calculation, the popular delusion respecting them would cease, the author, upon his arrival at Halifax, Nova Scotia, commenced transmitting to the editor of the Naval Chronicle, under the signature of a Boxer," a series of letters on the subject. As these were written soon after the accounts had transpired, it was hardly possible to avoid some mistatements ; nor would a literary correspondence admit of very minute details. Subsequently, the au thor published at Halifax, a pamphlet, enti tuled, — " An Inquiry into the merits of the principal Naval Actions between Great Britain and the United States, &c." — This was a decided improvement upon the letters ; but, as nearly all the British ships had left the station, and the dearth of materials been encreased by the non-appearance in print of the British official accounts, in as many as twelve of the actions, much still remained to be done.

The colonial public, however, gave the work a most flattering reception : in the short space of two months, nearly 2000 copies went off ; and the remainder,

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. VII about 500 in number, the author brought with him to England. A second edition, or, rather, an entirely new work, is now offered to the public. Not only have the details of each action been more fully and correctly stated, and the comparative force of the parties, more clearly exhibited ; but many naval occurrences of the late war, not noticed in the Halifax edition, have been added : and, as the American historians have commenced attacking the British naval cha racter, from the war of 1776, it was incum bent upon the author to bestow a slight re trospect upon the events of that early period. To obviate the charge of partiality, so often alleged against histories of war-events, the published official accounts, American as well as British, are inserted in an Appendix. The plates are intended to illustrate the subject, not to ornament the work.

Plate 1 shows the description of shot used by the Ame ricans, during the whole of the late war ; at first, attempted to be concealed under the words " round and grape." Plates 2 and 3 explain

PREFACE.

. themselves. The author had intended to represent, in a fourth plate, the profile-views of the British and American frigates, but wanted interest to procure copies of the sheer-draughts: indeed, it becomes him to state that, his own assiduity alone, enabled him to give any plates at all. He might, it is true, have procured a drawing of the action between the Shannon and Chesapeake, or Pelican and Argus; but here he must have trusted to the pencil of another ; and so little is generally thought due to the relative size and force of the ships, provided the piece, as a whole, produces a striking effect, that he has preferred being a plate deficient, to introducing one, calculated to please the fancy, at the risk of entrapping the judgment, of his readers. With respect to the general credit of his work, the author has spared no pains or ex pense, to render it worthy the subject upon which it treats.

For the chief of his facts, not extracted from the official accounts and American naval histories, he is indebted to the ready communications of many distinguished

PREFACE.

. IX naval officers: the remaining facts are the result of his own observation and inquiries, as well while a prisoner, as since his escape. Before the reader pronounces upon any harsh expression he may observe in the work, let him study, attentively, the grounds upon which it is uttered. National character is a sensitive thing ; and, surely, the existing peace between the two countries does not oblige us to let pass, unrefuted, the foulest asper sions, or wholly to suppress the feelings of a just indignation. How little the Americans consult any punctilio of the kind, may be seen in a collection of libels upon both British navy and army, published as late as September last ; and dedicated to the " Honorable James Munro," on the eve of his becoming president of the United .States. The high tone assumed by the American author, when speaking of the intentions of his government, coupled with the dedication of his work, is a convincing proof, that he was sanctioned in the performance of it ; and that, had he thought the deck plans, or sheer-draughts, of any of the Ame- X

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. rican ships of war, would further his object, the American navy-board, when applied to on the subject, would not have thought it expe dient to withhold them from his sight. In the separate details of each action, par ticularly those of the late war, the author has endeavoured at a methodical arrangement, something like the following: Meeting of the ships. Details of the action. (British and American accounts compared together. British ) ship's damages,— loss. American) do. do. British ") ship's guns, and comple-^ . , American/ ment of men and boys, j Dimensions of the ships. do. do. Comparative force of the ships computed, and exhibited in a statement. Remarks arising out of that statement; illustrations, &c. The merits of the different actions might have been detailed in less than half the space they occupy in the present work, had not the American editors, by heaping falsehood upon falsehood, so often compelled the author, — not unfrequently by a tedious operation to both the

PREFACE.

. XI reader and himself, — to remove the obstruction ere he could proceed. Yet he does not pledge himself to have remarked upon all the contra dictions and inconsistencies to be found in the American official accounts : much remains for the reader's discernment. Had the suppressed British letters duly appeared in the Gazette, there would have been something to counter act, in the public mind, the baneful effects of the American accounts, so freely circulated, without a word of comment, by British journalists ; and the author would not now have to eradicate one impression, before he can hope to succeed with another. There were a few boat-attacks and other spirited enterprises, performed upon the coast of the United States, that are not recorded in these pages. The chief reason for omitting them was, the impossibility of getting at the relative force of the parties; without which, the details would comprise no more than what had been seen by the public. The same motives, added to the work's having already exceeded, by upwards of 130 pages, the limits originally

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. assigned to it, induced the author to leave out of his plan, the numerous gallant actions fought by British packets and merchant-ships, with American privateers. It is the actions between the public cruizers on each side, — the higher classes especially, — that stand as conspicuous national events; and which ought, therefore, to be handed down to posterity in characters of truth. An earlier appearance of the present work, might have rendered it more acceptable ; but the author had only to choose between, waiting till he had obtained the required information from officers dispersed all over the United Kingdom, and rashly committing to print, a mass of crude facts and imperfect details, upon so highly interesting a subject. Indeed, it was only in February last, that the full par ticulars of the wanton attack made by the U. S. ship Peacock upon the honorable East India company's cruizer Nautilus, appeared in an authenticated form ; and yet more recently, that the last American work on the occur rences of the late war, arrived in this country.

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. XIII Without the latter, the advantage of the reply, after an adversary has exhausted his eloquence in embellishing his own, and black ening our cause, would have been lost : with out the former, an important event of the late war, would only have reached the public, disfigured by American misrepresentation. The question may be asked, — Have we not already, in the Annual Registers and other periodical works, faithful accounts of the naval events of the late American war ? — In not one of them, are the actions between British and American ships correctly stated. Nor is it surprising, when we consider, that the editors, in the numerous cases in which the British official letters were not published, had hastily to glean their materials from the rumours of the day, or the official and other accounts of the Americans.

Even here, had the authori ties been cited, the antidote, in most cases, would have accompanied the poison ; but, very often, the latter was rendered more potent by the editor's remarks ; and more so still, when

PREFACE.

. the judgment that dictated them, had become warped by the spirit of party. The present work differs from others upon the same subject, in one material point; the attempt to exhibit the comparative force in naval actions, by placing in confrontation, first, the amount, in pounds-weight, or calibers, of the shot thrown by each ship or fleet, in a broadside, or discharge from all their guns upon one side, distinguishing the long guns from the carronades; then, the complement or complements of men and boys, and lastly, the size in tons, of each opposing ship or fleet. The reasons for adopting this method, have been fully set forth in the first or introductory chapter. Another point of. difference consists, in submitting to the reader's view, the enemy's official account of each action. It is seldom we see a French official account ; and then, the aid of a translator is required, to give it general currency : whereas an American official account no sooner meets the eye of an Eng lishman, than it finds its way to both his head and his heart.

PREFACE.

. XV In a work like the present, the reader may expect some political discussions, upon the ori gin of the late American war, the manner in which it was conducted by each party, and the merits of the treaty by which it terminated. If so, he will be disappointed : the author has confined his attention to naval subjects ; and, should he have succeeded in exposing to ridi cule, American bombast, and in vindicating the character of British seamen, from that perti nacious system of falsehood and detraction, upon which the Americans have founded their novel pretensions to excel us in deeds of arms on the ocean, — he has accomplished his object. lAondon, June 1st, 1817- ERRATA. Page 8 line 29, dele Neptune her charioteer. — — 30, for his read a. 35 — 14, for 28 read 26. — — 17, for four read two. — — 19, for 6 read 2. 62 — 8, for 1780 read 1800. 141 — 10, for fore read main. 322 — 5, for squadron read squadrons. 332 — 12, dele men. 419 — 19, for larger that), jVnd nearly as large as. 522 — 29, for four read tftree. xviii — 13, for 29 read 20.

N.B. The author has in preparation, a work, intended to be in uniformity to the present , upon the military occurrences of the late war between Great Britain and the United States of America. Ttemantling .or and grape "slwt. .

Chapter I

American naval histories — Their partiality — List of several — Nature of a ship's armament — Different kinds of cannon in use — Their comparative qualities — Advantages of large-sized shot — Weight of less consequence than diameter — Americans of a contrary opinion — Its fallacy exposed — British and American shot in use — Advantage of shifting guns — Definition of a ship's broadside-weight of metal — Necessity of estimating the complement — Also the size in tons — British and American ships' rates — Deception upon the public — New order in council — Difference in ships of war, as to number of decks — Not a true criterion of force — Nor difference in rig, of size — Injunction to the reader on the foregoing heads. li\ a work professing to exhibit correct ac counts of the naval occurrences of a war, it would be an insult to the reader's understand ing, lo call for his decision upon e.vparte state ments.

Yet, not one of the naval histories published in the L'nited States, pays any respect to the statements of an enemy. American official accounts, however improbable or contradictory, are held too sacred to be doubted ; and even idle rumour, and newspaper paragraphs, are often made the grounds of the most positive assertions, upon the most important points. The American details of their naval actions, will be extracted from four of their principal works on that subject. It may be as well to give, at once, a summary of their respective title-pages : " The Naval History of the United States, from the commencement of the Revolutionary War to the present time; by Thomas Clark; second edition; published at Philadelphia, January 3, 1814." " An impartial and correct History of the War, &c. : carefully compiled from official do cuments : by John Low, at New York, in 1815."

" Naval Monument, containing official and other accounts of the battles fought between the navies ot' the United States and Great Bri tain, during the late war, &.c. : by A. Bowen, at Boston, in 1816." " Historical Sketches of the late war be tween the Ujsited States and Great Britain, &c; by John Lewis Thompson, at Philadel phia; third edition; 1816." One of these works, the " Naval Monument," has a remarkably modest frontispiece. It re presents America riding triumphant on the -waves, and Neptune, her charioteer, pointing, with his trident, to a cluster of American worthies, fantastically stuck upon a tall monument ; whose foundation, by the bye, is not clearly dis cernible. Addison has described the design in a very few words. — " One kind of burlesque," says he, " represents mean persons in the ac coutrements of heroes."

The " Naval History of the United States" partakes rather of an official character; and Mr. Clark, in his first edition, did style himself, — " U. States topographical engineer." He has, evidently, been allowed access to all the public records. Both democrats and federalists lavishly praised his first edition; and the author has, very judiciously, placed in front of his second, under the imposing head of " Criticism," several complimentary scraps. Among them, is the following from the American " Portefolio:" " This is a very interesting collection of facts and documents, no where else to be found in so convenient a form, on the most important sub ject which now engrosses the attention of the American people. The naval history of a country is a theme on which we all dwell with pecu liar pleasure ; since our national pride cannot fail to receive its highest gratification from a series of brilliant and daring achievements.

The author of the present work has, therefore, rendered a useful service, by enabling the public at large to become more familiar with our naval annals." b A third edition, and a dedication to the late American secretary of state, Mr. Munro, confer some authority upon the " Sketches of the war." That, and the " Naval History," may be considered as speaking the sentiments of the Ameri can people, upon the great national subject that fills the pages of both. The indulgence of the naval reader is now re quested, while a few observations, chiefly cal culated for such as are unacquainted with the subject, are submitted, upon the nature of a ship's armament, and upon what really constitutes her force, — or power to do and resist in jury, when contending with an enemy. That ships constructed for the purposes of war, mount guns or cannon, is well known.

Guns have their cylinders of various diameters or calibers, from 2-j to 8 inches ; and each gun is named from the weight of the shot, which its cylinder will admit to pass freely. Thus, a gun of a 2-\ inch caliber, being capable of receiving and discharging an iron shot that weighs half a pound, is called a half-pounder, or more com monly, a swivel, from the way in which it is usually mounted ; and a gun of an 8-inch ca liber, discharging a shot weighing sixty eight pounds, is called a 68-pounder. Between these extremes, are several gradations, each distin guished in a similar manner. The gun which throws a shot of sixty eight pounds weight, was invented in 1779, at Carron in Scotland ; and thence called a carronade. This gun is shorter and lighter, in proportion to its caliber, than any of the common kind.

The carronade admits of variety in caliber, but not to so great an extent as the long gun ; the cylinders of few of the former being below fourinches in diameter; the caliber of a 9-pounder. No long gun at present in our service throws a heavier shot than of thirty two pounds. There is, however, a kind of gun, still shorter than the carronade, the diameter of whose bore extends to thirteen inches. These guns are named mortars and howitzers; and are designated according to the diameter of their bores, thus: ii A 13-inch mortar;" — " An 8-inch howitzer." They are chiefly employed to throw shells; and, for that purpose, mounted on board peculiar vessels, called bomb-ships. Within these few years, a sort of medium-gun has been invented, for sea-service, called by us, Govei's, or Congreve's gun.

The Americans call their's a Columbiad; probably from its having been cast at the cannon-foundery situate in the district of Columbia, in the United States. The English short long-gun weighs about two fifths less than a gun of the same caliber, of the common construction ; but a 68-pound-carronade weighs only one-sixth more than the lightest 24-pound gun, and a 42-pound carronade weighs considerably less than the lightest 18-pound gun. Owing to this circumstance, the carronade requires fewer hands to work it, and can be loaded and pointed with more quickness and facility, than the long gun. The benefit to be derived from employing a species of cannon capable of throwing shot of so extraordinary a size, appears in the following extract from a celebrated trea tise on gunnery : " The most important advantage of heavy bullets is this, that with the same velocity, they break out holes in all solid bodies, in a greater proportion than their weight: that is, for in stance, a 24-pound shot will, with the same ve locity, break out a hole in any wall, rampart or solid beam, in which it lodges, above eight times larger than will be made by a 3-pound shot ; for, its diameter being double, it will make a superficial fracture above four times as great as the 3-pounder, (more of a smaller hole beino closed up by the springing of the solid body than of a great one,) and it will penetrate to more than twice the depth.

By this means, the firmest walls of masonry are easily cut through their whole substance by heavy shot, which could never be effected by those of a smaller caliber; and in ships, the strongest beams and masts are hereby fractured, which a great number of smaller bullets would scarcely injure." (Robins, p. 285.) In Rees's Encyclopedia, title, Cannon, are the following additional remarks upon large-sized shot. — " The 68-pound carronade is superior to the long 24 and 32-pounders, particularly in close combats, by the size of the holes which its shot makes in the side of a ship, and from its likewise passing through the same with less velocity. For a shot, especially if its diameter be but small, that passes very quickly through a ship's side, makes only a clean hole; whereas one of a large diameter that penetrates it with less celerity, makes a rough and ragged hole, by tearing and splintering the planks and timbers."

It may be necessary to offer a few words on the comparative distances to which cannon of the different calibers and descriptions will project a shot. Robins, who wrote upwards of thirty years before the invention of carronades; and therefore had reference to long guns only, says : — " The larger bullets being less re sisted in proportion to their weight than the smaller, the distance to which these larger bullets fly with the same proportion of powder, exceeds the flight of the smaller ones, almost in the pro portion of their diameters ; so that a 32-pound shot, for instance, being somewhat more than six inches in diameter, and a 9-pound shot but four inches, the 32-pound shot will fly near half as far again, as that of 9-pound, if both pieces are so elevated as to range to the furthest distance possible."

(P. 284.) In another place he says, " a 24-pounder, loaded in the customary manner, and elevated to 8°, ranges its bullet, at a medium, to about a mile and a half; whereas, a 3-pounder, which is of half the di ameter, will, in the same circumstances, range but little more than a mile." (P. 256.) Some information relating to the range of carronades, is here extracted from a little work entitled the " Naval Pocket Gunner." " Range with carronades, l-12th the weight of the shot, with one wad; the line of fire from six to nine feet above the water's levels' Therefore, a ship, armed with carronades only, however large in caliber, would be quite at the mercy of an adversary, armed with long 12 or 18-pounders; provided the latter ship, by possessing the weather-gage, or a decided supe riority in sailing, could choose her distance.

Let the two ships once close, and the larger balls would soon establish their destructive superi** ority, Nature. fl8-pndr. 42 pndr. 32-pndr. 24-pndr. 18-pndr. 12-pndr. Point-blank . . . 450 yds. 400 yds. 330 yds. 300 yds. 270 yds. 230 yds. Jive degrees. . . 1280 .. 1170 .. 1087 .. 1050 .. 1000 .. 870 .. There is another advantage attending large cannon, which Mr. Robins justly calls " a capital one;" — " that of carrying the weight of their bullet in grape or lead-shot, and thereby annoying the enemy more effectually, than could be done by ten times the number of small pieces.'' (P. 285.) On referring again to the " Naval Pocket Gunner," it appears, that the difference in the relative weight* of grape-shot, when made up, is, in some cases, much greater than exists between the relative weights of round shot.

For instance, a single grape-shot for a 24-pounder weighs two pounds; and, for an 18-pounder, one pound eight ounces : but while the grape, when made up, weighs for a 24-pounder, twenty four pounds four ounces, it weighs for an 18-pounder only sixteen pounds eight ounces. It is commonly thought, that a shot fired at a very long range, should it even strike a ship, would do far less injury, than a shot fired from a .short distance. The extract from Rees's En cyclopedia, already given, disproves this; and, to the same effect, are the words of Mr. Robins :— *- " It is a matter of experiment, that a bullet, which can but just pass through a piece of timber, and loses almost all its motion thereby, has a much better chance of rending and fracturing it, than if it passed through it with a much greater velocity."

(P. 291.) And, in another place: — " In penetrating solid bodies, that bul letwhich has but just force enough to go through, will produce much greater effect, than a bullet which has a considerable velocity left, after it has got through." (P. 307.) The Americans, it appears, have "accurately weighed together" their shot and ours, of the same caliber ; and one naval commander officially states, that a British 32-pound shot weighs one pound three-quarters more than an American one. This alleged difference in weight (rather less than one-eighteenth) the Americans ascribe, not to the diameter of their shot being smaller than ours of the same nominal weight, but to the tex ture being looser, arising from some difference in the two methods of casting. Whenever the Americans do venture upon a calculation of comparative weight of metal, they take care to profit by this discovery.

It is not worth enquiring, whether or not this alleged trifling variation in weight between American and British shot, does exist ; or whe ther it may not arise from a new shot having been picked out on one side, and an old one, dented in the casting, or abraded by rust, on the other. Under the article already quoted from Rees's Encyclopedia, it is stated, that " a hollow shot equal in diameter to a 68-pound shot, but weighing only forty pounds, fired from a suitable distance, penetrated a bulk-head, as thick as the sides of a first-rate ; and afterwards striking against an oak post or stud, nine inches square, tore, shattered, and splintered it almost to pieces." It has just appeared, that one advantage of a large shot, is the size of the hole it makes in a ship's side ; and that the less the celerity of the shot in its passage through, the greater will be the damage.

Were the exact weight, and not the diameter, of a shot to be taken, in proof of its destructive power, the above hollow shot, of eight inches diameter, filled with combustible matter till it weighed forty eight pounds, must be considered as less effective than a solid iron shot of the same diameter, weighing sixty eight pounds; and that, precisely as 48 is to 68. Either the Americans mean this, or they mean no thing. It is to be hoped, they will not again broach a principle so truly ridiculous. The only kinds of shot used in the British navy, are, round, grape, and case or canister, a smaller species of grape. But the Americans, both in their public, and private-armed vessels, employ, under the denomination of " round and grape," chain, bar, star, and double-headed shot; which, in close combat especially, enables them to unrig a ship, much more quickly than could be accomplished by the shot in general use.

An accurate representation of these dismantling shot may be seen in Plate I. The editor of the " Naval Historj'" says that, — " in an engagement between ship and ship, the effect produced is, by the broadside, or the number of guns placed in battery on one side of a ship." Mr. Clark should have said — " num ber and description of guns ;" his present state ment implying, that a 3 and a 32-pounder are productive of equal effect. The armed schooners of the United States often appear with their guns fitted in a manner, that, one would think, requires only to be known, to be generally adopted. For instance, a schooner of SO or 90 tons, upon which we should place six 12-pound carronades at least, would, as an American privateer, carry three long 12-pounders, upon pivot-carriages; so as to be used upon either broadside.

Thus, while numerically of only half her former force, she throws the same weight of metal in broadside; and possesses the immense advantage of long guns over carronades of the same ca liber. All the American public ships derive a par tial benefit from using shifting guns upon their upper decks ; for which they are pro vided with spare ports, exclusive of those at the bow and stern. These guns, as well as those placed on pivot-carriages, belong to the broadside-force ; and should be estimated accordingly. Mr. Clark, by including, in his statement of the force of our frigates, the shifting or boat-carronade which they usually carry, admits the correctness of this principle. Standing bow or stern-chasers, or any other guns in the ship, for which no broadside-ports (in contra-distinction to the bow or bridle-port) are provided; or which, from the construction of their carriages, cannot be fought, otherwise than through ports, will not be estimated.