War of 1812
USS Constitution
Back to the War of 1812 Chronology
Warships in the early 19th century were classified into four basic types: sloop, brig, frigate and ship of the line. Within that classification, ships were rated by the standard number of guns, but captains had the discretion to add more guns to their ships to increase their firepower. In addition, ships usually had a mixture of long guns and carronades. The former were long and extremely heavy cannon that fired relatively light cannonballs in order to hit targets at a far range, while the latter were short, stubby cannon which could fire much heavier cannonballs but only for a short distance. Also, the mixture of guns determined the amount of weight the ship could throw at the enemy. If a forty-four-gun frigate had thirty 24-pound long guns and fourteen 32-pound carronades, a broadside of one side of the ship would be 584 pounds. However, for a forty-four-gun frigate with fourteen 24-pound long guns and thirty 32-pound carronades the broadside would be 648 pounds. To the crew with only a thin wooden hull between them and the enemy, this distinction was literally a matter of life and death. Furthermore, given the immense difficulty of aiming a cannon mounted on a rolling deck at an enemy ship that was also pitching with the waves, accuracy was almost impossible. Since the ships were powered by the wind, whichever ship was windward to the other had the advantage, and this was called having the weather gauge.
Although the Royal Navy had a thousand warships, most of them were busy blockading French ports, escorting convoys and hunting French ships, which left only twenty five ships, including one ship of the line and eight frigates, for the North American station. The United States navy consisted of eight frigates and twelve sloops at the beginning of the war, and there was a great deal of argument about how to best to use the limited number of ships. The Secretary of the Treasury wanted the ships to escort merchantmen, the senior naval captain advocated the formation of two squadrons to attack British commerce, and the more adventurous frigate captains wanted to raid independently, trusting that they could outsail British ships of the line and outfight enemy frigates. President James Madison chose a compromise, two squadrons would be formed to protect American merchantmen but a small fleet of four warships, including the frigate USS President, had already set sail to raid British commerce. As a result, the British decided to pursue the raiders rather than blockade ports.
This decision would prove costly in the near future since American merchantmen were able to safely return to their home ports and they would provide ships and crews for the large number of privateers that would plague British shipping. Lured by visions of huge profits, several hundred ships would sail with letters of marque (the license for a captain to capture enemy ships) but privateering is not the easiest trade and many captains soon found themselves British captives. Even so, there were so many that the British could not catch them all, at least not in the first year of the war, while the skilled captains made a sizeable dent in British trade in the region. In fact, there is little doubt that American privateers were far more effective than American warships, simply because of the huge discrepancy in numbers.
The forty-four-gun frigate USS Constitution headed up to the Gulf of St. Lawrence near Nova Scotia and started attacking British merchantmen. On August 19, 1812, it came across the thirty-eight-gun frigate HMS Guerriere and the battle soon began. Despite the Constitution’s official rating, it carried fifty-six guns, including twenty-four 42-pound carronades, Captain Isaac Hull, nephew of the recently disgraced General William Hull, chose to ignore the enemy fire and wait until he was close. At any rate, the British ship was too far away to cause any damage and apparently a number of cannonballs even bounced off its sides, so the ship gained the nickname “Old Ironsides.” Hull proved to have made the right decision since the first few broadsides caused extreme damage to the Guerriere, and one of her masts fell, which made her slower. The two ships became entangled when Hull tried to pass in front and give a full broadside but misjudged the wind. The two ships separated before either could be boarded but during the exchange of fire yet another mast fell from the Guerriere so it was basically stuck in the water. Realizing that the Constitution could simply sail around him and send a never-ending stream of cannonballs into his ship, the captain of the Guerriere surrendered.
The defeat of a single frigate was a minor matter for the British navy, given its global responsibilities, but it showed that the American navy had to be taken seriously. More important, the victory was a much needed morale boost since news reached America just after the defeat of the American army at Detroit. This was especially important since the New England states depended on the sea for trade, so it was a key factor in Madison’s re-election that November. The government decided to give money to the navy and pledged to build four ships of the line and six more frigates.
The victory was soon followed by several others. The USS United States found the frigate HMS Macedonian sailing on its own on October 12. Once again, the United States was a more powerful frigate with fifty-six guns against its opponent’s forty-nine but in the end, it was better sailed by Captain Stephen Decatur, who gradually picked apart the Macedonian from long range, as is shown by the difference in casualties. The Macedonian took casualties of 114 out of a crew of 301 against American casualties of 12 out of a crew of 428. On December 29, the Constitution, under the command of William Bainbridge, encountered the frigate HMS Java under Captain Henry Lambert, who was more cautious than the Guerriere’s captain and did not immediately close with the more powerful Constitution. However, Bainbridge was also a skilled captain and used his cannon well, so Lambert decided to come close enough to board but the Java took so much damage in the process that Lambert had no choice but to surrender. Following this third defeat, the Admiralty issued orders that all frigate captains were to avoid single-ship combat with American frigates and observe the enemy until a ship-of-the-line arrived.
Back to the War of 1812 Chronology
Captain Caution (1940)
Directed by Richard Wallace, starring Victor Mature and Louise Platt
When the captain of an American merchant ship is killed by the British at the start of the War of 1812, his daughter transforms the ship into a privateer in order to prey on British shipping.
Mutiny (1952)
Directed by Edward Dmytyrk, starring Mark Stevens and Angela Lansbury
An American captain tries to smuggle gold through a British blockade during the War of 1812 while preventing his crew from mutinying and taking the gold for themselves.
1812: The War That Forged a Nation-Walter R. Borneman, New York: Harper Collins, 2004.
Although it is told from the American point of view, it is a good single volume account of the war that is both readable and well-researched. He provides a perceptive background to the simmering tensions that were building up before war was declared. For those confused by terms such as the weather gauge, Borneman provides brief but effective explanations of the complexities of naval battles. My sole frustration is that the maps are fine for individual campaigns but there no decent maps of the overall strategy.
1812: War with America-Jon Latimer, Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007.
While it is written from the British perspective, the book is a fair and surprisingly in-depth presentation of the war with very good maps. Latimer rightly points out that the desire to conquer Canada was a primary motivation for the Americans and the failure of the invasion guaranteed Canada’s independence. He explains the nuts and bolts of the British military well, including how much food and alcohol the sailors and soldiers were guaranteed respectively. The effect of privateers and the blockade on both American and British trade, and the illegal but widespread trade between Canada and New England are examined, so it is a good choice for those more interested in the economic aspect of the war. His concluding chapter summarizes how the war affected Anglo-American relations for the next generation and how the war has been viewed by American and British historians over the years.
Share this page with others:
