Title

Chapter 6

Identifier

http://www.nflibrary.ca/nfplindex/show.asp?b=1&ref=oo&id=298159

page

76-85

Bibliographic Citation

1812; the war and its moral : a Canadian chronicle / William Foster Coffin.

10167813

1812; the war and its moral : a Canadian chronicle / William Foster Coffin.

Type

Text

extracted text

76

CHRONICLE OF THE WAR.

the outbreak of the war, the American navy consisted of four
frigates and eight sloops, but they were all ships of new and skilful
construction, combining great power with great speed, and both, in
the number of guns and weight of metal, exceeding their nominal
strength. The embargo supplied these choice cruisers with admirble crews, while the officers, in seamanship and bravery, were second
to none. It had been remarked by observant travellers in preceding years, that the Americans were building vessels of their respective classes, very superior to our oivn, but the British Admiralty
of the day were deaf to suggestion or advice. They laughed to
scorn all such Yankee inventions.
The reverend greybeards raved an' stormed
That younker laddies
Should think they better were informed
Than their auld daddies.

Thus, when war came, a solitary frigate, splendidly armed, equipped,
manned and officered, proved more than a match for ships of war,
nominally equal, but in fact, greatly inferior ; while her speed enabled
her to set at defiance all vessels or combinations of superior force.
The frigates too, of England, scattered on every sea, were not only,
individually, unequal in strength, but, from their numbers, imperfect
in appointment and under-manned. All this ought to have been
foreseen and provided for. In the absence of provision came the
catastrophe. We have already seen how, in the first naval attempt
of the war, the Belvidera had maintained the skilful supremacy of
En;land, but this was followed by blows of different augury. In
August, 1812,* the Constitution encountered the Guerriêre. The
American, in tonnage, weight of metal, and number of men, was
half as heavy again as the Englishman. The former was fresh out
of port. The latter returning from a long cruise to refit, with fore• August 19, 1812.

NAVAL DUELS—CONSTITUTION AND GUERRIE ItE.
s

77

mast and bowsprit sprung. Captain Dacres, in true bull-dog fashion,
fought for two hours, yard-arm to yard-arm. He was crushed,
dismasted, wholly wrecked—seventy-nine men killed and wounded,
and thirty shots received below the water-line. He struck, without
disgrace, to an antagonist uninjured comparatively in hull and rigging, and whose casualties amounted to fourteen.* The Guerriere
was sinking when she struck. She was fired by the , enemy and
blown up.
Next, in October, 1812, ensued the fight between the Frolic and
the American Wasp, sloop of war, of the same nominal force, but
the broadside, equipage and tonnage greatly in favour of the
American. The Frolic, damaged in a gale, was refitting rigging.
She was soon reduced to the condition of a log on the water, and
was carried by boarding, the only living occupants of her decks
being three officers and the man at the wheel. The British loss in
a conflict of an hour was thirty killed and between forty and fifty
wounded. Both ships were taken in the afternoon of the same
day by the Poictiers, 74 guns, and sent into Bermuda.f
*The Guerriere had been captured from the French, and for the beauty of her
model was taken into our service. She was therefore an old ship, and her
scantling only admitted of the use of long 18-pounder guns, while the Constitution carried 24 pounders on her main, and 32 pounders on her upper deck.

The comparative fighting power of the two ships may be thus given :Constitution.
58 guns.
Throwing 1536 lbs. shot.

Guerriêre.
48 guns.
Throwing 1034 lbs. shot.

Crew, 460.

Crew, 240.

Tonnage, 1538.

Tonnage, 1092.

f Frolic.

Wasp.

18 guns.

18 guns.

Broadside, 262 lbs.

Crew, 92.
15 hors de combat.
Tonnage, 384.

Broadside, 268 lbs.
Crew, 135.
5 killed, 5 wounded.
Tonnage, 434.

78

UNITED STATES AND MACEDONIAN—CONSTITUTION AND JAVA.

CHRONICLE OF THE WAR.

On the 25th October came a still sturdier blow. The United
States encountered the Macedonian, 56 guns to 44, and the dis
parity still more increased by weight of broadside, tonnage, and crew.
The fight was fierce,—at long range,—in close fight,—in attempts to
board,—in a tremendous sea. The Macedonian was so crippled as to
become unmanageable, and being exposed to raking broadsides, she
could not answer. After a contest of two hours and upwards, with
mizzenmast gone by the board, main and foretopmast shot away l
thirty-six men killed and sixty-eight wounded, she slowly and sadly
lowered her flag. The disparity of force is best shown by the comparative losses. The British frigate lost 104 killed and wounded ;
the American twelve.*
Nor was this the last disaster of the year. On the 20th Dec.,
the Java frigate, under command of the young and gallant Lambert,
left Spithead for the East Indian Station. Lambert had been at
Quebec in 1808, in the Iphigenie frigate, where he had attracted
much attention, as the beau ideal of a British sailor. Brock speaks
of him with warmth in his familiar letters. He sailed from Spithead with a motley crew—gaol-birds, as they were called—being
many of them poachers and smugglers, desperadoes, devoid of discipline, but, as the event showed, full of fight ; many of them,
however, had never fired a cartridge. Lambert, who had some
American experience, remonstrated. He was answered with a sneer :
he was told that a voyage to Bombay and back would make a crew :
-

and went to his death, doomed but determined. On the 29th Dec.
he fell in with the Constitution—The inequality was much the same
as in the preceding contest with the Macedonian. The Constitution
at first stood away, long range being her forte, but Lambert was a

4

seaman, and one of the bravest of the brave. He knew that his
only chance was at close quarters, and by dint of good seamanship,
at length ranged alongside of an antagonist, on his part nothing
loath. The fight lasted two hours and a-half ; Lambert attempting
to board, fell mortally wounded. With no greater crash to the
brave hearts around, down came, at the same time, the foremast of
the Java, clogging the deck with wreck. Lieut. Chads took the
command, and desperately fought on ; the rigging and running gear
ignited from the discharge of the guns. At last not a piece could
be brought to bear, and the gallant ship, helpless and hopeless, surrendered to the foe,—but so utterly riddled and ruined, that the
American Captain Bainbridge, having saved the remains of her
crew, left her to the flames, and the charred and shattered torso
of the Java, " into the deep went down." * Lambert fell, a hero
as he had lived, and expired six days after. His " gaol-bird "
crew, true Britons at heart, and inspired by his devoted gallantry,
— died, all pluck and bottom,
To save a sire who blushed he had begot 'em.

The size of these American frigates may be estimated, on stating
the fact that the largest 74 gun ship in the British navy at that
time—the Dragon—was two feet shorter, though two feet wider,
than the President, the Constitution, or the United States, rated as
44 gun frigates ; and that while frigates of the class of the
Guerriere, the Macedonian, and the Java, carried each twenty-eight
long 18 pounders and sixteen 82 pounder carronades, the American
44's, so rated, carried thirty-two long 24 pounders and twenty-two
• Java, 44 guns,
Men,

• United States.

Macedonian.

Broadside, weight of metal, 864 lbs.

Broadside, 528 lbs.

Crew, 474.

Crew, 254.

Tonnage, 1533.

Tonnage, 1081.

79

292

Killed, 22

Constitution, ut supra.
Men,

460

Killed, 10

Wounded, 92-114

Wounded, 48— 58

178

402

CHRONICLE OF THE WAR.

80

HORNET AND PEACOCK—SHANNON AND CHESAPEAKE.

32 pounder carronades. At long range they were superior in
weight and precision of fire, and immeasurably superior at close

ades, four long 9 and two long 6 ponndeid with 162 picked then ;
the British sloop Peacock had sixteen carronades of 24 lbS and
two long 9's, with 110 men." *
At last came the cOfiritei‘stroke. die many gallani
officers, anxious to meet the Americans dii 004 terms, was Captain
Broke, in command of the Shannon. He had under his command a
crack ship mounting 52 guns, and- Were w carefully trained to gunnery

quarters.*
The effect of these successive disasters can hardly be exaggerated.
England stood, for the moment, stunned. The continent of Europe
shouted with joy. " Down with the sea-dogs, d bas les loops marins,"
was the polyglot cry ; but the old sea-dog shook himself sulkily,
showed his teeth, muttered an ominous growl, and betook himself
at once to remedy the evil. Never does England bear herself
more bravely, never does she look more worthy of her fortunes, than
in the face of misfortune. The Admiralty, slow to move, when
moved, swept on, with the force of the tide which rebuked the
Courtiers of Canute. E forts were made to strengthen the squadron on the American coast, and single vessels were equipped, and
manned, fit to encounter the leviathans of America ; a further
calamity spurred them on. On the 14th February, 1813, the
American Hornet stung to death the British Peacock.* Both were
sloops nominally of the same force, but the Hornet had 45ole, guns
more than her opponent, and the weight of her broadside was
double. In men and size she was much superior. The contest
continued for an hour and a half. The Peacock was so torn to
pieces, that she sank with thirteen of her own men, and four
Hornets, striving, nobly but vainly, to save their foemen from a
watery grave.f
As in the frigates, so was the disproportion in the American sloops
of war. " For instance the sloop Hornet carried eighteen 32 carron-

* Veritas, p. 145.
t Peacock.
Broadside guns, 9.
Weight of broadside, 192 lbs.

Hornet.
Broadside guns, 10.

Al!

and small arms. They knew their commander, and their commander
knew them ; and this mutual confidence 'made its mark in the houi
of need. Broke, off the American coast, had learned that the frigate
Chesapeake of 52 guns was then in Boston fitting for set, where=
upon he dismissed his consort, the Tenedos, a frigate of 36 guns, with
instructions to keep out of the way while he had a fair " turn up"
with the foe, and then, with Castilian punctilio, sent a cartel to ()apt
Lawrence requesting in the most respectful terms " the honour of
a meeting to try the fortunes of their respective flags."-f Lawrence,
as brave a sailor as ever trod quarter deck, had anticipated thd
invitation, and was prompt in his acknowledgments. In brief space,
11th June, 1813, Broke saw the American under w6igh, and
standing down upon him, surrounded by yachts and : boats, while the
cheers of his enthusiastic countrymen' rang through the welkin.
.

An entertainment had been prepared on shore for the return of
those who were thus arrayed and sent to conquest, but the feast was
served with funeral baked meats.
The contest which ensued it is difficult to give in detail. It
was short, sharp, and decisive, most bravely fought on both sides,
but the magnificent gunnery of the British gave them an advantage .
from the outset, which was crowned by boarding. From the deck
and from yard-arm, simultaneously, the American was carried, in a.

Weight of broadside, 297.

Men, 110.

Men, 162.

Tons, 386.

Tons, 460.

81

te.

* Veritas, p. 146 ; Letter 9.

Letter from Broke to Lawrence, James, Vol: I p. 199.
,

CHRONICLE OF THE WAR.

82

HONOUR TO THE BRAVE—EXULTATION OF AMERICA.

desperate hand-to-hand struggle, led by Broke, who was severely
wounded in the fray. Lawrence had fallen cheering on his men,
and died shortly after the action, honoured and lamented. His
body was buried at Halifax with every mark of military respect.
In fifteen minutes from the firing of the first gun, the Chesapeake
was a prize to the Shannon ; and in that brief space 145 brave men
on the American side, and 83 on the English had passed to their
account. The moral effect of this victory was tremendous—a succession of disasters was repaired at a blow. The deadly spell was
broken, and England again held in her grasp the talisman of success.
It was recovered by her own resolution to repair defeat, and by a
tardy, but just, appreciation of the merits of others.*
In all these actions the strength of vessels, weight of metal and
number of men were decidedly in favour of the Americans—the
meed of valor was equally divided. In courtesy and manly bearing the American generously vied with the Briton. Lawrence and
Lambert alike consecrated with their blood the flags of their
respective countries. The echoes of the indiscriminating sea sing
a requiem, everlastingly, for the souls of the brave men who fol-

The early successes of this naval campaign exercised great moral
influence on the general conduct of the war. They more than
compensated in the American mind for the national shortcomings
on shore. The seaboard cities were then the centres of population
and of opinion. The tastes, the pursuits, the sympathies of the
people were with their sailors. The present exultation gave no
thought to the future, or to disagreeable admonitions on the distant
frontier of Canada. The Government also were not unaware
that the present advantages on the Lakes might, with their opportunities, be greatly improved, and the prestige of victory be
transferred from the ocean to these inland seas.

•

lowed their example.
Yet more the billows and the depths have more,
Light hearts and brave are gathered to thy breast :
They hear not now the booming water roar ;
The battle thunder will not break their rest.
Keep thy red gold and gems, thou stormy grave !
Give back the true and brave!

• ARMAMENTS.
Chesapeake.

Shannon.
Broadside guns,
Weight of metal,
Number of crew,
Tonnage,

25
535
306
1066 tone. .

25
590
376
11.35 tons.

83

fl p t{ G

asitw

MEN AND

moinntittbRtrAs AND REINFORCEMENTS.

85

Nor was Canada wanting to itself. The Legislature of 1.6*rei
Canada had assembled on the 29th Dec., 1812. The Artily Bill
Act was renewed and extended. £500,000 were authorized 6 be
put into circulation. X15,000 were granted to equip the embodied
militia. £1,000 to provide hospitals, and X25,000 towards the
support of the war. A duty of 21 per cent. on all merchandize
imported into the Province was also granted for the support of the
war. The expenses of the militia fOr the current year had been
-X55,000, or $220,000.* The whole expenditure of the Goveimment was X98,777.
.

CHAPTER VII.
ISA American preparations on Lakes Ontario and Erie. British Ministry did its best—
Canada its , duty. Men, and money voted. New Brunswick regiment marched from
Fredericton on snow shoes. Major General Evans. Sir James Yeo and seamen arrive
from Halifax. British and American forces on the frontier. In the West. Harrison
and Proctor. General Winchester defeated and captured at Frenchtovrn. Capt.
Forsyth harries Brockville. Reprisals. Sh4George Prevost at Prescott. Permits
demonstration. Prescott. Ogdensburg. Colonel George Macdonnell. The Glengarries.
Bishop Macdonnell. Dash at Ogdensburg—Dangers of the ice—The place taken. Capt.
Jenkins and Lieut. Ridge. Pierre Holmes. His story. Macdonnell's courage, courtesy,
and kindness.

It has been said before, that one effect of the war had been to
concentrate the national resources, both of men and material, and
to dispose them most conveniently for operations on either arena, of
land or lake ; immense preparations were made at once. Sackett's
Harbour on Lake Ontario, and Presqu'isle on Lake Erie, were supplied with comparative facility from New York and Philadelphia, and
a naval force, created with great rapidity, very superior to any with
which Great Britain, engaged in every sea, and so distant from her
colonies, could encounter the emergency.
The preparations, therefore, for the campaign of 1813, were
carried on with increased vigour by the American Government.
The British Ministry, it may be believed, did their best, but at great
disadvantage. Thronged and beset by difficulties, it is not unnatural
that they should still have temporized, still have indulged in a lingering hope that more pacific counsels might yet prevail, or that
the chapter of accidents would open at a leaf propitious to the
fortunes of Britain.

-

In addition to the force already raised, the militia was augmented
by a draft in Lower Canada. A battalion was embodied in Quebec,
(the 6th) for Garrison duty. A Canadian Fencible Regiment,
a regiment of Glengarries, and a regiment of Voltigeurs were
recruited diligently, and with success. j The New Brunswick regit
-

lar regiment, (the 104th,) in the month of March explored, for the
first time, the wintry wilderness lying between Fredericton on the
River St. John and the St. Lawrence. These hardy men tie14=
• Christie, Vol. X, p. 72.
f The Montreal Canadian Courant—an extinct Literary Volcano—of the 4th
May, 1812, copies from the Quebec Gazette of a preceding date:

"Tee WitTIGEURS.
"This corps now forming under the command of Major De Salaberry is miltpleting with a despatch worthy of the ancient warlike spirit of the country.
Capt. Perrault's company was fillled up in 48 hours, and was yesterday
passed.
by His Excellency the Governor ; and the companies of Captains Duchesnay,

Panet and L'Ecuyer, have now nearly their compliment. The young men move
in solid columns towards the enlisting officers, with an expression of countenance
not to be mistaken. The Canadians are awakening from the repose of an age
(secured to them by good government and virtuous habits. Their anger is fresh
—the object of their preparation simple and distinct. They are to defend their
King, known to them only by acts of kindness, and a native country long since

made sacred by the exploits of their forefathers."