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SlMFO]RD«VNIVE]RSITY°UBMRY 




%p (0ar)mer W. 9U\tn 



OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE. lUnstrated. 
Crown 8yo, $i,S9 m^ Postage extra. 

OUR NAVY AND THE BARBARY CORSAIRS. 
Illostrated. Crown 8vo, I1.50 m#/. Pottage u 



HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
Boston and Nbw York 



OUR NAVAL WAR WITH 
FRANCE 



OUR NAVAL WAR 
WITH FRANCE 



BY 



GARDNER W. ALLEN 




BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 

1909 



N 






TO 

THE MEMOBY OF 

MY MOTHER 



PREFACE 

The spoliation of American commerce by the 
French, and the resulting hostilities during the last 
years of the eighteenth century, form the earliest 
episode of importance in our histoiy under the 
Federal Constitution. It is, perhaps, natural that 
they should have been to a great extent over- 
shadowed by the tremendous convulsions of the 
French Revolution. Yet these hostilities between 
the United States and France continued in an 
acute form nearly three years, and amounted to 
actual war, although war was declared on neither 
side. Important frigate actions and veiy many 
minor contests furnish some of the most stirring 
exploits in the early history of the navy. 

An examination of manuscript sources and con- 
temporary newspapers has brought to light much 
material never before utilized. For aid in this 
search, the writer is indebted to the officials of the 
Navy Department, the Boston Public Library, and 
the Massachusetts Historical Society, and to mauy 
other persons. He is under especial obligations to 
Professor Edward Channing of Harvard Univer- 
sity, and to Charles W. Stewart, Esq., Superin- 
tendent of Library and Naval War Records, Navy 
Department. 

Gardner W. Allen. 

Boston, March, 1909. 



CONTENTS 

I. Eablt Mibundebstamdinob .... 1 
II. Nbgotzationb 16 

m. French Sfolzationb • • . ^ . 28 

[ TV, Naval Prbpakatiow 41 

V. The OPENiKa of HoBTiiinES ... 63 

YI. Etxnts of 1799 87 

Vn. Thb Last Year of the War .139 

ym. Private Armed Vessels .... 225 

^ ^IX. The ComrENTiON of 1800 . .246 

I'^'^X. Reduction of the Navy .... 252 

m. Spoliations after 1801 260 

Xn. The Spoliation Claois .... 268 

APPENDIX 

L Sources of Information .... 283 

II. Treaties 290 

nL Decrees 297 

rv. Vessels in Service, 1798-1801 ... 301 

V. COMMANDINQ OFFICERS, 1798-1801 . . .303 

VL The Nautical Day 306 

Index 309 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Thb Constellation and Inbuiigsnte m Action 

(see p. 94) Frontispiece 

Fainted and engimted by B Bmnge and pabliihed at Philadelphia, 
May 90, 1799. Inscribed: **Aotfon between the ConateOation and 
L'lnsnzgent. On the 9th Febmaiy, 1799. Off theUhmd ef St. Chiia- 
tophexa, idien after an havd foofl^ battle of one hoar and a quarter 
the Frigate of the Directory yielded to anperior eldll and bmvery. 
Killed on board L^Inaorgent 29. Wounded 46. ConeteUation 1 killed, 
S woonded. Force of the Oonntellation : Oona 36, Men 810. Force 
ol the Ineorgent : 40 Guns, 18 Braaa SwiTcls, 409 Men." From the 
original engrariqg, through the coorteqr of Oharlea H. T^lor, Jr., 
Baq., of Boston. 

Map OF THE West Indibb 1 

Flan of a Frigate 42 

From Captain Trazton's "Syifeem of Masting *' ; being an appendix 
to his ** Bemarks, Instructions, and Examples relating to the Lati- 
tude and Longitude " (Fhitodelphia, 1794). Bngratedl^Thaokara, 
from a drawing by J. Fox. 

The Frigate Constttution 48 

From the original water-color by W. A. K. Martin, through the 
conrteqr of Henry A. Martin, Esq., of Ambler, Pft. 

Benjamin Stoddert 64 

mrom the original painting by E. F. Andrews at the Navy Depart- 
ment, Washington. 

John Barrt 66 

From the ** National Portrait Gallery'' (1836). Engrayed by J. B. 
Longacre from the painting by G. Stuart. 

Samuel Nicholson 70 

After an old portrait. 

The Frigate United States 90 

From the ** American Universal Magazine," July, 1797. Engraved 
by F. Glftrke, Philadelphia. 



zii ILLUSTRATIONS 

The Constellation chasing the Insurobnte 94 

Fidnted and engraved by E. Savage and paUUshed at Philadelphia, 
May 20, 1799. Inaoribed: ** Conatellation & L'lnsnrgent ~ the 
Chaoe." From the original engraving, through the conrteay of C. H. 
Taylor, Jr., Eeq. ; believed tO be the only copy in eziatenoe (see 
** Proceedings of the Maaaachuaette Hiatorical Society," aeoond 
aeries, vol. ziz, pp. 10, 17, 18). 

Silas Talbot 122 

From an engraving by J. Rogers in 0. E. Lester's " America's Ad- 
' (1876). 



Thobias Trxtxtun 13<| 

After the engraving by C. Tiebont of the portrait by A. Robertson. 
•* New York, Published I7 A. Robertson, No. 79 liberty Str. & 0. 
Tiebont, No. 28 Gold Street, Novem.' 20th, 1799.** 

Isaac Hull 182 

From " The Ptdyanthos*' (Jan. 1814). Engraved by I. R. Smith from 
a portrait by H. Williams. ** The Polyanthos '* says : *' Before the 
engraving could be finished, another appeared ih the 'Analectio 
Magasfaie * [the familiar Stuart portrait], and the dissimilarity in 
the two lectures induced us to pos^[Kme the publication of ours, till 
it should have been submitted to the inspection of his friends. 
Having done this, we are anthoriied to say that it has been honored 
with their entire qwn>bation.*> 

Alexander Murray 190 

From Waldo's ** Naval Heroes " (1823). Engraved by WOlard from 
a portrait by Wood. 

Charles Stewart 204 

From the " Analeotic Hagasine " (Feb. 1816). Engraved by Good- 
man fk«m a portrait by Wood. 

The Frigate Boston 210 

** Frigate Am^ricaine, faisant secher see VoUes. Dessfai^ d'aprte 
Nature et grav< par Bangean." From ** Recueil de Navires de Guerre 
et Marchands de Diverses Nations** (Paris, 1812). By courteqr of 
Ci^tain Arthur H. Clark of New York. 

David Porter 216 

From the *• Analectio Magasine " (Sept 1814). Engraved by Edwin 
from a portrait by Wood. 



OUR NAVAL WAR WITH 
FRANCE 



OUR NAVAL WAR WITH 
FRANCE 

CHAPTER I 

EABLT mSUNDERSTANDINGS 

The British colonies of North America having de- 
clared their independence and being involved in an 
unequal straggle with the mother-country, the new- 
bom nation appealed to France for aid at an early 
period of the contest. The American envoys, Ben- 
jamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee, 
were happily able to engage the attention of Louis 
XVI and his ministers. They, however, cautiously 
held aloof at first, naturally unwilling to support a 
rebellion while success appeared almost hopeless ; 
but the defeat and capture of Burgoyne's army in 
1777 turned the scale in the wavering French 
councils, and it was decided to espouse the Ameri- -^^ 
can cause. Accordingly, on the 6th of February^^^""^^ 
1778, two treaties between the United States and 
France were signed at Versailles, — a treaty of i^ 
amity and commerce and one of alliance. 

In their desperate strait the Americans gladly j/^ 
assumed obligations, imposed by these treaties, * 
which in after years proved embarrassing. With- 



2 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

oat the French aUiance and the liberal loans of the 
king the fortunate outcome of the war must surely 
have been impossible ; and gratitude to France was 
a universal sentiment in America. Some of the 
provisions of a consular convention, concluded be- 
tween the two nations in 1788, also caused compli- 
cations a few years later. 

In his annual address to Congress, December 8, 
1790, President Washington called attention to 
the disturbed situation of Europe and the neces- 
sily for circumspection on the part of the United 
States.^ Shortly after this, France complained of 
certain duties imposed by the United States, and 
this caused discussion as to the interpretation of 
the trealy of commerce of 1778 ; ^ but no serious 

\ , trouble arose between the two countries until after 
\! the breaking out of the general European war 

brought on by the French Bevolution. 

''\| A strict fulfillment of our treaty obligations 

] would have drawn the United States into this war 

as an ally of France. The question as to whether 

the treaties had been terminated by the revolution 

\^^d change of government in France wa« discussed 
in Washington's cabinet, and it was agreed that 
they had n ot b een. According to the eleventh arti- 
cle of the treaty of alliance the United States guar- 
anteed '' to His Most Christian Majesty the present 
possessions of the Crown of France in America, as 

1 State Papers, yol. i, p. 18. See Appendix I for authorities. 
« Ibid. voL X, pp. 6&-T7. 



EABLY MISUNDEBSTANDINGS 8 

well as those wliich it may acquire by the future 
treaty of peace." This referred especially to the 
French West Indies, and to have complied with 
the treaty would have involved the United States 
in the defense of these islands against the attacks 
of England. In view of the exhausted condition of 
the country at the time, slowly recovering from the 
strain of the War for Independence and loaded 
with debt, to have embarked in another great war 
would have been suicidal. As a matter of seL£-pre- 
servation it was necessary to maintain strict neutral- 
ity. In February, 1793, soon after the execution 
of Louis XYI, the war in Europe became general, 
involving besides France the maritime nations of 
Great Britain, Spain, and Holland. 

In order to get the opinions of his cabinet on the 
situation, the President submitted to the members 
certain questions, and obtained their unanimous 
approval of two important measures : that neu- 
trality should be proclaimed, aud that the Republic 
of France should be recognized aud a French min- 
ister received. April 22, 1793, Washington issued 
his proclamation, in which it is declared that the 
United States will "pursue a conduct friendly 
and impartial toward the belligerent powers," that 
American citizens engaging in contrabaud trade 
will not be protected by the government against 
punishment or forfeiture, and that the United States 
will prosecute all persons who violate the law of 
nations. It was agreed that the word "neutrality" 



4 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

should be omitted from the text of the proclama- 
tion.^ Public sentiment in America at this time was 
strongly in favor of France, and the proclamation 
was unpopular, although it was approved by both 
the Senate and House of Representatives at the 
next session of Congress.^ 

Shortly before this, on April 8, there had arrived 
at Charleston, South Carolina, the newly appointed 
French minister to the United States, Citixien Genets 
In a letter written after his arrival, to the- French 
minister of foreign affairs, Genet attributes to con- 
trary winds his landing at this point instead of pro- 
ceeding directly to Philadelphia, the seat of govern- 
ment.' Yet the frigate Embuscade in which he came 
he sent north at once, and she soon arrived at Phila- 
delphia, while he himself made the journey by land, 
after a halt of two weeks or more in Charleston. 
During his stay in the south Genet entered upon a 
course of conduct certain to embarrass the United 
States, and from this time forth his behavior indi- 
cates a misapprehension of the rights and powers of 
the American executive under the Constitution, as 
well as of the duties and limitations of his own office. 
He had brought with him two hundred and fifty 
blank commissions, and four of these he now issued 
te privateers, which were rapidly fitted out and 

1 8U Pap, voL i, p. 44 ; Washington, voL xii, pp. 27»-282 ; Jefi 
ferson, vol. i, pp. 226, 227, vol. vi, pp. 315, 346. 

2 8t Pap. vol. ii, p. 127. 

* American Historical Association, 1903, vol. ii, pp. 211-213 ; for 
Gtenet*8 instmotioiis from his government, see p. 201. 



EARLY MISUNDERSTANDINGS 6 

manned, partly by Frenchmen and partly by Ameri- 
cans.^ They were sent to sea and soon began to re- 
turn with English prizes, some of them captured 
within the territorial waters of the United States. 
The British minister complained of these proceed- 
ings, and one of the prizes, taken in Delaware Bay 
by the Embuscade, was afterwards surrendered by 
Grenet.' 

In a letter to Jefferson, the Secretary of State, 
dated May 27, after his arrival in Philadelphia, 
Grenet vigorously defended his conduct against the 
complaints of the British minister. In his reply of 
June 5, in speaking of the arming of privateers in 
American ports and the enlisting of American citi- 
zesas for the French service, Jefferson expressed the 
opinion of the President '^ that the arming and equip- 
ping vessels in the ports of the United States, to 
cruise against nations with whom they are at peace, 
was incompatible with the territorial sovereignty of 
the United States ; • . . that it is the right of every 
nation to prohibit acts of sovereignty from being ex- 
ercised by any other within its limits, and the duty 
of a neutral nation to prohibit such as would injure 
one of the warring powers ; that the granting military 
commissions, within the United States, by any other 
authority than their own, is an infringement on their 
sovereignty, and particularly so when granted to 

1 Amer, Hist Assoc. 1903, voL ii, pp. 253, 848. 
« Ibid. pp. 196-198 ; St. Pap. voL i, pp. 69-76, 114-122, 146, 195 ; 
Claims, p. 379. 



6 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

iheir own citizens, to lead them to commit acts con- 
trary to the duties they owe their own country.'* 
About the end of May two American citizens who 
had enlisted on a French privateer were arrested, 
and were judged by the attorney-general to be indict- 
able for disturbing the peace of the United States.^ 

Grenet was everywhere received with great enthu- 
siasm by the people, and expected the warm support 
of the government in the cause of France. Con- 
sequently the reserve of the administration was 
disappointing to him. Even Jefferson, who at first 
regarded him with favor, was soon repelled by his 
actions. In a letter to Madison, July 7, he says : 
*^ Never, in my opinion, was so calamitous an 
appointment made as that of the present Minister 
of F. here. Hot headed, all imagination, no judg- 
ment, passionate, disrespectful & even indecent 
towards the P." » 

In June the sale of prizes brought into Phila- 
delphia by a French vessel was stopped by a United 
States officer, and another French vessel, which had 
been fitted out at New York and was on tiie point 
of sailing, was detained. These acts aroused a ve- 
hement protest from Genet and from the French 
consuls kt Philadelphia and New York. They 
claimed exclusive jurisdiction in the disposition of 
prizes, by reason of their consulates having been 

1 St Pap, vol. i, pp. T7-86 ; Wcuhington, vol. xii, p. 817 ; Jeffer- 
mm, vol. vi, pp. 273-270. 
3 Jefferson, vol. vi, pp. 823, 388. 



EARLY MISUNDERSTANDINGS 7 

constituted complete courts of admiralty by the 
National Convention of France. This assumption 
of power by the French government was not recog- 
nized by the United States, inasmuch as it had 
been conferred neither by treaty nor by the con- 
sular convention of 1788.^ 

Another grievance of Genet's related to the debt i 
of the United States to France, which it had been 
arranged by convention to pay in installments cover- 
ing several years. The French government proposed 
that it should now be paid all at once, the amoimt 
to be expended in the United States in the purchase 
of provisions and naval stores, of which the French 
were greatly in need. The condition of the national 
finances at that time, however, was such as to make 
it impossible for the United States to accept this 
proposal.^ 

The guarantee by the United States of the French 
West Indies made no trouble at this time. Jefferson 
wrote to Madison, June 9 : " Genet mentions freely 
enough in conversation that France does not wish 
to involve us in the war by our guarantee." In fact 
the fulfillment of this obligation was never insisted 
upon by France, perhaps partly from motives of 
. policy, not wishing to be pressed too hard herself 
on the subject of treaty stipulations, but more likely 
because it was thought that the Americans would 

1 St Pap. vol. i, pp. 86-100, 144, 145. 

« Ibid. vol. i, pp. 51-67, 100-104 ; Amer, Hist, Assoc. 1903, voL 
ii, pp. 256, 282. 





8 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

be more useful as neutral carriers of provisions than 
as belligerent allies unable to keep the sea in the 
face of England's navy. However, the matter is 
occasionally mentioned in tiie correspondence of 
the time, and assumed importance in the negotia- 
tions of 1800.* 

In spite of the remonstrances of the administra* 
tion, Genet continued to fit out privateers in Amer- 
ican ports. He insisted that the twenty-second article 
of the treaty of commerce of 1778 expressly con- 
ferred the right to arm and fit out vessels of war in 
our ports and to sell the prizes taken by them, 
whereas the article simply denied this right to the 
enemies of either party, leaving open the question 
as to French and American vessels, for reasons which 
appeared sufficient at the time. He also claimed 
that under the seventeenth article' the United 
States had no right to detain vessels believed to 
have been captured within territorial limits. Genet's 
conduct at this time brought down upon him a se- 
vere reprimand from his own government in a letter, 
'dated July 30, 1793, from the minister of foreign 
affairs of the French Republic' 

Meanwhile the French were not the only offend- 

* Jefferson, vol. i, p. 248, vol. vi, pp. 260, 293, 502; St, Pap. 
vol. i, pp. 162, 421, vol. iii, pp. 82, 462, vol. iv, pp. 28, 97, vol. x, 
pp. 299-303; Amer. Hist. Assoc. 1903, vol. ii, pp. 209, 649, 726, 
1064. 

' See Appendix II for these articles. 

* St. Pap. vol. i, pp. 96, 141, 145; Amer. Histor. Assoc. 1903, 
vol. ii, p. 228. 



EARLY MISUNDERSTANDINGS 9 

era, as an EngliBh priyateer fitting out in Gleor- 
gia was seized under general orders issned by the 
President, and Grenet complained of certain other 
English vesselB of the same class. He also protested 
against the seizure by the English, on the high seas, 
of French goods in American vessels, which he called 
an insult to the American flag. Yet these seizures 
were made in accordance with international law. 
In the case of the United States and France free ^ ' ' * * 
ships made free goods, according to the twenty-third 
article of the treaty of commerce, but there was 
no such agreement between the United States and 
England.^ 

The actions of the French minister and consuls 
were becoming every day more offensive, and as the 
United States had no navy it was impossible to check 
th^n. In July the British and French ministers were \^ 
informed by the Secretary of State that the Presi- ^. 
dent expected certain vessels of both parties to be 
held in port until a legal opinion could be obtained 
on the various points under discussion. Among the 
French vessels was a prize of the Embuscade, the 
Little Sarah, which had been fitted out and armed 
as a privateer at Philadelphia. In spite of the Pre- 
sident's request and Genet's verbal assurance to 
Jefferson, the Little Sarah was allowed to sail on ^ 
a cruise. At last, on August 7, Jefferson informed 
the minister in a peremptory letter that all prizes 

1 St. Pap. voL i, pp. 10&-114, 124-136 ; Amer. Hitt. Assoc. 1903, 
ToL ii, p. 255. 



10 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

taken by French vessels after June 5, when the 
position of the administration had been defined, 
must be restored or the French government would 
be held responsible for the indemnification of the 
owners.* 

By this time it had become evident that forbear- 
ance could no longer serve any good purpose, and 
on August 1 a cabinet meeting was held ^to con- 
sider what was to be done with Mr. Genet," and 
it was decided that he must go.^ Accordingly the 
Secretary of State wrote a long letter, dated Au- 
gust 16, 1793, to Gouvemeur Morris, United States 
minister to France, instructing him to request the 
recall of Genet. In this letter Jefferson expounds 
the disputed articles in the treaty of 1778 at great 
length, and clearly exposes the fallacies of Genet's 
interpretation of them. He gives an account of the 
minister's proceedings, and quotes several insulting 
passages from his letters to the administration. A 
copy of this letter was sent to Genet, and elicited 
from him a response, in which he denied the right 
of the President to request his recall and demanded 
that all the matters in dispute should be referred 
to Congress as representing the sovereign people 
in whom alone authority rested ; and he complained 
that Congress was not called in extraordinary ses- 
sion for this purpose." Congress subsequently pro- 

^ 8t Pap, Tol. i, pp. 128-125, 136 ; Washington, yoI. zii, pp. 802, 
808-318 ; Jefferson, vol. i, pp. 237-241, voL yi, pp. 839-346. 
^ Jefferson, vol. i, p. 252. 
« 8t. Pap. voL i, pp. 137-166. 



EARLY MISUNDERSTANDINGS 11 

hibited all such transactions as those in which 
Genet was engaged.^ 

The course porsned by Grenet and by the French 
consuls enconraged by him was not intermpted by 
the stand taken by the administration, and on Sep- 
tember 7 the Secretary of State issued a circular 
letter to the consuls, in which he states that having 
learned that they were exercising admiralty juris- 
diction, trying prizes, and enlisting American citi- 
xens to serve against nations at peace with the 
United States, ^^I have it in charge, from the 
President of the United States, to give notice to 
all consuls and vice-consuls of France in the United 
States, as I hereby do to you, that if any of them 
shall commit any of the acts before mentioned, or 
assume any jurisdiction not expressly given by the 
convention between France and the United States, 
the exequatur of the consul so transgressing will 
be immediately revoked, and his person be sub- 
mitted to such prosecutions and punishments as 
the laws may prescribe for the case." ^ A month 
later the President revoked the exequatur of the 
French vice-consul at Boston, who had by force 
of arms seized a vessel and cargo which had been 
replevied by the United States marshal.' 

In October Genet reported to his government 
that since his arrival in America he had fitted out 

^ Act of June 5, 1794, Statutes at Large, yoL i, p. 381. 
« 8l Pap, voL i, p. 167 ; Claims, p. 284. 
« 8t. Pap. voL i, pp. 179-192 ; Amer, Hist, Assoc. 1903, voL li, 
p. 281 ; Jefferson, vol. yi, p. 401. 



12 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

fourteen privateers, mounting one hundred and 
twenty guns in all, wldch had taken eighty prizes.^ 

Meanwhile the French minister had entered upon 
one of the chief objects of his mission, and from 
this time on was actively engaged in maturing a 
project which promised yet more trouble for the 
United States. This was the conquest for France 
of Florida and Louisiana, at that time depend- 
encies of Spain. Genet organized an expedition 
in South Carolina and Georgia to be directed 
against Florida, and another in Kentucky which 
was to descend the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and 
attack New Orleans. Jefferson believed that the 
United States must inevitably become involved in 
war with Spain. ^ 

The request for Genet's recall was complied with 
by the French government, who sent out in his 
place the Citizen Fauchet, accompanied by three 
commissioners who were to act with him and whose 
concurrence was necessary in all measures. They 

1 Amer. Hist. Assoc, 1903, toI. ii, pp. 246, 254. 

» St. Pap. vol. i, pp. 443-453, vol. ii, pp. 35-57, vol. x, pp. 346- 
349 ; Jefferson, vol. i, pp. 235, 236, vol. vi, p. 316 ; Amer. Hist. Assoc 
1896, vol. i, pp. 930-1107 ; 1897, pp. 569-679 ; 1903, vol. ii, pp. 
10-12, 199, 205, 219-223, 264-268, 826. An important object of 
these schemes was to secure a source of food supply for the French 
West Indies ; the acquisition of Canada was also desired. Genet's 
operations were preceded and f oUowed by years of intrigue on ihe 
part of France, England, and Spain for the possession of Louisi- 
ana and its extension eastward. See Amer. Hist. Assoc. 1903, vol. 
ii, pp. 567, 840, 990, 1015, 1038, 1048, 1075, 1097 ; also American 
Histprical MevieWf April, 1897, April and July, 1898, January and 
Ap^, 1905. 



EARLY MISUNDERSTANDINGS 13 

were a consul-general, a consul for the State of Penn- 
sylvania, and a secretary of legation. A decree of the / 
committee of public safety of France, dated October 
11, 1793, required the commissioners to disavow 
Genet's conduct and send him back to France, to dis- 
arm the privateers fitted out by him, and to dismiss 
the consuls concerned in any proceedings compro- 
mising American neutrality. The commissioners' in- 
structions repeat the orders of the decree and require 
them to attempt the negotiation of a new treaty of 
commerce.^ This was a measure earnestly desired 
by the French government, which had also been 
included in Genet's instructions, had been urged 
before his time, and continued to be for several 
years without result.* 

Owing to delays the commissioners did not ar- 
rive in Philadelphia until February, 1794. Genet, 
therefore, continued to serve until that time, when 
his schemes relating to Florida and Louisiana for- 
tunately came to an end, and later gave place to 
peaceful negotiations. The administration was thus 
saved the serious embarrassment which threatened 
its relations with Spain. The United States govern- 
ment, however, declined to arrest Genet, when 
requested by Fauchet to do so, " upon reasons of 
law and magnanimity." ^ He was allowed to go 

1 Amer. Hist. Assoc, 1903, vol. ii, pp. 287-294. 

« Ibid. pp. 9, 108-114, 129, 135, 202, 207, 209, 344, 638, 649, 725, 
743 ; St. Pap. vol. i, p. 414, vol. u, pp. 152-157, 232, 427-433. 

■ Foreign RelcUionst vol. i, p. 709 ; Amer. Hist. Assoc. 1903, voL 
ii, pp. 308, 309, 313-316, 345. 



/; 



I 



14 OUB NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

free, and, this being the period of the guillotine's 
greatest activity, prudently decided not to return 
to France. 

It may be said for Genet that many of his doings 
were in accordance with his instructions, which, 
however, were issued before England and Spain 
had become involved in the war against France and 
before the American proclamation of neutrality. 
Moreover, his attempts to carry out his instructions 
were marked by an entire absence of the circum- 
spection and tact essential in diplomacy, and by a 
total want of respect for the government to which 
he was ac(»*edited. In the French department of 
foreign affairs Genet was considered to have had 
his head turned by the adulation heaped upon him 
in America by the extreme partisans of France, 
and was blamed for antagonizing the United States 
government by persisting in his course against the 
wishes of the administration.^ Bobespierre is quoted 
as expressing the opinion that a ^' man of the name 
of Genet • • • has made use of the most unaccount- 
ble means to irritate the American government 
against us." ' 

While Genet's republican sentiments are estima- 
ble, his sincerity in declaring ^^ that 'I love passion- 
ately my coimtry, that I adore the cause of liberty, 
that I am always ready to sacrifice my life to it," ' 

1 Amer. Hist. Assoc. 1903, vol. ii, p. 283. 

* Washingtonj vol. xii, p. 408. 

* 8t, Pap. ToL i, p. 162. 



EARLY MISUNDERSTANDINGS 15 

is open to suspicion, from the &ct that he never 
letnmed to France, even after the perils of the 
reign of terror were over, but left her to fight her 
way to liberty without his aid. Having married a 
daughter of Governor Clinton of New York, he 
settled in that state, and lived there in peace and 
quiet dnring the remainder of his long life. 



CHAPTER n 

NEGOTIATIONS 

The administration, wliile relieved from the em- 
barrassments brought upon it by Genet, was never- 
theless for the next four years subjected to the 
^ annoyance of incessant complaints on the part of 
-the French department of foreign affairs and its 
ministers, Fauchet and his successor, Adet. These 
complaints were made a pretext for hostile acts 
which bore heavily upon American commerce. 

Jefferson, having resigned the office of secretary 
of state, was succeeded in January, 1794, by Ed- 
mund Randolph, and he in turn by Timothy Picker- 
ing in December, 1795. Gouvemeur Morris, United 
States minister to France, whose republican prin- 
ciples were not sufficiently radical to suit the French, 
was recalled in May, 1794, and James Monroe was 
sent to take his place. Monroe administered Ameri- 
can affairs until the arrival in Paris, in December, 
1796, of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, who was 
sent to relieve him. Fauchet, the French minister 
to the United States, was succeeded in June, 1796, 
by Adet, who was recalled in October, 1796, and 
six months later left the affairs of his nation in the 
hands of the consul-general, Letombe. 

In the mean time our relations with England 



N 



NBGOTIATIONS 17 

Ul long been wnw iti rfaffto i y, as many of the pro- 
Tinans of die treaty of peace of 1788 had not been 
earned ont. Moreover, the Enropean war had 8iib> 
jecied Ameiican commeroe to Kitish as ?rell as to 
French aggressions. In view of the danger of still 
further estrangement, it was deemed of vital im- 
portance to negotiate a new treaty with Great 
Edtain, and for this purpose John Jay was sent to 
England in April, 1794. His mission was so far 
SQooessfol that a treaty was concluded November 
19, which was finally proclaimed in February, 1796. 
This treaty was far from satis&otory; it was sharply 
and justly criticised at the time, and has been ever 
since. Yet it relieved some of the most pressing 
matters in dispute, contained the most favorable | 
terms that England could possibly have been in- 
duced to yield at that time, and with little doubt 
prevented war between the two countries. It secured 
compensation for injuries already inflicted upon 
American commerce, which was now, for a time at 
least, free from spoliation at the hands of British 
cruisers. Jay was unable to provide in the treaty 
for the protection of American seamen against im« 
pressment into the British naval service. This prac- 
tice, which ultimately led to war between the two 
nations, was just beginning at this time. 

After Genet's recall the complaints of France 
against the United States continued, but at first 
grew less acrimonious, and for a time better feeling 
prevailed between the two governments. Then with 



^ 



^ 



18 OUB NAVAL WAR WTTR FRANCE 

^-41i6 promalgaticm of Jay's treaty with England con- 
ditions clianged again for the worse. This treaty 
conflicted in some of its provisions with the treaties 
of 1778 with France, and for this reason it was 
very offensive to the French, who, moreover, were 
irritated that the Americans should have been will- 
ing to establish amicable relations with thdr old 
enemies. The sources of French discontent, repeat- 
edly urged in the course of the correspondence 
between the two republics from 1794 to 1798, may 
be summarized under two heads : first, complaints 
based on alleged inexecution of the treaties of 1778 
and the convention of 1788; and second, those 
arising from provisions of the late treaty with Eng- 
land supposed to be unfriendly to France or preju- 
dicial to her interests.^ 

Under the first head the French complained that 
United States courts took cognizance of prizes 
brought into American ports by French cruisers 
and privateers; but it was shown that in every case 
alleged there was evidence that the prize had been 
taken in American territorial waters or by a pri- 
vateer fitted out in an American port. A case which 
brought forth loud and long-continued protests 
from the French was that of the Cassius, which 
had been originally armed in Philadelphia, had 
sailed under another name, refitted in the West 

* 8t Pap. ToL ii, pp. 113-499, vol. iii, pp. 6-86, toI. iv, pp. 9^ 
187. See, alio, report of Adet, March 21, 1796, to the French 
minister of foreign affairs, on jFranco-Americao relations sinee 
1798, AfMT, Hist, Assoc. toI. ii, pp. 846-881. 



NEGOTIATIONS 19 

Indies, and then cruifled under oonunand of an 
American citizen. She brouglit a prize into Phila- 
delphia, and was there seized and her captain 
aiiested. The Vengeance, another privateer that 
attracted especial attention, was held, tried, and 
finally released.^ It was charged, moreover, that 
BriibiBh vessels of war having taken prizes were ad- 
mitted, in some cases with their prizes, into Amer- 
ican ports, in contravention of the seventeenth 
article of the treaty of commerce of 1778. The 
wording of this article ^ is not clear, and there was 
a difference of opinion as to its precise meaning, 
the French insisting that all war vessels which had 
ever taken prizes from them must be kept out, 
while the American interpretation included only 
vessels attempting to bring in prizes. In any event, 
the article stipidated merely that proper measures 
^onld be taken to cause such vessels to retire, but 
it was not within the power of the United States ^ 
government, with no navy, to force compliance.* H ^ 

Furthermore, the French declared that the ninClr'^ 
and twelfth articles ^ of the consular convention of 
1788, granting jurisdiction to consuls in disputes 
between their own citizens and also the right to 

1 St, Pap. Tol. ii, pp. 129-140, 216-227, 234-252, 278-281, 857- 
425, vol. iv, pp. 95-97, 105-109, 112-114 ; Amer. Hist. Assoc. 
1903. vol. iirpp. 417, 779, 842, 858-862, 907, 976, 1019. 

* See Appendix II. 

« St. Pap. vol. ii, pp. 140-142, 148-150, 201-206, 281-357, vol. 
IV, pp. 10^112; Amer. Hist. Assoc. 1903, vol. ii, pp. 650, 666, 
684, 696-701, 722, 935. 

♦ See Appendix H. 



20 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

recover deserters from their vessels, had not been 
effectively executed. In respect to the latter, they 
complained that American judges refused to issue 
warrants for the apprehension of deserters until 
furnished with the original registers of the vessels 
concerned; this was in accordance with a strict 
construction of the wording of article nine. As to 
jurisdiction, the consuls claimed more than the 
convention allowed or than was practicable.^ 

Under the second head, relating to the treaty 
with England, the main French grievance was that 
the list of contraband was increased, whereas it 
should have been diminished, in accordance with 
the liberal principles of the armed neutrality of 
European powers during the American Eevolution. 
This was a reform earnestly desired by the United 
States, and which Jay had vainly endeavored to 
get incorporated into the treaty. As it was, the list 
of contraband adopted was precisely that recog- 
nized by the law of nations, and it was stipulated 
that when provisions were seized they should be 
paid for. Another charge was that Jay's treaty 
preiK^nted the French from selling their prizes in 
American ports, as they had formerly done and 
claimed the right to do imder their treaty ; but the 
Secretary of State showed clearly that it was not 
a right, but a privilege which had been tempora- 
rily accorded to them. They had the advantage of 

1 St. Pap. vol. ii, pp. 181-184, 497, vol. iii, pp. 8-10, vol. iv, pp. 
114-117, 195, 202; Amer, Hist. Assoc. 1903, vol. ii, pp. 681, 862. 



NEGOTIATIONS 21 

the English, however, where the treaties conflicted, > 
by reason of priority. Nevertheless, it cannot bo^ 
donbted that Jay's treaty was detrimental to France. 
Poor crops at home made her dependent upon 
America for food, and the seizure of provisions by 
the Emglish worked great hardship. The lack of 
accessible ports for refitting and the disposal of 
prizes was also severely felt by the French. Their 
complaints, therefore, were natural and not unrea^^'^ 
sonable.^ 

A complaint of a more special and temporary 
nature related to an outrage committed against the 
French minister, Fauchet, at the conclusion of his 
mission in the [Tnited States. The sloop in which he 
sailed for Newport, whence he was to take his home- 
ward passage, was held up off that port, August 1, 
1795, by the British frigate Africa; but Fauchet 
had previously landed at Stonington with his papers. 
The English captain, however, caused the minister's 
baggage on the sloop to be searched, and also sent 
an insulting letter to the governor of Khode Island 
by the British vice-consul. For this violation of 
American neutrality and of the law of nations, the 
President revoked the exequatur of the consul, or- 
dered the Africa away from Newport, and demanded 

1 St. Pap. vol. ii, pp. 115-126, 185, 206-210, 253-273, 444- 
472, 477-^88, vol. iv, pp. 43-61, 66-70, 98, 99, 117-124; aaima, 
p. 251 ; Amer. Hist. Assoc. 1903, vol. ii, pp. 747, 824, 902, 911, 
934, 1006, 1066, and Index for further references to Jay's mission 
and treaty. On the difficulties of France in obtaining food and 
•applies, see Ibid. pp. 8, 805, 319, 526-529; Mahan, ch. v. 



22 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

reparation on the part of the British govern- 
ment.^ 

Such were the causes of the chronic irritation 

characterizing the attitude of France towards the 

\ United States, which led to the enactment by the 

X^rench government of a series of harsh decrees 

uiat dealt a severe blow at American commerce. 

On the occasion of Monroe's taking leave of the 
French government upon his recall, December 80, 
1796, President Barras of the Executive Directory- 
delivered a speech referring to the United States 
government in terms of marked disrespect, and aim- 
ing to alienate the American people from the rulers 
that they themselves had chosen. At the same time 
-^e Directory refused to receive Pinckney as United 
States minister. After an uncomfortable stay of 
several weeks in Paris, treated with discourtesy and 
neglect, he was ordered to leave the country, and 
withdrew to Holland.* 

Notwithstanding this rebuff, the administration, 
sincerely desirous of promoting friendly relations 
with France, decided to send three commissioners 
to Paris, who were to make another attempt to re- 
store mutual respect and amity, to adjust the claims 

1 St Pap. Tol. ii, pp. 184, 498, toI. iii, pp. lft-36 ; Anur. Hist. 
Assoc. 1903» YoL ii, pp. 772, 786, 855. The inteTception by Uie 
British of one of Fanohet's earlier cGspatches led to the reaagoBr 
tion of Secretary Randolph ; Amer. Hist. Assoc. 1003» toL ii, pp. 
872, 411, 414, 444, 774, 783; Narrative and Critical History, toL 
▼ii, p. 517. 

3 8t. Pap. Tol. iii, pp. 85-88, 94-104, 109-114, 118, 140-142. 




N£GOTUTIONS 23 

of American citizens, and to negotiate a new treaty 
of commerce. The envoys appointed by President 
Adams were Charles C. Pinckney, John Marshall, 
and Francis Dana; Dana declined to serve, and El- 
bridge Gerry was appointed in his place. Marshall 
and Gerry sailed for Holland, where they were 
joined by Pinckney. All three then proceeded to 
Paris, where they arrived October 4, 1797. Their 
position during their sis months' stay in France Wi 
peculiar. Although accorded an unofficial intepflew 
soon after their arrival by Talleyrand, minister of 
foreign affairs, they were refused recognition by the 
Directory, and failed to receive the consideration 
and respect due to them as envoys from an inde- 
pendent nation. Their intercourse with the govern- 
ment was indirect, and carried on through three 
emissaries of the Directory whose names were not 
made public, and who were known as Messrs. X, Y, 
and Z. This mission to France was accordingly 
called the X Y Z mission.^ 

It was represented by these emissaries that the 
Directory were offended at President Adams's allu- 
Bion^ in his speech at the opening of Congress, to 
the address of President Barras to the departing 
minister, Monroe ; and that an explanation would 
be expected. It would also be necessary, in order 
to accommodate the differences between the two 
countries, that the United States should advance a 
loan of thirty-two million florins to France ; and 
1 St Pap, Tol. ui, pp. 338, 455-475. 



24 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

further, as a balm for the wounded feelings of the 
^N^rench Directory and ministers and to facilitate 
negotiations, a '^ douceur for the pocket " of twelve 
himdred thousand livres was demanded. This pro- 
posal, however, was to come from the envoys. The 
envoys protested that they had no authority to 
make a loan, and that, as the neutrality of the 
United States would be compromised by such a 
measure, their government could not be expected 
to give them authority. In vain they begged for an 
opportunity to discuss the real questions at issue 
between the two countries, believing that a mutual 
iinderstanding of these questions would lead to 
reconciliation. X said : ^^ ^ Grentlemen, you do not 
speak to the point ; it is money ; it is expected that 
you will offer money.' We said that we had spoken 
to that point very explicitly ; we had given an an- 
swer. * No,' said he, ' you have not. What is your 
answer?' We replied: 'It is no, no; not a six- 
pence.' ... He said we ought to consider whd*t 
men we had to treat with ; that they disregarded 
the justice of our claims ; • . • that we could only 
acquire an interest among them by a judicious ap- 
plication of money. ... He said that all the mem- 
bers of the Directory were not disposed to receive 
our money; that Merlin, for instance, was paid 
from another quarter, and would touch no part of 
the douceur which was to come from us. We re- 
plied that we had understood that Merlin was paid 
by the owners of the privateers ; and he nodded an 



NEGOTIATIONS 25 

assent to the fact." ^ Gerry had two interviews with 
Talleyrand, on one occasion accompanied by Y and 
on the other by Z. The French minister alluded 
in unmistakable terms to the subject of a bribe to 
be offered by the envoys, and also said that infor- 
mation given by Y " might always be relied on." 
November 1 the envoys agreed to '^ hold no more 
indirect intercourse with the government." Six 
weeks later, however, X and Y again attempted 
to excite the Americans' interest in their financial 
schemes, and Pinckney was interviewed on the 
same subject by a lady said to be well acquainted 
with Talleyrand. Y threatened that if nothing were 
done the coasts of the United States would be rav- 
aged by French frigates.^ 
f/ ffTHie envoys then wrote to Talleyrand a long letter, 
dated January 17, 1798, reviewing the relations of 
the two governments from the beginning. Early in 
March they had two interviews with him, in which 
he urged the loan. On the 18th he replied to their ^ 
letter, rehearsing the old complaints and expressing 
dissatisfaction with the envoys themselves ; two of 
them, he said, were not agreeable to the Directory, 
but with the third, Gerry, they were willing to treat. 
Pinckney and Marshall, as members of the Feder- 
alist party, were not acceptable ministers. The as- 
cendency of this party in America was displeasing 
to the French, whose disappointment at the result of 

1 St. Pap. vol. iii, p. 492, vol. iv, p. 273. 

a Ibid. voL iii, pp. 475-499, vol. iy, pp. 5-25. 



26 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

the last presidential election was doubtless in part 
responsible for their unfriendly attitude at this time. 
Talleyrand's letter drew from the envoys another 
long communication, dated April 8, in which all his 
arguments were well met and the lack of authority 
of any one of them to treat alone was stated. They 
asked for passports and letters of safe conduct for 
their passage home. Pinckney and Marshall were 
now treated with marked discourtesy, and took their 
departure; Marshall soon returned to America. In- 
structions from the Secretary of State, dated March 
23, arrived later, directing the envoys to leave Paris 
at once, if not duly received by the Directory, and 
in no case to listen to any suggestion of a loan. 
Gerry was induced to remain by a threat of imme- 
diate war if he did not.^ 

Gerry was approached by Talleyrand on the sub- 
ject of negotiations, but he declined on the ground 
that he was unauthorized to treat alone ; and in 
fact he soon received the positive orders of March 
23 to return home. He remained, however, until 
midsummer, and during this time a correspondence 
was maintained in which Talleyrand endeavored to 
bring on a discussion of the issues. Gerry refused 
to be drawn into negotiations, and repeatedly de- 
manded his passports. He has been severely cen- 
sured for allowing his apprehension of war to detain 
him so long in France. At this period a published 
report of the American envoys' interviews with 
1 8t. Pap. ToL iy, pp. 26-142. 



NEGOTIATIONS 27 

X, Y, and Z came to the attention of Talleyrand and 
excited bis indignation. He absolutely denied any 
knowledge of X, Y, and Z, or of their negotiations, \ 
and insisted upon knowing their names, which, after 
some hesitation, Gr^rrjjvfrfiaklyj^vealed.^ That the '• 
whole affair was engineered by Talleyrand, acting / 
under orders of the Directory, admits of no doubt. 
Garry's colleagues afterwards certified to the &ct 
of the French minister's participation in the nego- 
tiations, and Marshall was ^ struck with the shame- ^ 
less effrontery of affecting to Mr. Grerry ignorance 
of the persons so designated." ^ Grerry finally sailed 
for America in the United States brig Sophia about 
August 1, leaving the affairs of his country in 
charge of Consul-Greneral Skipwith.' 

Thus the attempts of the administration to ac-H 
conmiodate matters with France came to nothing, ^ 
and all that remained to be done was to adopt a \ 
policy of armed defense. 

^ \ / 1 The names ol Y and Z were Bellamy and Hantyal ; that of 
\ X, under promise of secrecy, was not published, bnt is giren as 
Hottingner in l^arr, and Crit» Hist, yoL yii, p. 519. 
a Pickering [MSS.], voL xxiii, 281, 320. 
' 8t, Pap, vol. iy, pp. 153-282 ; AdanUy yoL Yiii, p. 610. 



CHAPTER lU 

FRENCH SPOLIATIONS 

It is now necessary to go back to the beginning of 
the war in Europe and follow the course of events 
resulting from the misunderstandings and abuses 
of treaty obligations, the harsh decrees of France, 
and the consequent ravages upon American ship- 
ping. 
X During the period of the French Revolution and 
/European war, neutral commerce suffered severely 
at the hands of the different belligerents, and Amer^ 
ican foreign trade, just beginning to flourish and 
bring wealth to the country, received a serious check. 
And yet, being the most seafaring people among 
the neutral powers, the Americans should have had 
the largest share of the Atlantic carrying trade and 
have profited correspondingly. 

In a message to Congress, December 5, 1798, 
President Washington called attention to these facts. 
Those who had suffered loss were requested to fur- 
nish proof, that measures might be taken to obtain 
redress. On the evidence thus called forth were 
based the earliest of the claims for indemnity which 
have been urged by the despoiled mariners and their 
descendants ever since. About the beginning of 
1794acommittee of Philadelphiamerchants reported 



FRENCH SPOLIATIONS '**- 29 

numerous cases, with proofs, and added : ^' It has 
become a practice for many of the privateers of the 
beUigerent powers to send into port all American 
vessels they meet with, bound from any of the French 
ports in the West Indies to the United States ; ... 
and though many of those vessels have been after- 
wards liberated, yet the loss by plunder, detention, 
and expense is so great as to render it ruinous to the 
American owner." The Secretary of State, Edmund \ 
Bandolph, made a report to the President, March 2, 
1794, on these proceedings. England, France, Spain, / 
and Holland were the powers complained of, espe-/ 
cially the first two. Their aggressions were commi|(l 
ted under the authority of decrees promulgated by 
their governments and aimed at neutral carriers. 
The relations between the United States and Great 
Britain were improved not long after this time by 
Jay's treaty. Injuries suffered at the hands of the 
Spanish and Dutch were comparatively slight. The 
French, therefore, for a number of years to come, 
were the chief offenders.* 

May 9, 1793, the National Convention of France 
issued a decree ^ authorizing the seizure, on board 
a neutral vessel, of enemies' goods or of provisions 
bound to an enemy's port, the latter to be paid for 
and the vessel released upon the discharge of the 
cargo. The United States minister, Gouvemeur 

1 St Pap. voL i, pp. 60, 494-499 ; Court of Claims Reports, vol. 
zzi, p. 355. 
^ See Appendix ni. 



30 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

Morris, complained that this decree violated the 
twenty-third article of the treaty of commerce of 
1778, according to which free ships made free goods* 
Thereupon American vessels were declared exempt 
from the regulations of May 9 by another decree, 
that of May 28, and Morris was assured that he 
would '' find a new confirmation of the principles 
from which the French people will never depart 
with regard to their good friends and allies the 
United States of America." Yet on the 28th, 
through the corrupt influence of the owners of a 
privateer that had captured a rich American ship,, 
this decree of the 23d was repealed. This was just 
at one of the crises of the French Bevolution, and 
a few days later the Girondists were overthrown 
by the Jacobins. Upon continued complaints by 
Morris, the Convention, July 1, passed another 
decree, again declaring ''that the vessels of the 
United States are not comprised in the regulations 
of the decree of the 9th of May " ; but this was once 
more reversed, July 27, and the decree of May 9 
was declared to be in full force. For a year and a 
half this state of things continued, and many cap- 
tures of American vessels were made under the de- 
cree of May 9, 1793, until it was finally repealed, 
January 3, 1795, partial relief having been afforded 
by a decree of November 15, 1794. Then for the 
next year and a half American commerce was com- 
paratively imdisturbed ; but on July 2, 1796, the 
French government enacted the first of a series of 



FRENCH SPOLIATIONS SI 

banh decrees which brought matters to a crisis in 
1798.* 

The Secretary of State, Timothy Pickering, in 
a report dated Febmary 27, 1797, indicates the 
character of the injuries suffered by merchants and 
mariners as follows : ^' 1. Spoliations and maltreat- 
ment of their vessels at sea by French ships of 
war and privateers; 2. A distressing and long- - 
oontinued embargo laid upon their vessels at Bor- 
deaux, in the years 1793 and 1794 ; 8. The non- ^ 
payment of bills and other evidences of debts, 
drawn by the colonial administrations in the West 
Indies ; 4. The seizure or forced sales of the car- 
goes of their vessels and the appropriating of them 
to public use without paying for them, or paying 
inadequately, or delaying payment for a great 
length of time; 5. The non-performance of con- 
tracts made by the agents of the govemment for 
supplies ; 6. The condemnation of their vessels and 
cargoes under such of the marine ordinances of 
France as are incompatible with the treaties sub- 
sisting between the two countries; and 7. The- 
captures sanctioned by a decree of the National 
Convention of the 9th of May, 1793, ... in viola- 
tion of the treaty of amity and commerce.^ 

In justification of their decrees, the French 
maintained that they were made necessary by sim- 

1 St. Pap, vol. i, pp. 419, 420, 453-460, vol. ii, pp. 174, 434-438, 
ToL iii, pp. 37-65, 180, voL vii, pp. 147-154 ; Amer* Hiat. Assoc. 
1903, vol. ii, pp. 641, 668. 

* 8t, Pap. vol. iii, p. 37. 



32 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

ilar regulations enacted by other nations, particu- 
larly England. An instance of this species of retal- 
iation, of which the unoffending neutral was made 
the victim, was furnished by the decree of July 2, 
1796, which provided that neutrals should be 
treated by France as they permitted themselves to 
be treated by England. This gave a large measure 
of arbitrary power to commanders of French war 
vessels and privateers and to French consuls; a 
power which was often abused, and which resulted 
in the capture of a large number of American ves- 
sels. This decree was followed and reinforced by 
others enacted by agents of the Directory in the 
West Indies, where from this time on* most of the 
spoliations of American commerce were made. Dis- 
appointment at the election of President Adams 
and resentment over Jay's treaty with England 
inspired the decree of March 2, 1797,^ which pro- 
vided that enemies' goods in a neutral ship should 
be seized, the ship being released ; that Americans 
serving in enemies' ships should be deemed pirates; 
and that an American ship not having a role d* equi- 
page^ or list of the crew in proper form, should be 
lawful prize. This meant that an American seaman 
unfortunate enough to be impressed into the Brit- 
ish naval service might be hanged at the yard-arm 
of a French ship, if captured. The requirement 
of the rble d* equipage^ based on a strained inter- 
pretation of the twenty-fifth and twenty-seventh 
^ See Appendix III for ihese decrees. 



-y 



FRENCH SPOLIATIONS 33 

artides of the treaty of oommerce of 1778, caused 
heavy losses until American shipmasters had learned 
the necessity of providing themselves with this 
paper. The treaty did not require the crew list to 
be kept on the vessel, but merely to be entered ^' in 
the proper office.'' Yet even admitting the French 
contention, the treaty prescribed no penalty for 
non-performance, and so severe a measure as con- 
demnation was im justifiable; this was the decision 
of the French council of prizes in one case.^ This 
decree also extended the list of contraband to con- 
form with Jay's treaty. The provision as to piracy 
was based on article twenty-one of Jay's treaty, 
which, however, applied only to persons holding 
a privateer's commission and to no subordinate, 
whether or not serving under compulsion.' 

"When American prizes had become scarcer by 
reason of ships being generally provided with the 
role d*equipage^ the French Directory enacted the 
decree of January 18, 1798,' which condemned as 
good prize all neutral vessels loaded with goods 
coming from an enemy's country. This was the last 
decree before the failure of negotiations in the spring 
of 1798, but three others were promulgated before 
the end of the year. The first was that of July 31, 

1 For discussion of the rtU d^iquipage, see Ct Claims Bq>. vol. 
23di, pp. 4»-57 ; Doc, 102, p. 156. 

« St. Pap. voL ii, pp, 171-173, 178, 187-195, 472-477, vol. ui, 
pp. 40,55-83, 119-122, 171, 172, 178-186, 439-451,467, voLiv, 
pp. 63-«0, 121; Amer. Hist. Assoc. 1903, voL ii, pp. 923, 1072, 
1080; Mohan, toI. ii, pp. 242-248. 

' See Appendix III. 



34 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

which was conciliatory but disingenuons. The 
second, of August 16, raised an embargo recently 
laid on American vessels. The third, that of October 
29, a second time declared all neutrals serving on 
the ships of enemies, whether or not under compul- 
sion, to be pirates and subject to treatment as such. 
This last decree was soon suspended, but that of 
Mardi 2, 1797, of much the same import, still re- 
mained in force. ^ 

{\^ The great commercial importance of the West 
Indies made this region one of the principal centres 
of naval activity during the European war. These 
islands were to a great extent dependent upon the 
neighboring continent for provisions, and a veiy 
large share in the West India trade fell to the United 
States. For this reason American shipping was pecul- 
iarly exposed to the aggressions of the belligerents. 
In Haiti a bloody revolt of slaves had been going 
on for some years, and they finally gained control 
of the whole island, under their leader, Toussaint 
( L'Ouverture, a pure negro, who governed it well 
^, though harshly, and held it until 1802. Although 
French commissioners were supposed to rule Haiti, 
or San Domingo, as the whole island was called, they 
had no real power. This revolution caused great suf- 
fering on the island, and many refugees found their 
way to the United States. Among the Lesser An- 
tilles the French islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique, 

1 8U Pap. voL ui, pp. 451-455, toI. It, pp. 80-82, 120-138, 228, 
243-245, 262-285, yd. yii, pp. 154-162. 



FRENCH SPOLIATIONS 85 

Santa Lrncia, and Tobago, being to windward, had 
a great advantage in position. All these islands early 
in 1794 fell into the hands of the English, whose 
nayal snpremacj in the West Indies was undisputed ; 
bat before the end of the year Guadeloupe, being 
weakly garrisoned, was recaptured. This was accom- 
plished after a straggle of several months by a force 
of frigates and transports which had come out from 
France. With this expedition came Victor Hugues, 
a commissioner of the National Convention, who as- 
gnmed the government of the island. His administra- 
tion was cruel but able. Ghiadeloape now became the 
base of operations of French cruisers and privateers 
in the West Indies. By 1796 both Holland and Spain 
had become allies of France, and their ports in the 
West Indies were thenceforth open to French priva- 
teers. Four decrees were issued by French agents in 
the West Indies between August, 1796, and Febru- 
ary, 1797 ; three of them by Victor Hugues and the 
other by the French commissioners at Cape Francois 
(Cap Haitien). These decrees directed the seizure 
of American vessels if loaded with contraband, or 
if bound to or from English ports. ^ 

From the reports of Consul-General Skipwith at 
Paris, and other sources, many illustrative cases 

1 8t. Pap. ToL ii, p. 178, vol. iii, pp. 40, 55, 77-83, 171-175, toL 
IT, p. 65, ToL Tii, pp. 165-168, toI. x, pp. 849-351 ; Amer. Hist. 
Assoc 1903, voL ii, pp. 45, 63, 72, 76-85, 97, 122, 126, 152, 219, 224, 
259, 262, 311, 362, 461, 542, 609, 625, 688, 705, 765, 789, 804 ; Jef- 
ferson, ToL T, p. 394, ToL yi, p. 349 ; Mohan, oh. it ; Nan. and 
Crit. HisL ToL yiii, pp. 282-285. 



3a OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

might be cited, in order to indicate the sort of ex- 
periences and the losses, privations, and hardships 
of American shipowners and mariners. During the 
earlier years of the war, a great many vessels were 
either captured at sea and sent into French ports 
or detained in port and subjected to great annoyance 
and interminable delays. Some of the claims for 
^^io^s in these cases were settled with the French gov- 
ern^tent by Consul Skipwith, but in the far greater . 
number nothiug could be done. In 1793 an em- 
bargo was laid on shipping in the port of Bordeaux, 
and one hundred and three American vessels were 
detained there more than a year. Skipwith says, 
October, 1794 : ^' I can assure you that there are 
near three hundred sail of American vess^ now in 
the ports of France, all of whom have suffered or 
are suffering more or less delay and difficulties." ^ 
The charge was made that it was a common prac- 
tice of American consuls in Europe to be financially 
interested in French privateers. It was said that 
many of them were poor men and yielded to the 
temptation of reaping great profits, hoping in each 
case, perhaps, that the prizes taken would be Eng- 
lish. The consul at Bordeaux, Joseph Fenwick, was 
removed from office on this account, it having been 
shown that he was the principal owner of a privateer 
that had taken an American ship. ^ A few American 

^. St* Pap, vol. ii, pp. 9-12, toI. iii, pp. 44-77 ; Amer. HisL Assoc, 
1903, vol. ii, p. 321. 
« Pickering, toI. x, 9, voL xxi, 289, 298, 299, 353, 355. 



FRENCH SPOLIATIONS 37 

shipmasters, too, were so debased as to be willing 
to command French privateers and prey upon their ^\} 
comitrymen.^ For such offenses, by an act of June -^ 
14, 1797, Congress provided severe penalties.^ 

The decree of July 2, 1796, and those following, 
were marked by increasing harshness, and Amer- 
icans captured under them were not only subjected 
to annoyance and delay, but often to maltreatment 
and the confiscation of their vessels and property. 
Joel Barlow, long a resident of Paris, says of the 
decree of March 2, 1797, that it '' was meant to be 
little short of a declaration of war." ' The truth of 
this will appear from two or three instances. The 
schooner Zilpha of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 
homeward bound from Tobago, was captured Feb- 
ruary 24, 1797, by the French privateer Hirondale, 
and taken into Porto Bico. All her papers were 
seized, she was stripped of sails, rigging, and provi- 
sions, and the master and crew ordered to leave her. 
They found their way home on another American 
vessel.* The ship Conmierce of Newburyport, bound 
for Jamaica, on the 25th of December, 1796, fell in 
with a French privateer. While hove to, in obedi- 
ence to a gun from the privateer, the Commerce 
received a broadside from her which wounded four 
men.5 The brig Calliope of New York, bound from 

1 St. Pfl^. vol. iii, pp. 114-118, 259, vol. iv, p. 271. 

* Statutes at Large^ vol. i, p. 520. 

* St. Pap. voL iv, pp. 269, 270. See, also, Todd'e Life of Barlow, 
pp. 155-171. 

* St. Pap. vol. iii, pp. 198, 285. « Ibid. p. 208. 



"N^. 



38 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

Teneriffe to Cara9ao with a cargo of wine, was cap- 
tured March 10, 1797, by a French privateer ten 
leagues east of Martinique. She was sent into Basse 
Terre, Guadeloupe, and condemned as lawful prize. ^ 
The ship Cincinnatus of Baltimore was taken at 
sea, March 7, 1797, by a French armed brig. Her 
captain was tortured with thumbscrews to induce 
him to declare his cargo to be English property. 
This he refused to do, and was finally released with 
his vessel, after having been robbed of much of 
his private property and nearly all his provisions.' 
These few cases, selected from hundreds, give an 
idea what the French spoliations were.' 

During the mission of Pinckney, Marshall, and 
Grerry in France, their dispatches were transmitted 
by the State Department to Congress, where they 
excited deep interest, and the X Y Z episode 
strengthened national feeling and created opposi- 
tion to France. In his message of June 21, 1798, 
announcing Marshall's return home and the final 
failure of negotiations, the President says : *' I will 
never send another minister to France without 
assurances that he will be received, respected, and 
honored as the representative of a great, free, pow- 
erful, and independent nation." * 

Congress had already begun to act, and during 

* St. Pap, vol. iii, p. 231. ^ 75;^. p. 293. 

* Ibid. pp. 105-108, 170-178, 186-298, 821,448-451. See, also, 
Hoxsej eh. ii, iii, iy, y. An imperfect list of the spoliations, 444 in 
number, is given in For. Bd, vol. yi, p. 564. 

* St. Pap. vol. iv, p. 137. 



FBENCH SPOLIATIONS 99 

the spring and summer of 1798 adopted a number 
of warlike measures. The first of these was an act, 
passed April 27, to provide additional armament 
for the protection of American trade ; and on the 
80th another, organizing the Navy Department.^ 
Acts soon followed directing the construction and 
purchase of more vessels, authorizing the capture of 
French vessels, suspending intercourse with France, 
establishing the marine corps, and making other 
necessary provision for hostilities. Inasmuch as 
under the Constitution of the United States treaties 
are the supreme law of the land, these measures of 
defense, being in conflict with the existing treaties 
with France, were deemed unlawful. Therefore, to 
avoid this difficulty as well as to get rid of trouble- 
some obligations, the treaties were abrogated by the 
act of July 7, on the ground that they had already 
been violated by France.^ On the 13th the Presi- 
dent revoked the exequaturs of Consul-General 
Letombe and all other French consuls in the United 
States.' 

The army also was increased, and on July 2 the 
President nominated Washington ^'to be Lieuten- 
ant-General and Commander-in-Chief of all the 
armies raised or to be raised in the United States." 
The nomination was promptly confirmed, and upon 
accepting the appointment Washington wrote to the 

1 Statutes at Large, vol. i, pp. 552, 553. 

« Ibid. p. 678. 

* Adams, toL ix, p. 170. 



40 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

President, July 18, 1798: "I must not conceal 
from you my earnest wish that the choice had fallen 
upon a man less declined in years and better quali- 
fied to encounter the usual vicissitudes of war. . • • 
Feeling how incmnbent it is upon every }>erson, of 
every description, to contribute at all times to his 
country's welfare, and especially in a moment like 
the present, when everything we hold dear and 
sacred is so seriously threatened, I have finally de- 
termined to accept the commission of Commander- 
in-Chief of the armies of the United States." ^ 

1 Bichardsonf toL i, pp. 267, 268 ; 8t. Pap, toL x, pp. 466, 466. 






CHAPTER IV 

NAVAL PREPASATION 

At the time trouble with France began the United y^ 
States had no armed vessels whatever, if we except 
a few small revenue cutters manned by crews of 
half a dozen each. Five vessels only of the Revolu- 
tionary navy had outlived the vicissitudes of the 
war, and these had been disposed of long before, 
the last survivor having been the frigate Alliance, 
which was sold in 1785. The officers and men, too, 
of the Revolutionary navy and marine corps had of 
course been disbanded. One or two of the officers 
were employed by the Treasury Department on the 
revenue cutters, and others were in the merchant 
marine. Some of them were to reenter the national 
service later when the new navy became established. 
No sooner had the old navy disappeared than the 
need of such a force began to be appreciated. In 
1785 two American merchantmen were seized by 
Algerine pirates and their crews enslaved. Jeffer- 
son, then minister to France^ began at once to urge 
the necessity of a naval force to protect American 
commerce m the Mediterranean. His efforts, how- 
^ ever, were not effectively seconded. A committee of 
Congress in 1786 and a Senate committee in 1791 
reported favorably on the subject, and in 1790 and 



42 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

1791 estimates of the cost of building frigates were 
obtained by the Secretary of War and submitted to 
the Senate, but nothing came of these movements. 
It was not until after the capture by the Algerines 
of eleven more vessels in 1798 that any decided ac- 
tion was taken by the government. A bill providing 
for six frigates, four of forty-four guns each and two 
of thirty-six, was reported in the House of Represent- 
atives, January 20, 1794, which passed both houses 
of Congress and received the President's signature 
March 27. Opposition to the bill was strong, and it 
>^as only allowed to pass when so amended as to in- 
clude the condition that all work on the ships should 
cease in case of peace being concluded with Algiers. 
This condition was met by the treaty of September 
5, 1795. Nevertheless, by the supplementary act 
of April 20, 1796, the completion of three of the 
frigates was authorized. An act of June 5, 1794, 
provided for ten galleys, if " necessary for the 
protection of the United States," but the necessity 
did not arise.* 

The vessels built under the act of March 27, 
1794, were designed by, or under the direction of, 
Joshua Humphreys, a shipbuilder of Philadelphia, 
who was no doubt the best man in the country for the 
purpose. His good sense and foresight inaugurated 
a policy in naval construction which has been gen- 

1 Naval Chronidet eh. u; Naval AffairStTolA, pp. 5,26; Report 
Senate Committee, yol. iy, p. 5 ; Statutes at Large, toL i, pp. 350, 373, 
894, 453 ; Benton's Debates of Congress, yoL i, pp. 473-482 ; Naval 
Institute, September, 1906, pp. 1002, 1003. 



NAVAL PREPARATION 43 

erally, thongh not always, adhered to ever since; 
that is, the wise policy of building the best and most 
powerful vessels of their class. Humphreys' views 
are set forth in his correspondence. He had been 
interested in the subject from the time a new navy 
had first been proposed, and in January, 1793, 
had written to Eobert Morris, then in the Senate : 
*' Ships that compose the European navys are gen- 
erally distinguished by their rates ; but as the situ- 
ation and depth of water of our coasts and harbors 
are different in some degrees from those in Europe, 
and as our navy for a considerable time wiU be 
inferior in numbers, we are to consider what size 
ships will be most formidable and be an overmatch 
for those of an enemy ; such frigates as in blowing 
weather would be an overmatch for double-deck 
ships, and in light winds to evade coming to action ; 
or double-deck ships that would be an overmatch 
for common double-deck ships, and in blowing 
weather superior to ships of three decks, or in calm 
weather or light winds to outsail them. Ships built 
on these principles will render those of an enemy in 
a degree useless, or require a greater number before 
they dare attack our ships. Frigates I suppose will 
be the first object, and none ought to be built 
less than 150 feet keel, to carry twenty-eight 32- 
pounders or thirty 24-pounders on the gun deck and 
12-pounders on the quarter-deck. . . . Frigates 
built to carry 12 and 18-pounders, in my opinion, 
will not answer the expectation contemplated from 



\ 






'ul 




44 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

them, or if we should be obliged to take a part in 
the present European war, or at a future day we 
^' should be dragged into a war with any powers of the 

Old Continent, especially Great Britain, they having 
such a number of ships of that size that it would be 
an equal chance by equal combat that we lose our 
ships." After the adoption of his plans he wrote : 
*' It was determined of importance to this country 
to take the lead in.a class o_f. ships jiQt.^use in 
Europe, which would be the only means of making 
ourTiHIe navy of any importance. It would oblige 
other Powers to follow us intact, instead of our fol- 
lowing them ; considering at the same time it was 
not impossible we should be brought into a war with 
some of the European nations ; and if we should 
be so engaged and had ships of equal size with theirs, 
for want of experience and discipline, which can- 
not immediately be expected, in an engagement we 
should not have an equal chance and probably lose 
our ships. Ships of the present construction have 
everything in their favor ; their great length gives 
them the advantage of sailing, which is an object 
of the first magnitude. They are superior to any 
European frigate, and if others should be in com- 
pany, our frigates can always lead ahead and never 
be obliged to go into action but on their own terms, 
except in a calm ; in blowing weather our ships are 
capable of engaging to advantage double-deck ships. 
These reasons weighed down all objections." ^ 
1 HoUU, pp. 35-57. 




NAVAL PREPARATION 45 

Again, in his first report, December 23, 1794, 
Humplireys says : *' As soon as Congress had agreed 
to build frigates, it was contemplated to make them 
the most powerful and at the same time the most 
useful ships. After the most extensive researches and 
mature deliberations, their dimensions were fixed 
and I was directed to prepare the draughts, which 
was acoordiDgly done and approved. Those plans 
appear to be similar with those adopted by France 
in their great experience in naval architecture, they 
having cut down several of their seventy-fours to 
make heavy frigates, making them nearly of the 
dimensions of those for the United States. From 
the construction of those ships it is* expected the 
commanders of them will have it in their power to 
engage, or not, any ship as they may think proper ; 
and no ship under sixty-four now afioat but what 
must submit to them." ^ 

A few days later the Secretary of War, General 
Henry Knox, in whose department the work was 
done, the Navy Department not yet having been 
established, reported to the House of Eepresenta- 
tives : '^ That the passing of the said act created an 
anxious solicitude that this second commencement 
of a navy for the United States be worthy of their 
national character. That the vessels should combine 
such qualities of strength, durability, swiftness of 
sailing, and force as to render them equal, if not su- 
perior, to any frigates belonging to any of the Euro- 
1 Nav, Aff. vol. i, p. 8. 



46 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

pean Powers. Besearches therefore have been made 
for the best priociples of constnietion and snch pro- 
portions adopted as have appeared best, upon the 
most mature advice and deliberation. The larg^^ 
ships, of fortjr-fonr g^s, will be constructed upon 
a scale to contain thirty cannons of the caliber of 
twenty-four pounds, upon the gun deck. The others, 
of thirtynsix, twenty-eight cannons of the same caliber 
upon the gun deck. The r^nuning force will be 
made up of twelve pounders and brass howitssers. 
The frigates will be built of live oak and ted cedar 
in all parts where they can be used to advantage. 
These valuable woods a£Ford the United States the 
highest advantages in building ships, the durability 
being estimated at five times that of the common 
white oak. Besides these woods, the best white oak, 
pitch pine, and locust are directed to be used in the 
construction." ^ 

The plans for the forty-fours provided for a 
length over all of about a hundred and seventy-five 
feet and a tonnage of fifteen hundred and seventy- 
six, while the thirty-sixes were to be about eleven 
feet shorter and to measure twelve hundred and 
sixty-five tons.^ The larger frigates were to be 
manned by three hundred and fifty-nine officers and 
men, the smaller by three hundred and twelve.' 
It was decided to build the frigates at six different 

» Nav. Aff. voL i, p. 6. * JWi. pp. 10, 13. 

* ^av. Chron. pp. 54, 55, 00, 331 ; these nnmbera were after- 
wards increased to four hundred and three hundred and forty. 



NAVAL FBEFABATIOK 47 

seaports, and by the goyemment through agents 
rather than by contract. Shipyards were rented and 
naval agents appointed in the six ports. The work 
on each ship was in charge of a naval constructor 
and under the direction of a superintendent, who 
was to command the vessel when completed.^ 

Much time was required for the building of these 
frigates. It does not appear that the keek were laid 
until late in 1795, and after that the work proceeded 
slowly. This was partly due to the minute and pains- 
taking care bestowed on the plans and the prepara^* 
tions for working out the important problem of pro- 
ducing ^the most powerful and at the same time 
the most useful shipis," and partly to the uncommon 
thoroughness of their construction. The delay was 
chiefly due, however, to difficulties met with in pro- 
curing liveK)ak timber. For this purpose wood- 
cutters were sent from New England to Georgia, 
and a sufficient quantity of the timber had not been 
delivered at the various shipyards, when, in the 
spring of 1796, work on three of the frigates was 



The three ships chosen for completion under the 
act of April 20, 1796, were the United States and 
Constitution, of forty-four guns each, and the Con- 
stellation, of thirty-six. All three became famous 
in later years, and the last two are still on the 
Navy Eegister. 

1 Nav. Aff, vol. i, p. 6 ; Nav. Itut. September, 1906, p. 1007. 
« Nav. Aff. ToL 1, pp. e^-31. 



48 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

The United States was built at Philadelpliia by 
Joshua Humphreys, the chief naval constructor 
and designer of all the frigates. Her construction 
was superintended by Captain John Barry, who 
was to command her when finished. She was 
launched May 10, 1797, and slid into the water 
with such precipitation that she received some dam- 
age. She was the first vessel of the new navy, and 
excited the enthusiasm of the friends of the navy 
and the derision of the ultra French party. ^ The 
second ship to reach the water was the Constel- 
lation, which was launched September 7, at Balti- 
more. The Constitution was built at Boston, under 
the supervision of Colonel George Claghome, naval 
constructor, and of Captain Samuel Nicholson, her 
future commander, at the shipyard of Edmund 
Hartt, on the site of the present Constitution Wharf. 
She was ready to launch in September, 1797, and 
the attempt was made before a great crowd of 
people; but she stuck on the ways, which had been 
given too little inclination in order to avoid an 
accident similar to that of the United States. All 
efforts to get her into the water failed, to the mor- 
tification of Colonel Claghome and the great dis- 
appointment of the spectators. It was necessary to 
reconstruct the ways and wait for the next spring 
tide. At last she was successfully launched October 
21.2 

1 Nav, Aff. yol. i, p. 28 ; Barry, ch. zzyii. 
* Nav, Aff. vol. i, p. 56 ; Hbttw, ch. iy. 



NAVAL PREPARATION 49 

The first officers selected for the new navy were 
six captains, whose appointments were announced 
June 6, 1794.* They were John Barry, Samuel 
Nicholson, Silas Talbot, Joshua Barney, Kichard 
Dale, and Thomas Truxtun, who were to take rank 
in the order given. The first two had served the 
country well as captains in the Bevolutionary navy, 
Barry having commanded the Alliance late in the 
war. Talbot had been to sea in early life, and at 
the outbreak of the Bevolution had entered the 
army as captain, being later promoted to lieutenant- 
colonel. He then received a captain's commission 
in the navy, and, although no suitable command 
could be provided for him, he did good service on 
small vessels. Barney was a lieutenant in the Bevo- 
lutionary navy. Dale was Paul Jones's first lieu- 
tenant in the Bon Homme Bichard. Truxtun was a 
Bevolutionary privateersman. Barney declined to 
serve as junior to Talbot, whom he considered a 
landsman on account of his army career. In his 
place James Sever was appointed, to take rank be- 
low Truxtun. 

Each of the six captains was detailed to super- 
intend the construction of one of the new frigates. 
This arrangement subsequently raised a question 
of rank, which may be referred to here. When in 
1796 work on three of the frigates was suspended, 
the officers detailed to those vessels, Talbot, Dale, 
and Sever, were notified that their services were 
1 Nav. Chron. p. 58. 



50 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

no longer needed, and that their pay must be 
stopped; but they were not diseharged from the 
service. In 1798 President Adams reappointed 
them and sent their names a second time to the 
Senate for confirmation, which appears to have 
been unnecessary. Thereupon Truxtun chumed rank 
over Talbot and Dale. His daim was disallowed 
and he resigned, but his resignation was not ac- 
cepted, and he was prevailed upon to ranain in the 
service.^ 

Although the President was authorized by the act 
of March 27, 1794, to appoint twenty-two lieuten- 
ants, six lieutenants of marines, and other commi&- 
sioned officers to the number of fifty-four in all, no 
others than the captains were appointed until need 
for them arose, which was not until 1798. With 
the rapid expansion of the navy in that year many 
officers were needed at short notice, and they were 
not always selected with discriminating care. As a 
rule they were taken from the merchant marine, 
and many were veterans of the national or privateer 
sea service of the Kevolution. Before 1801 more than 
two hundred commissioned officers were appointed, 
including thirty or more captains. In order to give 
the best men the highest rank, it was sometimes ne- 
cessary to date their commissions back so that they 
might take precedence over others who had entered 

^ Nov* Ckron, oh. xr ; Talbot, ch. yii ; Adams, yoL yiii, pp. 663, 
664, 669-675, yol. iz, p. 12; Nav. Inst. September, 1906, p. 1023; 
Navy Dq>artment MSS,: Letters to President^ 16,51, 53; GeMrd 
Letters, yol. i, 514, toL ii, 254 



NAVAL FBEPARATION 51 

the service earlier by reason of the vessels to which 
they were assigned being earlier fitted out. This was 
sometimes difficult to arrange, and required tact on 
the part of the Secretary of the Navy.^ Between 
three hundred and fifiy and four hundred midship- 
men were appointed, and among them were several 
sons of officers and many other young men of pro- 
mise, some of whom became famous in after years. 
The act of March 27 also authorized about two thou- 
sand warrant officers, petty officers, seamen, and 
marines. These were not appointed or enlisted until 
1798, when the navy was put upon a war footing, 
and then of course many more were needed. The 
number of warrant officers taken into the service 
before 1801 was something over a hundred and 
twenty. The number of enlisted men was not fixed 
by law, but probably there were in service not far 
from six thousand petty officers and seamen when 
the navy was at its maximum strength. Seamen of 
a good class were easily obtained, and were enlisted 
as a rule for each vessel in the port where she first 
went into conmiission and to which she generally 
returned to ship a new crew.^ 

Captains received seventy-five dollars a month 
and six rations ; lieutenants forty dollars and three 
rations. In 1799 the pay of captains in command 
of the larger ships was increased to one hundred 

1 Letters to President^ 16, Stoddert to Adams (October, 17, 1798). 
> Statutes at Large, yol. i, p. 350 ; Nav. Chron, pp. H ^, 00» 33(^ 
875-388 ; Nav. Inst. September, 1906, p. 1023. 



62 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

dollars, with eight rations. Masters commaQdant 
were given sixty dollars, and lieutenants in com- 
mand of small vessels fifty dollars a month, with 
five and four rations respectively. Midshipmen 
were paid something less than twenty dollars a 
month, with one ration. Warrant officers got twenty 
dollars a month, with two rations, and enlisted men 
from nine to thirteen dollars, with one ration. By 
commuting their rations at twenty cents each, offi- 
cers materially increased their financial resources. 
The usual daily ration, prescribed in 1794, con- 
sisted of a pound and a half of beef or a pound of 
pork or of salt fish, a pound of bread, and one of 
rice, peas, or potatoes, with cheese or butter, and 
half a pint of spirits or a quart of beer.^ For their 
own use officers were allowed to take provisions on 
board to the extent of '^ half a ton each for a six 
months' voyage." The captain was required by 
regulations to " take care, in cutting up the beef, 
that choice pieces be never purposely selected for 
the officers from that which is cut up for the ship's 
company " ; and '^ that the officers do not select casks 
of the best wine or spirits for their own use from 
those intended for the ship's company." '^ Captains 
may shorten the daily allowance of provisions when 
necessity shall require it, taking due care that each 
man has credit for his deficiency, that he may be 

* Nav. Chron. pp. 54, 55, 114, 839, 340; Nav. Aff. yol. i, pp. 
29, 30; Statutes at Large, yol. i, pp. 351, 524, 618 ; Morris^ p. 17; 
HoUis, p. 46. See Claims, p. 424. 



NAVAL PREPARATION 5S 

paid €(v tihe same.** ^ No office is to have wliole 
allovranoe while die company is at short.** The cook 
was directed to ^ see the meat duly wat»ed and the 
provisions caiefnlly and cleanly boiled and delivered 
to the men agreeably to regulations.** Fishing was 
to be engaged in wh«i opportunity should offer, and 
the fish equitably distributed ^^ amongst the messes 
of the officers and seamen, gratis, without any de- 
duction of their allowance of provisions on that 
account." * 

Marines had been included in the complement 
oi- the first frigates, under the act of March 27, 
1794, and they had been enlisted when needed f 
but the marine corps as a distinct body did not 
exist imtil it was established and organized by the 
.act of July 11, 1798. The corps was to be an «^ ad- 
dition to the present military establishment," and 
over and above their sea service marines '^ shall at 
any time be liable to do duty in the forts and gar- 
risons of the United States." The marine corps was 
increased by an act of March 2, 1799, and after 
this date the force consisted of a major in command, 
four captains, thirty-six lieutenants, and over a 
thousand non-commissioned officers and privates. 
In the following year the rank of the commandant 
was raised to lieutenant-colonel. The pay in the ma- 
rine corps was essentially the same, rank for rank, 
as in the navy.^ The stations of marines aboard ship 

1 Nav. Beg, pp. 11, 15, 38, 44, 55. 

* Nav. Aff. ToL i, p. 56 ; Nav. Chron. pp. 89, 114, 150 ; Statvtti 



54 OUR NAVAL WAR WItH FRANCE 

were prescribed in the navy regulations as follows: 
" The officers of marines will be divided among 
the posts assigned to the musketry/ One will be 
destined to command those on the poop or quarter- 
deck. In cases where the Commander shall judge it 
proper to employ a part of the soldiers or marines 
in the batteries, he will employ with them a part 
of their officers and attach them to the service of 
a certain number of cannon, under the order of the 
officers who command the said batteries. • • • The 
marines will always parade on the poop or quarter- 
deck when the drum beats to quarters, at the same 
time every other man will run to his station." * 

Under an act approved April 30, 1798, the 
Navy Department was established and thenceforth 
took charge of all naval affairs, which had hith- 
erto been administered by the War Department.' 
George Cabot of Massachusetts was appointed 
Secretary of the Navy, but declined to serve, and 
Benjamin Stoddert of Georgetown, D. C, was ap- 
pointed May 21, 1798.* He took charge of the 
department June 18.^ Stoddert had far-seeing and 
statesmanlike views regarding naval expansion and 
preparation, and if his recommendations had been 
adopted the country might have been saved much 

j ^ . ot LargCf yoL i, pp. 594, 729, vol. ii, p. 39 ; Letters to Congress^ 

7 1 Nav, Reg. pp. 3, 4. 

* Nav, Aff, voL i, p. 33 ; Nav, Chron, p. 86 ; Statutes at Large, 
yol. 1, p. 553. 
» Pickering^ vol. xxii, 154, 177. * Gen. Letters, toL i, 2. 




Ji K XJ A M IX ST( > I ) I )E UT 



NAVAL PREPARATION 66 

h mniliation^ expensei and MoodiTipd wifliin fl^ft j\trrh 
twenty years. ^ 

In messages to Congress President Washington, 
December 7, 1796, and President Adams, May 16 
and November 23, 1797, bad urged tbe importance 
of national defense and naval preparation. ^ Con- 
gress responded in the summer of 1797 by author- 
izing the President to provide for fortifications, to 
call out the militia, to man and employ the new 
frigates, and to increase the strength of the reve- 
nue cutters.' The revenue cutter service had been 
established in 1790, and seven years later consisted 
of about fifteen small vessels, mostly brigs and 
schooners.^ The vigorous defensive measures in the 
spring of 1798 began with an act of March 27, 
providing for the equipment of the frigates United 
States, Constitution, and Constellation. April 27 
the President was empowered ^' to cause to be built, 
purchased, or hired a number of vessels, not ex- 
ceeding twelve, nor carrying more than twenty-two 
guns each." By the act of May 4 he was '^ to cause 
a niunber of small vessels, not exceeding ten, to 
be built or purchased and to be fitted out ... as 
gallies, or otherwise "; and by that of June 22, to 
increase still more the strength of the revenue cut- 
ters. Twelve additional vessels were authorized 

1 Nav» Chron, ch. y ; Nav. Aff. voL i, p. 65. 
« St. Pap. vol. ii, p. 108, ▼ol. iii, pp. 88, 339. 
s Acts of Jane 23 and 24, July 1, 1797, Statutes at Large, toL i, 
pp. 521, 522, 523. 
* United Service, Koyember, December, 1889. 



56 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

June 80, wHich the President might ^< accept in 
behalf of • . • and upon the credit of the United 
States " ; other vessels also might be accepted as vol- 
untary gifts. Of the twenty-four vessels provided 
for by this act and that of April 27, twelve were 
t6 carry from twenty to twenty-four guns each, six 
not less than thirty-two guns, and six not more 
than eighteen. The act of July 16 directed the 
completion of the three 1794 frigates left unfin- 
ished upon the conclusion of peace with Algkro;| 
they were named President, Congress, and Chesa- 
peake, the first of forty-four guns and the other 
two of thirty-six, although it had been originally 
intended to give the Chesapeake forty-four. The 
Philadelphia, 36, New York, 36, Essex, 32, Bos- 
ton, 28, John Adams, 28, Merrimack, 24, Mary- 
land, 20, Patapsco, 20, and Eichmond, 18, were 
built with money advanced by citizens on the credit 
of the United States, under the act of June 30. 
Several other vessels were built, or purchased and 
converted into vessels of war, under the acts of 
April 27 and June 30. The more important of 
these were the General Greene, 28, Adams, 28, 
and the Portsmouth, Connecticut, Trumbull, Gan- 
ges, and George Washington, of twenty-four guns 
each. The two last were merchantmen purchased 
and converted to warlike use ; all the others were 
built for the service. There were nearly twenty 
others of smaller size. February 26, 1799, an act 
was passed authorizing six ships of the line, of not 



NAVAL PREPARATION 67 

less than^ seventy-four guns each, and six eighteen- 
gun sloops of war; but unfortunately these pro- 
visions of the act were never carried out. The 
same act placed on the naval establishment such 
revenue cutters as had been increased in force; 
there were eight of these cutters.^ 
/^ As a rule vessels carried more guns than the num- 
\ ber indicated by the rate ; forty-four gun frigates 
(^carried fifty or more guns.^ The main battery of 
the larger frigates consisted of twenty-four pound 
guns ; in the thirty-six gun ships these were ex- 
changed later for eighteen pounders. The lighter 
frigates — the twenty-eights and thirty-twos — car- 
ried twelve pounders ; while nine pounders were the 
heaviest guns on vessels rating from eighteen to 
twenty-four, and six pounders on the smaller brigs 
and schooners. These were all long guns, heavy and 
strong, and able to endure a relatively large charge 
of powder, which threw a shot a good distance with 
considerable force. The twenty-four pounders were 
eight feet long and weighed forty-five hundred 
pounds. Carronades were not used in the United 
States navy before 1799, being first placed, it is 
said, on the Constellation. These were light, short 
guns of large calibre, with a very limited range, as 
only a light charge of powder could be used in them ; 

1 Statutes at Large, vol. i, pp. 547, 562, 556, 569, 575, 608, 621 ; 
Nav. Ckron. pp. 79-87, 90, 113; Nav. Aff. vol. i, pp. 57, 58, 65, 
68 ; Emmons, pp. 6-9 ; Gen. Letters, voL i, 54, 163. 

' The rates here giYen are taken from Emmons, and sometimea 
differ from those of other anthoritiea. 



58 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

but as they threw a heavy shot they were very 
effective within their range. Officers and cannoneers 
were directed by the navy regulations " to pay the 
greatest attention to the manner in which they 
charge their pieces, so as not to expose them to be 
burst by too great loads ; they will watch, in conse- 
quence, that there be put in at the same time but 
one round ball and one chained ball, or one round 
ball and one packet of case-shot, or two round 
balls, according to the distance at which the enemy 
fight." The weight of shot varied, and Cooper 
found upon investigation that French shot were 
considerably heavier than American shot of the same 
denomination. It is necessary to allow for this if 
attempting to make an accurate estimate of the rel- 
ative force of different ships. ^ 

To supplement the activity of the navy in the 
defense of the country, private enterprise was 
^stimulated by issuing letters of marque. The act of 
June 25, 1798, provided that merchant vessels, 
while acting purely on the defensive, might " repel 
by force any assault" committed upon them by 
French cruisers or privateers, capture the aggres- 
sors, and recapture American vessels which had 
been taken by the French. Such licensed vessels 
were to act under instructions of the President, 
which they were to receive from the collectors of 
ports. The act of July 9 authorized the President 

1 Nav. Aff, ▼ol. i, pp. 6, 35, 53-66; A'a». Htg. p. 26; Coqp«r, 
Tol. i, pp. 344, 366. App. B. 



NAVAL PREPARATION 58 

^to grant to the owners of private armed ships 

• • • special commissions; • • • and snoh private 
armed vessels, when duly conmiissioned, shall have 
the same license and anthorily for the sabdoing, 
seizing, and capturing any French armed vessels 

• • • as the public armed vessels may by law have." ^ 
Under this law three hundred and sixty-five private 
armed vessels were commissioned before March 1, 
1799, of which one hundred and twenty-nine be- 
longed in New England, mostly in Massachusetts, 
and over sixty in each of the states of New York, 
Pennsylvania, and Maryland, nearly all the rest 
coming from the South. Most of these vessels were 
merchantmen, armed merely for defense, and car^ 
ried only a small force of men and guns. Their 
commissions gave them an authority which they 
might use on occasion, but they seldom fell in with 
vessels of equal or inferior force. The Americans 
probably had no real privateers in this virar, be- 
cause their legitimate occupation of preying upon 
the enemy's commerce was denied them, inasmuch 
as, under the acts of Congress, armed vessels only 
might be attacked ; and also because the commerce 
of France had been nearly swept from the sea by 
the British.^ 

The act of July 1, 1797, prescribed for the gov- 
ernment of the navy the regulations established in 

^ For s facsimile of one of these eommiBsioiif, see Maday's 
American Privateers, p. 218. 

* Statutes at Large, vol. i, pp. 572, 578 ; Nav. Ckron. p. 88 ; Nao. 
Aff, voL i, p. 71. See Of. Claims B.ep. vol. xxii, pp. 427-440. 



60 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

1775, which had been drafted by the naval com- 
mittee of the Continental Congress, and were chiefly 
the work of John Adams, based on British regula- 
tions. Not long afterwards, while the navy was still 
under the jurisdiction of the War Department, a 
more elaborate set of regulations was compiled. An 
act passed March 2, 1799, comprises rules and 
regulations to ''be adopted and put in force for 
the government of the navy." The repeal of this 
act was provided for in that of April 23, 1800, 
which laid down a similar set of rules ''for the 
better government of the navy." * 

In addition to naval legislation, many acts were 
passed which had for their general purpose the 
strengthening of the country's defensive position. 
First in importance was the increase of the army. 
Three major-generals were appointed : Alexander 
Hamilton, Charles C. Pinckney, and Henry Knox. 
An imfortunate dispute arose as to their relative 
rank. General Washington wished them to stand in 
the order named. This would give seniority to Ham- 
ilton, in whose ability Washington placed especial 
confidence. President Adams proposed for them 
the same relative rank they had held in the Eevolu- 
tidn, which would have reversed the order, making 
Knox senior, but he yielded in deference to Wash- 
ington's wishes. Recruiting began, but progressed 

1 Statutes at Large, vol. i, pp. 526, 709, vol. ii, p. 45; Clark's 
Naval History of the United States (1814), vol. u, p. 108; Nav 
Reg. pp. 3, 53; Nav. Chron, pp. 114, 150; Nav. Inst. September, 
1905, p. 628. 



NAVAL PREPARATION 61 

slowly. The army was not needed, for the fighting 
took place wholly upon the sea.^ Other measures 
provided for calling out and equipping the militia, 
building coast defenses, and borrowing the money 
necessary for carrying out all these enterprises.^ 

Commercial intercourse with France and her de- 
pendencies was suspended.' War was not declared, 
but the capture of French armed vessels, the re- 
capture of American vessels, the condemnation of 
French vessels and property taken, and retaliation 
under certain circumstances were authorized by 
Congress.^ 

The naval force of the United States, employed 
in the hostilities with France between 1798 and 
1801, acquired imder the provisions of the various / ^ 
acts of Congress just considered and otherwiseT" x^^ 
consisted of forty-five vessels. Of these twenty-one 
were built for the service, eleven were purchased, 
five captured during the war, and eight transferred 
from the Treasury Department. There were about 
as many other revenue cutters not transferred to 
the navy, but presumably held ready to be employed 

1 Washington, voL xiv, pp. 29, 34, 40-46, 68-67, 92-107, 110- 
119; Adams, voL yiii, pp. 573-580, 587-590, 593, 600-604. 

^ ^atutes at Large voL i, pp. 521, 522, 552, 554, 555, 558, 569, 
676, 604, 607, 725, 749. 

* Acts of June 13, Jaly 16, 1798, Febroary 9, 1799, Febrnary 
27, 1800, Statutes at Large, voL i, pp. 565, 611, 613, voL ii, p. 7; 
Nav. Chron, pp. 134, 148. 

* Acts of May 28, June 25 and 28, Jnly 9, 1798, March 3, 1799, 
Statutes at Large, voL i, pp. 561, 572, 574, 578, 743 ; Nav. Chran. 
pp. 86, 88. 



si 



62 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

in harbor defense if called npon. Nine galleys, 
built for the nayy, were also ready for this kind of 
service. Of these various vessels three were rated 
as forty-four gun, and six as thirty-six gun frigates ; 
one carried thirty-two and four carried twenty-eight 
guns each ; there were six of twenty-four guns, six 
of twenty, and four of eighteen guns. The others 
were all small vessels.^ The navy was manned by 
about seven hundred officers and five or six thou- 
sand men. This force was supplemented by about 
eleven hundred officers and men of the marine 
corps. 

^ See Appendix IV. 



J 



CHAPTER V 

THE OPENING OP HOSTHJTIEB 

The first yessel of the navy to get to sea in the 
spring of 1798 was the ship Ganges, 24, which 
sailed from Philadelphia May 24. ^^ This day at 
11 o'dock the Secretary of War, accompanied by 
Captain Barry, commander of the frigate United 
States, and Captain Dale, commander of the ship 
of war Ganges, went on board the latter ship, and 
deliyered his orders to Captain Dale. On the sec- 
retary's leaving the ship, a salute was fired ; imme- 
diately after which she weighed anchor, to proceed 
to her cruising station." ^ The Ganges was one of 
the vessels acquired by purchase ; she had been an 
Indiaman, and Dale had been her commander in 
the merchant service. The orders he now received 
from the Secretary of War were limited, inasmuch 
as Congress had not yet authorized captures. He 
was directed to cruise between Long Island and the 
Virginia capes for the protection of waters within 
the jurisdiction of the United States. As soon as 
the act of Ma$^-2B^was passed a pilot boat was dis- 
patched to him, with the President's instructions 
of the same date. Under this first general order to 
commanders of the new navy Dale was ^^ directed 

- 1 Gazette of United States, May 24 1798. 



64 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

to seize, take, and bring into any port of the United 
States " any French armed vessel '^ which shall have 
committed, or which shall be found hovering on the 
coast of the United States for the purpose of com* 
mitting, depredations on the vessels belonging to 
the citizens thereof" ; and also to retake American 
vessels in the hands of the French. This cruise of 
the Ganges, which lasted several months, seems to 
have been uneventful.^ About this time the ques- 
tion arose as to the relative rank of the captains 
first appointed, and pending the decision Dale ob< 
tained a furlough and in 1799 sailed for China in 
a letter of marque. He therefore took no further 
part in the war.' 

In June the frigate Constellation, Captain Thomas 
Truxtun, and the Delaware, 20, Captain Stephen 
Decatur, were ordered to sea under the instruc- 
tions of May 28. They were to cruise along the 
southern Atlantic coast. The Delaware was a 
small ship of one hundred and eighty tons, which 
had been purchased for the navy. Her commander 
had been a privateersman in the Eevolution, and 
was the father of the afterwards famous Decatur, 
who was at this time a midshipman in the service. 
The Delaware sailed July 6, and the next morn- 
ing learned from an American vessel that a French 

1 Nav, Chran, pp. 90-92 ; Naval Correspondence in War De. 
partmentf 304 ; Bulletin of New York Public Library, September, 
1907, Stoddert to Dale (July 13, 1798). 

s Cooper's American Naval Officers^ vol. ii, p. 259; see above, 
p. 49. 



THE OPENING OF HOSTILITIES 65 

privateer was eruising off shore. Not long after, 
four schooners were sighted, and Captain Decatur 
stood off as if he were a merchantman anxious to 
avoid them. One of them gave chase, but when 
near enough to discover the warlike character of 
the Delaware, attempted to escape. It was now 
Decatur^s turn to pursue, and after a '^ pretiy long 
chase" off the New Jersey shore he overhauled 
the fugitive in the evening, <^ close in with Egg 
Harbor." Several shot were fired at her before she 
surrendered. She proved to be the French priva- 
teer schooner Croyable, of twelve guns, from Cape 
Francois, having left that port June 19. Her cap- 
tain's story was that he fled from the Delaware, 
supposing her to be British, and sought safety in 
Delaware Bay, being ignorant of a state of war 
between the United States and France. The prize 
was brought up the bay and her crew, fifty-three 
in number, were landed at Fort Miffin. The Croy- 
able had taken several American vessels. She was 
the first prize of the new navy, and was condemned 
and taken into the service, her name being changed 
to Betaliation.^ 

The Constellation appears to have met with no 
success in her first cruise, and made a second in 
August in company with the Baltimore, 20, Captain 
Isaac Phillips, under orders to proceed to Havana for 

1 Nav, Chron, p. 92 ; Columbian Centindj July 14, 1798 ; Boston 
Commercial Gazette, Aag^t 2, 1798, with testiiDony taken in the 
prize oonrt ; Letters to Secretary of War, 1, 2 (July 9 and 10, 
1798) ; Pickering, vol. ix, 19, 36. 



66 OUB NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

the protection of a fleet of sixty American merchant- 
men closely watched by French cruisers. These 
vessels were safely convoyed to their home ports.^ 

The frigate United States, Captain Barry, sailed 
early in July under orders dated the 8d, to cruise 
between Cape Henry and Nantucket. Charles 
Stewart, the famous commodore of later years, was 
one of the ship's lieutenants, and among the mid- 
shipmen were Bichard Somers and Stephen Deca- 
tur, Jr. Captain Barry was at first limited to the 
instructions of May 28, but those of July 10, car- 
rying out the act of Congress of the preceding day, 
reached him some time after sailing. This second 
general naval order came to him inclosed with a 
long letter from the Secretary of the Navy, dated 
July 11, giving minute directions as to his future 
movements. The act of July 9, authorizing the 
seizure of French armed vessels " within the juris- 
dictional limits of the United States or elsewhere 
on the high seas," made more extended operations 
possible, and the administration decided to send 
squadrons to the West Indies, where was the prin- 
cipal scene of naval activity and of the spoliation 
of American conmierce. Barry was ordered to sail 
for a cruise among the Lesser Antilles in company 
with the Delaware, Captain Decatur, the Herald, 
18, Captain Sever, and the revenue cutter Picker- 
ing, 14, Captain Chapman ; he was also to request 
of the governor of Porto Bico the release of certain 

1 Nav. Chron, p. 98 ; Phillips, pp. 33, 34, 48, 49 ; Barry, p. 358. 




JOHN BARRY 



THE OPENING OF HOSTILITIES 67 

Americans held there, who had been captured by 
Frenck cruisers. The United States and Delaware 
sailed^ lor Boston, where they were to be joined by 
the Herald and Pickering. On the way to Cape Cod 
they fell in with a large ship, and the United States, 
signaling the Delaware to stand off, approached 
her. Both ships showed French colors and nearly 
came to blows before discovering each other's iden- 
tity. The stranger proved to be a British fifty-gun 
ship. After that a system of private signals wasT 7 
established by which American and British vessels j k^, 
might recognize each othef and avoid hostile ool- I ^ 
Usion. Barry then proceeded to Boston, and find- 
ing that the Herald and Pickering were not ready^ 
he set sail for the West Indies July 26, with the 
United States and Delaware.* 

Although the hurricane season was approaching, 
Secretary Stoddert believed it important, even at 
some risk, to strike a blow at the French in the 
West Indies before their strength in those waters 
should be reinforced. In a letter to the President, 
written July 30, 1798, he says : " The hurricanes, 
I understand, are not so yery dangerous as they 
are generally believed to be. It is not oftener than 
once in four or five years that much injury is done 
by them, and at such times the danger is partial 
and extends not beyond one or two Islands. Under 
such circumstances and impressed with the opinion 

1 Nav. Chron. pp. 88, 91, 92, 93; Barry, pp. 349-356; Matsa- 
diusetta Mercury, July 24, 1798. 



68 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

that the American Nayy should be taught to disre- 
gard problematic dangers and that our force should 
be employed while the French have but little force, 
in destroying what little they have and in produ- 
cing a scarcity of provisions and the consequent 
discontent flowing from such a source, in their 
Islands, I have the honor, sir, to submit for your 
consideration " an arrangement for sending succes- 
sive expeditions to the West Indies, while at the 
same time maintaining the patrol of the Atlantic 
coast of the United States with an adequate force. 
New England would be guarded by the Herald 
and Pickering, the middle section by the Baltimore 
and two revenue cutters, and the southern coast 
by a frigate and two cutters. Meanwhile another 
frigate with the Montez)ima^^2D, would sail for the 
West Indies and relieve Barry, who would return 
home with the United States and Delaware ; later 
the frigate on the southern coast would be sent to 
the West Indies with the Ganges. The general 
plan here proposed was carried out, though with 
changes of detail. The Constellation and Baltimore 
went to Havana soon after this, as has been seen, 
and later the Montezuma, with two smaller vessels, 
was sent to cruise among the Windward Islands. 
In his letter the secretary adds : " By keeping up 
incessant attacks on the French cruisers on their 
own ground they will, in a degree at least, be pre- 
vented from coming on ours." ^ 

1 Barry, pp. 356-358. 



THE OPENING OF HOSTILITIES 69 

Commodore Barry returned to Delaware Bay 
with his little squadron after a cruise of nearly two 
months, arriving at New Castle September 20. 
The Secretary of the Navy complained to the Presi- 
dent of this early return, attributing it to fear of 
hurricanes. Yet in his instructions to Barry he had 
mentioned two months as the proper length of the 
cruise. The results of the expedition were disap- 
pointing to the naval commanders as well as to the 
secretary, for little had been accomplished but the 
capture of two small French privateers, the Sans 
Pareil and Jaloux. In the fall the United States 
patrolled the coast for a month, to the eastward, 
and the Delaware to the southward. The frigate 
sprung her bowsprit and was otherwise disabled in 
a severe gale, during which Lieutenant James Bar- 
ron saved her masts, and possibly the ship too, by 
setting up the rigging, which had become danger- 
ously slack, under great di£Biculties. The United 
States was now obliged to cut short her cruise and 
return to Delaware Bay, arriving at Chester No- 
vember 9. The damage having been repaired, Barry 
received orders, dated December 7, to proceed with 
the United States to the West Indies and take 
command of a squadron to be employed there dur- 
ing the winter.* 

On July 2, 1798, "precisely at 10 minutes before 
one o'clock, the frigate Constitution, Captain Nich- 
olson, came to sail from her moorings off the Long 
1 Barry, pp. 358, 359, 361-364, 366-372 ; Decatur, pp. 26-29. 



70 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

Wharf. The wind was about West, a moderate 
breeze. She proceeded half the way to the Castle 
under her three topsails and fore-topmast stay-sail; 
after which the top gallant sails were set. She passed 
the Fort at 10 minutes after one, having run three 
miles against a strong tide ; and a few moments sub- 
sequent came to anchor in King Road, just below . 
Spectacle Island. In getting under way, a Federal 
Salute was given to the town; and on passing the 
Castle that fortress received and returned a salute. 
The beauty of her appearance on the water and the 
rapidity of her sailing is the subject of admiration 
and conversation by both foreigners and native citi- 
zens who are connoisseurs in naval excellence."^ 
The frigate got to sea Sunday, July 22. "She has 
on board 388 yoimg, well-built, healthy Americans. 
. . . Captain Nicholson merits great applause for 
his unwearied assiduity and unremitted endeavors 
to render her the pride of the American navy — and 
a pattern of the glorious palladium, whose name she 
bears."' Isaac Hull, under whose command she 
afterwards won the first of her famous victories 
in the War of 1812, was at this time one of her lieu- 
tenants. 

After a month at sea the Constitution put into 
Newport August 21, where Captain Nicholson f oimd 
the secretary's orders of the 13th directing him to 
cruise along the coast south of Cape Henry in com- 

* Mass. Mercury, Jnly 3, 1798. 

3 Columbian Centind, July 25, 1798. 




SAMUEL NICHOLSON 



THE OPENING OF HOSTIUTIES 71 

pany with four revenue cutters.^ September 8 the 
frigate fell in with a tweniy-f our gun ship under 
English colors and boarded her. Her officers were 
French, but professed to be royalists ; her crew was 
very mixed, with many French and Spanish, and 
her papers were unsatisfactory. Nicholson therefore 
concluded that she was French, and brought her into 
Norfolk as a prize. She turned out, however, to be 
an English privateer called the Niger, and the gov- 
ernment was obliged to give her up and pay damages 
estimated at eleven thousand dollars.^ From Norfolk 
the Constitution returned to her cruising grotmd. 
There she found the Baltimore which, after her con- 
Toy duly in company with the Constellation, had been 
ordered by Captain Truxtun to cruise off Charles- 
ton. Captain Nicholson now ordered the Baltimore 
to join him in convoying a fleet to Havana. Soon 
afterwards the Constitution, owing to an accident, 
bore away for Boston for repairs, leaving the Bal- 
timore alone with the convoy.' November 10 the 
Constitution ^^ arrived in President's Boad, in the 
outer harbor; she having sprung her bowsprit near 
the Gtdph of Florida, when convoying (at the re- 
quest of the Naval Agent and merchants of the city 
of Charleston) a fleet of ten sail of merchantmen, 

1 Nav. Chron. p. 03 ; Columbian CerUinel, Aug^ 11, September 
1, 1798. 

2 Gen. Letters, vol. i, 270 ; Pickering, voL ix, 386, 401, vol. xi, 477, 
vol. zzzvii, 342, 343, 345, 347, 359 ; Boston Com. Gazette, September 
27, 1798 ; Mass. Mercwy, September 28, November 20, 1798. 

» PhiUips, pp. 49, 111, 112. 



72 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

for the Havannah. Since the Constitution left this 
port she has completely scoured the coast. Captain 
Nicholson's first orders were to cruise from George's 
Bank to Sandy Hook; his second, from Sandy Hook 
to the Capes of Virginia; and his third, from the 
Capes of Virginia to St. Mary's River, to protect 
the American commerce and to capture all French 
cruisers. The ship sails remarkably fast; the crew 
perfectly happy; the commander held in high esti- 
mation, and she has not a sick man on board." ^ The 
frigate was ready for sea in December, and was 
ordered to join Commodore Barry's squadron in the 
West Indies. She sailed early in January.' 

In September, 1798, the ship Montezuma, 20, a 
converted merchantman, was ordered to the West 
Indies under the command of Captain Alexander 
Murray, who had been a lieutenant in the Kevolu- 
tionary navy. With her went the brig Norfolk, 18, 
a vessel built for the service and commanded by 
Captain Thomas Williams, and the prize schooner 
Retaliation, 14, Lieutenant William Bainbridge. 
This little squadron sailed from Norfolk, October 
25, under instructions to cruise about Gxiadeloupe, 
St. Martin, and Porto Rico for the protection of 
commerce. They fell in with a number of British 
frigates and recaptured an American brig from the 
French. Before dawn, November 20, off Guade- 

^ Columbian Centind, November 14, 1798 ; Mass. Mercury j No- 
vember 13, 1798. 

2 Nav. Chron, p. 94; Columbian Centinel, December 12, 1798, 
January 5, 1799. 



THE OPENING OF HOSTILITIES 73 

lonpe, two sail were sighted in the west, and Cap- 
tain Murray had begun to give chase when three 
vessels were seen to the eastward. ^^As daylight 
appeared we found we were meeting two large frig- 
ates and a three masted lugger ; the Retaliation and 
the prize a little ahead of them were standing for 
us. We bore up for the Retaliation and hailed her, 
and was informed by Captain Bainbridge that they 
were the English frigates we had seen the day be- 
fore. Fortunately we saw at that instant the two 
sail we had chased a little before to leeward, and 
we put about to pursue them ; the frigates standing 
after us and nearly within gunshot. We crowded a 
press of sail after the chase, and not knowing what 
to make of the frigates we hoisted private signals, 
which were not noticed ; we then hoisted the Amer- 
ican flag — still saw no colors — but crowding sail 
after us, and we presumed chasing the same vessels 
which we were. The Retaliation then dropped un- 
suspicious with her prize (or rather could not avoid 
them) close under their guns, when the headmost 
frigate fired into her, and we saw her haul down 
her pendant while the prize was suffered to keep 
up her ensign." * 

When the Montezuma and Norfolk had departed 
in pursuit of the two sail in the west, Bainbridge, 
left alone, had made the signals agreed upon by 
American and English commanders, by which 

1 Nav. Chron, pp. 93, 94, 127 ; Columbian Centind, November 
10, 1798 ; Mass, Mercury, January 29, 1799, Murray to Secretary 
of Navy (November 23, 1798). 



74 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

they were to recognize each other. Although the 
strangers to the eastward were unable to answer 
his signals, he still believed them to be English- 
men. He did not discover his mistake until two of 
the ships, which proved to be French frigates, had 
approached so near that it was impossible for him 
to escape. One of them, the Insurgente, 36, hoisted 
French colors and fired into the Eetaliatlon, while 
the other, the flagship Volontaire, 44, ordered Bain- 
bridge on board. He had no alternative, and ac- 
cordingly struck his colors, went on board the 
Volontaire, and surrendered to Commodore St. 
Laurent, the ranking French officer. Meanwhile 
the Insurgente had immediately sailed in pursuit 
of the Montezuma and Norfolk. The chase was 
watched with interest from the deck of the Volon- 
taire, and Commodore St. Laurent inquired of Bain- 
bridge the force of the American vessels. Without 
hesitation, Bainbridge greatly overstated the number 
and weight of their guns, which induced the Com- 
modore to hoist a signal for the recall of the In- 
surgente. The chase was thereupon abandoned, to 
the great vexation and disappointment of Captain 
Barreaut of the Insurgente. In the discussion and 
explanation which followed, the deception practiced 
by Bainbridge was exposed, but in spite of his 
chagrin the commodore appeared to regard it as a 
justifiable ruse. It was too late to renew the chase, 
and the American vessels escaped.^ 

1 Nav. Chron. pp. 127-130; Bainbridge, pp. 25-27. 



THE OPENING OF HOSTILITIES 75 

The frigates had just arriYed in West Indian 
waters from France, by way of Cayenne, botmd for 
Guadeloape. On the Yolontaire was G^eral Des- 
fonmeanx, who had come out to relieve Victor 
Hngnes as goyemor ; Hngaes was soon after sent 
back to France under arrest. The Yolontaire and 
Insurg^ite proceeded on their way to Guadeloupe, 
taking the Retaliation and the prize brig with 
them, and anchored off Basse Terre the next day. 
The American officers were retained on the French 
frigates, while the crew of the Retaliation were sent 
ashore to a prison where many American seamen 
were confined in a deplorable condition through ill 
treatment and starvation. Bainbridge was allowed 
to go ashore on parole, and with some difficulty 
and delay succeeded in procuring from General 
Desf oumeaux an order for better treatment of the 
prisoners, which, however, effected only partial re- 
lief. Desf oumeaux attempted to involve Bainbridge 
in a scheme for the neutralization of Gruadeloupe,but 
he had no authority to treat on the subject and no 
disposition to accede to the conditions proposed by 
the governor. Bainbridge and all the other Ameri- 
can prisoners, nearly two himdred and fifty in 
number, were subsequently released and sent back 
to the United States.* 

Meanwhile the Montezuma and Norfolk, having 
escaped from the French frigates, continued their 

1 Nav. Chron. pp. 128-130; Bainbridge^ pp. 27-35; Gazette of 
United States, Febrnary 20, 1799. 



76 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

chase of the vessels they had sighted in the mom- 
ing, and at length overhauled and captured the 
stemmost of them. She proved to be an American 
schooner which had been taken by the French. 
They then made for Antigua, and had been there 
but a short time when the prize brig that had been 
left with the Eetaliation arrived. Her crew had 
not been landed with the other American prisoners 
at Guadeloupe, and had recaptured the vessel and 
escaped with her. November 29 the little squadron 
was at St. Thomas, where Murray landed eighteen 
prisoners, taking a receipt for them from the French 
consul, and collected a convoy of merchantmen. 
He reported to the Secretary of the Navy that it 
was his intention to conduct them far enough on 
their homeward voyage to be* clear of the French, 
and then to run to windward, which he considered 
the best cruising station. He also reported that 
there were a hundred and fifty French privateers 
from Guadeloupe in adjacent waters, mostly small 
brigs and schooners. It was very difficult to catch 
them because of the ease with which they could 
escape into shallow water, but by vigilant cruising 
in the neighborhood they could be kept inshore and 
thereby rendered comparatively harmless.* 

November 16, off Havana, the Baltimore, Cap- 
tain Phillips, experienced one of those flagrant in- 
stances of British arrogance which the little Ameri- 
can navy of those days was called upon, from time 

1 Mass. Mercury, January 29, 1799. 



THE OPENING OF HOSTILITIES 77 

to time, to endure. The mortifying features of such 
incidents were generally due in great measure to 
the lack of spirit of the particular American com- 
mander implicated. The most famous case is that 
(^ the Chesapeake in 1807, fired upon by the Brit- 
ish ship Leopard and imprepared to resist. Other 
instances, in which Americans defied the assumed 
authority of Englishmen backed by superior force, 
are less well known, but they should not be for- 
gotten.^ 

Upon the departure of the Constitution for Bos- 
ton, after having sprung her bowsprit, the Balti- 
more, left alone with the convoy from Charleston^ 
proceeded on the voyage to Havana.^ They had 
nearly reached that port, early in the morning of 
November 16, when a British squadron of three 
ships of the line and two frigates hove in sight. 
Captain Phillips, fearing possible detention and 
delay, signaled his convoy to make all sail in order 
to get into Havana as soon as practicable. All the 
vessels except three made the port without molesta- 
tion ; these three were detained, but afterwards re- 
leased. Meanwhile the Baltimore had approached 
the British flagship, in order, as Captain Phillips 
says, to divert her attention from the fleet under 
his charge. On the invitation of the English com- 
modore, Phillips went on board the flagship. The 

^ For oases of Americans resisting British arrogance, see Por- 
ter^ pp. 10, 67 ; Bainbridge, pp. 21, 22 ; Perry^ vol. i, pp. 46, 87- 
89; Morris, pp. 38, 44; Hollis, pp. 127-130. 

^ See above, p. 71. 



78 OUE NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

commodore informed him that he intended to im- 
press such of the Baltimore's crew as could not 
produce American protections, that is, papers prov- 
ing citizenship. Phillips, after protesting against 
such action, returned to his ship, where he found a 
British officer had arrived during his absence, had 
mustered the crew, and had the Baltimore's muster 
roll in his hand, having been allowed to do this by 
the first lieutenant. Phillips took the muster roll 
from the officer and ordered his crew to quarters, 
requesting time to consider what he should do ; but 
finally allowed the English officer to take away 
fifty-five of his crew, at the same time hauling down 
his fiag. This action he defended on the ground 
that his instructions were explicit, that ^^ the vessels 
of every other nation [except France] are on no 
account to be molested"; but it is clear that this 
was not intended to restrain a national vessel from 
resenting an insult to the flag. The case was com- 
plicated by the fact that Phillips's commission had 
never been delivered to him, which gave him an 
anomalous standing. Owing to the haste and con- 
fusion in the Navy Department at that time, this 
important document had been mislaid or missent ; 
but he had with him letters and orders from the 
department which should have been sufficient to 
establish the character of his ship and his own posi- 
tion. Nevertheless this irregularity disturbed his 
peace of mind, and for this reason he had emphat- 
ically protested against being separated from a 



THE OPENING OF HOSTILITIES 79 

guperior officer, when successively left alone by 
Troxtun and Nicholson.* 

The British commodore paid no attention to Cap- 
tain Phillips's surrender, and a little later sent 
back fifty of the men, apparently fearing his own 
government's disapproval of such wholesale impress- 
ment. He then proposed to exchange certain Ameri- 
cans in his squadron, presumably impressed from 
other vessels, for an equal number of Englishmen 
in the Baltimore's crew; but this proposal was 
rejected by Phillips, who of course had no right to 
give up any of his men, regularly enlisted, what- 
ever their nationality might be. The Baltimore, 
having collected a convoy of homeward bound ves- 
sels, returned to the United States, putting into 
Chesapeake Bay. Captain Phillips proceeded at 
once to Philadelphia and reported the affair to the 
Secretary of the Navy. It had also been reported 
by the American consul at Havana, and on De- 
cember 29 the following circular, the third general 
order to commanding officers, was issued : ^^ It is 
the positive command of the President, that on no 
pretense whatever you permit the public vessel of 
war under your command to be detained or searched, 
nor any of the officers or men belonging to her to 
be taken from her by the ships or vessels of any 
foreign nation, so long as you are in a capacity 

1 Nav. Chron. ch. yi; PhiUips, pp. 33-40, 48-59, 69-73, 111- 
114 ; St. Pap. voL W, pp. 149-153 ; Gen. Letters, toL i, 492 ; Pick- 
ering, vol. x, 178. 



80 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

to repel such outrage on the honor of the Ameri- 
can flag. If force should be exerted to compel 
your submission, you are to resist that force to 
the utmost of your power, and when oyerpowered 
by superior force you are to strike your flag and 
thus yield your vessel as well as your men, but 
never your men without your vessel." * Soon after 
this, January 10, 1799, Phillips was summarily dis- 
missed from the service. On January 16 the fourth 
general order was issued by the Navy Department, 
defining more clearly than the instructions which . 
had misled Phillips the conduct to be observed in 
the matter of search, saying that ^^ it will not be 
lawful for you to prevent merchant vessels, although 
under your convoy, from being searched or detained 
by the vessels of any of the powers at war, except 
the French." ^ 

Captain Phillips showed lack of spirit on this 
occasion, but it surely was a trying situation for a 
man to find himself in, recently graduated from the 
merchant marine and without naval training and 
tradition, other than privateering service in the 
Revolution, to guide him. He should have ordered 
the English officer away from his ship, thereby 
placing upon the commodore the responsibility of 
using force. It is unlikely that he would have gone 
to the extreme of firing upon the Baltimore, and 
probably would have retracted his demands or let 

1 Nav. Chron. p. 124; St, Pap. vol. iy, p. 162. 

2 Nav. Chron. p. 125. 



THE OPENING OF HOSTILITIES 81 

tiie matter drop. This was the result m oertain 
other similar cases. Nevertheless, it is doubtful if 
summary dismissal without a hearing is ever justi- 
fiable in the absence of emergency. It would seem, 
moreoYcr, from a study of the evidence, that neither 
the President nor the Secretaiy of the Navy had an 
intimate knowledge of all the circumstances of the 
case. Phillips should have been allowed a oourt- 
martiaL^ 

As winter approached, the likelihood of French- 
men cruising off the Atlantic coast diminished, and 
it was deemed safe and expedient to relax watchful- 
ness in this quarter and to concentrate the naval 
forces of the cotmtry in the enemy's waters. Ac- 
cordingly, in December, 1798, a comprehensive 
scheme for the disposition of the fleet was worked 
out in the Navy Department, by which four squad- 
rons were to be stationed in the West Indies, two 
of them to the eastward of Porto Bico and two in 
Cuban waters. To these squadrons were assigned 
twenty-one vessels, the whole force of the navy then 
in commission except one, the Montezuma. Commo- 
dore Barry's squadron was the largest and most 
powerful, including the heavy frigates United States 
and Constitution, the ships George Washington, 
Captain Fletcher, Merrimack, Captain Brown, and 
Portsmouth, Captain McNeill, of twenty-four guns 
each, and the Herald, Captain Bussell, with four 
revenue cutters. One of the latter was the Pickering, 

^ For remarks on this subject, see Cooper, toI. i, pp. 324-336. 



82 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

commanded by Lieutenant Edward Preble, the fa- 
mous commodore of later days. The other cutters 
were the Eagle, Scammel, and Diligence. Barry was 
to cruise to the windward of St. Christopher as far 
as Barbadoes and Tobago, giving attention to points 
even as distant as Cayenne and Curasao, and to 
rendezvous at Prince Kupert's Bay on the island of 
Dominica. In his orders of December 7 he was in- 
formed " where the vessels not imder your immediate 
command will be employed, that you may apprise 
any of the divisions of danger beyond their strength 
to resist, reinforce them, or if occasion should re- 
quire it, order them to join you or proceed to the 
United States." If "encumbered with prisoners, your 
first effort must be to exchange them for our own 
citizens in the hands of the French," — even upon 
disadvantageous terms, rather " than suffer our meri- 
torious seamen to remain in their hands." Barry was 
admonished that "a spirit of enterprise and adven- 
ture cannot be too much encouraged in the officers 
under your command, nor can too many opportuni- 
ties be afforded the enterprising to distinguish them- 
selves. We have nothing to dread but inactivity. 
The French can have no force in the West Indies 
this winter equal to ours, which is thought to be 
sufficient to rid those seas as well of French com- 
missioned armed vessels as of the pirates which 
infest them; and it is with you to lay your coimtry 
under obligations by rendering this important ser- 
vice and by exciting among the officers and men a 



THE OPENING OF HOSTILITIES 83 

high degree of zeal for the honor of the American 
Navy."* 

Commodore Truxtmi was ordered to cruise be- 
tween St. Christopher, his rendezvous, and Porto 
Rico. Besides his own ship, the Constellation, there 
were assigned to him the Baltimore, Captain Samuel 
Barron, the brigs Bichmond and Norfolk, and the 
reveiiue cutter Virginia. Commodore Thomas Tin- 
gey, with the Ganges, the brig Pinckney, and the 
revenue cutter South Carolina, was stationed in the 
Wlndw&rd Passage, between Cuba and Haiti. The 
Delaware and two revenue cutters, the Governor 
Jay and General Greene, with Captain Decatur 
as senior officer, were designated for the protection 
of American interests off the north coast of Cuba, 
between Havana and Matanzas. In these disposi- 
tions Captain Murray, with the Montezuma, having 
lost the Betaliation by capture and the Norfolk 
by assignment to Commodore Truxtun's squadron, 
was left alone and was allowed to cruise independ- 
ently. At the time these orders for the winter cam- 
paign were issued, many of the vessels were not 
ready for sea, and so did not arrive on their stations 
until later.' 

The effect of these defensive measures of the I / 
government was very considerable. After the ap- \\ 
pearance of American armed vessels on the sea, the y^ 
rate of marine insurance to foreign ports fell in a 

1 Nav, Chron. p. 94; Barry, pp. 368-370. 

2 Nav. Chron, pp. 94, 95. 



84 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

marked degree. It was estimated that more than 
eight and a half million dollars was saved in insur- 
ance during this first year. The whole cost of the 
navy from 1794 to the end of 1798 was about two 
and a half million dollars. The saving in insurance 
was of course only part of the gain. The conmierce 
of the country, which without naval protection 
would have been nearly ruined, was soon in a flour- 
ishing condition. Confidence was restored, and peo- 
ple felt that the honor of the country was redeemed.^ 
In his report of December 29, 1798, Secretary 
Stoddert says : " The protection of our coast, the 
security of our extensive country from invasion in 
some of its weaker parts, the safely of our important 
commerce, and our future peace, when the maritime 
nations of Europe war with each other, all seem to 
demand that our naval force should be augmented ; 
so much augmented indeed as to make the most 
powerful nations desire our friendship — the most 
unprincipled respect our neutrality. The peaceful 
character of America will afford to the world suffi- 
cient security that we shall not be easily provoked to 
carry the war into the country of an enemy; and it 
well becomes the wisdom of America to provide a 
cheap defense to keep it from our own. Twelve ships 
of seventy-four guns, as many frigates, and twenty 
or thirty smaller vessels would probably be foimd 
(our geographical situation and our means of an- 
noying the trade of the maritime powers consid- 
1 Nav. Chron. pp. 109-112. 



THE OPENING OF HOSTILITIES 85 

ered) a force sufficient to insure our future peace 
with the nations of Europe. It would not perhaps be 
hazarding too much to say that, had we possessed 
this force a few years ago, we should not have lost 
by depredations on our trade four times the sum 
necessary to have created and maintained it during 
the whole time the war has existed in Europe. If 
we do not profit by experience and put ourselves 
in a situation to resent insult and punish aggres- 
sion, nothing is more likely than that in less than 
half a dozen years another occasion may be pre- 
sented for a repetition of the same > mortifying 
observation." The secretary advised immediate 
provision for twelve seveniy-fours and six brigs or 
schooners to carry eighteen guns each ; also docks 
for repairing ships. He believed that the smaller 
vessels " would be highly useful in scouring the 
West Indies." The effect of this report was seen 
in the acts of February 25, 1799, authorizing six 
of each of these two classes of vessels and two 
docks, as well as making other provisions for the 
benefit of the navy.* 

Unfortunately the vessels and docks then author- 
ized were not built ; but by a liberal construction 
of the act Stoddert negotiated for the purchase of 
land for shipyards in which to build the seventy- 
fours. This measure was practically completed by 
the time he left office, and resulted in securing the 

^ Nav, Chron. ch. y; Nov. Aff, yoL i, pp. 65-70; StatuUs at 
Large, yoL i, pp. 621, 622. 



86 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

sites of what have become the most important navy 

yards on the Atlantic coast. ^ 

r' The popular interest in naval affairs at this time 

I is indicated in a letter of Secretary Stoddert to 

I Commodore Barry: "They [Congress] are dis- 

<C posed to do more for the advantage of the navy, 

/ but are afraid of going too fast, wishing public 

/ opinion to go along with them. It is very certain, 

( however, that public opinion is getting more and 

\ more in favor of the Navy." ^ Addresses of both 

houses of Congress to the President in December, 

1798, express this sentiment.' 

1 Nav. Inst, September, 1906, pp. 1024-1020; Letters to Prssu 
dent, 77, 83. 
« Barry, p. 877. 
* Bichardson, yoL i, pp. 276, 278. 



CHAPTER VI 

EVENTS OP 17S9 

The year 1799 opened with a respectable United >^ 
States naval force upon the sea, an achievement of ^ 
some moment when it is considered that much Ies;^\ 
than a year before there had been not a single y 
national vessel in commission, except a few little 
revenue cutters and the brig Sophia, a dispatch 
boat belonging to the State Department. 

Lieutenant Bainbridge left Gruadeloupe in the 
Retaliation January 18,^ iaccompanied by an agent 
of Governor Desfoumeaux, who bore a letter from 
the governor to the President of the United States. 
It required two other vessels as cartels to convey 
all the prisoners. They arrived at Philadelphia Feb- 
ruary 13. The Retaliation was not a cartel, but 
with her crew reduced to forty was put under the 
command of Bainbridge, although he protested that 
he was a prisoner of war and that a French officer 
should be in command. The governor, however, 
forced his compliance with this arrangement. Des- 
foumeaux professed to be influenced solely by 
philanthropy in sending home these captives, ex- 
pecting no French prisoners in return, on the ground 
that only in case of a regularly declared war could 
^ See aboTe, p. 75. 



88 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

an exchange of prisoners be effected. In his letter 
to the President he said that Guadeloupe privateers 
were to cruise only against enemies and that Amer- 
icans would be well treated ; and further, that the 
Betaliation would have been released at once had 
it not been necessary to lay an embargo. ^^The 
citizens of the United States may come and ex- 
change their produce, " he said, and " will be con- 
sidered and treated like allies." Desfoumeaux's 
declarations of friendship were commonly thought 
insincere, although in the opposition party the 
contrary opinion prevailed. The ill-treatment of 
prisoners and the depredations of the Guadeloupe 
privateers had continued many weeks after the gov- 
ernor had assumed control of affairs. His desire for 
the neutrality of his island and for American trade 
was believed to have its origin in a hope of private 
gain rather than of international comiiy. The suf- 
ferings of American prisoners and the impressment 
of some of them into the French naval service 
excited resentment in the United States, and led 
to the passage of an act on March 3, 1799, which 
required the President " to cause the most rigorous 
retaliation to be executed on any such citizens of 
the French Republic " as might fall into American 
hands. French prisoners in the United States also 
complained of their treatment. It was said that 
they suffered from cold, hunger, lack of cooking 
utensils and of sanitary arrangements. The Secre- 
tary of the Navy, in response to inquiry, reported 



EVENTS OF 1799 89 

to Congress, December 24, 1799, that the prisoners' 
ration was never less than one poond each of bread 
and vegetables and half a pound of meat, and they 
were famished with clothing and blankets and fuel 
in season. Officers were allowed to commute their 
rations and also to depart from the United States 
on parole. From the fir3t it had been the policy of 
the administration to exchange prisoners whenever 
possible, and when not possible they were often re- 
leased, receipts being taken for them from French 
consuls or other responsible persons. Towards the 
end of March the Betaliation was sent back to 
Guadeloupe with French prisoners in exchange for 
the Americans, and with a letter from the Secretary 
of State to Desfoumeaux saying that intercourse 
would be resumed with any island in the West 
Indies when the privateers of that island ceased 
their depredations.^ 

The frigate United States, wearing the broad 
pennant of the senior officer of the navy, Commo- 
dore Barry, cruised upon her station among the 

1 Bainbridge, pp. 29-35; Barry, pp. 359,360, 367, 370; Stat- 
utes at Large, yol. i, p. 743 ; Jefferson, yol. yii, p. 357, Letter to 
£. Pendleton (February 14, 1799), p. 361, to MadiBon (February 
19, 1799) ; GazeUe of U. 8. February 20, 1799, Bainbridge to 
Stoddert (January 3 and 7, February 10, 1799) and Correspond- 
ence with Desfoumeaux; Mass. Mercury, February 15, 1799, 
Desfoumeaux to President (December 15, 1798); Connecticut 
Courant, February 25, March 18, 1799; Pickering, vol. x, 488, 
Pickering to Desfoumeaux (March 16, 1799), 643, yoL xi, 183, 
YoL xxxYii, 365 ; Gen. Letters, yoI. ii, 194 ; Letters to Congress, 29, 
Stoddert to Speaker of House of Representatiyes (December 24, 
1799). 



90 OUK NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

Windward Islands until spring. A storeship, with 
provisions for the squadron, was soon sent out from 
Boston. Early in February the frigate discovered 
a small French privateer, the pursuit of which is 
described by an officer on board the United States, 
thought to be Midshipman Decatur. ^^ On Sunday, 
the 8d inst.,to windward of Martinique, at 8 A. M. 
gave chase to a schooner, and at 8 p. m. came within 
two gun shots of her, when, to the astonishment of 
all hands, she attempted by short stretches to get 
to windward of us directly under our battery, but 
in this she failed, for we soon brought her to, our 
third shot having gone effectually through her, and 
in a few minutes she filled with water, upon which 
they hauled down their sails and set up the most 
lamentable howl I ever heard. . . . Our boats were 
immediately sent to their relief. I was in the first ; 
when I came near and found the crew all stript 
and ready for a swim, I thought it not safe to go 
on board, but told them the only chance for their 
safety was to run alongside the ship, which they did, 
and in a few minutes after the schooner went down. 
The whole of this crew were saved, amounting to 
60 men." * This vessel was called the Amour de la 
Patrie, and she carried only six guns. At about the 
same time, probably, the United States fell in with 
another small privateer and captured her ; she was 
the Tartuffe of eight guns and sixty men. Commo- 
dore Barry now had with him a considerable num- 
^ MoiB, Mercury^ Maioh 26, 1709. 



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EVENTS OF 1799 91 

ber of prisoners, and hoped by means of excliange 
to release an equal number of American seamen 
from captivity. Accordingly he ran into Basse Terra 
roads, Guadeloupe, under a flag of truce. Captain 
Murray in the Montezuma, who happened to be in 
the vicinity just at that time convoying a fleet of 
merchantmen, in a report to the Navy Department, 
February 20, says : " I parted with Com. Barry off 
the road of Bassaterre, where he sent his boat with 
a flag to endeavor to negociate an exchange of pris- 
oners he took up from the privateer he sunk off 
Martinico, which he will inform you of, but the fort 
fired on them and would not let them land." ^ There- 
upon Barry hauled down his white flag and bom- 
barded the fort in return. February 26, the United 
States captured an English prize of the French 
privateer Democrat, but the latter escaped. An 
American prize also was recaptured. Barry made 
another attempt to exchange prisoners, sending a 
flag of truce to Guadeloupe. Governor Desf oumeax 
assured Barry that there were no Americans on the 
Island and had not been since Bainbridge and his 
fellow prisoners had departed, except a few who 
remained from choice and the crew of an American 
ship recently brought in who were to be released. 
Barry was skeptical as to this statement, but he 
put his French prisoners ashore, wishing to get 
them off his hands. The governor maintained that 
he did not recognize a condition of war as exist- 

1 Mass. Mercury ^ March 29, 1799. 



92 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

ing, and that Ghiadeloupe was open to American 
trade.* 

The ship Merrimack, 24, Captain Moses Brown, 
arrived at the rendezvous in Prince Rupert's Bay 
January 20. This vessel had recently been built for 
the service at Newburyport, with a fund raised by 
citizens under the act of June 80, 1798. She was 
the first of four ships of the same name on the United 
States navy list, a name afterwards made famous 
at Hampton Boads and at Santiago de Cuba. She 
sailed from Boston January 8, and a few days after 
her arrival on the station fell in with her flagship, 
the United States. Commodore Barry sent her back 
to the United States with a large convoy of mer- 
chantmen. During the homeward voyage of this 
fleet they fell in with several English armed vessels, 
but were not much disturbed by the French. From 
St. Christopher they were accompanied a short dis- 
tance by the Montezuma. Convoy duty was subject 
to many difficulties and annoyances, due to the in- 
subordination of the shipmasters, the varying sailing 
qualities of the ships, and other causes. Brown wrote 
to Barry, February 16: "Our Countrymen want 
Convoy but pay no attention to keep with it and 
such tubs as some of them are under my convoy I 
never saw, and they are sure to. spread each night 
as far as possible to see them." ^ Strange vessels not 
infrequently found their way into the fleet during 

1 Decatur, pp. 31-34; Barry, pp. 377, 378, 383-387. 
3 Barry, p. 380. 



EVENTS OF 1799 93 

the night without attracting attention. The possi- 
bility of an enemy's doing this made extreme vigi- 
lance necessary. Having escorted the merchantmen 
to a point beyond danger of molestation, the Merri- 
mack left them on February 28 and returned to the 
West Indies, arriving at Prince Bupert's Bay again 
March 11.* 

Commodore Truxtun cruised in the Constellation 
with his squadron among the Leeward Islands sev- 
eral weeks before anything worthy of record took 
place ; but he was destined to win the largest share 
of the glory to be achieved by the navy in this war 
and had not long to wait for the first of his laurels. 
The events of February 9 off the island of Nevis 
are best told in the words of the leading actors. On 
the following day Truxtun wrote to the Secretary 
of the Navy : " At noon, the island bearing W. 
S. W. five leagues distance, discovered a large ship 
to southward, on which I bore down. She hoisted 
American colors and I made our private signals for 
the day, as well as that of the British, but finding 
she answered neither, I immediately suspected her 
to be an enemy and in a short time after found that 
my suspicions were well founded, for she hoisted the 
French national colors and fired a gun to windward, 
which is a signal of an enemy. I continued bearing 
down on her and at a quarter past three P. M. she 
hailed me several times, and as soon as I got in a 
position for every shot to do execution I answered 

1 Brown, ch. zii, xiii, xiy ; Mcus. Mercury, liarch 29, 1799. 



94 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

by commencing a close and successful engagement 
which lasted until about half past four P. M., when 
she struck her colors to the United States ship Con- 
stellation and I immediately took possession of her. 
She proved to be the celebrated French national 

/frigate Insurgente of 40 guns and 409 men, lately 
out from France, commanded by Monsieur Bar- 
reaut, and is esteemed one of the fastest sailing 
ships in the French navy. I have been much shat- 
tered in my rigging and sails and my f oretopmast 
rendered, from wounds, useless ; you may depend 
the enemy is not less so. ... I must not omit in 
this hasty detail to do justice to Monsieur Barreaut, 
for he defended his ship manfully, and from my 
raking him several times fore and aft and being 
athwart his stem, ready with every gun to fire when 
he struck his colors, we may impute the conflict not 
being more bloody on our side ; for had not these 
advantages been taken the engagement would not 
have ended so soon, for the Insurgente was com- 
pletely officered and manned." * 

The first lieutenant of the Constellation, John 
Rodgers, in a letter written February 15, gives some 
further details of the battle. ^^ At 2 p. m. the chase 
carried away her main-topmast and bore away before 
the wind for a short time, after which, finding we 
continued the chase, she hauled up within eight 
points of the wind on the starboard tack. At a 
quarter past 3 p. M. it blowing extremely hard, and 
1 Naval TempU, pp. 262, 263 ; Nav, Ckron. pp. 130, 131. 




QQ 

>Q 

Hi 

H 
O 

M 
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Hi 

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EVENTS OF 1799 95 

our ship being rather crank, we ran close under the 
enemy's lee, for the sake of working our guns with 
more facility. As soon as we got abreast of the 
enemy she hailed several times, but no answer was 
given. The Commodore ordered myself with the 
other lieutenants commanding divisions to fire di- 
rectly into the hull, as soon as we could bring our 
guns to bear, and to load with two round shot prin- 
cipally, during the action. All the orders being 
complied with, we raked her several times in the 
course of the action, which went on to our most 
sanguine expectations."^ 

In his official rei)ort to Governor Desfoumeaux 
Captain Barreaut says : " The 21st Pluviose, about 
three leagues off the northeast point of Nevis, which 
then bore N. W. by N., the wind east, the lookout 
called at 12.30 p. m. that there was a sail to the 
windward of us. I continued my course for another 
half hour ; then, having mounted the f oreyard with 
Citizen Petit Pierre, I saw that the stranger was 
making for us. I then kept away to the northwest 
with the intention of running between Saba and 
St. Kitts, but this vessel in approaching appeared 
to me and to all on the yards to be a corvette from 
the trim of her sails." Barreaut at first mistook the 
Constellation for an English ship. His report goes 
on : "I believed it was the moment to show our 
haughty enemies that, in spite of the superiority of 
their forces, vessels of war might still be captured 

^ Mass. Mercury, March 22, 1799. 



96 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

from them. I wished also to inspire confidence in 
my crew and I hauled by the wind, every one burn- 
ing with ardor for the fight. At one o'clock I went 
about on the same tack as this vessel, which con- 
tinued to chase us, and at 1.30 p. m., in a squall 
in which the topgallant sails were taken in, the Cit- 
izen Durand then commanding the manoeuvre, the 
main-topmast fell — source of all our misfortune. 
Immediately, upon the advice of the coasting pilot, 
I steered to the N. W. by N. to make St. Eusta- 
tius if I had time to gain the anchorage. The vessel, 
which I could see was a frigate, chased me. I had 
hoisted the American flag ; she signaled me and 
also hoisted an American flag. 

*^ I found myself in a position to no longer avoid 
an engagement, and as the stranger still pursued 
me it became necessary to ascertain her nationality. 
I therefore lowered the American fiag and hoisted 
French colors with pennant, which I confirmed by a 
cannon shot to leeward. She hoisted her broad pen- 
nant with the American flag without confirming. I 
doubted yet that she was an American. I was much 
embarrassed by your orders, which were not to fire 
on the American flag. Thus an English frigate 
could easily have made use of this flag while chas- 
ing us, thereby avoiding the fire of our 18-pounder, 
with which we could have seriously injured her 
during the hour and a half she was overtaking us 
and thus have given me time to save myself. . . . 
Having lost my main-topmast I gave the advantage 



EVENTS OF 1799 97 

to a frigate of double my strength in letting her 
approach within pistol shot before defending myself. 
I was thus obliged to receive a full broadside from 
a frigate of 24 and 12-pounders deliberately aimed 
at pistol shot, which broadside made terrible havoc 
in my quarter-deck. 

** At three o'clock the combat began. Judge of 
my surprise on finding myself fought by an Ameri- 
can frigate after all the friendship and protection 
accorded to the United States. My indignation was 
at its height. As soon as my first broadside was 
fired I cried, and with all the men on the quarter- 
deck and forecastle, * Stand by to board!' My 
cabin was invaded to get arms, and I ran to the 
helm to luff her in order to run aboard the Ameri- 
can frigate. L'Insurgente obeyed the first impulse, 
but as she was without sails amidships and as we 
were not able to move the others quickly enough, 
the American frigate had time to run ahead of us, 
and having all her sails set she was beyond us, 
which compelled us to man the other battery. My 
only remaining resource were my guns and an 
18-pounder of the port battery, and manoeuvring 
with much difficulty we fired three broadsides. 
The American frigate now seemed to suspend her 
fire and I ordered Citizen Jourdan to suspend ours, 
thinking that the American captain might still be 
considering his conduct. But he again opened on 
us, so I gave orders to fire also. This frigate did 
not remain abeam of us, but sought by every 



98 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

means to take advantageous positions and com- 
pletely to dismantle us. I endeavored to repair the 
rigging. The mizzen-topmast had fallen in the top, 
the spanker was completely riddled. All that I 
could do was to take it in. The braces, fore-bow- 
lines and fore-topsails were completely cut tHrough, 
our topmen without doubt killed, as they did not 
reply ; the master did not appear upon the bridge, 
no quartermasters were left, only a bridgeman and 
the masters. All I could do was to give the order 
to Citizen Sire to square everything; the only 
after-sail was the mizzen. The American frigate 
still having all her sails, which were only slightly 
injured, and moving very easily, was at pistol 
range ahead of us. Finally as my position was 
hopeless it soon became necessary to surrender to 
very superior forces." * 

The injury to the Constellation's fore-topmast, 
mentioned in Truxtun's report, was done by an 
18-pound ball from the Insurgente, which struck 
the mast just above the cap. Midshipman David 
Porter, who was stationed in the foretop, seeing 
that the weakened mast was in danger of falling, 
hailed the deck for instructions, but was unheard 
in the din of battle. With good judgment and 
on his own responsibility he thereupon went aloft, 
cut the slings, lowered the yard, and so saved the 
mast by relieving it of the pressure of the topsaiL' 



1 Maclayy vol. ^ pp. 183-186. 
« Nav, Ckron. f. 133. 



EVENTS OF 1799 99 

Porter afterwards became a famous commodore in 
the war of 1812 and the father of Admiral Porter. 
The Constellation and Insurgente were both rated 
as thirtynsix gun frigates, but the armament of 
the two ships differed materially. The Constellation 
carried twenty-eight long twenty-four pounders on 
her gun deck, while on the quarter-deck and fore- 
castle were mounted ten long twelve pounders. Ac- 
cording to Truxtun the Insurgente's armament was 
composed of forty guns : twenty-four twelve pound- 
ers, two eighteens, and eight sixes, all long guns ; 
also four thirty-six pounders and two twenty-fours,^ 
these last six guns doubtless carronades. Although 
she moimted two more guns than the Constellatibn^j 
her broadside was only two hundred and eighty-two/ 
pounds as compared with three hundred and ninet}r>i^ 
six pounds for the American ; but the disparity wto 
less than the figures indicate, for the excessive 
weight of French shot would add over twenty poimds 
to the Insurgente's broadside.' The crew of the 
Constellation numbered three himdred and nine, 
that of the Insurgente four hundred and nine. The 
larger crew of the latter was of no advantage under 
the circumstances, but would have been if she had 
been able to get alongside and board the Constella- 
tion ; the loss of her main-topmast made this prac- 
tically impossible. Captain Barreaut was further 
placed at a disadvantage by the idea which seems 

1 Mass, Mercury y March 22, 1799. 
^ See above, p. 58. 




/ 



y 



100 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

to have taken possession of him that peace had 
been restored between his country and the United 
States, and by his orders from Governor Desfour- 
neaux not to fire npon the American flag. 

Nevertheless, the superiority of the Constellation 
was not only in weight of metal, but in her ability 
to use her advantage. Her broadsides were aimed 
low and were poured into her enemy with destruc- 
tive effect. Meanwhile the damage she received was 
nearly all aloft ; most of the Insurgente's projec- 
tiles were wasted in the air, so that their weight 
was of less importance. American seamen at this 

iy date displayed the skill in gunnery which 

ially <1iainTigiiig1higjlJ:^fi|p m flift W^r of 181^ 

and madgjtbeiirtEe best naval gunners of their day. 
The IfJaurgpintifthad seventy casualties : twenty-nine 
killed and forty-one wounded ; several were found 
dead in the tops eighteen hours after the battle. 
The only man who lost his life on the Constellation 
during the action was not killed by the enemy, but 
by his divisional officer, for having deserted his 
quarters. Of this incident Lieutenant Sterrett says : 
"One fellow I was obliged to run through the body 
with my sword and so put an end to a coward." ^ 
By the Insurgente's fire three of the Constellation's 
crew were wounded, one of them mortally. 

In a later report, February 14, Truxtun says : 
" My gun deck is divided into three divisions : the 
first, of five guns and opposite, superintended by 

1 Mass. Mercury, March 22, 1799. 



EVENTS OF 1799 101 

the first lieutenant, Mr. Bodgers; the seooxid, of 
five guns and opposite, by the second lieutenant, 
Mr. Cowper ; the third, of four guns and opposite, 
by the third lieutenant, Mr. Sterrett. The zeal of 
these three officers in performing their duty and 
complying strictly with my orders cannot be sur- 
passed. But I must not, in praise of them, be silent 
as to the good conduct of Mr. Shirley, the master, 
and Mr. Archer, the fourth lieutenant, who acted 
their part near my person on the quarter-deck and 
who are also deserving of notice ; but for the honor 
of our nation I must declare that it is impossible 
for officers and men in any service to have behaved 
better than my people did generally on this occa- 
sion." 1 

Of what happened after the battle Lieutenant 
Eodgers says in his letter of February 15 : " When 
she struck I was ordered to board and take posses- 
sion and to send the captain and first lieutenant 
on board the Constellation, which was done, and 
an exchange of prisoners immediately took place." ' 
Bo^gers's adventures on board the Insurgente with 
his prize crew, consisting of Midshipman Porter and 
eleven men, are not mentioned by him. As it could 
not have been far from five o'clock by the time they 
reached^the prize, there was not much daylight left. 
The accepted account of subsequent events states 
that the Operation of transferring the prisoners to 

1 Naval Temple, p. 264; Nav. Chron. p. 131. 
^ Mass. Mercury, March 22, 1799. 



102 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

the Constellation was made difficult by the high 
wind and sea. By the time night came on the two 
ships had become so far separated and the sea so 
high that communication between them became im- 
possible. Bodgers now found himself with a handful 
of men in charge of a large frigate, with her decks 
encumbered by wreckage and the bodies of dead and 
wounded men, and with one hundred and seventy*- 
three prisoners ready to take advantage of the first 
opportunity to rise on their captors and recoYcr their 
ship. To navigate the crippled ship in a gale with 
the help of a midshipman and eleven men and at 
the same time secure the prisoners was his task, and 
it was a perilous situation. The crew of the Insure 
gente had thrown overboard the gratings for cover- 
ing the hatchways and apparently all the handcuffs 
and other means of securing prisoners, for nothing 
of the kind could be found. Bodgers at once got 
possession of all the small arms on the ship, and, 
having driven the prisoners into the lower hold, 
placed a sentinel at each hatch. In this way the lit- 
tle prize crew, with the duties of navigation and 
of guarding the prisoners apportioned among them, 
passed three sleepless nights and two days. They 
were then able to rejoin the Constellation.^ Truxtun 
says in his report of February 14, dated at St. 
Christopher : " On the 13th, after the greatest ex- 

1 Tliis account rests on the authority of Ooldsborongh (Nav, 
Chron, p. 132), who is reliable. Admiral Porter g^yes additional 
particulars {Porter, p. 23). The fact that neither Truxton nor 
Bodgers has a word to say about the affair is remarkable. 



EVENTS OF 1799 108 

ertions having been made, we gained these roads 
with both ships and anchored them safe about 
noon. It is impossible for me to state to yoa the 
joy demonstrated by the inhabitants on this occa- 
sion. ... I shall proceed to repair the damages 
sustained by both ships as speedily as possible, and 
until the pleasure of the President of the United 
States is known, I intend to give lieutenant John 
Bodgers an order to command the Insurgente." ^ 

Grovemor Desf oumeaux sent his secretary to St. 
Christopher to demand the surrender of the Insure 
gente, on the ground that the United States and 
France were at peace. Truztun naturally declined, 
declaring that he had taken the frigate in obedi- 
ence to the instructions of his government. There- 
upon the secretary departed with threats that all 
American property at Guadeloupe would be confis- 
cated. On March 14 Desfoumeaux issued a decla- 
ration of war against the United States, which set 
forth that after all his efforts to establish friendly 
relations with that country, having released prizes, 
liberated prisoners, and instructed French com- 
manders to respect the American flag, he was aston- 
ished at the capture of the Insurgente and the 
insult to the flag of France. Thenceforth all Ameri- 
can vessels were to be seized, sent into Guadeloupe, 
and condemned, or, if not liable to condemnation, 
were to be sold and the proceeds paid to the cap- 
tors or to the owners, according to orders received 
1 Naval Temple, pp. 263, 264; Nav, Cknm. p. 181. 




104 OUR NAVAL MtAR WITH FRANCE 

from the Directory, jln the United States it was 
still believed that privateering from Guadeloupe 
and the seizure of American vessels had never 
ceased, and this opinion was expressed in the cor- 
respondence of the Secretary of State. Meanwhile 
Desfoumeaux had agreed to Truxtun's terms for 
the exchange of prisoners and sent a receipt for 
some who had been delivered to him, promising 
to release an equal number of Americans. Most of 
the prisoners taken on the Insurgente were con- 
fined in a prison ship at St. Christopher and in 
jail on shore, the woimded being in the hospital. 
Bepairs on the Constellation were soon made. The 
Insurgente also was refitted and was ready for sea 
early in March. Her crew was made up readily, 
other vessels being drawn upon. The Montezuma 
contributed fourteen men and the Norfolk, it is 
said, as many as seventy ; probably some exchanged 
prisoners were enlisted. The Constellation and the 
Insurgente cruised on Commodore Truxtun's sta- 
tion several weeks in the spring. Nothing more im- 
portant occurred than the capture of one or two 
small privateers by the Constellation. The term of 
enlistment of many of her crew had expired and 
both vessels sailed for the United States in May, 
arriving in Hampton Boads towards the end of the 
month. The Secretary of the Navy had not in- 
tended that they should return so soon, and wrote 
to the President May 29 : "I had calculated with 
confidence on Truxtun's remaining until the return 



£V£NTS OF 1799 106 

of ihe Norfolk, as he sent her in and wrote me by 
her he should wait for her return, which he ought 
to have done. However, he has conducted himself 
so well in general that I will not complain." The 
first and second lieutenants of the Constellation 
were promoted, Bodgers to the rank of captain and 
Cowper to master commandant, corresponding to 
the present grade of commander.^ 

The Constitution, Captain Nicholson, cruised in 
the West Indies during the winter and early spring 
of 1799, but met with few adventures and reaped 
no glory. She was too large to chase French priva- 
teers in narrow and shallow waters and had not the 
luck of the Constellation in falling in with frigates. 
She chased the Insurgente, however, before that 
vessel came in Truxtun's way, and, it was thought, 
would have overhauled and captured her had she 
not sprung her foremast. Captain Nicholson recap- 
tured a British ship called the Spencer from the 
French, but through a misconception of his author- 
ity and perhaps made over-cautious by his mistake 
in seizing the Niger,^ he surrendered the Spencer 
to her French captors, on the ground that she was 
unarmed. This pleased the administration as little 
as the affair of the Niger. About this time Con- 
gress passed the act of February 9, 1799, ** further 
to suspend the commercial intercourse between the 

1 Mass, Mercury, March 22, 29, April 5, 9, May 10, Jane 7, 
1799; Pickering, voL x, 532, 643, voL xi, 130, 138; LeUer Book 
(1799-1807), 1, 5 (May 15, 29, 1799). 

^ See aboye, p. 71. 



106 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

United States and France and the dependencies 
thereof."^ On March 12 the Nayy Department is- 
sued its fifth circular order, to carry out this act, 
which enjoined increased vigilance in the preyen- 
tion of American trade with French ports and the 
search of all suspicious vessels, even under foreign 
flags ; also the recapture from the French of the 
armed vessels of other nations. In this general or- 
der the surrender of the Spencer by Nicholson was 
mentioned, and the rule of conduct in such cases 
was laid down as follows : ** Our laws direct the 
capture of all armed vessels sailing under authority 
or pretence of authority from, the French republic. 
A vessel captured by the cruisers of France must be 
considered as sailing under the authority of France ; 
and it is scarcely to be supposed that in times like 
the present, when few vessels sail without arms, a 
captured vessel in possession of the captors will be 
so circumstanced as not to come under the descrip- 
tion of an armed vessel within the meaning of our 
laws. To justify a recapture nothing is necessary 
but that the vessel be provided with such means of 
annoyance as will render her dangerous to an un- 
armed American vessel in pursuit of lawful com- 
merce. If, however, the vessel cannot be considered 
an armed vessel within the meaning of our laws, 
you are not to recapture her, unless you have prob- 
able cause to suspect that the citizens of the United 
States, or persons resident therein, have some inter- 
^ Statutes at Large^ yoL x, p. 613. 



EVENTS OF 1799 107 

est in the vessel or cargo. It is always your duty Bo 
recapture American property, or property of per- 
sons resident within the United States, whenever 
found in possession of the French on the high seas." ^ 
As well as being in some degree out of favor with 
the administration, Nicholson seems to have been 
disliked by the navy agent in Boston, Stephen Hig- 
ginson, and was unpopular with his officers and 
men. In March the Constitution was ordered to 
Boston, as it was thought necessary, with the ap- 
proach of spring, to provide for the protection of 
home waters. She sailed with a convoy in April, 
in company with ihe Merrimack ; they reached 
Boston in May. Captain Nicholson was detached 
from his ship and thenceforth was employed on 
shore. The George Washington came home a little 
later. The Secretary of the Navy had a poor opin- 
ion of this ship on account of her dull sailing, and 
talked of selling her out of the service.' 

Secretary Stoddert in speaking of Captain Nich- 
olson and other officers in a letter to the President, 
April 19, 1799, says : " Barry no doubt is brave 
and well qualified to fight a single ship. Poor 
Nicholson is not allowed to rank so high in the 
public estimation. Our Navy at this time, when 

1 Nav. Chroru pp. 125, 126. 

« Barry, pp. 375, 381, 382 ; Brown, pp. 163-165 ; Columbian Cen- 
find, March 2, April 10, May 22, 1799; Mass, Mercury, May 14, 
1799 ; Salem GazeUe, May 24, 1799 ; Pickering, vol. xxii, 173, 194, 
206 ; Letters to President, 26 ; Letter Book (1799-1807), 1, 8, (May, 
15, 28, 1799) ; Gen. LeUers, yol. ii, 179. 





108 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

its character is to form, ought to be commanded 
by men who, not satisfied with escaping censure, 
will be unhappy if they do not receive and merit 
praise ; by men who have talents and activity, as 
well as spirit, to assist a judicious arrangement for 
the employment of the force under their command, 
or to cure the defects of a bad one. I hope and be- 
lieve there are several such men in the service." ^ 

Commodore Barry sailed for home late in April 
and arrived at Philadelphia May 9.^ Here a new 
crew was enlisted for the United States. At this 
early day naval crews were enlisted for one year 
only ; ' probably at that time it would have been 
difficult to get good men to enlist for a longer 
period. Some people had feared that seamen of a 
good class would shun naval service, and a year 
before the war Colonel David Humphreys, United 
States minister to Portugal, had suggested to the 
President the establishment of a naval militia, to 
man the frigates then approaching completion.^ 
However, with the short term of enlistment good 
men were obtained without trouble, but the system 
was apt to cause inconvenience and embarrassment, 
especially on a foreign station. The policy of the 
department as to enlistments is shown in the sec- 
retary's letter of May 20 to Barry: "You are 
allowed, besides officers of Marines and 44 privates 
which will be supplied you by the Major of the 

1 Letters to President, 26. » Barry, p. 389. 

s Nav. Chron. p. 338. « Adams MSS, (March 20, 1797). 



EVENTS OF 1799 109 

Marine Corps, and your commissioned and petty 
officers, the latter of which you will appoint, not 
exceeding 300 men and boys exclusive of marines. 
Of this number you wiU recruit not exceeding 175 
able seamen. It is our best policy to create sea- 
men ; therefore you will take as large a proportion 
of boys as can be found useful on board. If you 
increase the number of ordinary seamen and boys 
you will consequently lessen the number of able 
seamen, and I think it will be found for the good 
of the service if you do so. You will allow able 
seamen 17 dollars per month, ordinary seaman and 
boys from 5 to 14 dollars, according to merit, all 
to be entered to serve one year, to commence from 
the ship's first weighing anchor on a cruise. You will 
be careful not to enlist any but sound and healthy 
persons, and that no indirect or forcible means be 
used to induce them to enter into the service. 
"So negroes or mulattoes are to be admitted, and 
as far as you can judge you will exclude all of a 
suspicious character." ^ The ship was refitted and 
the crew enlisted at Chester, under the charge of 
Charles Stewart, who was now first lieutenant. 
Midshipmen Somers and Decatur were promoted 
to the rank of lieutenant just at this time and re- 
mained with the ship, Decatur being on recruiting 
duty in Philadelphia.* 

June 29 Barry received orders to cruise on the 

1 Barry, p. 391. 

« Ibid. pp. 303-396 ; Decatur, pp. 36, 37. 



110 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

soutliem Atlantic coast, which being insufficiently 
protected, had begun to suffer again from French 
cruisers. He sailed about July 1, but encountered 
no French. He transported to Charleston an ar- 
tillery company for the garrison of Fort Moultrie. 
The United States then got a new bowsprit at 
Norfolk. She cruised along the coast several weeks, 
part of the time in company with the George Wash- 
ington. She put into Newport in September, and 
was there detained several weeks. A cruise across 
the Atlantic had been planned for the United 
States and had been given up, but she was now to 
go on a peaceful mission instead. In October Barry 
was ordered to proceed to France with the envoys 
recently appointed to treat with the French Ke- 
public. On this voyage he set sail in December.* 

Captain Murray cruised in the Montezuma dur- 
ing the winter and spring of 1799. He captured 
one small prize, and was employed much of the 
time in convoying merchantmen. He reported that 
American commerce was in a flourishing condition. 
Having contracted yellow fever, Murray returned 
to the United States, arriving early in May. On 
account of impaired health he was obliged to give 
up the command of his ship. Captain Mullowny, 
who had been a lieutenant on the United States, 
was appointed to command the Montezuma and 

1 Barry, pp. 395-403 ; Decatur^ pp. 39, 40 ; Nav. Chron. p. 138 ; 
Mass. Mercury, August 30, 1799 ; Letters to President^ 64 (August 
14, 1799). 



EVENTS OF 1799 Ul 

was soon ordered to St. Christopher. The Monte- 
zuma oontinned in active service until November, 
when she was pronounced unseaworthy and ooq- 
demned. Mullowny was transferred to the Granges, 
probably soon after this. The Ganges had spent 
most of the year in the West Indies, under the com- 
mand of Commodore Tingey. In February, 1799, 
while convoying a fleet from St. Thomas, she fell 
in with a British frigate. An officer of the Ganges 
gave a sensational account of insolent demands 
on the part of the English captain firmly resisted 
by Ungey. This story was denied by Tingey, who 
declared that the Englishman was most courteous 
and friendly, although his report to the Navy De- 
partment indicates that he had feared trouble and 
had assured his men that he was determined if 
necessary to resist attempts to impress any of his 
crew. Tingey was the ranking officer among the 
Windward Islands after the departure of Barry 
and Truxtun, whose squadrons were united, form- 
ing what was thenceforth called the Ghiadeloupe 
station. Tingey commanded the station during the 
summer, and had under him at various times the 
George Washington, Merrimack, Baltimore, Mon- 
tezuma, Norfolk, Eagle, Eichmond, Pickering, and 
Delaware. During the year the Ganges took five 
prizes, four of them while under Tingey's com- 
mand.^ 

^ Nav. Ckron. pp. 134, 136, 183 ; Mass. Meratry, March 29, 
June 21, July 5, 23, August 9, 1799 ; Connecticut Courant, Febni- 



112 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

The Merrimack, Captain Brown, cruised on her 
station during March and April, 1799, and recap- 
tured the American prize of a French privateer. 
•She made a short visit to Boston in May, with the 
Constitution, returning directly to the West Indies. 
In June she captured the Magicienne, a French 
schooner of fourteen guns. This vessel turned out 
to be the Setaliation, which a year earlier had been 
captured by the Delaware under the name of Croy- 
able and had later been recaptured by the French 
and her name changed again. She was sent to the 
United States with prisoners. Of this vessel the 
Secretary of the Navy said, six months later : ^^ The 
Magicienne, late the Setaliation, being a national 
vessel when captured by the Merrimack, became 
the property of the United States, and a bounty of 
40 dollars for each man and 50 dollars for each 
gun taken on board is due to the captors." ^ In 
August the Merrimack took the Bonaparte of eight 
guns. She also recaptured two or three prizes. After 
spending the rest of the year in active cruising, she 
returned home in December.' 

The frigate General Greene, 28, built in Khode 

ary 25, March 4, 18, 25, November 18, 1799; Nov, InsL March, 
1907, p. 121 ; Letters to President, 32, 36, 37, 64 (May 13, 25, Au- 
gnst 14, 1799) ; Letter Book (1799-1807), 5. 

1 Gen, Letters, vol. iii, 87 (December 28, 1799). The identity of 
these vessels is frequently mentioned in the newspapers of the 
time. 

2 Brovm, ch. xv, xvi ; Mass. Mercury, August 9, 16, 20, 23, Sep- 
tember 17, 1799 ; Gazette of U. 8. July 27, 1799 ; Letters to Presi- 
dent, 34, 64. 



EVENTS OF 1799 113 

Island and commanded by Captain Christopher 
Raymond Perry, sailed for Havana about the first 
of June. Among the midshipmen was the captain's 
son, the future hero of Lake Erie. Captain Peny 
was instructed to give attention to a nest of pirates 
on the north coast of Cuba. The governor of Cuba 
was yeiy friendly. Earlier in the year this station 
had been in charge of Captain Decatur with the 
Delaware and two revenue cutters. The Delaware 
had captured a French privateer in March. The 
Greneral Greene, after serving several weeks in 
Cuban waters and having yellow fever on board, 
returned to Newport with a convoy of fifty mer- 
chantmen, arriving July 30. There were twenty 
deaths from the fever, and the ship remained north 
until the health of the crew was restored. She re- 
turned to Havana in September, but soon after was 
transferred to the San Domingo station.^ 

San Domingo depended on the continent for sup- 
plies, and the interruption of American trade by 
the non-intercourse act of June 13, 1798, had been 
severely felt on the island. In November Toussaint 
L'Ouverture sent an agent to Philadelphia with a 
letter to the President on the subject. The admin- 
istration was interested, and in January, 1799, the 
Secretary of the Navy wrote to Commodore Barry : 
" It is very much the wish of the President that 

1 Perry, toI. i, pp. 39-41 ; Mass, Mercury, April 2, 5, June 7, 
August 2, 1799; Flickering, vol. xi, 499; Letters to President, 28, 
34 (April 30, May 23, 1799) ; Letter Book (1799-1807), 3, 6 (May 
28, 29, 1799). 




lU OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

you should take some occasion, before your return, 
to show yourself with the greater part of your fleet 
at Cape Fran9ois to GenL Toussaint, who has a 
great desire to see some ships of war belon^g to 
America, but it is not intended that you sacrifice 
any important object to gratify this General, with 
whom, however, if it should fall in your way, it 
may be well for you to cultivate a good understand- 
ing." * March 4 the Secretary of State wrote to Tous- 
saint prescribing the suppression of privateering 
as the sole condition of the renewal of trade with 
San Domingo.^ April 25 the agent of the Directory 
issued a decree regulating privateering in San Do- 
mingo,' but this did not go far enough. By a secret 
convention of June 13 Toussaint agreed with a 
British envoy, General Maitland, to suppress pri- 
vateering and to open to American and British 
trade the ports of Cape Francois (Cap Haitien) 
and Port Kepublicain (Port au Prince).* The 
American consul-general. Dr. Edward Stevens, was 
not a pariy to this compact, but had great influ- 
ence in the negotiations. Captain Fletcher in the 
George Washington was sent to San Domingo and 
instructed, June 25, to cultivate amicable relations 
with Toussaint. In accordance with these pro- 
ceedings President Adams issued a proclamation, 
dated June 26, remitting, as to San Domingo and 

1 Bcary, p. 376; see, also, pp. 382, 397. 

* Pickering^ vol. x, 440. • Mass. Mercury ^ June 4, 1799. 

* Pickering^ vol. xi, 269, 270. 



EVENTS OF 1799 116 

after August 1, the restraints of the act of Feb- 
ruary 9, 1799, which prohibited all trade with 
France and her dependencies.^ In the fall the 
General Greene was employed in protecting Ameri- 
can commerce and in support of Toussaint's efforts 
to maintain order. Commodore Talbot in the Con- 
stitution came a little later and took oonmiand of 
the station.^ 

The authority of Toussaint in San Domingo was 
disputed by the mulatto chieftain Eigaud, who held 
the southwestern part of the island, except Port 
Bepublicain, with the small island of Gtmaiye. He 
carried on actively a piratical form of warfare in 
the waters of that region. In the Gulf of Gronaive, 
then known as the Bight of Leogane, the vessels em- 
ployed were large barges manned by crews of about 
forty men and armed with two or three swivels. 
They would lie in wait for their prey by the shore, 
and when unsuspecting vessels appeared would 
put out from their hiding-places and attack them. 
When becalmed, vessels even of considerable force 
had little chance of escape. They were taken by 
their captors into one of the ports controlled by 
Bigaud, their crews having generally been mur- 
dered. Trade with Port Republicain was beset with 
difficulty and danger through the operations of 

1 Nov. Chron, p. 134 ; St. Pap. vol. iv, p. 290. 

* Adams, History of the United States^ vol. i, oh. xv ; Perry ^ 
vol. i, pp. 41-43 ; Mass, Mercury, June 28, Deoember 17, 20, 1799, 
Janaarf 10, February 11, 1800; Pickering, vol. xi, 198, 227, vol. 
xii, 310, 815 ; Letters to President, 74 (September 28, 1799). 



116 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

these picaroons. In June, 1799, Sigaud issued an 
Idress in which he complained of his treatment at 
theinands of Toussaint and declared his loyalty to 
the French Republic.^ 

The frigate Boston was launched from the Conti- 
nental Ship Yard at the North End, May 20, 1799. 
She was built with money advanced by the citizens 
. of her native town under the act of June 30, 1798. 
She was rated as a twenty-eight, and was consid- 
ered a fine ship. Since 1775 there have been five 
vessels of this name in the naval service. Captain 
George Little, who had served in Massachusetts 
cruisers in the Revolution, was put in command of 
the Boston. She sailed July 24, under orders to 
proceed to Cape Francois and from there cruise on 
the northern side of San Domingo, for the protec- 
tion of the greatly increased trade which was anti- 
cipated from the opening of the ports. The Boston 
cruised in these waters, cooperating with the other 
vessels of the San Domingo squadron, during the 
rest of the year. December 2, being in company 
with the General Greene, the Boston captured the 
Danish brig Flying Fish, bound from Jeremie, one 
of the ports under Rigaud's jurisdiction, to St. 
Thomas. Although under the Danish flag her pa- 
pers were irregular, and Captain Little, suspecting 
her or her cai'go to be American property, sent her 
to Boston for adjudication. He acted under th^ 

1 Mass. Mercury, Angnst 13, 23, October 22, November 19, 1799 ; 
QazeUt of U. 8. January 18, 1800. 



EVENTS OF 1799 117 

orders of the Navy Department of March 12, 1799, 
which say : ^^ You are to be vigilant that vessels or 
cargoes really American, but covered by Danish or 
other foreign papers, and bound to ovfrom French 
ports, do not escape you." This general order was \ 
based on the non-intercourse act of February 9, 
which says : *^ If upon examination it shall appear 
that such ship or vessel is bound or sailing to any 
port or place within the territory of the French 
Kepublic or her dependencies, contrary to the 
intent of this act, it shall be the duty of the com- 
mander of such public armed vessel to seize every 
ship or vessel engaged in such illicit commerce." 
The Flying Fish was bound yV-om, not to^ a French 
port and was therefore an illegal capture ; so that 
Little, for violating the law while obeying the orders 
of his superiors, was held by the Supreme Court to 
be liable for damages.^ 

The conduct of Lieutenant Bainbridge at Guade- 
loupe after the loss of the Retaliation was approved 
by the government. He was promoted to the rank 
of master commandant, and given command of the 
brig Norfolk. She was ordered, April 16, 1799, to 
St. Christopher to join Truxtun's squadron. About 
June 1 she carried away both topmasts while chas- 
ing a schooner among the Leeward Islands. After 

* Cranchy vol. ii, p. 170 ; Nav, Chron. p. 125 ; Statutes at Large, 
yol. i, p. 613 ; Mass, Mercury, May 21, September 17t 1799, Janu- 
ary 7, 1800 ; Columbian Centinel, July 27, 1799 ; Letter Book (1799- 
1807), 15, Stoddert to Little (July 2, 1799) ; Letters to Presi- 
dent, 74 (September 23, 1799). 



118 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

repairing damages she sailed for the United States 
accompanied by the Magicienne, recently captured 
by the Merrimack. They took with them from St. 
4- Thomas a convoy of over a hundred merchant- 
men. In his journal, dated Lat. 25^ 40' N., Long. 
67* 15' W., August 4, 1799, Bainbridge says: 
<^Part of the fleet bound to the southward and some 
of the fast sailing bound to the northward left us 
last evening. At meridian counted 84 sail, at 1 p. m. 
discovered a strange sail bearing north; we imme- 
diately gave chase and prepared for action ; at half- 
past 1 saw she was a large ship standing for the fleet ; 
at 2 p. M. made the British private signal of the day 
and it was not answered. I then fired a gun to lee- 
ward and showed my colors; she hoisted English 
colors but fired no gun, tacked and gave chase to us 
under full sail. At half -past 2 made the American 
private signal of the day, also repeated the English 
signals — neither of them was answered. By this 
time we could distinguish her hull very plain and 
saw that she was a large frigate with a poop, sailed 
very fast and gained on us considerably. At 3 p. m., 
the breeze being very light, she hove out her boat 
with sails and sent her in chase of the fleet, while 
she still continued chasing us — from this, as well 
as other circumstances, left no doubt in my mind or 
my officers but what she was a French ship of at 
least 44 guns; thought it highly. necessary to dis- 
perse the fleet. At half past three made the signal 
for them to tack, with an intention of separating 



EVENTS OF 1799 119 

myself from the fleet, with a view if she oontinued 
her chase of the Norfolk, it should prove the means 
of saving the fleet, and if she chased the fleet, the 
Norfolk might get clear ; and her being captured 
would have assisted in capturing numbers of the 
fleet; and as I could not render them protection 
against a frigate, I conceived it prudent to act in 
this manner. Part of the fleet obeying the signal, 
the remainder continued their course to the north- 
ward. At 4 p. M. made the signal for the fleet to 
disperse, set all our canvas, yet still she gained 
upon us. At 6 P. M., being so near as to distinguish 
her ports, repeated both the American and English 
private signals, to which she paid no respect, but 
continued her chase. At 7 p.m. she had got such 
a distance from her boat that she gave up the chase 
after us, took in her light sails and hauled her wind. 
Her boat being a considerable distance from her and 
a squally night following, I am induced to believe 
that the greater part of the fleet escaped. At 5 a. m. 
saw several sail astern, hove to and made a signal 
to dose. At 8 a.m. had got 48 sail together. Aug. 
8, lat. 34, 25, long. 70, 45, was spoken schooner 
Peggy, the Captain of which informed he had seen 
12 of the fleet from St. Thomas captured and seem- 
ingly sent away for Porto Eico." ^ Later it was re- 
ported ^<that the ship which caused the dispersion 
of the fleet under the Norfolk was an English 74, 
and that her boats were out in chase of a Danish 
^ Ufass, Mercury f August 23, 1799. 



120 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

schooner." ^ Probably this was a mere ramor; it does 
not seem likely that Bainbridge could have mistaken 
a seventy-four for a frigate when so near as to dis» 
tinguish her ports. The Norfolk proceeded to New 
York, where she was refitted. She sailed for Cape 
Francois in September, and joined the San Do- 
mingo squadron. Here she shared with the General 
Greene and other cruisers the work connected with 
the opening of the ports, and Bainbridge had two 
or three interviews with Toussaint. In November 
a French lugger was captured with her prize, a sloop 
which she had just taken from barge pirates who 
had murdered her crew. Soon after this the Nor- 
folk received orders, apparently delayed, assigning 
her to the Havana station, where there were two 
other vessels, the Warren and Pinckney, and Bain- 
bridge was senior officer. She remained on this sta- 
tion until March, 1800.^ 

A few weeks after her return to the United States 
in May, 1799, the Constellation was sent to New 
York to exchange her deck gun battery of twenty- 
four pounders for eighteens ; the twenty-fours had 
been found too heavy for her. It must have been at 
the same time that her twelves on the spar deck 
were replaced by twenty-four pounder carronades. 
Soon after this the question of rank between Talbot 
and Truxtun having been decided against the latter, 

1 Mass, Mercurj/t September 8, 1799. 

« Bainbridge, pp. 36-42 ; Nav. Chron. pp. 130, 187 ; Mass. Mtr- 
ctiry, April 12, July 5, 9, August 16, 20, December 3, 17, 1799; 
Lout Book (1799-1807), 5 ; JjeiXers to President^ 64. 



EVENTS OF 1799 121 

he resigned.^ Captain Samuel Barron was appointed 
to command the Constellation; he had had the 
Baltimore since the dismissal of Captain Phillips. 
August 15 Truxtun wrote to a friend : *^ Yoa no 
doubt know that I have resigned my commission 
in the navy and the cause of my having done so. 
The secretary has, however, returned it to me with 
a request that I will proceed after the French 44 
gun frigate seen by the Norfolk, in the event of 
Capt. Barron's not arriving before the ship is ready 
for sea ; and this I have consented to do — for no 
personal injury which I feel will ever make me less 
zealous in punishing the insults and wrongs done to 
my country, whenever an opportunity of this sort 
presents itself." ^ Barron was in Norfolk when ap- 
pointed, but he arrived in New York before the ship 
was ready for sea, and took command. He soon got 
away in search of the French frigate, but did not 
find her. He then cruised along the southern coast 
until late in November, when he went into Hamp- 
ton Eoads. The President would not accept Trux- 
tun's resignatiou, and in December he returned to 
duty and to his old ship, which he sailed back to 
the West Indies, where he took command of the 
Guadeloupe station. Barron was transferred to the 
Chesapeake, 36, and got her ready to go into com- 
mission. She was one of the 1794 frigates, and had 
been laimched November 28 at Norfolk." 

1 See aboTe, pp. 49, 50. ^ Gazette of TJ. 8, Angnst 19, 1799. 
* Nav. Chron. pp. 130, 137 ; Mass. Mercury, July 5, 9, Auguit 



122 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

The Gonstitation, after her return from the 
West Indies in the spring of 1799, remained in 
Boston over two months. Captain Talbot was ap- 
pointed to command her. He proceeded to Boston 
and took charge of the ship June 4, but later de- 
clined to serve, on account of the uncertainty as to 
his rank. After months of discussion this ques- 
tion was at last definitely settled by the President, 
who wrote to the Secretary of the Navy July 23 
that Talbot was to ^' take rank from the day of his 
appointment as a captain in the navy, in 1794," 
and that these words were to be inserted in his 
commission; Stoddert replied: ^^The alteration 
directed shall be made in the register of Captain 
Talbot's commission." ^ Talbot then resumed com- 
mand of the ship ; Isaac Hull was his first lieuten- 
ant. Secretary Stoddert had long cherished a plan 
for carrying the war into European waters. May 
10 he wrote to the President : " I have sometimes 
thought that if the French do not very soon give 
some decisive proof of their desire to conciliate with 
us, that some of our fast sailing vessels might be 
employed to advantage, during the hurricane season 
in the West Indies, in a cruise on the coast of Spain 
and France, to sweep from about Cape Finisterre 
to Nantz, and to return with their prizes without 

30, November 12, December 3, 17, 1799; Gazette ofU, 8. Au- 
gust 30, 1799 ; Letter Book (1799-1807)^ 10, 18, Stoddert to Presi- 
dent (June 25, 1799), to Truxtun (August 13, 1799) j Letters to 
President, 64 (August 14, 1799). 
^ AdamSf yoL viii, pp. 674, 675. 



EVENTS OF 1799 123 

remaining long enough to attract the attention of 
superior force. This would in fact be giving more 
real protection to the trade to Spain than to con- 
voy at a particular season a few vessels. A convoy, 
to be useful, must be known generally to the mer- 
chants five or six weeks before it could saiL The 
French wQuld probably hear of it before it arrived 
in Europe and might be prepared for it." ^ In a 
letter of June 25 this scheme was elaborated, and 
the secretary proposed to send the United States 
and Constitution *^ to Cape Clear, the western point 
of Jreland, there across the English Channel to 
strike the French coast south of Brest, to cruise 
ak>ng the French coast in the Bay of Biscay, the 
Spanish coast and the coast of Portugal, but not 
to remain long on these coasts, thence homeward, 
taking in their way the Western Islands [and] 
Cayenne," so as to ^^ be in the West Indies quite as 
soon as it will be safe for them to be there on ac- 
count of the hurricanes." ^ The Constitution did not 
get away from Boston until July 23, however, and 
it became apparent that the cruise could not be 
made so as to bring the frigates in good time to the 
West Indies, " where they may be employed in pur- 
suit of an object attainable and of the highest im- 
portance — the security of our trade to the Islands 
and to Spanish and Dutch America. Indeed, my 
impression of the vast importance of securing the 
West Indies trade now and laying a good founda- 
1 Letters to President, 31. ^ Letter Book (1799-1807), 10. 



124 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

tion for it in future is so strong that I almost 
consider it treason against the true interest of the 
country to employ a vessel elsewhere which can be 
employed in the West Indies, while a single French 
armed vessel remains to infest those seas." ^ It was 
next proposed to carry the cruise no farther than 
the Azores, Madeira, and Teneriffe, returning to the 
West Indies by way of Cayenne and Surinam in 
October. Then the plan, as far at least as it con- 
cerned these vessels, was abandoned. Moreover, the 
President deemed it inexpedient that Barry and 
Talbot should cruise together, believing it better to 
keep the large frigates on separate stations.^ 

It has already been related that the United 
States remained in home waters until she went 
abroad with the ministers to the French Bepublic. 
The first port made by the Constitution after leav- 
ing Boston was Norfolk. There she found orders 
of July 27 dispatching her to Cayenne, to cruise 
in that vicinity until about September 20, thence 
to proceed by way of Surinam and Guadeloupe to 
Cape Francois, where Talbot was to take command 
of the San Domingo station. It is not certain how 
closely these orders were followed. August 15 the 
Constitution was still in the vicinity of Norfolk. 
September 15, probably somewhere to the eastward 

1 Letters to President, 57 (July 29, 1799). 

2 Adams, vol. ix, pp. 8, 9, 12 ; Barry, pp. 396, 397 ; Columbian 
Centinel, May 22, June 6, July 24, 1799; Letter Booh (1799- 
1807), 1, 3 (May 15, 28, 1799) ; Qen, Letters, vol. ii, 179 (June 15, 
1799) ; Letters to President, 5 (July 12, 1799). 



EVENTS OF 17d9 126 

of the West Indies, she recaptured and sent into 
New York a Hamburg vessel bound home from 
Calcutta, which had been captured by the French 
ten days before and was being taken to San Do- 
mingo. In October Commodore Talbot arrived on 
his station and took command of the squadron. 
While on this station it is said that the Constitu- 
tion in a race with an English frigate left her 
competitor far behind, giving an exhibition of the 
speed which, three times in the War of 1812, led 
her safely away from pursuing British squadrons.^ 
The Portsmouth, Captain McNeill, cruised ac- 
tively nearly all the year 1799, most of the time 
off the coast of the Dutch colony of Surinam, and 
occasionally convoying merchantmen to or on the 
way to the United States. The Scammel' was with 
her on the Surinam station through the sum- 
mer and early fall, and later the Maryland and 
John Adams, but the later remained a short time 
only. In July McNeill learned that the French 
ship Hussar, of twenty guns, which had taken 
several rich prizes, was lying in the Surinam 
Kiver, waiting for an opportunity to get away. 
The mouth of the river was blockaded by the 
Portsmouth and Scammel about a month, and 
then the Hussar surrendered. Just at that time, 
August 12, a large English fleet appeared and de- 

^ Nav, Chron, p. 136 ; Bainbridge, p. 38 ; Cranch, vol. i, p. 1 ; 
Mass. Mercury t Ang^t 30, November 12, 22, 1799; Putnam's 
Magazine^ May 1863, p. 476 ; Pickering, voL xlii, 217 ; Letters to 
President, 64 (Ang^nst 14, 1799). 







126 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

manded the surrender of Surinam. The governor 
capitulated and the English took possession. The 
English admiral treated McNeill civilly and was 
friendly to American interests. By an agreement 
between them the Hussar was given up to the 
British. 1 

icretary Stoddert's scheme of a European 

ise was carried out in a partial and modified 
by the Insurgente. This frigate had been 

en into the service and Captain Murray, having 
recovered his health, had been appointed to com- 
mand her. The Insurgente took her departure 
from Cape Henry August 14, 1799, arrived oflE 
the Azores September 1, and at Lisbon on the 
13th, where she remained four days. While there 
Murray wrote to the Secretary of the Navy : " I 
had thirty days' passage to this port, but could have 
been here in three weeks but for chasing every- 
thing we saw, all of which we overhauled except 
one vessel which we lost sight of in the night. 
Since passing the Azores we have boarded 30 
vessels of different nations, but the greater part 
British, and met with but one ship of war, from 
whence you may judge of the unprotected state of 
their trade as well as our own in those seas. I 
am told here that vast numbers of corvettes and 
privateers have issued from the ports in France 

1 Mass. Mercurtfi May 3, June 21, August 13, 27, September 
27, October 18, 17d9, January 3, 1800 ; Letters to President^ 34, 
57, 74; Letter Book (1799>1807), 5 ; Qen, Letters^ toI. ii, 179. 



EVENTS OF 1799 127 

since the fleets got into Brest. I hope we shall be 
able to give a good account of some of them." 
September 24 the Insurgente was in Gibraltar Bay, 
having touched at Cadiz, and lay off Algeciras 
until the 30th. *^ The wind then favoring us, we 
made sail in company of a large fleet and cruised 
off Cape Spartel two days," thence recrossed the 
Atkntic by way of Madeira and Teneriffe, and ar- 
rived off Cayenne October 30. During the passage 
from Teneriffe Murray " never saw a vessel tiU we 
got on the coast." He wrote to the secretary No- 
vember 9 : ^^ Had I not been fearful of extending 
the privilege you gave me too tax, I should have 
extended my cruise a little longer on the European 
coast and have tried my fortune in the Bay of Bis- 
cay, which is now the only field for glory." After 
a short stay off the mouth of the Cayenne Kiver, 
Murray "resolved to bear away for Surinam," 
where he fell in with the Maryland and learned of 
the capture of that place. As it was evident that 
nothing was to be gained by remaining on that 
coast, and as he had much sickness on board and 
was in need of supplies, Murray proceeded to Bar- 
badoes. November 14 he wrote : *' On the 12th I 
fell in with the Adams in sight of Deseada, and 
hearing that two French frigates were expected at 
Guadaloupe every day, we determined to cruise to- 
gether for some days. This day at 5 a. m. dis- 
covered two sail to windward, to which we gave 
chase ; the Adams after the one to windward and 



128 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

the Insurgente af tier the other, which we soon over- 
hauled. She proved to be an English brig of 14 
guns, captured yesterday by a French privateer, 
the one which the Adams is now pursuing. She is 
gaining upon her fast. The brig had 21 French- 
men on board and five of her former crew, includ- 
ing two gentlemen passengers very badly wounded. 
I dispatch her instantly for Martinico on account 
of the wounded and before I can inform you of the 
result of the chase by the Adams." The Adams, 
Captain Morris, captured the privateer soon after- 
wards. They did not have the good fortune to fall in 
with the French frigates which were reported to be 
in those waters. Having taken over fifty prisoners, 
they exchanged them for Americans at Guadeloupe. 
Desf ourneaux had recently been superseded as gov- 
ernor of Guadeloupe by General Paris. There were 
said to be two hundred American prisoners there, 
and Murray says, November 27, " These seas swarm 
with small privateers, which has determined me to 
pass the remainder of my cruise on this station, 
which at this time is very much unguarded." He 
fell in with the Baltimore, Pickering, and Con- 
necticut, and saw a large French frigate, probably 
the Vengeance, at anchor at Guadeloupe. The In- 
surgente chased a ship and lost sight of her in the 
night and, except for the recapture of a valuable 
American vessel, accomplished little. In December 
her foremast was found to be much decayed, and she 
put into St. Christopher and afterwards into An- 



EVENTS OF 17d9 129 

tigua for repairs. Murray was much disappointed 
with the results of the cruise up to this time.^ 

In regard to prisoners, the President had modi- 
fied his views before this time and had written to 
the Secretary of the Navy, August 6 : " There is 
one alteration in our policy which appears to me 
indispensable. Instead of sending the prisoners 
which we take back into Guadaloupe, there to em- 
bark again in the first privateer, we must send them 
all to the United States or allow them to work and 
fight on board our ships. At least, if they are re- 
turned, their written parole ought to be taken that 
they will not serve until exchanged." * 

The Connecticut, 24, Captain Tryon, was or- 
dered in September to Porto Bico, and arrived off 
the island October 27. She cruised a month there- 
abouts and then proceeded to St. Christopher, 
where she arrived December 15. The squadron was 
then commanded by Captain Morris. An officer of 
the Connecticut says : " We . . . left there imme- 
diately for the island of Guadaloupe, and on the 
29th of the same month, off that island, captured 
the copper bottomed French privateer brig L'ltalic 
Conqueste, of 12 guns and pierced for 18." Mor- 
ris, in reporting the capture, said that ^^ she struck 

^ Nov, Chron. p. 137 ; Mass. Mercury, November 15, Murray to 
Stoddert (September 16, 1799), November 26, 1799, January 3, 
Mmray to Stoddert (November 14, 1799), January 7, 1800; Let- 
ters to President, 64 ; Murray's Letter Book, 27, 32, 36 (November 
9, 27, 1799, January 3, 1800). 

> Adams, vol. ix, p. 9. 



ISO OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

after receiving the second broadside, which carried 
away her main-topmast, stove her boat, and wounded 
her captain and two of the men, [one of them] 
mortally." This privateer had done great injury to 
American commerce. The Connecticut also recap- 
tured two American vessels and ran a valuable 
French ship on shore.^ 

December 20 the Baltimore, Captain Cowper, 
captured the French brig Esperance off Ghiade- 
loupe. Midshipman Mercer of the Baltimore after- 
wards asserted that this brig was unarmed, and that 
/\ befo^ sending a prize crew aboard her, arms had 
been put aboard, so that the prize master could 
swear that he had f oimd arms on her when he took 
possession. The Esperance was then sent into port 
and condemned. It was said that this was a device 
sometimes resorted to for the purpose of insuring 
the condemnation of prizes and the award of prize 
money, contrary to the laws which forbade the cap- 
ture of unarmed vessels. Even if this story of the 
Esperance was true, however, it seems probable 
that it must have been very exceptional, for it is 
hardly conceivable that many vessels navigated 
West Indian waters in those troublous times en- 
tirely unprepared to defend themselves.* 

Two new frigates were put into commission late 

^ Nav. Ckron. p. 137 ; Columbian Centind^ March 5, August 13, 
1800 ; Gazette of V, S, February 14, 1800 ; Conn, Courant, July 28, 
1800. 

3 Conn. Journal, January 30, 1800; Adams MSS, L. G. Tucker 
to President Adams (October 5, 1800). 



EVENTS OF 17d9 131 

in 1799, tbe Congress, 36, and tbe Essex, 82. The 
Congress was one of the six frigates authorized in 
1794, and was built at Portsmouth, New Hamp- 
shire ; she was commanded by Captain James Sever. 
Of this officer it was said by Stephen Higginson, 
the navy agent at Boston : " Sever will be an ex- 
cellent naval commander; he is a cool, firm, dis- 
creet, gentlemanlike man, who feels and conducts 
with digniiy and zeal proper to his station ; he is 
remarkable for discipline and regularity." ^ Charles 
Morris, a midshipman on the Congress at this time, 
says : ^^ Captain Sever had held a subaltern's com- 
mission in the army for a year or two before the 
close of the war of the Bevolution, where he had 
acquired some knowledge of military discipline. 
He had afterwards made several voyages to Eu- 
rope, in most of them as master of vessels belong- 
ing to his relatives. He had also made one or two 
cruises in the sloop Herald before he was appointed 
to the Congress. He was well educated, very aus- 
tere and distant in his manner, not very amiable 
in temper, rigid in his discipline, and very punctil- 
ious in all matters of military etiquette. I believe 
he was rather deficient in seamanship, but remark- 
able coolness and self-possession in trjring situations 
enabled him to decide and direct what was proper 
to be done better than most of his officers who bet- 
ter understood their profession practically." The 
Essex was built by private subscription at Salem, 
^ Life of Stephen Higginson (Boston, 1907), p. 210. 



132 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

under the act of Juife 80, 1798, and was launched 
September 30, 1799. She was commanded by Ed- 
ward Preble, who had been promoted to the rank 
of captain in May. In December the Congress 
and Essex were ordered to convoy a fleet of mer- 
chantmen to the East Indies. They assembled their 
convoy at Newport and set sail in January.^ 

The sixth general order to officers commanding 
public ships, issued by the Navy Department June 
27, 1799, calls for the observance of strict disci- 
pline on all vessels of war and the encouragement 
of " a love of country and respect for its constituted 
authorities, a high sense of national character, and 
veneration for the honor of the American flag." 
The seventh order, September 5, directs command- 
ing officers to report infractions of a law of 1794 
prohibiting " the carrjdng on the slave trade from 
the United States to any foreign place or country." 
A later act authorized the seizure of vessels en- 
gaged in this traffic and their condemnation for the 
benefit of the captors.^ 

During the whole of the year 1799 there was 
active cruising in the West Indies by the American 
navy, reinforced by the arrival of several new ves- 
sels which had been built or purchased for the ser- 
vice. More than thirty vessels were employed in 
these waters at one time or another during the year, 

1 Nav, Ckron. p. 138 ; Morris^ pp. 8, 9 ; Essex, pp. 4-16 ; Gtn* 
Letters, vol. iii, 38. 

2 Nav. Ckron, pp. 135, 138, 163 ; StaiuUs at Large, vol. i, p. 347, 
vol. ii, p. 70. 



EVENTS OF 1799 133 

and American merchantmen in convoys under the 
protection of national cruisers were able to carry on 
a busy commerce. About twenty-five French armed 
vessels were captured, nearly all of them privateers. 
Among the new vessels were two fast schooners of 
twelve guns each, the Enterprise and Experiment. 
They were built especially for chasing privateers 
in the shoal waters of this region, and were ready 
for service just before the end of the year. At this 
time there were a few more cruisers in the West 
Indies than the year before — something over 
twenty. The Portsmouth, Captain McNeill, and the 
Maryland, Captain Sodgers, were cruising off Suri- 
nam, and the Norfolk, Warren, and Pincknqr off 
Havana. Commodore Talbot, who commanded the 
San Domingo station, including the waters about 
Porto Eioo, had with him the flagship ConiBtitution, 
the Greneral Greene, Boston, Patapsoo, Herald, 
Augusta, and Experiment. Conunodore Truxtun, 
an the Cruadeloupe station, had under his command 
a squadron of ten vessels, — his flagship the Con- 
rtdlaiion, the Adams, Captain Morris, and John 
AiJMiMi^ Captain Cross, of twenly-eight guus each, 
the Connecticnt, Captain Tryon, the Delaware, 
Ba ltim ore, and Enterprise, and the revenue cutters 
Eag^ I^kering, and Scammd. There may have 
been one or two others attached to one or another 
of dieae squadrons. The Insurgente cruised alone.' 

1 jr«r.CV«iLpp.l30,137;Pidbemi9,TiiL^217; GtM.LeUen^ 



134 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

Thomas Truxtun, the most notable figure of this 
war with France, was bom on Long Island in 1755, 
and spent most of his life at sea. As a privateers- 
man he served actively throughout the Kevolution, 
and after the war was engaged in the merchant 
service. On board his ship discipline was severe 
and even harsh. Begarding Truxtun and navy dis- 
cipline, Admiral Porter's observations in his me- 
moir of his &ther give an interesting view of 
conditions in the old navy: ^^In those days the 
authority of a ship's captain was absolute, and it 
was not unusual for a commander and his watch 
officers to commit acts of oppression that would 
not be tolerated at the present time. Even as late 
as the year 1820 midshipmen in the British navy 
were flogged like messenger boys ; and our com- 
manders in 1798, following British customs, intro- 
duced punishment equally unpleasant on board 
their vessels. It was customary in those days to 
swear at the midshipmen, send them to the mast- 
head and confine them for slight offenses on bread 
and water, which usages we are happy to say have 
long since been abandoned." * " This was a rough 
school for young Porter, but he was fortunate in 
commencing his career with Captain Truxtun and 
Lieut. Kodgers. Both were officers of the highest 
reputation, strict disciplinarians and men of un- 
doubted probity. Under them Porter formed the 
character which did so much towards his advance- 

1 Porter, p. 18. 




THOMAS TRUXTUN 



EVENTS OF 17d9 136 

ment in the service ; and he often in after years 
congratulated himself in having been brought up 
in such a thorough naval schooL Severe as was 
that discipline and unjust as were some of the de- 
cisions of naval commanders of those days against 
their junior officers, who were liable to dismissal 
from the service at the mere instance of a captious 
captain, yet it is acknowledged by those familiar 
with the subject that the usages of that early period 
were far better calculated to make officers who will 
distinguish themselves in war than those of the 
present day. Notwithstanding the attractions pre- 
sented by a naval career, yet so great were the exac- 
tions and so unceasing the strain on a boy's nervous 
temperament that only the most rugged and deter- 
mined could remain in the service for any length of 
time. On the whole it is unfortunate for the nav 
that this severe discipline was not maintained up ( 
to the present time, for if it had been, with our ^ 
advance in nautical science we should be invincible 
upon the ocean. 

*' Captain Truxtun was a very severe man and his 
first lieutenant, Mr. Bodgers, was in no respect be- 
hind him. They had both been educated in the rough 
school of the merchant service, where the officers, 
having no marines to support them, had to depend 
upon their own physical powers for the maintenance 
of discipline among crews often made up of the 
most desperate men. Few of the present amenities 
of the quarter-deck were practiced in the early days 



f/ 



vV 



136 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

of tbe navy, and it required a great deal of forbear- 
ance in a high-spirited youth to control his temper 
under the abuse to which he was often subjected. 
Notwithstanding Midshipman Porter's ambition to 
make his way in the navy, he was several times on 
the point of resigning. Upon one occasion he told 
Captain Truxtun that his tyranny was more than 
he could bear, whereupon the honest-hearted old 
seaman took him by the hand and said : * My boy, 
you shall never leave the navy if I can help it; 
why, you young dog, every time I swear at you, you 
go up a round in the ladder of promotion, and when 
Mr. Eodgers blows you up it is because he loves 
you and don't want you to become too conceited.' 
Porter finally became much attached to Truxtun 
and Eodgers, and their mutual friendship termi- 
nated only with their lives." ^ 

Truxtun issued an address to his midshipmen 
which reveals a lively interest in the service and in 
the young men who were to be the officers of the 
future. After enjoining obedience to superiors, he 
says: "In doing your duty, while vigilance is re- 
quired of you, civility to those under you is desired 
and expected. From examples in civil life and in the 
education many of you have had, it will, I am sure, 
be grateful to you to consider men in an inferior 
station as your fellow creatures, and when they do 
their duty with your cheerfulness to encourage them, 
always remembering that rigid discipline and good 
1 Porter, pp. 23, 24. 



EVENTS OF 1799 137 

order are very different from tyranny — the one 
highly necessary and the other abominable and dis- 
graceful to the character of an officer. . • . Persevere 
always, and struggle against all your seeming diffi- 
culties. Learn to be seamen of the first order. Each 
of you calculate and prepare yourselves to be Ad- 
mirals and to command the American fleet. Learn 
to rig and imrig, to hand, reef, and steer, and to 
navigate a ship scientifically, and to perform every 
sort of duty belonging to the highest and the lowest 
orders of seamen and sea officers. Make yourselves 
also acquainted with the construction of all sorts of 
vessels and the general principles of mechanics. Do 
not fail to pay the closest attention to Naval Tactics, 
which you can never know properly until you be- 
come mathematicians : consequently, till then, fight- 
ing in a line of battle and manoeuvres will always 
appear to you a confused business. I shall always 
have pleasure in giving encouragement and instruc- 
tion to you or such of you as I see merit it, and such 
as do not I shall have equal pleasure in getting rid 
of as speedily as possible." ^ 

The last general order issued by the Navy De- 
partment in 1799 was dated December 20 : " The 
President with deep affliction announces to the Navy 
and to the Marines the death of our beloved fellow 
citizen, George Washington, Commander of our 
armies and late President of the United States, but 
rendered more illustrious by his eminent virtues and 
1 Wadnoorih MSa, 



138 OUR NAV4iL WAR WITH FRANCE 

a long series of most important services than by the 
honors which his grateful country delighted to con- 
fer upon him. Desirous that the Navy and Marines 
should express, in common with every other descrip- 
tion of American citizens, the high sense which all 
feel of the loss our country has sustained in the 
death of this good and great man, the President 
directs that the vessels of the Navy, in our own and 
foreign ports, be put in mourning for one week by 
wearing their colors half-mast high ; and that the 
officers of the Navy and of Marines wear crape aa 
the left arm below the elbow for six months." ^ 

^ Nav. Chron, p. 140. 



CHAPTER Vn 

THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAB 

On New Year's day, 1800, the schooner Experi- 
ment, which had recently arrived on th6 San Do- 
mingo station, lay becahned in the Bight of Leogane, 
off the north shore of the island of Gronaive, with 
a convoy of four merchantmen. The schooner was 
commanded by Lieutenant William Maley, and 
her first lieutenant was David Porter, who had 
been promoted and transferred from the Constelli^ 
tion. The crew of the Experiment numbered sev- 
enty. Consul-General Stevens was a passenger on 
board, and the next day made a report to Commo- 
dore Talbot, which tells this story : — 

^< At 7 o'clock in the morning, being becalmed in 
the middle of the channel, ... we were attacked 
by ten barges manned with negroes and midattoes 
and armed with muskets, sabres, and boarding pikes. 
Several of the barges carried cannon of four pounds 
and swivels in the bow ; and from the most accurate 
calculation I could make, the whole number of peo- 
ple on board of them amounted to about four or five 
hundred, the larger ones carrying 60 or 70 and the 
smaller ones 40 or 50. They rowed towards us with 
great eagerness from Trou Covert [a small islet] 
until they came within long gunshot of the convoy. 



140 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

when ihey divided into several small squadrons with 
intention to board each of the vessels. Captain Maley 
had made the best possible arrangement for receiv- 
ing them. The guns of the Experiment being sealed 
and her ports shut, they could not distinguish her 
from the merchantmen under her convoy, but ap- 
proached her with the same degree of boldness that 
they did the rest. When they came within musket- 
shot of the convoy they commenced a very heavy 
fire from their great guns and musketry, which was 
instantly returned by the Experiment, the brig 
Daniel and Mary, and the schooner Sea flower. 
Our grape-shot and small arms made dreadful havoc 
among them, and obliged them to retire out of the 
reach of our guns. In this situation they lay on their 
oars for the space of half an hour, examining us 
and consulting what measure they should adopt. 

" They then rowed towards the island of Gonaib, 
fired a gun, and were joined by some other barges 
from the shore, which took out the dead and 
wounded from those that had been in the engage- 
ment and brought off a reinforcement of men. After 
they had continued thus recruiting their forces for 
an hour and a half, they hoisted their masts and 
sails and divided into three squadrons of four barges 
each. The centre division, consisting of the largest 
barges, displayed red pendants from the mast heads, 
while the van and the rear kept the tri-colored flag 
still flying. In this order they rowed towards our 
bow with great boldness and velocity; and from their 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 141 

manoBuvres we could plainly perceive that this at- 
tack was meant for the Experiment and her alone, 
and that they were determined by one vigorous effort 
to board and carry her. During their approach Cap- 
tain Maley made a very judicious arrangement of his 
force. He placed a very strong body of musketry 
on the forecastle and another on the quarter-deck. 
The oars on both sides were manned to bring her 
starboard and larboard broadside to bear as occa- 
sion might require, the boarding nettings hoisted 
and the great guns all loaded and ready for action. 
As soon as they came within half musket-shot of 
the Experiment the van and centre of this little 
fleet ranged themselves on each side of us, whilst 
its rear attacked us on our bow. They then com- 
menced a brisk and well-directed fire on all sides, 
accompanied with shrieks and menaces. The guns 
of the Experiment, however, being well served and 
the fire of the marines continuing with great steadi- 
ness and activity, we at length succeeded in driving 
them off after a smart action of near three hours. 

^^ In this second attempt two of the barges were 
sunk and a great number in the others killed or 
wounded. I am sorry, however, to add that during 
the heat of the engagement and while they at- 
tempted to board us on all sides, two of the barges 
left the fleet, sheltered themselves from our guns 
behind the schooner Mary, Captain Chipman, and 
the brig Daniel and Mary, Captain Farley, and at- 
tempted to take them. The first barge accomplished 



142 OUR NAVAL WAB WITH FRANCE 

its object, boarded the Mary and inhnmanly mur- 
dered Captain Chipman, being the only person 
found on deck, as the rest of the crew had either 
secreted themselves in the hold or jumped into the 
sea. The other was sunk in the act of boarding the 
Daniel and Mary by a well-directed shot from 
the Experiment which passed between the masts of 
the brig. As soon as it was perceived that the Mary 
was taken a few rounds of grape-shot were thrown 
on board her, which quickly dislodged the pirates 
and obliged them to abandon her before they had 
time to do more than plunder the cabin. After the 
second attack the barges rowed towards Gonaib, 
again landed their killed and wounded and took 
in another reinforcement. They continued in this 
position for some time, laying on their oars and 
carefully watching our motions. As the calm con- 
tinued it was impossible for the Experiment to pur- 
sue them or for the vessels under convoy to escape. 
About four o'clock in the afternoon, observing that 
the current had carried the brig Daniel and Mary 
and the schooner Washington nearly out of reach 
of our guns, they rowed oflF a third time with a de- 
termination to cut off these two vessels. This being 
perceived by Captains Farley and Taylor, com- 
manders of the brig and schooner, they came to a 
resolution to abandon their vessels. They were in- 
duced to do so in consequence of their crews refus- 
ing to defend themselves and from being too distant 
to be protected by the Experiment ; they therefore 



THE LAST Y£AB OF TH£ WAR 143 

came on board of the armed schooner with their 
crews and passengers. They had scarcely left their 
boats when the barges boarded their respective ves^ 
seb and towed them off in triamph. Every effort 
was made by Captain Maley to save them, but 
without effect ; by means of his oars, however, he 
got near enough to reach the barges with his round 
shot, which did them considerable damage. Observ- 
ing this they detached two of their number to some 
distance from the brig and schooner, either to pre- 
vent us from following them or to capture the two 
remaining vessels that were still under convoy of 
the Experiment, should she continue the pursuit. 
Captain Maley judged it therefore most prudent to 
remain by them ; the cakn still continuing, it was 
very uncertain whether he could have reached the 
two vessels that were already taken, while on the 
other hand, had he continued the pursuit he must 
have subjected the other two to certain capture. 

^ During the first and second actions with the 
barges the Experiment suffered in her spars, rigging, 
and sails ; fortunately no person was killed on board 
of her, and only two slightly wounded. Lieutenant 
Porter received a slight contusion from a musket 
ball in his arm, and a French passenger was struck 
in the breast with a spent ball. I cannot too much 
applaud the intrepidity, good conduct, and activity 
of Captain Malay, his officers and men, during 
the several actions in which the Experiment was 
engaged. By their persevering exertions the schoon- 



\ 




144 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

ers Sea Flower and Mary were saved ; and even 
the Experiment herself preserved from capture. 
Surrounded as these vessels were by superior num- 
bers, in a perfect calm and attacked on all sides 
without being able to bring the guns of the Exper- 
iment to bear on the greatest part of the enemy, it 
is really surprising that any of them escaped. The 
murder of the unfortunate Captain Chipman and 
the loss of two of the convoy are circumstances 
much to be regretted ; but were, notwithstanding, 
inevitable ; the barges were so numerous that it 
was next to impossible to prevent them from board- 
ing some of those vessels. Had Captain Farley and 
Captain Taylor remained on board the schooner and 
brig, it is highly probable that both they and their 
crews would have been put to death, and it is but 
doubtful whether, after all, their vessels could have 
been preserved ; it was therefore prudent in them 
to retire." * 

The Experiment with the remnant of her convoy 
at last succeeded in making a port at Leogane, not 
far from Port Republicain. She had expended nearly 
all her grape-shot, and Consul Stevens was able to 
borrow a supply of General Toussaint, also a long 
six pounder to serve as a stem chase. Stevens was 
informed that. In the vicinity of their action with 
the picaroons, there were as many as thirty-seven of 
Bigaud's barges manned by more than fifteen hun- 
dred men.^ 

1 Mass, Spy, March 5, 1800. ^ Ibid. 



THE LAST TEAR OP THE WAR ^^4^ 

Commodore Talbot reported, February 12, that 
be had directed a frigate and a small vessel to cruise 
in the Bight of Leogane, and urged that merchant- 
men should never venture in those waters without 
protection. He said that no American vessel had 
been captured on the San Domingo station except 
in the bight, ^^ along the shores of which, particularly 
near St. Mark's, those piratical boats are closely con- 
cealed in the creeks and among the bushes, so that 
no one on board a vessel going along the channel 
can discover them, while from the lookouts on the 
hiUs the enemy can perfectly well observe everything 
that passes by. If a vessel is becalmed, and which 
perhaps is more commonly the case in this bay than 
in any other part of the West Indies, those boats 
-will be sure to come out in all directions from their 
hiding-places to attack such vessel ; and it has been 
shown by the gallant defense lately made against 
them by Lieutenant Maley in the United States 
schooner Experiment, when attacked by eleven of 
those armed boats, that perfect protection cannot 
be extended to a whole convoy against those boats 
in such a long and flat calm as that which was then 
experienced." * Talbot's advice to merchantmen was 
sometimes disregarded, and they imprudently risked 
their lives and ships. In March a schooner from 
Charleston was captured, and the crew, nine in all, 
taken ashore on Gonaive. The captain and two men 
escaped, one of them not until he had seen three of 

1 Columbian Centinel March 29, 1800. 



146 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

his shipmates shot down. The next day the captain 
returned and found the bodies of six of his men. 
He was fortunate enough to find a boat and escape 
from the island. In some cases the pirates were 
more merciful and spared the lives of their captives.^ 
From the foregoing it would appear that Lieu- 
tenant Maley deserved only praise for his conduct 
in this fight of the Experiment with picaroons. From 
other sources, however, quite a different impression 
is derived. When the barges appeared it is said 
that Maley, hopeless of contending against such 
odds, was inclined to surrender. At this Porter and 
the other officers protested, whereupon Maley turned 
the command over to Porter and took no part in 
what followed. Admiral Porter observes that, aboard 
the vessels of the navy in the West Indies at the 
time, " Lieut. Porter was unanimously applauded 
for the determined stand he took against the weak- 
ness of his commanding officer. This case shows 
the necessity of firmness in time of danger ; and of 
not yielding until forced by superior numbers to 
do so. Many a timid man has yielded to an imagi- 
nary superiority, when even a show of resolution 
would have given him the victory. No commander 
has any right to surrender his ship when his officers 
and crew demand the right to defend her ; and no 
government will ever consider the protests of offi- 
cers, under such circumstances, as insubordination. 
No man has the right to disgrace a ship's company 
1 Mass, Spy, May 7, August 20, 1800. 



THE LAST YEAR OP THE WAR 147 

by surrendering (without striking a blow) against 
the judgment of all hands. Perhaps this doctrine 
may not be in accordance with strict naval disci- 
pline, but I will venture to say it will be approved 
by all brave men, in and out of the navy. Had 
Lieut. Porter been unsuccessful, he would not have 
been condemned. . . . One of the officers of the 
Experiment, Joshua Blake, writing to Commodore 
Porter nearly forty years after the affair, uses this 
language : ^ At that time and ever since I considered 
the safety of the vessel and the honor of the flag 
mainly to have depended on yourself, and that our 
situation would have been desperate indeed, had 
you been so disabled as to have been off duty.' " ^ 

Notwithstanding the unequivocal testimony of 
Consul Stevens, it is evident that Maley, either by 
his conduct on this occasion or otherwise, had lost 
the confidence of his subordinates. The Secretary 
of the Navy wrote to the President, July 12, 1800: 
^^ But the complaints against Maley are of such a 
nature that it would be improper to suffer him to 
conmiand her [Experiment] before he is acquitted 
by a Court Martial." ^ The President replied, July 
23 : ^^ Nothing affects me so much as to see com- 
plaints against officers who have distinguished them- 
selves by their vigilance, activity, and bravery in 
the service, as Maley has done; but the complaints 
must not be rejected without inquiry." * It does not 

1 Porter, pp. 29-32. « Letters to President, 80. 

* Adams, vol. ix, p. 64. 



148 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

appear, however, that Maley was ever called to ac- 
count. 

In May the Experiment seized the Danish 
schooner Mercator entering the port of Jacmel. 
Lieutenant Maley suspected this vessel of being 
French, and ordered her to Cape Francois for ex- 
amination by Commodore Talbot. On the way she 
was captured by an English privateer, taken to Ja- 
maica, and condemned as a prize. It was determined 
by the Supreme Court of the United States that 
the seizure of the Mercator by the Experiment was 
illegal^ Maley continued in command of the Ex- 
periment until summer and then was relieved by 
Lieutenant Charles Stewart, who was detached 
from the United States after her return from 
France. Malay resigned his commission in the navy 
in November, 1800. 

The schooner Enterprise, Lieutenant John Shaw, 
began her career with promise of usefulness, though 
with no such stirring incident as had fallen to the 
lot of her mate the Experiment. The story of her 
first month's service is told in a private letter. 
"On the 17th December we left our capes with a 
moderate breeze from the S. W., but it shortly in- 
creased to a violent gale accompanied by quantities 
of rain, and having a new vessel and raw hands, 
had soon many difficulties to encounter. We lost 
one man overboard besides springing our foremast, 
but had it condemned by a surveyor as being unfit 
1 Cranch, yol. iii, p. 458 ; Claim$, pp. 332, 358, 418. 



THE LAST TEAR OF THE WAR 149 

to proceed to sea with. On the 19th January pro- 
cured another mast in Martinico, and proceeded to 
St. Eatts with a convoy of 15 sail. Hauled up for 
a brig we saw under Guadaloupe, which showed a 
Swedish jack. As we had every reason to suppose 
her a French vessel, beat all hands to quarters, the 
usual mode we adopt on seeing a strange sail. We 
gave her a gun, showing our colors, but she kept her 
wind to the southward until we had fired 14 shot 
at her, when she hauled down her colors and came 
under our lee. She proved to be a Swedish brig of 
twenty 12-pounders and 90 men. After examina- 
tion let her proceed. On the 19th were ordered out 
on a cruise. On the 22d recaptured the schooner 
Victory with a valuable cargo from Norfolk bound 
to Antigua, five days in possession of the French. 
On the 24th recaptured the brig Androscoggin of 
Topsham, six days in possession of the French. 
They both arrived safe in St. Kitts. On the 26th 
inst. we proceeded to Curracoa with dispatches 
from Commodore Truxtun to Captain Baker of 
the Delaware. She is in port with many of her 
men sick." * 

The Insurgente being disabled by the condition 
of her foremast,' Captain Murray determined to 
fill her place in some degree by employing the brig 
Conquest of Italy, recently captured by the Con- 
necticut, as a cruiser during repairs on the frigate. 

1 Gazette of U. S, March 28, 1800. 
3 See above, p. 128. 



150 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

He put on board of her as commander his second 
lieutenant, James P. Watson, with some of the 
best midshipmen and thirty men, the number to 
be increased later. She cruised several weeks, part 
of the time in company with the Insurgente after 
the frigate's repairs were completed. The Conquest 
of Italy recaptured an American vessel from the 
French. On January 31, 1800, the Insurgente and 
her coDsort fell in with the Constellation, and Mur- 
ray was informed by Commodore Truxtun that or- 
ders were awaiting him at St. Christopher. He at 
once proceeded to that place, where he found in- 
structions from the Secretary of the Navy sending 
him to Jamaica, where he was to receive a large 
sum of money for the government. On the way 
thither he again fell in with the Constellation, much 
crippled from a recent action with a French frigate.* 
They sailed in company, making slow progress on 
account of the Constellation's condition, and arrived 
at Jamaica February 8. Not finding all the money 
he expected, Murray soon set out for Havana. He 
wrote February 27, shortly before reaching that 
place : ^^ I counted upon making the passage here 
in five days and I have been fourteen beating 
against heavy gales from the north to W. N. W., 
most of the time under close reefed topsails, but 
was happy to find the ship made fine weather of it 
and stood the gale admirably." The Insurgente 

* See below, pp. 163, 176. 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 161 

soon sailed for the United States, and arrived at 
Baltimore about the middle of March.^ 

The Congress, Captain Sever, and the Essex, Cap- 
tain Preble, set sail from Newport January 9, 1800, 
with a convoy of three vessels bound for the East 
Indies. The object of the voyage was to protect 
American shipping in the east from French priva- 
teers, which were said to be active there, and to give 
convoy to such vessels as desirec. to return home. , 
The three merchantmen bound out, being dull sail- 
ers, were soon dropped behind and lost sight of. 
Five days out it blew hard, and the frigates became 

separated. The experiences of the Congress are told 

in Captain Sever's report, dated at sea January 14, 
1800: ''On Saturday the 11th the wind veered to 
the southward and came on to blow very fresh, at- 
tended with warm rain and a heavy sea ; this weather 
produced an astonishing effect on my rigging (which 
had previously been in very good condition), it 
stretching so much as to induce apprehensions for 
the safety of the masts. The weather being such as 
to preclude the practicability of setting it up, I 
caused the tackles to be got up to succor the masts 
and the rigging to be swiftered [tightened], but 
unfortunately every step taken to support the masts 
proved futile. On Sunday morning the 12th, it blow- 
ing hard and a heavy sea running, at half-past six 

» Nav. Aff, vol, i, p. 72; Mass. Mercury, February 21, 1800; 
Columbian Cen^tW, March 26, 1800; Morray't Letter Booib, 36, 
54 (January 3, February 27, 1800). 



A 



162 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

the mainmajst sprang about eight feet above the 
upper deck. I immediately caused the main yard 
to be lowered down (the top-gallant yard having 
previously been sent down and the top-gallant masts 
housed); on consultation with the oiBicers it was 
decided, as affording the only probable means of 
saving the mainmast, to endeavor to cut away the 
main-topmast. This was immediately attempted, Mr. 
Bosworth, my fourth lieutenant, with four or five 
smart, active men going into the top to perform the 
service ; while in its execution the mast unfortunately 
gave way and in its fall involved the loss of that 
active, deserving officer; the other men who were 
aloft and engaged in the same services were all 
happily saved. The fall of the mainmast carried 
away the mizzen-topmast with the head of the miz- 
zenmast. Being under an apprehension that from 
the roughness of the sea the hull of the ship might 
be essentially injured by the action of the wreck, 
was induced to clear it from the ship with all pos- 
sible expedition, by which means a very small part 
only of the rigging and sails attached to those masts 
were saved. I now turned all my attention to, and 
made use of every practicable exertion to preserve 
the foremast ; the wind still continuing to blow hard 
with a very heavy sea and the ship from the loss 
of her after-masts laying in the trough and laboring 
very much, at half-past 12 she rolled away her fore- 
topmast, soon after which it was discovered that 
the bowsprit was very badly sprung just without 



THE IiAST TEAR OF THE WAR 153 

the gammoning. I immediately caused the jib-boom 
to be rigged in and endeavored to secure the bow- 
sprit by strong lashings round the heel of the jib- 
boom, at the same time getting up tackles to the 
foremast head to secure the mast (which was al- 
ready sprung) and to relieve in some measure the 
stress upon the bowsprit caused by the fore and 
fore preventer stays. It is with great regret I am 
to add that all my endeavors proved of no farther 
consequence than probably to retard for a very lit- 
tle time what eventually took place, as at half-past 
3 p. M. the bowsprit gave way and at the same in- 
stant the foremast went over the side, leaving us 
totally dismasted and with the loss of the principal 
part of the sails and rigging, which in our then 
situation it was not practicable to preserve." ^ 

The Congress ** was left to the mercy of the gale 
for some hours, until arrangements were made that 
enabled a small sail to be set, under which she was 
put before the gale until it moderated." It was of 
course necessary to return to port, and she succeeded 
in reaching Hampton Beads February 24. Captain 
Sever was exonerated from blame by a court of in- 
quiry. The frigate's cruise to the far east was aban- 
doned and after refitting she was sent to the West 
Indies.^ 

The Essex continued the voyage alone and car- 

^ Columbian CenhW, March 19, 1800. 

* Morris, pp. 10, 11; Mass. 3fercury,' March 18, 1800; Salem 
OaxetUt March 18, 1800 ; Columbian Centind, June 18, 1800. 



^i>; 



154 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

ried out as far as possible the intentions of the 
^^^govemment. She was the first American national 
vessel to display the flag beyond the Cape of Good 
Hope. The story of this interesting cruise is told 
in Captain Preble's journal and reports and in the 
ship's log. January 12 he writes : ^' Strong gales, by 
S. E. to S. W. and rain, under reefed foresail, dose- 
reefed maintopsail, mizzen and f orestaysails. At 4 
p. M. took in the maintopsail and set the storm miz- 
zen staysail. The Congress S. E. by E. two miles. 
At 4^ p. M., considering the bowsprit to be in dan- 
ger, I bore away for a few minutes to take in the 
fore-topmast staysail to save the ship forward ; at 
the same time hauled down the mizzen staysail, the 
wind blowing with great fury. At this time lost 
sight of the Congress, our rigging being so slack 
as to make it impossible to carry sail to keep up 
with her, without hazarding the loss of our masts." 
The next day the wind moderated, but a heavy 
sea continued. In the case of the Essex, as in that 
of the Congress, the rigging had been set up in cold 
weather, and a warm storm in the Gulf Stream made 
it dangerously slack. January 24, in the evening, 
the lieutenant on deck *' informed me the mainmast 
was sprung between decks. I ordered the maintop- 
sail to be taken in. Examined the mast and found 
it very badly sprung about three feet above the 
wedges. Got down the top-gallant yard and masts. 
Took in the mainsail and set up the weather shrouds ; 
then got the mainyard down and took every precau- 



THE LAST TEAR OF THE WAR 165 

tion to ease the mast and secure it until morning. 
At 6 A. M. the carpenters were all set to work pre- 
paring fishes for the mast. Carried away two of our 
main shrouds ; got up others to replace them." The 
ship crossed the equator February 7. A week later 
" John Wells and Daniel Woodman, two able sea- 
men, fell overboard and were both drowned, although 
every exertion was made to save them." March 11, 
the Essex anchored in Table Bay, Cape of Good 
Hope, where she found a British squadron of seven 



Two days after his arrival Preble wrote a report 
to the Secretary of the Navy, in which after men- 
tioning the accident to the mainmast and various 
other mishaps he says : ^^ These disasters length- 
ened my passage considerably and will detain me 
here at least ten days from the day of my arrival, 
as considerable iron and wood work is to be done to 
the masts, a complete gang of new shrouds to be 
fitted, and water to filL I begin to fear some acci- 
dent has happened to the Congress, and if she does 
not arrive by the time I am ready for sea, I shall 
not wait a moment for her, but make the best of my 
way to the port of destination, and as the Essex is 
a remarkably fast sailer, I am in hopes to reach 
it in season to answer the object government had 
in view in sending me out. . . . The Essex is much 
admired for the beauty of her construction, by the 
officers of the British navy. The day after my 
1 Essex, pp. 49-^7. 



^n OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 



anv) 



ival one of the Captains of the men-of-war waited 
on me on board the Essex with their compliments 
and congratulations, and I was invited to dine with 
the Admiral. On the day following I received the 
same attention from the Governor. They both ap- 
peaL*ed to be disposed to render me every service 
in their power and to make my stay here as pleas- 
ant as possible. I have this day been presented 
with a paper from Bombay which contains the 
order of the Governor of the Isle of France for 
the confiscation of all American property, which 
I enclose you. I am told here the French have 
several privateers about the Straits of Sunda and 
I am in hopes the superior sailing of the Essex will 
enable me to pick up some of them ; every exertion 
shall be made use of for that purpose." March 25 
he wrote to the secretary : " The conduct of the 
Army and Navy and of every branch of this gov- 
ernment has been uniformly friendly and obliging. 
They have treated me with distinguished attention 
and have uniformly tendered their best services. 
The Essex is now completely equipped, and as I 
have heard nothing of the Congress I shall pro- 
ceed to sea to-morrow to carry into effect the orders 
of the President." Leaving a letter for Captain 
Sever, Preble set sail and doubled the Cape of Good 
Hope March 28.* 

Nothing of interest then occurred until they ar- 
rived in the vicinity of the Straits of Sunda, when 
1 Essex, pp. 67-69, 86-90. 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 157 

an May 6 the Essex recaptured ^^ an American sUp 
condemned at the Isle of France and bound to Ba- J-. 
tavia, commanded by a Frenchman." On the 14th, 
before going into Batavia, Preble wrote to the gov- 
ernor-general of the Dutch Indies announcing his 
arrival and saying : ^^ I shall salute the Dutch flag 
at Batavia with sixteen guns, if your Excellency 
will do me the honor to order an equal number re- 
turned. Without being assured of this, I am not at 
liberty to salute the flag of any nation whatever." 
The next day he anchored in Batavia roads and the 
salutes were exchanged. Preble was cordially re- 
ceived by the governor. Most of the time during 
the next six weeks was spent in cruising about the 
Straits of Sunda and in collecting the convoy for 
the voyage home. The merchantmen were impa- 
tient to get away. In his next report, dated August 
6, Preble says : " On the 15th of June I delivered 
signals and instructions to fifteen vessels, being all 
that were bound to the United States and all except 
three at Batavia. The 16th I moved the Essex 
down to Onrust and the 19th weighed anchor and 
sailed with thirteen ships and brigs under convoy, 
the other two concluding to join me below. The 
21st a Dutch proa came alongside with the master, 
supercargo, and part of the crew of the American 
Ship Altenamak, of and from Baltimore, bound to 
Batavia. She was captured at the entrance of the 
Straits the 15th by a French Corvette of 22 guns 
and 250 men, which arrived in the Straits on that 



168 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

day from the Ide of France. Four other privateers 
were to sail for the Straits after her, one of them 
a ship of 32 guns. I continued to proceed down the 
Straits, making slow progress with the wind con- 
stantly ahead. 22d, anchored the Fleet in Anjer 
Eoads, wind directly contrary and very light breezes, 
the French Corvette in sight hovering about the 
Fleet. At 1 p. m. I gave chase to her, which was 
continued until dark, but the lightness of the wind 
enabled her to make use of her sweeps to such 
advantage as to escape, and I returned to the 
Fleet again. 24th, a Dutqh proa came alongside, by 
which I received information of the arrival in the 
Straits of a French ship of 32 guns and much 
crowded with men. The Dutchman that commanded 
the proa had been on board of her the day before, 
and I suppose she must have passed the convoy 
in the night, as she stood over towards the coast of 
Sumatra. This ship the Dutchman declared to be a 
frigate from France, and which had only touched at 
the Isle of France. At 10 a. m. the French Corvette 
in sight approaching the Fleet at anchor under Java 
shore between Anjer and Pepper Bay, very light 
winds, almost calm. At noon, the breeze increasing, 
I weighed anchor and gave chase, which continued 
until 5 o'clock in the evening, at which time I had 
gained so much on her that nothing but its falling 
calm and the assistance the Frenchman received 
from his numerous sweeps saved him from capture ; 
had there been only a moderate breeze I must have 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 169 

taken him. For want of wind I was not able to join 
the Fleet again until the next morning. . • . The 
30th one of the vessels left at Batavia joined me, 
the master of which informed me that the other 
ship • • . would not be down to join the convoy. 
• . . The 1st of July, having completed their stock 
of water, I proceeded to sea with fourteen sail under 
convoy, as per list enclosed." The list shows eight 
ships and six brigs, only one of them unarmed. One 
ship of over a thousand tons, the China of Philadel- 
phia, carried a hundred and fifty men and thirty- 
six guns, probably small ones. ** It is singularly un- 
fortunate for the American trade that the Congress 
did not arrive at Batavia, as in that case she could 
have convoyed the Fleet home and I might have 
been left to clear the Straits of those pirates, but 
now they can do as they please, as they have no 
force opposed to them, the English squadron hav- 
ing left the station. X fear every merchant ship 
that attempts to pass the Straits will fall a sacrifice. 
The necessity of a constant protection of our trade 
in the Straits will, I presume, be sufficiently ap- 
parent." Two days before sailing the Essex " spoke 
the Ship Columbia, 109 days from the Capes of the 
Delaware, who informed us that the Congress was 
dismasted after parting with us and arrived at a 
southern port." * 

The convoy required a good deal of attention 
from the Essex, as a few extracts from the frigate's 
1 Essex, pp. 69-78, 91-97. 



160 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

log will show. " July 4. Sent Surgeon's mate on 
board the Smallwood. ... At half-past 4 p.m. 
made signal 83. Hoisted colors and fired a salute 
of sixteen guns. At 8 p. m. gave chase to a strange 
sail, which proved a Danish ship from Copenhagen 
bound to Batavia. July 7. Took the Brig Delaware 
in tow. July 16. At midnight hove to for the Small- 
wood to come up. Jidy 17. Sent a boat by request 
of Capt. Sandf ord to the Smallwood and found that 
four of the men we loaned to the ^ S.' had mutinied. 
• • . Had them brought on board, whipped at the 
gangway and put in irons, and^ent three other men 
^ the Smallwood. July 18. Fired a blank gun to 
bring to one of the Fleet. She not regarding it, 
fired another with shot, which had the desired effect. 
July 23. Continue to keep the Brig Delaware in 
tow. July 26. Spoke the Brig Exchange in trouble, 
nearly all her men sick. Sent the Doctor's mate 
on board and three men for his assistance. July 31. 
Brig Lapwing informed us there was a French ship 
in the Fleet. Hove to and make signal for the Fleet 
to do the same. The Ship Dominick Terry made 
signal of distress. Hoisted out the cutter. It ap- 
peared the ship Dispatch had run into the D. Terry 
and stove her larboard bow in. Gave her assistance. 
August 2. All the Fleet in sight. August 6. Peter 
Anderson, who belonged to the main top, starboard 
watch, died. Committed his body to the deep. 
August 7. The Ship Dispatch and Brig Lapwing 
asked permission and left the Fleet, having given 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 161 

up their signal books. August 14. John Bailey, 
able seamen, and Charles Gurdner, supernumerary, 
died and were buried in the sea." A day or two 
before this the fleet had been scattered by a heavy 
gale. The Essex passed the Cape of Good Hope 
August 27 and arrived at St. Helena, the appointed 
rendezvous, September 10, having seen only three 
of the convoy since the gale. In the course of the 
next two weeks nine of the vessels turned up, and 
September 26 the Essex got under way with seven 
of them, the other two having sailed in advance. 
Without further adventure the frigate arrived at 
New York November 28, 1800.* 

On account of short enlistments the cruisers in^ 
the West Indies were obliged from time to time to ( /| 
return to the United States to recruit new crews. It ^ ^ 
was impracticable, therefore, always to keep on the I 
different stations as many vessels as were necessary * 
fully to protect commerce from French privateers, 
especially those of Gruadeloupe, which were numer- 
ous and active.^ Conditions about Porto Rico were 
unsatisfactory early in the year. The Secretary of 
the Navy, replying February 6 to complaints of in- 
adequate protection in the vicinity of Porto Rico, 
said that for the previous six months there had 
always been from five to nine vessels on the Guade- 
loupe station and nearly as many at San Domingo, 
and that the commanding officers of both stations 

1 Essex, pp. 19-86, 97-100 ; Salem Gazette, November 18, 1800. 
« Nav. Chron. p. 166. 



162 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

had ^^constantlj acted under instructions to pay 
great attention to Porto Bico, to scour the coast 
frequently, and to keep always one cruiser out at 
least in this service. In addition to this I have sent 
from this country in September, October, and No- 
vember three vessels to cruise each one month about 
Porto Rico. ... It is more difficult to guard against 
^. privateers from Spanish than from French Ports.^ 
Captain Russell, cruising off San Juan in the 
Herald, wrote January 25 : ^^ I have the honor to 
inform you that on the 21dt inst. at 6 o'clock A. M. 
I saw a sail in the N. W. quarter, to which I gave 
chase and at 9, after firing seven shot at her, brought 
her to. She proved to be a French privateer called 
La Mutine, commanded by Capt. Lauger, from St. 
John's, Porto Rico, and had been out 14 hours ; 
she mounted 6 guns, 12 and 4 pounders, with 60 
men half French and half Spanish." ^ 

Commodore Truxtun arrived at St. Christopher 
January 21, 1800, and took command of the Guade- 
loupe station. After this, he says in a report writ- 
ten about two weeks later, " I made every exertion 
in my power to get the squadron as well as my own 
ship to sea in the shortest time possible ; and gave 
all the commanders of the different vessels orders 
to cruise separately in certain situations. . . . On 
the 30th I left St. Christopher's with the Constel- 

1 Gen. Letters, vol. iii, 148, Stoddert to C. Ooodrioh (Febniary 
e,1800). 
^ Columbian Cenlmel, March 19, 1800. 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 163 

lation in excellent trim for sailing and stood to 
windward in order to occupy the station I had al- 
lotted for myself, before the road of the enemy at 
Guadaloupe, where I was informed a very large and 
heavy frigate of upwards of fifty guns was then 
lying ; and early on the next day I fell in with 
L'Insurgent, Captain Murray, and the prize brig 
Conquest of Italy, that had been fitted out to cruise 
with him in those seas. After a short interview 
with Captain Murray, I requested him to proceed 
to St. Christopher's," where he woidd find orders 
awaiting him. Murray '^ immediately made sail to 
leeward and I continued plying to windward." The 
next morning, February 1, Truxtun sighted a sail 
in the southeast, to which he gave chase. ^ 

The ofiicial account of the day's events is taken 
from Truxtun's journal, dated February 1 and 2. He 
says: ^^ At half-past seven a. m., the road of Basse- 
terre, Guadaloupe, bearing east five leagues dis- 
tance, saw a sail in the southeast standing to the 
westward, which from her situation I at first took 
for a large ship from Martinico and hoisted English 
colors, on giving chase, by way of inducement for her 
to come down and speak me, which would have saved 
a long chase to leeward of my intended cruising 
ground ; but finding she did not attempt to alter her 
course, I examined her more attentively as we ap- 
proached her and discovered her to be a heavy French 
frigate mounting at least fifty-four guns. I imme- 

1 Ndu. Af. tol. i, p. 72, Truxtun to Stoddert (February 3, 1800). 



164 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

diately gave orders for the yards to be slung with 
chains, topsail sheets, &c., stoppered, and the ship 
cleared ready for action, and hauled down the Eng- 
lish colors. At noon the wind became light and I 
observed the chase, that we had before been gaining 
fast on, held way with us, but I was determined to 
continue the pursuit, though the running to lee- 
ward I was convinced would be attended with many 
serious disadvantages, especially if the object of my 
wishes was not gratified. At one o'clock p. m. the 
wind being somewhat fresher than the noon pro- 
ceeding and an appearance of its continuance, our 
prospect of bringing the enemy to action began to 
brighten, as I perceived we were coming up with 
the chase fast and every inch of canvas being set 
that coidd be of service, except the bag reefs which 
I kept in the topsails, in case of the enemy, finding 
an escape from our thunder impracticable, should 
haul on a wind and give us fair battle; but this did 
not prove to be her commander's intention. I how- 
ever got within hail of him at eight P. M., hoisted 
our ensign and had the candles in the battle lan- 
terns all lighted and was in the lee gangway ready 
to speak him and to demand a surrender of his ship 
to the United States of America, when at that in- 
stant he commenced a fire from his stern and quar- 
ter guns directed at our rigging and spars. No 
parley being then necessary I sent my principal 
aide-de-camp, Mr. Vandyke, to the diflferent officers 
commanding divisions on the main battery, to re- 



THE LAST TEAB OF TH£ WAR 165 

peat strictly my orders before given, not to throw 
away a single charge of powder and shot, but to 
take good aim and to fire directly into the hnll of 
the enemy and load principally with two round shot 
and now and then with a round shot and a stand of 
grape, &c. ; to encourage the men at their quarters 
and to cause or suffer no noise or confusion what- 
ever, but to load and fire as fast as possible when 
it could be done with certain effect. 

** These orders being given, in a few moments I 
gained a position on his weather quarter that en- 
abled us to return effectually his salute, and thus 
as close and as sharp an action as ever was fought 
between two frigates commenced and continued until 
within a few minutes of one A. M., when the enemy's 
fire was completely silenced and he was again sheer- 
ing off. It was at this moment that I considered 
him as my prize and was trimming in the best 
manner I could my shattered sails when I found 
the mainmast was totally unsupported with rigging, 
every shroud being shot away and some of them in 
many places, so as to render stoppers useless, which 
in fact could not be applied with effect. I then gave 
orders for all the men to be sent up from the gun 
deck to endeavor to secure the mast, in order that 
we might get alongside of the enemy again ajs soon 
as vpossible ; but every effort was in vain, for it went 
over the side in a few minutes after and carried 
with it the topmen, among whom was an amiable 
young gentleman who commanded the main top. 



166 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

Mr. James Jarvis, son of James Jarvis, Esq., of 
New York. This young gentleman it seems was ap- 
prised of his danger by an old seaman, but he had 
already so much the principle of an officer engrafted 
on his mind, not to leave his quarters, that he re- 
plied if the mast went they must go with it, which 
was the case and only one of them was saved. . • . 
As soon as the mainmast went, every effort was 
made to clear the wreck from the ship as soon as 
possible, which was effected in about an hour, and 
as her security was then the great object, it being 
impossible to pursue the enemy I immediately bore 
away for Jamaica for repairs, &c., finding it im- 
practicable to reach a friendly port in any of the 
islands to windward." * 

One of the Constellation's lieutenants, writing 
February 3, gives some additional details. " I am 
safe after a severe action of five hours broadside 
and broadside with a French fifty gun ship. We 
chased her from eight in the morning of the first 
until about a quarter before eight in the even- 
ing, when we brought her to action, and a very se- 
vere cannonading commenced from both ships and 
continued till half-past twelve at night, when iiie 

1 Nav. Af. vol. i, p. 72 ; Nav. Chron. pp. 166-168 ; Naval Tem- 
ple, pp. 265, 266. In most of the accounts of this battle a mistake 
in the date is made by confusing the civil day and the nautical day 
(which begins twelve hours earlier), the latter being used in Truz- 
tnn's journal. The chase is thereby made to last twenty-four hours 
longer than was actually the case. The chase began at 7.30 A. M. 
February 1 and the fight ended at 1 A. m. February 2, less than 
eighteen hours in all. See Appendix VI. 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 167 

enemy's battery was silenced (except the two after- 
most guns); ours continued with increased vigor. 
She then sheered off perfectly beaten. We took the 
weather gauge and kept it during the action. The 
officers of divisions were ordered up and the smart- 
est men to secure the mainmast, but it was so much 
shattered that before any assistance could be given 
it went over the side together with the mizzen-top- 
mast, which gave the enemy the opportunity of 
making off. This she embraced with all possible 
expedition. Our following her was impracticable. 
One half hour's more assistance of the mainmast 
would to a certainty have made her our prize. Her 
battery was either deserted by the men or dis- 
mounted by our cannon, for it was entirely silenced 
at one o'clock when our mainmast went over the 
side. We are now nmning down to Jamaica to refit. 
You can have no idea of the figure we cut. There 
is not a spar or fathom of rigging abaft the fore- 
mast. We are just able, by securing the crippled 
foremast, to set a foresail and fore-topsail half mast. 
We have this day rigged a mizzen staysail from the 
stump of the mainmast to the head of the mizzen- 
mast. What is left of the latter we are now securing 
in its crippled state to make more after-sail. Our 
hull is very much battered. We had twenty 
wounded and at least that many killed — no time 
yet to ascertain accurately. The officers all escaped 
except a midshipman, Mr. Jarvis of New York, 
stationed in the main top, who went over with three 



168 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

men and was never seen afterwards. It would liave 
been a great satisfaction to have possession of the 
enemy ; it was only the loss of our mainmast I am 
certain that prevented it. She was torn all to flin- 
ders. There was hardly one shot from us that she 
did not receive in the hull ; while she directed hers 
almost entirely at our rigging. We do not know 
what ship she is or the damage she has sustained, 
aU the business being in the night. I do suppose 
there have been few such actions and I am well 
convinced, if we get a true account of the enemy's 
situation, it will be a bloody one." ^ 

The French ship turned out to be the frigate 
Vengeance. Her commander. Captain Pitot, in his 
report to the minister of marine of the French Re- 
public, says : ^' I have the honor to send you an 
account of two actions I have had on the 12th and 
13th Pluviose with an American frigate, which at- 
tacked us at eight o'clock in the evening in latitude 
15° 17' North and longitude 66° 4' West of Paris 
[63° 44' west of Greenwich], and fought at first 
under the English flag and then the American. 1 
am ignorant of its name. The rumor which I heard 
from the Governor of Cura9oa aud all the informa- 
tion that I have been enabled to procure lead me 
to believe that the action took place with the Con- 
stellation, frigate of the United States, of sixty 
cannons and having five hundred men as a crew. 
She had 24- and 18-pounders in her battery and 

^ Mass. Spy, March 26, 1800. 



THE LAST YEAB OF THE WAR 169 

12-pounders upon her quarter-deck and forecastle. 
• • • Eveiything showed me that I must avoid an 
action in the position I was in and must limit my- 
self to the defensive. I acted in consequence. After 
having in the first action dismantled my antagonist, 
I made all sail and continued my course. As to 
him, he could have attacked us in daylight, but he 
did not do so, preferring to attack at nightfall, and 
after having been forcibly repulsed he returned to 
the charge. The engagement was very exciting. In 
consequence of the action I was so much damaged 
in my rigging that I was forced to run before the 
wind to CuraQoa, working to bend new sails on the 
stumps of the masts which remained, by means of 
which we were enabled to reach port on the 18th of 
the same month. I was very well received here by 
the governor and the marine commandant. Each of 
my officers fulfilled his duty with honor, courage 
and talent, and I must express very great satisfac- 
tion with their conduct." * 

Captain Pitot's imwillingness to fight unless 
forced to act on the defensive was attributed to the 
fact that he had many passengers and a large 
amount of specie on board. In speaking of two ac- 
tions in his report he presumably meant that there 
was an intermission in the fight. Although appar- 
ently claiming the advantage, Pitot was said to have 
admitted afterwards that he hauled down his fiag 
three times. Some years later the first lieutenant 

1 Maday, toL i, pt>. 107, 198. 



170 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 



M" 



of the Vengeance stated that twice or three times 
during the action the French colors were struck, 
^but that as the Constellation continued her fire 
16 Vengeance also was obliged to. On account of 
darkness and smoke Truxtun was ignorant of the 
enemy's surrender.^ 

The narrative of a passenger on the Vengeance 
was published a few months later. He says: *^I 
embarked with sixty passengers on board the frig- 
ate La Vengeance of forty-two twelve pounders and 
three hundred and twenty men. We left Guada- 
loupe the 14th Pluviose last. The day after, we met 
the American frigate Constellation of fifty-four 
eighteen pounders, who gave us chase. We deter- 
mined to avoid an action, but she forced us to it. 
The action commenced at eight o'clock in the even- 
ing and lasted five successive hours, during which 
we fired twelve hundred shot. The masts of both 
frigates fell overboard, causing in their fall a great 
number of accidents. All the rigging was cut to 
pieces and the sails torn to rags. Towards the end 
of the action we were within pistol shot. We had 
twenty men killed and forty wounded. The Ameri- 
cans must have had a great number more, since 
they first ceased to fire and left the field of battle. 
They had five hundred men on board. We were 
too much disabled to pursue them. The passengers 
assisted during the whole of the action. We were 
eight days in getting to Curasao, completely desti- 

1 Boston Com, Gazette, October 13, 16, 1800 ; Port Folio, Maroli, 
1809, p. 282. 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 171 

tute of masts and sails. We heard that the Con- 
stellation got into Jamaica." ^ 

There were thirty-six American prisoners on the 
Vengeance who had been impressed into the French 
service, but during the battle they were allowed to 
remain below. After the action they were ordered 
on deck to man the pumps. One of these Ameri- 
cans, David Smith of Salem, said that after the 
Constellation's mainmast fell the Vengeance fired 
three or four shot from her stem guns. ** In the 
action the Vengeance had lost her mizzen-topmast. 
The Americans had scarcely got to the pumps when 
the mainmast fell and four or five men, who were in 
the tops, perished ; Mr. Smith and another Ameri- 
can were somewhat hurt by its fall. Immediately 
after, the fore-topmast fell, with the loss of three 
men who were upon it. The fore and mizzen masts 
were very badly wounded and every rope in the 
ship was cut to pieces and the water fast making 
in the hold. The pumps were cleared by the Ameri- 
cans as fast as possible ; and the fourth day after, 
they arrived at Curracoa." ^ 

Since her battle with the Insurgente the Constel- 
lation's battery had been changed. She now carried 
twenty-eight long eighteens on the gun deck and 
ten twenty-four pounder carronades on the quarter- 
deck and forecastle. The Vengeance, according to 
the estimate of a " highly respectable officer who 

1 Mass. Mercury, Augnat 1, 1800, from a Paris paper of May 10. 
3 SaUrn Gazette, March 25, 1800. 



172 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

was on board of the Constellation during the action,'' 
mounted twenty-eight long eighteen pounders, six- 
teen twelves, and eight forty-two pounder carron- 
ades. The account of James Howe, an American pris- 
oner on the Vengeance, gives her thirty-two eighteens 
on the gun deck, two of which were mounted in the 
stem, twelve thirty-six poimder brass carronades 
with four long twelves on the quarter-deck, and six 
twelves on the forecastle, fifty-four guns in alL 
Another report, said to be *' an accurate statement," 
differs f nnn the last only in the number of thirty- 
six pounders and twelves, which are put at eight 
and fourteen respectively. According to the first 
and lowest of these estimates the Vengeance threw 
at each broadside five hundred and sixteen pounds 
of metal against three hundred and seventy-two 
pounds thrown by the Constellation ; and the 
French superiority would be increased by about 
forty pounds, allowing for the overweight of their 

, shot. Th^ V^ng^fl,pr>A wa<^ ^li^j-pfr.^^ .Innj^^lj »i.^^^ 

^ii^ pOj^eirful than the Constellation. The crew of the 
latternimbered three hundred and ten. That of 
the Vengeance has been variously estimated. Howe 
says there were four hundred men, including the 
passengers, who were all mustered at quarters. The 
Constellation lost fourteen killed and twenty-five 
wounded, of whom eleven died of their woimds. 
The casualties of the Vengeance were said to num- 
ber fifty killed and one hundred and ten wounded. 
1 Nav, Aff, ToL'i, p. 72; Nav. Chron. pp. 168, 169; Cooper, 



THE LAST YEAB OF THE WAR 173 

^ The Delaware was at Curasao when the Vengeance 
arrived, and her commander, Captain Baker, wrote 
to the Secretary of the Navy February 8 : ** On the 
5th instant appeared off this harbor a French ship 
of 52 guns, called La Vengeance, and from vrbst. I 
can learn die left Gxiadaloupe last Sunday, bound 
to France with a great deal of money, &c., on board, 
and also two French generals and a number of other 
officers and passengers ; but on Monday evening 
she was overtaken by an American or British frigate 
(but graierally believed to be the former) and from 
her shattered condition she must have had a very 
severe action, L a Venprtf >aTi/»A hsLinn^ left standi^^ 
but her bowsprit, fore and mizzen mast; her fore \ 
and mizzen shrouds, ratlings, (fee, being cut up so / y^ 
that you could scarce see any of them for stoppers. V ly 
Tti ah^^rf. fliAyA iippaayq n^ plft^^ that has cscaped a J 
shot; her starboard side has been much hulled 
and it is said she had 140 killed and wounded, and 
when she parted she had eight feet water in her 
hold. They say the other vessel was in a similar ^ 
situation, yirl-TTp-fMi*i \.\va\ nyrtfmi*>ft£->.TiAm had the ^h 
command of their ghips. The French ship is now 
hauled up in the harbor and will require some months 
to refit, not having masts, cordage, &c., necessary 
for that purpose." * 

A private letter from '*a gentleman who was in 

Tol. i, p. 360 ; Columbian Centind, March 5, 22, 1800 ; Boston Com, 
Gazette, May 5, 1800; Trnxtun's report, with a list of the Con- 
ftellation*B oasnaltieBi was pnhlished in all the newspapen. 
1 Columbian Centinel, March 20, 1800. 



174 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

Curracoa at tlie time L' Vengeance arrived there " 
gives some additional particulars. ^* I have the pleas- 
ure to inform you that I was in Curracoa when the 
French national frigate L' Vengeance arrived at that 
place, very much shattered and scarcely an original 
rope left. Her mainmast, fore-topmast and mizzen- 
topmast gone, with sixty-six French inches of water 
in her hold, agreeable to her conunander's own ac- 
count. You may conceive her situation in respect 
to equipment when she was purposely run on shore 
to windward of the harbor to secure her entrance 
into that place. She had fifty-two guns mounted 
and supposed to have had nearly 600 men includ- 
ing passengers. Among whom were Generals Pel- 
lardie and Le Grande, with a number of artillery 
officers, which enabled the commander to station 
at least one of those to each gun during the action. 
I was in the habit of conversing frequently with 
Capt. Pettot. He supposed on his first arrival in 
Curracoa it was an English ship of two complete 
batteries he had engaged, and concluded from not 
seeing his adversary at daylight that she had sunk. 
The report was 114 killed and wounded. But this 
must be incorrect, as I am well assured there were 
more. Capt. Pettot spoke in high terms of the con- 
duct and gallantry of his adversary and describes 
in raptures the vivid fire from the Constellation as 
superior to anything he had ever seen; his own 
words were ' Superbe et Grande,' and mentioned, 
when the flying jib-boom of the Constellation run 



THE LAST TEAR OP THE WAR 176 

into his mizzen shrouds, he supposed his adversary 
intended to board and called all his men upon the 
upper deck, at which moment he received a shower 
of grape. When Truxtun's official account came 
out he said nothing. His mainmast went away in 
the act of setting studding sails and about two hours 
after the action. There were thirty-five American 
prisoners on board, who he said saved the ship by 
pumping after the combat, in which they took no 
active part, being below at their own request. He 
lamented much the blood that had been spilt be- 
tween two nations that he said were probably then 
at peace and good friends and he avoided a battle 
by every exertion in his power. On his mentioning 
this circumstance I observed that the action could 
not have been well avoided by his adversary. Capt. 
Pettot felt as an officer on the observation and 
acknowledged the propriety of Truxtun's conduct. 
The sides of the Vengeance were lined with shot, 
and many of them from their direction I suppose 
must have done great execution. The fore and miz- 
zenmasts were perforated with round and double 
headed shot in such a manner as to surprise a per- 
son how they could hold together." * 

Meanwhile the Constellation had been making 
the best of her way to Jamaica. The day after the 
battle, in an address to his officers and crew, Trux- 
tun said : " I feel infinite satisfaction in returning 
my thanks to the officers of every description, sea- 
* Conn. Courantf Aug^t 18, 1800. 



176 OUR NAVAL WAB WITH FitAJfCE 

men, marines, and o^rs for the gallaatry they 
displayed on this occasion, which imder a beneficeut 
Providence has enabled me to add another laurd 
to the American character on the records of the 
Navy ; and you may be assured, gentlemen, seamen 
and soldiers, that you shall be properly noticed to 
the President of the United States." In reply the 
officers and men presented an address to the com- 
modorg^February 3 the Constellation fell in with 
the Enterprise, ten or twelve leagues southwest of 
St. Croix,^ and this schooner was at once sent to 
the United States with Truxtun's dispatches. The 
next day the Insurgente, on her way to Jamaica, 
overtook the Constellation and escorted her the rest 
of the way. Truxtun wrote to the Secretary of the 
Navy from Port Royal, February 12 : "I arrived 
here the 8th inst. in company with the Insurgente, 
Capt. Murray, with whom I fell in the day after I 
wrote you by Lieut. Shaw. Finding it impossible to 
get a mainmast here, I shall use every dispatch in 
my power to put the Constellation into a condition 
to proceed to the United States. I have met a kind 
and friendly i:^.Qeptioil ^fcD^a^dmiral Parker. All 
the British post captains here have been on board 
the 'ConsteUatibn and-from seeitig bur situation ex- 
press every sentiment that could be wished by those 
true Americans who love their country and its 
honor better than anything else. I have heard no* 

1 Nav. Chron. p. 170; Port Fdio, March, 1809, p. 278. 
^ Columbian Centinelf March 8, 1800, log of the Enterprise. 



TH£ LAST YEAR OF THE WAB 177 

thing of the French fifty-four gon ship cdnoe the 
action. It is hard to conjecture Whether she sunk or 
whether she has got into St. Thomas or Curracoa." ^ 

After receiying temporary repairs at Jamaica the 
Constellation returned, about the end of March, to 
Norfdik, where she was refitted. Meanwhile Lieu- 
tenant Shaw, on February 23, had deUvered Tmx- 
tun's report to the Secretary of the Navy. The news 
was greeted with delight throughout the country. 
Truxtun received a gold medal by vote of Congress, 
and that body resolved ** that the conduct of James 
Jarvis, a midshipman in said frigate who gloriously 
preferred certain death to an abandonment of his 
post, is deserving of the highest praise, and that 
the loss of so promising an officer is a subject of na- 
tional regret." ' 

The Adams was a fast sailing frigate and one 
of the successful cruisers; she took six vessels from 
the French altogether. Captain Morris in his re- 
port of March 8, 1800, tells part of her history. 
^* On my last cruise, which commenced on the 24th 
of January and expired on the 1st of March, I 
recaptured the American schooner Isabella, of and 
from Portland, bound to Trinidad, a prize to the 
French corvette Le Berceau, and captured three 
French privateers. The first, Le Gembeau, a small 
boat with four swivels and nineteen men. The second, 
L'Heureuse Rencontre, a schooner of 35 tons, four 

1 GazetUofU.S.MunhVJ,180(k 
« Nav. Chron. p. 171. 



178 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

guns and fifty men ; she had taken two prizes which 
reduced her to 29 men, threw three of her guns,- 
boat, spars, &c., over in the chase. The other, the 
General Massena, of 30 tons, six guns and 49 men, 
thirty hours from Guadaloupe, had taken nothing ; 
threw four guns and boat over in the chase." After 
the departure of Truxtun, Morris commanded the 
Guadeloupe station until the arrival in May of Cap- 
tain Decatur in the Philadelphia, 36. This vessel 
was a new frigate built by the citizens of Philadel- 
phia under the act of June 30, 1798 ; she was after- 
wards destroyed in the harbor of Tripoli by the son 
of her present commander. The Adams returned to 
New York in July, 1800. In October she was or- 
dered to San Domingo.* 

Early in the year the frigate Boston captured 
the Deux Anges of twenty guus, " a French built, 
strong, fast sailing corvette letter of marque of 
about 400 tons " ; the prize was sent into Newport. 
In March the Boston had an encounter with pica- 
roons in the Bight of Leogane. Extracts from her 
log give a meagre outline of parts of her cruise. 
" March 4. Off Cape Tiburon boarded the French 
sloop La Fortune, bound to St. Jago, took out a 
quantity of cash and dismissed her. March 11. At 
4 p.m. saw nine barges, full of men, from Go- 
naives ; decoyed them by running in the guns. When 

1 Nav, Chron. pp. 165, 166, 174 ; GazeUe of U, S. April 10, 1800 ; 
Conn. Courant, June 2, 1800 ; Columbian Centindf June 25, July 
26,30,1800. 



THE LAST TEAR OF THE WAR 179 

within shot, a fire commenced which continued 
five glasses. Disabled five of them, when the others 
made off. March 23. Off Cape Tiburon boarded 
and took the French sloop Happy loaded with coffee, 
sent her to Port Sepublicain, where she was sold 
on account of being leaky." The Boston left the 
station in April on convoy duty, and her place was 
taken by the twenty-four gun ship Trumbull. After 
her return the log continues : ** June 9. Off Go- 
naives came up with a schooner of eight guns which 
showed Danish colors, six of which they threw 
overboard. Manned her from the U. S. schooner 
Experiment, then in company, and sent her to the 
Commodore for examination. Capt. Little suspected 
she was bound to Jeremie. June 21. Off Cape 
Donna Maria spoke the U. S. brig Augusta, Capt. 
McElroy." Shortly before this, on June 8, the 
Augusta had captured two French schooners off 
JacmeL ** June 24. In company with the Augusta 
boarded a French brig from Aux Cayes bound to 
St. Jago, loaded with sugar. Manned her and put 
the prisoners on board the Augusta. June 25. Be- 
ing off Cape Tiburon, made sail for Boston, taking 
Havana on the passage." The frigate returned to 
her native town July 22. She had been away a year 
and had not been in port fifteen days in that time. 
The health of her crew was very good ; she had had 
only one death. *^ The Boston anchored in the stream 
off the end of Long Wharf and saluted the town, 
which was answered by three cheers from citizens 




180 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

on Long and Hancock's Wharf, and letuifned by 
the crew of the frigate." * 

The General Greene remamed about six montiis 
on the San Domingo station. One of her officers 
wrote from Cape Francois April 14, 1800 : " On 
our leaving this place in January last we were 
ordered by Commodore Talbot to make a cruise 
round Hiidpaniola, from which we returned but a 
few days since ; not that it would have required 
half that time to have performed the route, but for 
the purpose of aiding General Toussaint in the 
capture of Jacmel. We cruised off that port a 
considerable time, to intercept supplies for Rigaud. 
This had the desired effect. Jacmel, closely be- 
sieged on the land side by Toussaint's army and 
blockaded by the General Grreene, was reduced to 
a state of starvation. As a last effort they made a 
desperate sally in the night with intention to force 
Toussaint's lines, but failed in the attempt, and the 
hole garrison, consisting of more than 6000 men, 
;ell into the hands of Toussaint. The capture of 
Jacmel is of infinite importance to the commerce of 
the United States to this island, as in the general 
Opinion it will much facilitate the entire reduction 
of Kigaud's pow^:*^ It - is impossible for me to 
describeTo" you the manner in which Toussaint 
expressed his gratitude to Captain Perry on the 
occasion. We engaged three of Rigaud's forts 
warmly for 30 or 40 minutes, in which time we 
1 Columbian CenHnd, March 5, May 3, Jnne 4 July 16i 23, 1800. 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 181 

obliged the enemy to eyacuate the town and two 
of the forts and repair to their strongest hold ; this 
fort however soon hauled down its colors. We had 
got our boats out ready to take possession of the 
place and a number of Rigaud's cruising vessels and 
barges in the harbor, when a large ship hove in sight, 
which from her appearance Captain Perry and his 
officers judged to be a French frigate. It was there- 
upon thought prudent to relinquish the enterprise 
and go in pursuit of her; but on speaking her 
found she was indeed a French built ship, but then 
in possession of the British and cruising in their 
service. The damage we received was very incon- 
siderable ; a few shot in our sides and some of our 
rigging cut away. The enemy had several men 
killed and wounded." Jacmel fell February 27.^ 

Soon after this the General Grreene was ordered 
to the mouth of the Mississippi River. General 
Wilkinson, who commanded the army in the west, 
had been summoned east in 1799 to confer with 
General Hamilton upon the state of affairs in the 
southwest. Early in 1800 Wilkinson had returned 
to New Orleans in the Patapsco, and the General 
Greene was now sent to bring him north again with 
his family. Having received him on board, she sailed 
for Havana with a brig under convoy. On the way 
she fell in with a British seventy-four, and Captain 
Perry, it is said, resisted in a spirited manner the 
proposed forcible examination of the brig by the 
f Mass. Mercury, May 27, 1800 ; Columbian CerUind, May 3, 1800. 



182 OUB NAVAL WAB WITH FRANCE 

* Efaglisfaman. From Havana the General Greene 
sailed for Newport with a convoy, and arrived at 
that place in July ; she cruised no more during the 



1 



war. 

In the spring of 1800 the Constitution was still 
the flagship of the San Domingo squadron. Her 
most notable exploit during the war was sending a 
cutting out expedition into the Spanish harbor of 
Porto Plata, on the north coast of San Domingo. 
Lieutenant Hull was ordered to proceed ^^to Port 
Plate and there endeavor to capture a French ship 
lying at anchor" and ^' bring her out to sea if prac- 
ticable, otherwise to bum and destroy her in port" 
The people of the town were to be molested no 
more than was imperatively necessary. Commodore 
Talbot says in his report of May 12 : <'I have for 
some time been meditating an enterprise against a 
French armed ship lying at Port Plate, protected 
by her own guns and a fort of three heavy cannon. 
It was my first intention to have gone in with the 
Constitution and to have silenced the fort and ship, 
which has all her guns on one side to cooperate 
with the fort in defending against hostile force; 
but after the best information I could gain, I found 
it to be somewhat dangerous to approach the en- 
trance of the harbor with a ship of the draft of 
water of the Constitution. Having detained the 

1 Perry t vol. ii, pp. 43-48 ; Memoirs of General James Wilkinson^ 
▼ol. ii, oh. xi ; Columbian Centinelt April 5, 1800 ; Mass. Meratrjft 
July 25, 1800; Federal Gazette, July 24, 1800. 




ISAAC HULL 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 183 

sloop Sally, wliicfa had left Port Plate but a few 
days before and was to have returned there previ- 
ous to her sailing for the United States, I con- 
ceived that this sloop would be a suitable vessel 
for a disguise. I therefore manned her at sea from 
the Constitution with about ninety brave seamen 
and marines, the latter to be commanded by Cap- 
tain Carmick and Lieutenant Amory, when on 
shore ; but the entire command I gave to Mr. Isaac 
Hull, my first lieutenant, who entered the harbor 
of Port Plate yesterday in open day with his men 
in the hold of the sloop, except five or six to 
work her in. They ran along side of the ship and 
boarded her sword in hand without the loss of a 
man, killed or wounded. At the moment the ship 
was boarded, agreeably to my plan, Captain Car- 
mick and Lieutenant Amory landed with the ma- 
rines up to their necks in water and spiked all the 
cannon in the fort before the commanding officer 
had time to recollect and prepare himself for de- 
fense. Perhaps no enterprise of the same moment 
was ever better executed, and I feel myself tmder 
great obligations to Lieutenant Hull, Captain Car- 
mick, and Lieutenant Amory for their avidity in 
xmdertaking the scheme I had planned and for the 
handsome manner and great address with which 
they performed this daring adventure. The ship, 
I understand, mounts four sixes and two nines. 
She was formerly the British packet Sandwich, 
and from the boasting publications at the cape 



184 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

and the declaration of the officers, she is one <^ 
Jibe fastest sailers that swims. She ran three or 
four years (if I forget not) as a privateer out of 
France and with greater success than any other 
that ever sailed out of their ports. She is a beau- 
tiful copper bottomed ship." * 

One of the officers of the expedition, evidently 
Captain Carmick, in a letter to a friend dated 
May 12, says: *'Capt. Talbot has put his plans 
into execution respecting the cutting out the ship. 
I performed my part with very little trouble. The 
only disagreeable part of the business was being 
cooped up in a small vessel for 12 hours — for we 
fortunately took a small American vessel that had 
been in the port a few days before and was to re- 
turn there in a short time. By this means it was 
easy to take the vessel by surprise ; it put me in 
mind of the wooden horse at Troy. We all re- 
mained below until we received orders from the 
officer, the only one of us who remained on the 
deck of the sloop, whose business it was to lay us 
on board, which he did on the starboard bow. The 
men went on board like devils and it was as much 
as the first lieutenant and myself could do to pre- 
vent blood being spilt. I believe it was not half an 
hour after the ship was taken that I had possession 
of the fort and all the cannon spiked and returned 
again on board the prize before they could get any 
succors from the city. I presume they were rather 
1 Nav. Chron. pp. 171, 172. 



THE LAST YEAB OF THE WAR 185 

surprised when they found the cannon spiked ; we 
had then possession of the harbor. We took our 
time to rig the ship, as she had her topmasts down 
and all her sails unbent. By 6 o'clock the lieu- 
tenant had everything in order and the m^i sta- 
tioned at the cannon, ready with my marines to 
oppose all their force, which we understood was 
about 600 men. They sent several flags of truce 
making different requests, to which we answered 
that we had only executed the orders of our c(»n- 
mander. On shore they were not ignorant that it 
was impossible for us to get out until the land 
breeze came off, which you know is in the morn- 
ing. He concluded we must have been pretty de- 
termined before we undertook the business, as we 
had no other alternative than to die or succeed. 
He however remained very quiet, and we came 
out in the morning and joined our commodore. 
The night before we performed this business, in 
going to Port Plate we were met at 12 o'clock at 
night by an English frigate who fired two shot and 
brought us to ; we went on board and after exam- 
ining us we proceeded. We suspected he was going 
on the same business we were upon ; he will peep 
into the harbor La Plate to-day and find his plan 
frustrated." * 

It was about noon when Hull took possession of 
the Sandwich, and he found her completely stripped 
of sails and rigging, which were stored below ; only 
1 Gazette of U, 8, June 2, 1800. 



186 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

her lower masts were standing. By sunset she was 
fully rigged, and only waiting for a breeze to take 
her out of the harbor. This capture, was considered 
important, but unfortunately it was illegal, as the 
neutrality of a Spanish port had been violated. 
The prize was sent to New York, but it was after- 
wards necessary to give her up.^ 

The civil war in San Domingo continued through- 
out the spring. With the loss of Jacmel Bigaud's 
power began to wane, but Toussaint labored under 
many difficulties and was imable to push his ad- 
vantage vigorously. In a letter to Commodore Tal- 
bot he says : " What I have said of the services 
rendered to me by the frigate General Greene dur- 
ing the siege of Jaquemel is very sincere, and it is 
agreeable to me to repeat it. I pay with thankful- 
ness as well you, sir, as Captain Perry. Your good 
intentions for the prosperity of this colony, and 
that of your government, loads me with satisfac- 
tion. I beg of you to continue them and to be 
convinced of my zeal in keeping the harmony which 
so happily exists between the two nations. ... I 
should have seen you with pleasure cruising with 
the Constitution on the station of the south ; since 
you have reasons of such a nature as to prevent 
you coming that way, I depend upon your promise 
that you will consult the Consul-general, Stevens, 
in order that means may be taken to get succor to 

1 Nav. Chron. p. VJ2; Putnam's Magazine^ May, 1853, p. 477; 
Columbian Centind, June 4, 1800. 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 187 

our army. On my part I will oommunicate to him 
my plan on the subject and point him out my want. 
... At this moment the army of Jaquemel is in 
motion and surely it is in want. I am going to 
write to Mr. Stevens, who no doubt will communi- 
cate to you my letter and what I want. . . . You 
inform me, and I learn it with joy, that you have 
given orders to the ship Herald, of twenty guns, 
to join the brig Augusta and the schooner Experi- 
ment. . . . Lieutenant Bussell may be assured, al- 
though I may not be present, he will obtain from the 
general and commandant what he may ask, either 
coasting pilots or anything else. I have already 
given orders in consequence of it. You flatter me 
with the hope that you are going shortly to send 
the Boston frigate of thirty-two guns ; may you 
soon be able to realize it. . . . It remains, sir, to 
beg of you to recommend to the captains of vessels 
of your nation, that are going to cruise on the 
south side, to let pass freely the French vessels 
that have a passport signed by the Consul-general, 
Stevens, or by me. . . . On my part I have al- 
ready given the most strict orders that the most 
perfect understanding and intelligence may exist 
amongst all the cruising vessels, both schooners 
and barges." ^ 

About May 1 Rigaud was obliged to evacuate 
two of the ports he had held on the Bight of Leo- 
gane. This put a check to the ''career of those 
^ Talbot, pp. 121-125. 



] 



/, 



> 



188 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 



/^^^ jjlpiratical barges which have infested the Bite, as 
'^' Tikliair are now deprived of a port in the vicinity of 



9^ .______.. 

l^naive to fit out and resort to."^ Bigaud still 
held out, retaining possession of Jeremie and of 
Aux Cayes and one or two other ports on the 
south coast. In July, however, his resources had 
come to an end and he was forced to capitulate. 
The only terms that Toussaint would grant required 
Bigaud's immediate departure from the island, and 
this was agreed to. Before the end of the month 
Aux Cayes was thrown open to Toussaint 's army.' 
The American consul at Fort Bepublicain wrote, 
August 12: ^'The whole island has submitted to 
Toussaint. Bigaud and a few of his officers have 
left in a boat. . . . Everything appears to be &vor- 
able to our commerce and opens a new channel for 
trade."' 

Meanwhile Commodore Talbot had been relieved 
of his command of the squadron by Captain Murray 
in the Constellation. The Trumbull, Herald, and 
Augusta were on the station at that time. Talbot 
sailed for home with a convoy July 24, having 
received letters from Consul Stevens and from 
American merchants at Cape Francois, express- 
ing appreciation of his services and regret at his 
departure. He arrived at Boston in the Consti- 

1 Mass. Mercury, June 17, 1800. 

2 Salem Gazette, September 5, 1800. 

^ Columbian Centinely September 24, 1800. For letters eoneem- 
ing operations of the opposing forces, etc., see Federal GaxeUe^ 
Joly 23, August 11, 14, 15, September 17, October 30, 1800. 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 189 

tution August 24. The Secretary of the Navy 
wrote to him September 3: ^^Your feelings as a 
military man might have been more gratified had 
opportunities been afforded you of engaging in 
scenes of greater brilliancy, but no seryices you 
could have rendered would have been more useful 
or more important to your country Uian those you 
have meritoriously performed in protecting with 
effect a great proportion of our commerce, in lay- 
ing the foundation of a permanent trade with St. 
Domingo, and in causing the American character 
to be respected, by the just, temperate, and judi- 
cious course by which your conduct has been 
marked." * 

The Constellation, having been refitted at Nor- 
folk after her return from Jamaica in the spring, 
had been placed under the command of Captain 
Murray and sent to sea. She arrived at St. Chris- 
topher June 21, and during a few weeks' cruis- 
ing on the Guadeloupe station recaptured three 
prizes from the French. One of these Murray be- 
lieved to be an American engaged in illicit trade, 
but she turned out to be Danish property, and was 
declared by the United States Supreme Court not 
forfeitable. At that time there were more than 
sixty French privateers in the vicinity of Guade- 
loupe. In July the Constellation was ordered to 
San Domingo to relieve the Constitution. She 

1 Nav, Chron. p. 173 ; Columbian Centind^ August 20, 27, 1800 ; 
Boston Com, Gazette, September 4, 1800. 



N.^ 



190 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH PRANCE 

cruised off Cape Fran9ois, in the hope of oaptorlng 
three French vessels which were expected soon to 
leave port. Murray also hoped to intercept the 
French frigate Vengeance when she left Curasao, 
having heard she was nearly ready for sea. He 
found the English troublesome, and wrote to the 
Secretary of the Navy: **We have no enemy so 
much to be shunned in this quarter as the British, 
^or they blockade all the passages and, fair or foul, 
let few of our vessels pass them, if they have 
cargoes of value, and send them for Jamaica, 
where the venality of the Admiralty Court gives 
no quarter. How long we are to bear with these 
aggravations I leave to wiser heads than mine to 
determine, but I confess I think we stand upon 
very critical grounds with them ; but as Admiral 
Parker is now gone home, let us hope for a favor- 
able change of measures." ^ 

Captain Bainbridge having brought the brig 
Norfolk from Havana to New York in April, she 
was refitted, put under command of Lieutenant Cal- 
vert, and in June sailed for Carthagena. On the way 
she fell in with two French privateers. The first 
one escaped with her sweeps, the wind being light. 
The other was a schooner of fourteen guns and also 
escaped, after an action of half an hour, in which 
Calvert was severely wounded. The Norfolk remained 
at Carthagena fifteen days and then proceeded to 

^ Boston Com. Gazette^ September 4, 1800 ; Cranch, toI. ii, p. 64; 
Murray's LeUer Book, 85 (July 81, 1800). 




ALEXANDER MURRAY 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 191 

Capo Francois, where she arrived July 30. Accord- 
ing to Murray she '' brought such unfavorable ac- 
counts from thence of the piratical work going on 
in that quarter and corroborated by letters from vari- 
ous respectable masters and supercargoes of vessels 
there . . . that I have determined to send her back 
without delay to take them under convoy • • . and 
to proceed on to America with them." ^ 

On August 8 the Trumbull, Captain Jewett, cap- 
tured the French schooner Vengeance, of eight guns, 
off Jeremie. She had run out of that place when 
Toussaint's troops took possession. There were a 
hundred and thirty persons on board, including pas- 
sengers, among whom were many of Rigaud^s offi- 
cers; also women and children. Murray described 
them as ^^of the vilest cast, a set of lawless vaga- 
bonds that the community will be well rid of in this 
part of the world." The Trumbull and her prize, 
with the prisoners, were sent to New London. The 
Vengeance was condemned, but on the ground that 
she was a national vessel she was given up under the 
treaty soon afterwards concluded with France.^ 

The Constellation remained on the station until 
about the middle of September, when having been 
relieved by the Congress, she sailed homeward by 

^ Columbian Centindy April 23, September 24, 1800 ; Independ^ 
ent Chronicle^ September 8, 1800 ; Murray's Letter Book, 85. 

^ Nav. Ckron. p. 185 ; Magazine of American History, March, 
1885, pp. 257, 258; Mass. Mercury, September 23, 1800; Conn, 
Courant, October 20, 1800 ; Murray's Letter Book, 97 (August 21, 
1800). 



192 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

way of Havana. Upon taking leave Murray received 
a letter from Toussaint acknowledging ^* a grateful 
sense of the marks of kindness and civility you have 
been pleased to show me " ; and expressing regret 
that some of the prisoners taken by the Trumbull 
had not been turned over to him. On her run to 
Havana through the Old Bahama Channel the Con- 
stellation got among shoals. The captain passed 
three anxious days and says he ^^ often saw the bot- 
tom under the ship when no other land was to be 
seen." Murray was handsomely entertained at Ha- 
vana by the governor of Cuba. The frigate arrived 
in Delaware Bay about October 10.* 

In the early spring the Norfolk and Warren 
were on the Havana station, and there were said to 
be no French on the north side of Cuba. The Nor- 
folk sailed for New York with a convoy in ApriL 
The Ganges was at Carthagena a1)out this time, 
and later cruised off the north coast of Cuba. In 
July she blockaded a French privateer in the har- 
bor of Matanzas. On the 28th the privateer ran 
out, was chased by the Ganges, and was run ashore 
by her crew, who escaped. The vessel was not in- 
jured and was hauled off by the Ganges. Captain 
Mullowny wrote to the Secretary of the Navy, July 
30 : '^ I am happy to think the coast is clear once 
more. I know of no privateers here at present." 
In September the Ganges and Warren returned to 

^ Columbian Centindf Norember 15, 1800 ; Mass. Mercury, No- 
▼ember 11, 1800; Murray's Letter Book, 117 (October 12, 1800). 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 193 

the United States, each with yellow fever on board. 
Captain Newman of the Warren and more than 
forty of his officers and crew died of the fever. ^ 

Meanwhile the Guadeloupe station had been a 
scene of activity during the winter and spring 
of 1800 by reason of the irrepressible privateers 
which swarmed in those seas. It appears, however, 
that not only were many of them captured, but 
a large proportion if not a majority of the prizes 
taken by them were recaptured by the vigilant 
American cruisers. The Baltimore took a privateer 
in January and another in June, and recaptured 
two American vessels. The John Adams cruised off 
Porto Bico early in the winter. Four of her officers 
who went ashore to buy provisions were detained 
by Spanish soldiers until Captain Cross made a vig- 
orous protest to the governor. In March the John 
Adams recaptured two American vessels, and April 
3, near Martinique, after a chase of four hours, she 
captured the French privateer ^^ La Jason, having 
fifty men and eight carriage guns, six of which she 
hove overboard during the chase." ^ In June the 
John A^ms took another privateer and the Con- 
necticut^^took two. The Eagle and Pickering like- 
wise took prizes. There were also on this station the 
Philadelphia, Adams, Merrimack, Maryland, Dela- 

^ Columbian Centind, April 23, 26, 30, September 17, 1800; 
Conn, Covrant, September 1, 1800 ; Salem Gazette^ September 12, 
1800. 

2 Conn, Couranty June 2, 1800. 



194 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

ware, Patapsco, Enterprise, and Scammel. Curasao 
and Surinam came within the limits of the station. 
Convoying merchantmen, often in large fleets, to 
home ports or into safe latitudes, was one of the 
most important duties of the squadron. The navy 
agent at St. Christopher stated, June 27, that there 
were only fifteen American prisoners at Ghiadeloupe, 
and these he was about to release by exchange. At 
the same time there were a hundred and eighiy 
French prisoners at St. Christopher.^ 

In December, 1799, Captain Bodgers in the Mary- 
land had been left in charge of American interests 
at Surinam by the departure of Captain McNeill. 
The Maryland was alone on this station for many 
months, under orders ^^ to protect the trade to Sur- 
inam and the rest of the coast as far to leeward as 
Curracoa." She generally cruised to windward, and 
in all that time she fell in with no French. The 
British being in possession of Surinam, the French 
kept at a distance ; moreover, even if they took 
prizes in that vicinity they could not get them into 
Cayenne on account of a strong current setting to 
leeward. Few American vessels came to Surinam 
at this time, for British restrictions on trade made 
it unprofitable. An American slaver went into Sur- 
inam and sold her slaves there, in spite of Eodgers's 

^ Nav, Chron. pp. 165, 166 ; Conn. Journal^ February 20, March 
13, August 6, 1800 ; Conn. Cqurantf June 2, July 28, August 4, 
September 1, 1800 ; Columbian Centind^ March 22, May 3, June 25, 
July 26, 30, August 13, 1800; Mass. Mercury, September 5, 1800; 
Boston Com. Gazette, July 28, 1800. 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 195 

request of the governor that he deliver the vessel 
into his hands or order her to sea ; this traffic was 
contrary to the laws of Surinam as well as of the 
United States* Sodgers was mortified at his lack of 
success in meeting the enemy. The only vessel taken 
on the station was a Portuguese brig, recaptured. 
Two or three convoys were escorted to safe latitudes, 
and i^ August the Maryland started home with a 
fleet of twelve, which at St. Thomas had increased 
to fifty-two American vessels and several English. 
At Martinique the Maryland was joined by the 
Eagle. At St. Christopher the Portuguese brig was 
seized by order of the British admiralty court. 
September 2 Bodgers took an American ship for 
trading with the French imder Swedish colors. 
After being delayed by a hurricane, the fleet sailed 
from St. Thomas September 10. The Maryland was 
bound for Baltimore.^ 

In spite of the difficulties of navigation on the 
South American coast, spoken of by Bodgers, the 
French cruised to some extent out of Cayenne, 
mostly on the coast of Brazil and to the northward 
and eastward.' American vessels seem to have 
been taken occasionally, and the circumstances in 
which their crews found themselves are indicated in 
an account of conditions there in the summer of 
1800. "The Americans are not considered as pris- 

^ Miscellaneous Letters, vol. i, 146, Rodgera to Stoddert (Sep- 
tember 20, 1800). 
* Misc. Letters, vol. i, 146. 



196 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

oners at Cayenne; of course no allowance is given 
them nor are they entitled to an exchange. How- 
ever, for the preservation of their health and good 
order in town, they are kept on board a prison ship 
with a few soldiers over them to act in the treble 
capacity of guards, physicians, and sextons." ^ 

American interests in the Dutch island of Cu- 
rasao had long needed watching over, and one or 
more cruisers had been kept there most of the 
time since the summer of 1799, when an American 
schooner had been captured by a French privateer 
fitted out there, and her captain with some of his 
crew had been murdered. For this outrage com- 
plaint had been made to the Dutch minister in the 
United States.* The Patapsco, Captain Geddes, 
was ordered to Curasao in May, 1800, and went 
from St. Christopher by way of Porto Rico ; on 
the passage she captured a small schooner of doubt- 
ful nationality. She was at Curasao in June, but 
seems not to have stayed long, and for a while 
American property there was without protection. 
July 23 a French force from Guadeloupe, consist- 
ing of two brigs and three schooners with fourteen 
hundred sailors and soldiers, appeared off Cura9ao ; 
several additional vessels joined them later. The 
French frigate Vengeance was still there, and it was 
thought that her crew might unite with the new- 
comers; but she was ready for sea and sailed not 

1 Mass. Mercury, October 3, 1800. 

2 Pickering, vol. xi, 555, 620, vol. xii; 5, 133, 185, vol. xiii, 36d. 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 197 

long afterwards. The force from Guadeloupe landed, 
and the commander made several demands, includ- 
ing the surrender of the forts, which the governor 
refused. The town was thrown into confusion, and 
many people retired into the interior of the island. 
The French seem to have remained quiet for sev- 
eral weeks and maintained good discipline.^ 

September 5, having been reinforced, the French 
began offensive operations, took possession of one 
of the forts, and ^^ intimated their designs, by a 
manifesto, against American persons and property." 
The next day the United States consul, Phillips, 
requested an American named Eobinson to go to 
St. Christopher for assistance. Arriving at that 
place on the 14th, Bobinson found the John Ad- 
ams, Merrimack, and Patapsco, and returned with 
the two latter, appearing off Cura9ao on the 22d. 
Meanwhile the British frigate Nereid had arrived, 
and on the 10th the governor had signed articles 
of capitulation with her captain, placing the island 
under British protection ; but the French still con- 
trolled the situation, and the Nereid did nothing 
beyond landing a small number of marines. When 
the Merrimack and Patapsco arrived, the governor 
and the American consul were on board the Nereid. 
The French held two forts, were besieging the town, 
and had demanded its surrender within twenty-four 
hours. Their vessels, fifteen in number, were lying 

^ Mass. Mercury, Ang^ist 26, September 9, 12, 1800 ; Conn. Cour- 
ant, August 4, 1800 ; Conn, Journal, August 6) Koyember 20, 1800. 



198 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

close under the forts. Several Americans in the 
town had volunteered to serve in the defenses. 
After consultation it was decided that the only 
means of saving the town and protecting Ameri- 
can interests would be to send one of the vessels 
into the harbor. The Patapsco, with twenty of the 
Merrimack's marines on board, went into the har- 
bor September 23. A landing party commanded by 
the Patapsco's lieutenant of marines supported one 
of the batteries in the town.^ 

A letter from one of the Patapsco's officers says : 
<^At five in the evening we stood in, when the 
French opened a quick and well-directed fire upon 
us from a fort of two 18, one 12, and two 9 pounders 
within half pistol shot, and from the windows and 
roofs of the houses in the L'Ortha Banda, which 
was filled with the enemy's troops, who kept up a 
constant fire of musketry, which was as warmly re- 
turned from the cannon and muskets of the Patap- 
sco ; and those deluded people who escaped death 
returned to their camps, but at intervals engaged 
us all night, which we returned from our great guns.'* 
Of the Americans two only were wounded, while 
the French loss was believed to have been large. 
All the next day the French kept up a constant 
fire, and it was reported that they would assault 
the town, but instead they evacuated their batteries 

1 Federal Gazette, December 24, 1800, Hobinson to Stoddert ; 
Conn. Jownal^ November 20, 1800 ; Salem Gazette, December 2, 
1800. 



THE LAST Y£AB OF THE WAR 199 

and embarked precipitously during the night. The 
next morning, the 25th, the Merrimack stood in and 
found the French vessels gone. The Nereid then 
ventured in and took possession, and the capitula- 
tion went into effect. It was clear that the Ameri- 
cans had saved the town, and that if they had not 
appeared the French would have taken possession. 
The British captain promised to protect American 
interests, but his promises were not fulfilled. The 
Merrimack and Patapsoo sailed October 11 and 
returned to St. Christopher. One of the vessels be- 
longing to this expedition from Gnadeloupe was 
afterwards captured by the Merrimack.^ 

The schooner Enterprise, after having brought 
home the news of the battle between the Constel- 
lation and Vengeance, was sent back to the West 
Indies in March, 1800, under orders to deliver 
dispatches to Commodore Talbot at Cape Francois 
and then return to the GKiadeloupe station. In her 
log-book it is recorded : " April 7. Boarded the 
IT. S. frigate Constitution. Same day spoke the 
IT. S. ship Herald ; 13. Spoke the U. S. schooner 
Experiment — had a French prize in tow; 14. 
Spoke the U. S. ship Connecticut."* The Enter- 
prise was at St. Thomas May 1, and Lieutenant 
Shaw reported to the Secretary of the Navy : ** On 
the 18th I fell in with the IT. S. brig Augusta and 

1 Brown, eh. zvii ; Salem Oazette, December 2, 1800, letter of 
officer on Patapsoo ; Federal Gazette, December 9, 24, 1800 ; Co- 
lumbian Centtnelf December 6, 1800. 

* Mass, Mercury^ Jane 6, 1800. 




200 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

schooner Experiment. Nothing particular occurred 
until the 23d [April], 2 p. m. saw a sail to the 
S. E. stand to the S. W. ; made all sail and gave 
chase. Found her to be a brig of eighteen guns 
and well manned. Made every necessary prepara- 
tion to engage her if a Frenchman and showed my 
colors, but when under her guns she hoisted the 
Spanish flag at the main and commenced a smart 
fire from her quarter and stem guns on me. Still 
kept ranging on her and took a position 150 yards 
on the larboard quarter, when I thought it was full 
time to return iier salute. A warm and brisk fire 
ensued and I gained the wind on her. I should not 
have delayed so long bringing her to close action 
had I not conceived her to belong to a nation not 
at war with us, and that carrying her by force 
might be the means of involving us in some na- 
tional dispute hereafter. I consulted my officers 
respecting her, and one of them recognized her to 
be a Spanish Packet from Havana. I therefore 
discontinued the action." ^ 

Shaw wrote from St. Christopher June 21 : "I 
have the honor to inform you that on the 17th inst. 
I fell in with the French privateer Le Cygne of 
four guns and fifty-seven men off Guadaloupe. She 
engaged me for twenty minutes, when she struck 
her colors. I have brought her in here." ^ The 
Cygne had come out of Basse Terre, Guadeloupe, 
and attacked the Enterprise while becalmed, appar- 

^ Conn. Courant, June 2, 1800. ^ Ibid. August 4, 1800. 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 201 

ently not recognizing her character. The privateer 
had five killed and fourteen wounded, while the 
American loss was one killed and two wounded.^ 
About the same time the Enterprise took the priva- 
teer Citoyenne of six guns, which surrendered 
only after a hard fight.^ July 26 Shaw reported : 
*^ On the 4th inst. I fell in with the French priva- 
teer L'Aigle, of ten guns and seventy-eight men. 
She engaged me with much spirit for fifteen min- 
utes, when she lowered her colors. On the 23d I 
fell in with and captured the French privateer 
Flambeau, of twelve guns and ninety men. She 
engaged me for nearly two glasses. L'Aigle had 
four men killed, three wounded; Flambeau four 
men killed, twenty wounded. The Enterprise had 
two wounded in the engagement with the Flam- 
beau." ' In her action with the Aigle the Enter- 
prise tacked across her enemy's wake and gave 
her a raking broadside; and then, running up on 
her weather quarter, boarded her. No further re- 
sistance was met with, as all the French officers 
were badly wounded, leaving the crew without 
leaders.^ 

The action between the Enterprise and the brig 
Flambeau was one of the hardest fought of this 
French war and ended in the capture of a vessel of 
superior force. The Flambeau's guns were said to 

1 Federal Gazette, July 24, 1800. 

2 Amer. Nav. Off. vol. i, p. 132. 

• Independent Chronicle, September 11, 1800. 

* Amer, Nav. Off. vol. i, p. 134. 



202 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

be heavier and she had more men than the Enter- 
prise, whose crew numbered eighty-three. The com- 
batants sighted each other to leeward of Dominica 
towards night, and the next morning came together. 
The fight lasted about three quarters of an hour, 
and most of the time the vessels were dose hauled 
in a light breeze, with the Flambeau at first lead- 
ing off. As the Enterprise drew nearer they began 
with a brisk fire of small arms. Then getting within 
range, they exchanged broadsides for twenty min- 
utes. The fore-topmast of the Flambeau was in- 
jured, and in a sudden flaw of wind went overboard, 
carrying six men with it. As the Enterprise passed 
the spot she lowered a boat and saved the French- 
men. Soon after this the Flambeau struck her 
colors.* 

While under Shaw's command the Enterprise 
took three other French armed vessels, besides mak- 
ing a number of recaptures. Among the prizes was 
a large, three-masted lugger of twelve guns, having 
as passengers several army officers, including a gen- 
eral. At this time two American sailors were held 
as prisoners by the French and harshly treated on 
account of having killed two Frenchmen in recap- 
turing their vessel ; being later unfortunately taken 
again by the French. Attempts to release them by 
exchange had failed, and the French general and 
another officer were now held in confinement as 

1 Amer.Nav, Off. vol. i, pp. 135-137; Federal Gazette, August 
23, 1800 ; Mass. Mercury, August 26, 1800. 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 203 

hostages. The general was finally allowed to go to 
Guadeloupe on parole, where he succeeded in ob- 
taining the release of the Americans.^ 

In October Shaw's health broke down, and soon 
afterwards he was relieved of his command by 
Lieutenant Sterrett; he returned home on the 
Patapsco. This cruise of the Enterprise was suc- 
cessful and brilliant, and helped to make that little 
schooner one of the famous vessels of the navy. 
After his arrival in Philadelphia Shaw wrote, De- 
cember 12 : ^^ I have in my last cruise taken thir- 
teen sail of vessels, made 800 French prisoners, 
killed and wounded sixty-one men, taken forty-two 
pieces of artillery and 180 stand of musketry, 
which is really more than I could have contem- 
plated." ^ 

During the short time the Enterprise remained 
in the West Indies under her new commander her 
good luck continued. One of her of&cers wrote to 
a friend, January 2, 1801: "On the 6th of De- 
cember, St. Bartholomew bearing west, distance 
one league, we fell in with a French privateer lug- 
ger of twelve guns and 150 men, which we engaged 
for four glasses within pistol shot. It being dark 
and close in with the rocks off the east end of St. 
Bartholomew, we had to beat off and leave her, 
by not being acquainted with that island. She ar- 

1 Amer, Nav, Off, vol. i, pp. 133, 137; FccferaZ Gazette, No- 
vember 4, 1800. 

« Amer, Nav. Off, vol. i, pp. 129-139 ; Conn. Caitrant, December 
29, 1800; Federal QazetUy December 8, 1800. 




204 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 
rived tlie next day at St. Martin's, witli twenty of 



her men killed and thirty wounded, and lorn her 
mizzenmast, bowsprit, and topmast. Wef wa^yeiy 
fortunate ; we lost no men and only one wounded. 
On the 24th of December we captured and brought 
into St. Kitts the fast sailing schooner privateer 
L' Amour de la Patrie of six guns and ninety men. 
We are just weighing anchor for a cruise of twenty 
days; then we shall proceed for the United States 
as soon as possible." ^ 

The Experiment, Lieutenant Charles Stewart, 
was ordered, July 26, 1800, to cruise off Bermuda 
for ten days and then proceed to Guadeloupe. Her 
cruise was interesting, although less notable than 
that of the Enterprise. September 1, having arrived 
on her station, she fell in with the French privateer 
Deux Amis, of eight guns and forty men, which 
had captured many American merchantmen. The 
Frenchmen surrendered in ten minutes. Porter, who 
was still first lieutenant of the Experiment, went 
aboard the prize with four men to take possession. 
Captain Stewart then sailed off in pursuit of another 
vessel, and Porter found himself in much the same 
predicament in which he had been placed with 
Eodgers on the Insurgente the year before.* The 
Freuch prisoners outnumbered the prize crew nearly 
ten to one, and showed symptoms of insubordina- 
tion. Porter secured all the small arms, ordered 

1 Conn. Journal, February 26, 1801. 
^ See aboye, p. 101. 




CHARLES STEWART 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 205 

the prisoners forward of a certain line, and trained 
one of the guns on them, loaded with canister. It 
was more than three days before the prize was 
brought into St. Christopher.* 

A month later the Experiment made another im- 
portant capture, which is briefly related in a private 
letter of Stewart's, dated October 3 : " We cruised 
to windward of St. Bartholomew till the 1st of 
October, which day we fell in with and captured 
the French armed three-masted schooner Diana, 
out two days from Guadaloupe, laden with sugar, 
coffee, and cotton, bound to France under convoy 
of a brig of sixteen nine-pounders and 150 men. 
This schooner mounted eight nine-pound carron- 
ades (six of which they threw overboard in the 
chase), and forty-five men. On board of her we 
had the pleasure to find General Bigaud, command- 
er-in-chief of the south of St. Domingo. This is 
the man, sir, that has wrested millions from my 
countrymen. The depredations, the piracies, plun- 
der, and murders he has committed on my fellow 
citizens are but too well known in the United 
States, and now the Supreme Buler of all things 
has placed him in the hands of that country he 
has most injured." ^ These two French vessels had 
chased the Experiment at first, their combined 
force being far superior to hers ; but as she out- 
sailed them they gave up the pursuit and ran off to 

1 Nav. Chron, pp. 173, 185 ; Stewart, pp. 5, 6 ; Porter y pp. 32-34. 
« Conn, Courantf November 10, 1800. 



L 



206 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH PRANCE 

leeward. Stewart then followed them, and when 
they had become separated through their different 
rates of sailing he chased the schooner and early 
in the evening overhauled her. After a short re- 
Bistance she hauled down her colors. The Experi- 
ment then chased the brig, but she was lost right 
of in the darkness.^ Bigaud was landed at St. 
Christopher, where he remained under the custody 
of Commodore Truxtun. The Diana was sent to 
Philadelphia.^ 

In November the Experiment, through mistake, 
had a night action with the British armed schooner 
Louisa Bridger, who refused to answer Stewart's 
hail and would not reveal her nationality until 
forced to yield. According to the log-book of the 
Louisa Bridger the Experiment ^^ came alongside, 
fired a musket and ordered us to heave to or they 
would fire into us. Not minding this, she fired a 
gim at us. All hands being at quarters we engaged 
her for four hours, when we ceased firing, as our 
hull, sails, and rigging were very much injured. 
After this the Experiment fired two broadsides into 
us. They sent their boat alongside, when we learned 
what vessel it was." ^ 

The Experiment also recaptured a number of 
American vessels. She continued her cruise in the 
West Indies until about the middle of January, 

1 Nav, Chron. p. 185 ; Stewart, pp. 6, 7 ; Porter, pp. 34, 35. 
^ Columbian CentineU November 1, 1800. 
' Mass, Mercury y December 16, 1800. 



THE LAST YEAB OF THE WAR 207 

1801, and then returned to the United States.^ 
After his arrival at Norfolk Stewart Yorote to a 
friend, February 4: "I have the pleasure to in- 
form you of my arrival at this place after a passage 
of thirteen days from the city of St. Domingo. No- 
thing material occurred since my last letter to you 
until the 14th of December ; on that day we re- 
captured the brig Zebra . . . bound to Martinico. 
She was captured the day before by the French 
privateer schooner La Flambeau. . . . I tried hard 
to add her to my list, but owing to the lightness of 
the wind and the distance she was to windward of 
us we could not come up with her until she reached 
the batteries. On the 26th of December we recap- 
tured the brig Dove • • . [and] the sloop Lucy. 
... On the 6th of January, 1801, we left St. 
Christopher's with thirty sail of vessels under our 
convoy and on the 8th we left the fleet at St. 
Thomas, under the care of Captain Brown of the 
U. S. ship Merrimack, and proceeded to Curracoa, 
which place we left on the 12th for Norfolk, agree- 
able to my orders from Commodore Truxtun ; and 
on the 18th made the island of Hispaniola, and on 
the day following I observed a vessel on the reef 
of the island of Saona and a signal of distress 
fljring. I immediately went to their assistance and 
brought from the wreck about sixty persons, men, 
women, and children, also what property we could 
save. The vessel was called the Eliza of St. 
» Stewart, pp. 5-9 ; Porter, pp. 32-36. 



208 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

Thomas, from the city of St. Domingo bound to 
Porto Rico with passengers. The captain, mate, and 
one man got into the boat and safely got ashore, 
when the boat immediately went to pieces; and 
those on board must inevitably have perished had 
they not met with assistance. The passengers in 
the schooner were the Spanish officers and their 
families who commanded at St. Domingo, which 
place is demanded by Toussaint and I suppose will 
be given up to him, for the Spaniards are moving 
their families and property as fast as possible." ^ 
Stewart took the shipwrecked people back to the 
city of San Domingo. 

Having been thoroughly refitted after her acci- 
dent in the winter, the frigate Congress sailed from 
Hampton Roads for Cape Francois, July 26, 1800. 
Apparently she cruised off the American coast for 
about a month. August 29 she recaptured an Amer- 
ican brig and then chased the privateer that had 
taken her, which was in sight with two other prizes ; 
but night came on and they escaped. An officer of 
the Congress wrote home that the prize master of 
the brig " informed us that the privateer to which 
he belonged had lately been several times in sight of 
Cape Henry, and that there were at present three 
or four French privateers cruising off the American 
coast." 2 The Congress arrived at Cape Francois 
about September 12, and Captain Sever took com- 

1 Conn. Journal, February 26, 1801. 

* Boston Com. Gazette, October 23, 1800. 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 209 

mand of the station, relieving Captain Murray. 
The enemy furnished little occupation for the Con- 
gress in San Domingo waters, but during a short 
cruise to Porto Rico she chased a privateer which 
led her among shoals, and skillful navigation was 
called for to extricate her. The frigate had an- 
other narrow escape when at daybreak one mdm- 
ing breakers were sighted close ahead, and she 
was saved only by the captain's perfect self-posses- 
sion. **The deck,*' says Midshipman Morris, ^^was 
in charge of the master, who was a skillful sea- 
man, but whose presence of mind was so entirely 
destroyed by the imminence and suddenness of the 
danger, that he could do nothing towards extricat- 
ing the ship from it. I was on deck at the time 
and felt justified under the circumstances in call- 
ing the captain without orders from the officer of 
the deck. Waking from sound sleep, he came im- 
mediately on deck, took the trumpet from the be- 
wildered master and wore the ship, but so near to 
the breakers that a stone might have been cast 
into them from the ship." Sever continued in 
command of the station until the return of Talbot, 
towards the end of the year.^ 

Two vessels were lost at sea in the sununer of 
1800. The Insurgente, Captain Fletcher, was di- 
rected, July 14, to cruise to the eastward for about 
two months. She was spoken off Cape Henry Au- 

1 Nav, Chron. pp. 173,174 ; Morris^ pp. 12-14; Columbian Cen- 
find, AjxguAi 20, 27, 1800 ; Murray's Letter Book, 117. 



210 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

gust 10. The Pickering, Captain Hillar, was ordered 
to Guadeloupe August 15. Neither of these yessek 
was ever seen or heard of again, and they were sap- 
posed to have been lost in the equinoctial gale of 
September.^ 

Having shipped a new crew, the frigate Boston 
sailed September 15, 1800, under orders to cruise 
two or three weeks between the United States and 
the West Indies and then to join the Guadeloupe 
squadron. She was cruising about six hundred miles 
northeast of Gxiadeloupe when, on the morning 
of Sunday, October 12, she sighted a ship and a 
schooner. They separated, and she chased the ship. 
The pursuit continued, before the wind, nearly all 
day. The log-book of the Boston, under the date 
October 13,^ says : ^^ At meridian the chase bore 
S. W., distance about three leagues. At 4 p. M. the 
ship was dear for action. At half -past 4 P. M. 
hoisted our colors and gave the chase a shot from 
the bow gun. She hoisted French colors and fired 
a gun to windward and began to shorten sail for ac- 
tion. At fifteen minutes before 5 P. M. came up with 
the ship, hailed her and ordered him to strike his 
colors to the United States flag. The captain replied 
that his colors were too well made fast to haid down. 
The action immediately commenced and lasted till 
24 minutes past 5 p. m. The sails and rigging of 

1 Nav. Chron, p. 178 ; Nav. Aff, vol. i, pp. 83, 84 ; Columbian 
Centind, August 27, 1800. 
' October 12 ; see above, p. 166, note, and Appendix VL 



THE LAST TEAR OP THE WAR 211 

both ships being much shattered, it was impossible 
to work either ship ; in consequence of which we 
drifted too far apart for our shot to do execution. 
I then ordered all hands to be employed repairing 
the rigging to commence the action again. At 9 
p. M. the action recommenced, which lasted till 20 
minutes past 10 p. m., when her fore and main top- 
masts were shot away. She then struck her colors to 
the Boston, and not long after her fore and main 
topmasts went over the side, which I was sorry to 
see. . . . Oct. 14 [13], 1800. Long. 63° 21^ lat. 
20^ 48^ This ship proved to be the French national 
ship Le Berceau, mounting 24 guns on one deck, 
22 long French nines and two twelve-pounders, and 
230 men, commanded by Louis Andre Senes, a 
post-captain from Cayenne, on a cruise. Employed 
getting 117 prisoners on board the Boston. Found 
on mustering the ship's company that we had seven 
men killed and eight wounded. All hands employed 
repairing the rigging on board the Boston and clear- 
ing the wreck on board the Berceau. I find the Ber- 
ceau lost, killed in the action, 34 men, and 18 
wounded." * 

In his report to the Secretary of the Navy 
Captain Little says the Berceau was ^^ captured on 
the 12th October in lat. 22° 50' North, long. 61° 
West, after an action of two hours. . . • With 

^ Nav, Ckron. p. 174; Proceedinga of the Masstichtuetts His- 
torical Society f June, 1883, p. 271 ; Log-book of the Boeton ; Bos- 
ton Com. Gazette^ Noyember 17, 1800. 



212 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

regret I mention our loss on board the Boston: 
four killed in the action, [three] mortally wounded, 
since dead; among the latter was Mr. Samuel 
Young, the purser, who requested liberty to quit 
the cockpit and assist on the quarter-deck. He fell 
early in the action. Eight were wounded, but are 
all on the recovery. I have subjoined a particular 
list of the killed and wounded. It is a cause of 
satisfaction for me to add that the officers and 
crew of the Boston, without an exception, discovered 
courage and firmness during the action; and it 
would be injustice in me not to acknowledge that 
the Captain of Le Berceau fought his ship gallantly 
so long as she was in a situation capable of being 
defended. Soon after he had struck, his fore and 
main masts went over the side and his ship was 
otherwise in a very shattered condition. The Bos- 
ton was much injured in her masts, spars, rigging, 
and sails, considering the force of the corvette, 
which compelled me to return from my cruise to 
refit .... The enemy's loss I have not been able 
to ascertain, as they had thrown overboard their 
watch and quarter bills and most of their papers, 
but from the best information I have been able to 
obtain, they had upwards of 230 men when the 
action commenced; 197 were found on board after 
the action, including the wounded, who were 18." ^ 
Lieutenant Clement of the Berceau made a report 
of the battle, which differs materially from that 
1 Columbian Centind^ December 10, 1800. 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 213 

of Captain Little. He says: ^At half-past three 
o'clock the frigate hoisted the American flag and 
pennant and fired twice. We at once hoisted French 
colors and pennant and answered by a single can- 
non shot. The frigate, at a quarter to four, being 
within speaking distance, asked us whence we came. 
A moment later she fired on us, and ranging along 
our port side within pistol shot, the battle began 
in a most spirited manner on both sides. The mus- 
ketry was very sharp and well sustained, the only 
delays being to reload the pieces. The battery also 
was served with the greatest activity, and the cry 
of *Vive la Republique!' was often heard during 
the battle. At six o'clock our topgallant masts were 
seriously wounded, the shrouds were cut through, 
and the yards, sails, and lower masts were riddled 
with shot. At five minutes after six o'clock the frig- 
ate dropped astern, having her topsail ties cut and 
the yards on the caps. We boarded our fore and 
main tacks and came by the wind. The frigate from 
this moment ceased firing and we worked without 
ceasing at repairing damages. 

** At half-past eight o'clock the frigate again at- 
tacked us and we discharged a broadside. From 
that time the action was renewed with great ferocity 
at pistol shot. At half-past nine o'clock the captain, 
seeing a favorable opportunity of boarding the frig- 
ate, gave the order, and the crew only awaited the 
chance, and our vessel manoeuvred to favor the at- 
tempt. The frigate, however, took care not to allow 



214 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

herself to be boarded, and the action continued at 
pistol range up to eleven o'clock, when the frigate 
again hauled off to repair damages. We again set 
our courses, a short time after which our jib-boom 
was carried away and the topmasts followed. At 
this time our shrouds and backstays were nearly 
all cut through, and the two spare topmasts had 
also been cut upon the gallows frame. We therefore 
found ourselves without the possibility of repairing, 
but we nevertheless made as much sail as we coidd. 
The frigate also was much damaged in her sails and 
rigging and she remained out of gunshot, but al- 
ways in sight. 

*^ At five o'clock the next morning nobody had 
yet left his post and we expected every moment a 
third attack, when the frigate passed us to the star- 
board at a great distance and placed herself to lee- 
ward of us at half a league distance. In the course 
of the morning we saw that she was working at 
repairs. At half-past eleven o'clock our foremast, 
pierced with shot, fell to starboard, and a short time 
afterward the mainmast also f eU. At two o'clock in 
the afternoon the frigate, which had now finished 
repairs, came up to us on the starboard side." The 
Berceau then surrendered. Her loss, according to 
Clement, was four killed and seventeen wounded.^ 

The Boston carried twenty-four twelve pounders 
and eight nine pounders, all long guns, and two 
hundred and thirty men. The weight of her broad- 

1 Maday, toI. i, pp. 209-212. 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 216 

side was heavier than that of the Berceau in the 
proportion of about three to two. Considering the 
superiority of the Boston, the Berceau made a re- 
markably strong resistance. Captain Senes is said 
to have had a high reputation for bravery; he had 
served under Admiral D'Estaing in the American 
Revolution.* 

The Berceau was towed most of the way to port 
by her captor, undergoing repairs on the way. Oc- 
tober 24 they fell in with an American brig bound 
to Barbadoes; Captain Senes was paroled and put 
aboard her. Four days later the cable with which 
the prize was being towed parted in a heavy sea, 
and she was lost sight of for two days, being again 
taken in tow October 30. Two weeks after this 
Little brought his frigate and her prize into Boston 
harbor.^ His report, dated Nantasket Boads, No- 
vember 15, 1800, begins: "I have the honor to 
inform you that I arrived last evening in company 
with the French national corvette Le Berceau"; 
the report is accompanied by a list of the Boston's 
casualties.' The prisoners were landed on Castle 
Island, where they remained under guard, except 
the officers, who were paroled. The Berceau was 
condemned a few weeks later, and on January 15 
was sold to the United States. Under the treaty 
with France, however, which had already been con- 

1 Nav, Chron, p. 174 ; Boston Com. Oazettt, NoTember 17, 1800. 
3 Proc. Mass, Hist. Soc. June, 1883, p. 272. 
* Columbian Centinel, December 10, 1800. 



216 OUR NAVAL war WITH FRANCE 

duded, she was given up. September 26, 1801, she 
sailed for France.^ 

<ffhe Constitution was ordered tp return to San 
Domingo November 18, but did not sail until some 
. time in December. She arrived at Cape Fran9<nB 
on the 29th of that month, and Commodore Talbot 
resumed command of the station. Here he remained 
until spring. In January, 1801, there were on the 
San Domingo station, besides the flagship, the Con- 
gress, Adams, Trumbull, Biohmond, and Augusta.' 
About the first of the year David Porter was trans- 
ferred from the Experiment to the Constitution as 
second lieutenant, and soon afterwards the CNmuno- 
dore gave him command of a small prise sbhooner, 
the Amphitrite, probably a recaptured Amerioan 
vessel. Many years afterwards Isaac Hull wrote 
to Porter : " While we were fitting this vessel and 
putting her guns on board (which were small brass 
howitzers taken from the tops of the Constitution), 
we discovered some barges in shore, inside a reef 
of rocks, where they were discharging an American 
vessel they had made prize of. You were ordered 
to stand in with the schooner and bring them out. 
Not a moment was lost ; you instantly left the ship, 
stood in boldly and brought the barges to action. 
As they considered their force superior to yours, 
they did not wish to abandon the prize, but in a 

1 St. Pap. vol. iv, pp. 389-393, 418, 417. 

^ Nav. Chron. p. 174 ; Columbian Centind, Noyember 19, Decem- 
ber 6, 1800; Mass. Mercury , February 6, 1801. 




DAVID PORTER 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAB 217 

very short time you captured and brought off the 
largest barge and prize brig, and no doubt you 
would have taken the other, had you not been pre- 
vented from pursuing her by your vessel's ground- 
ing on the reef." ^ The Constitution sailed for home 
in March ; the Congress had preceded her.^ 

The forty-four gun ship President was launched 

April 10, 1800, and was the last of the origin al ^ 
1 794 frigates to go into c ommission. Commodore 
Truxtun, after his return from Jamaica with the 
victorious Constellation, was appointed to the Pre- 
sident. She was ordered to Guadeloupe July 80, 
and Truxtun resumed the command of his old sta- 
tion. This cruise lasted about six months, and was 
uneventful. The President took no prizes, but made 
a few recaptures. She returned home early in 
March, 1801.' The career of the Chesapeake, Cap- 
tain Samuel Barron, during her first year, seems 
also to have been uneventful. She cruised partly 
off the coast of the United States and partly 
on the Guadeloupe station. January 1, 1801, she 
took a prize near the 27th parallel of latitude.^ 
The Philadelphia, Captain Decatur, cruised many 
months without important results, but about De- 

1 Porter J p. 38. « Mass. Mercury, April 7, 1801. 

» Conn, Courant, April 14, November 10, 1800 ; Federal Gazette, 
Deoember8, 29, 1800; Boston Com, Gazette, December 25, 1800; 
Mass. Mercury, Mareh 10, 1801. 

* Mass, Mercury, December 26, 1800, February 3, 1801 ; Colum- 
bian Ceniind, December 31, 1800 ; Conn, Journal, February 26, 
1801. 



218 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

cember 1 she took a French privateer and soon 
afterwards captured four others. She sailed home 
in March. ^ One of the last vessels to get to sea was 
the frigate New York, built under the act of June 
80, 1798. She was ordered to the Guadeloupe 
station October 20, 1800, under the command 
of Captain Morris, who was transferred from the 
Adams. His good luck in taking prizes while with 
the latter ship did not follow him in the New 
York.2 

The Constellation, Captain Murray, was ordered, 
November 28, to ^^ shape her course so as to afford 
protection to American vessels bound from the 
East Indies and Europe," and on December 80 was 
assigned to the Guadeloupe station. She proceeded 
to New York and sailed from there January 9, 1801. 
Three days out she " encountered a tremendous gale 
of wind" from the south-southwest, "which con- 
tinued with little intermission for 24 hours, and 
came on in a very sudden manner. Every effort was 
made to place the ship in as safe a situation as pos- 
sible, — top-gallant yards and mast down, etc., but 
while scudding under a reef fore sail (the only sail 
we could set) the lee sheet gave way and brought 
us by the lee, the sea making a perfect breach over 
us, stove in all ports, and in a few minutes we had 
near six feet water in the hold, the most of which 
entered our hatchways before we could get them 

^ Mass. Mercury^ January 27, March 3, April 3, 1801. 
a Nav. Chron. pp. 173, 174, 184. 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 219 

properly secured. In tbis situation I was persuaded 
to cut away the mizzenmast and began to cut the 
lee sbrouds and stays and some of the weatber ones, 
when we succeeded in getting aft tbe lee fore tacks 
and a preventer sbeet, wbicb payed ber off before 
tbe wind. At tbat moment we ceased cutting away. 
I proceeded to get preventer tackles upon tbe mast 
to save it and get down tbe gaff, but not till it gave 
a crack wbicb gave us great alarm, yet finally we 
secured it and bave it now in a safe state. Still 
tbe pumps gained but little on tbe water in tbe bold 
and we contemplated throwing overboard our spar 
deck guns, but after great exertions we brought tbe 
pumps to suck, in tbe course of which time I was 
eighteen hours on tbe deck without rest, as were tbe 
greater part of tbe crew — continually expecting 
to be obliged to cut away the masts. Tbe next day 
we made sail under close reef t main and fore top- 
sails, till by degrees we had a return of moderate 
weather." * Having reached latitude 22°, tbe Con- 
stellation fell in with a British frigate on a dark 
night. They exchanged several shots before recog- 
nizing by signals each other's friendly character. 
Approaching tbe West Indies from tbe eastward, 
the Constellation captured a three-masted lugger 
of fourteen guns and a hundred men from Guade- 
loupe. Upon examining ber papers it was found 
that she had been instructed not to make captures 
of American vessels; and it was soon afterwards 

1 Marray's Letter Book, 140. 



^ 



220 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 



[earned that the new treaty between the United 
States and France had reached Guadeloupe early 
in January and that French agents and consuk 
had been directed to promulgate it. Murray found 
the French very friendly, and wrote to the Secre- 
tary of the Navy, February S, that he might 
<' now assure the merchants of the United States 
that their trade will no longer be molested by 
French cruisers." He assisted in the work of 
spreading the tidings of returning peace among 
Americans and French in the West Indies. On 
this errand the Constellation proceeded by way 
of St. Thomas and Porto Eico to Cape Francois, 
and thence to Havana. After collecting a convoy 
there she sailed for home March 2, and three 
weeks later was in Delaware Bay. In April she 
dragged her anchors and grounded on a shoal, 
where she remained two weeks or more, but finally 
got off and suffered no injury.* 

The United States arrived at Philadelphia from 
her mission to France April 3, 1800. Soon after 
this the Portsmouth was sent over to bring home 
the American envoys, when they had concluded 
their negotiations with the French government. 
After her return the United States required ex- 
tensive repairs, and it was not until December that 
she was ready for sea and was ordered to the West 
Indies. Commodore Barry took command of the 

1 Nav. Chron, p. 175; M<iss. Mercury, March 24, April 21, May 
1, 1801 ; Murray's Letter Book, 140, 145 (February 3, 9, 1801). 



THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 221 

Guadeloupe station, being instructed to allow Trux- 
tun to cruise independently with the President and 
one other vessel. February 1, 1801, Barry had 
with him at St. Christopher, besides his own ship, 
the Philadelphia, New York, Warren, Eagle, and 
Enterprise. The Merrimack had recently gone 
back to Boston with a convoy from St. Thomas. 
In the summer of 1800, the George Washington, 
Captain Bainbridge, had been sent to Algiers on 
a special mission. The Connecticut and the Ganges 
had been ordered to the East Indies, but, with 
peace in prospect, they did not go. The Delaware 
was in Cuban waters. Most of the other vessels, 
not on the San Domingo station, were in home 
ports. Barry was soon notified that a convention 
between the United States and France had been 
concluded, and he was directed to '^ treat the armed 
vessels of France, public or private, exactly as you 
find they treat our trading vessels." The treaty 
was ratified February 8, 1801, and was sent to 
France by a bearer of dispatches, who set out 
from Baltimore on the Maryland, Captain Eodgers, 
March 22. The next day the Herald, Captain 
Bussell, was ordered to the West Indies to recall 
the various cruisers from their stations ; she sailed 
from Boston on this duty April 11. The United 
States returned home just after this.^ 

1 Nav. Chron, pp. 171, 174-176 ; Barry, pp. 405-407 ; Picker- 
ing, vol. xiu, 378, 380, 386 ; Gazette of U. 8, May 28, 1800 ; 
Mass. Mercury f April 22, 25, Aug^ist 1, 1800, January 2, February 




4 



22^ OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

About eighty-five prizes were taken by the navy 
from the French duri ng the war, not counting x^ 
captured ve ssels and small boats. Two of those^ 
b^^national vessels, were afterwards givQn up 
underlEe treaty, and about a dozen^ad a&e iady 
bee n sur rend ered on aeggupt of bpJng illegal cap 
tures or for other reasons. Th fi^ only national ve8^" 
sel tefcan- from th e Americans b^ the Fr e nch w o o 
the Betaliation, which had previously be^ cap- 
tnred fromlEhe ± rench a^d was again taken fnHn 
them. The value of the prizes condeowied, abont 
seventy in number, was probably not less than 
seven hundred thousand dollars.^ 
/ The whole cost of the American navy from 1794 
/ to the return of the ships to port in the spring 
\ of 1801 was about ten million dollars, of which 
\ six millions may be taken as a fair estimate of the 
I actual expense of protecting American commerce 
against French depredation. During the years 
1798 to 1800 inclusive, the value of the exports 
from the United States thus protected was over 
two hundred million dollars, and the revenue de- 
rived from imports was more than twenty-two 
million dollars.^ Unquestionably a very large pro- 

3, 6, 17, March 13, April 3, 7, 14, May 1, 1801 ; Conn, Courant, 
Angnut 4, 1800 ; Columbian Centind, September 17, December 6, 
1800. 

^ Nav, Chron. pp. 182-185 ; Emmons, pp. 48-53. The prize lists 
of Goldsborough and Emmons differ slightly ; probably neither is 
complete or accurate. 

a Nav. Chron. pp. 185-187. 




THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 

portion of this profitable trade would have been 
discouraged through fear or lost by spoliation, had 
it not been for naval protection. 

In estimating the degree of credit due the iiblyj\ / 
for its exploits in this contest, it should not be for- 1 \ 
gotten that the French navy at this period was in V 
a demoralized condition. In the old navy of France, ^ 
nearly all the officers were members of the nobil- 
ity. When the service was reorganized under the 
republic, most of these officers withdrew or were 
driven out, and some perished by the guillotine. 
Their places were filled by inexperienced men 
from the merchant marine and privateersmen. The 
extreme republican ideas of the Revolution, more- 
over, were not conducive to discipline, and in- 
subordination was prevalent. Unwise legislation 
seriously impaired the efficiency of the service, and 
mismanagement brought about deterioration of 
ships and equipment.^ Nevertheless, the national 
French ships with which the Americans contended 
appear to have been well and bravely fought. And 
the American navy also was organized under diffi- 
culties^lii^b^'fijEe^dppbi^^ a large proportion 
oi the peojple, the inexperience of the civil admin- 
istrators, and the unmilit^ character of large 
numbers of the officers, and men* 

In his speech to Congress, November 22, 1800, 
President Adams said : " The present Navy of the 
United States, called suddenly into existence by a 

^ Mafian, ch. iL 




224 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

great national exigency, lias raised us in onr own 
esteem; and by the protection afforded to our 
commerce has effected to the extent of our expec- 
tations the objects for which it was created." ^ 
1 Nov. Chron. p. 176. 



CHAPTER Vni 

PRIVATE A KMTCT> VESSELS 

Thebe were probably no American privateers, 
strictly speaking, at this time; that is to say, ves- 
sels devoted solely to purposes of war; but most 
merchantmen were armed for defense, and a large 
number of them were commissioned under the act 
of July 9, 1798, which permitted them to capture 
French armed vessels.^ As a rule they carried a 
light battery and a small crew ; fighting was a con- 
sideration secondary to trade. A few vessels were 
more formidable. The China of Philadelphia was 
a ship of more than a thousand tons, and carried 
thirty-six guns and a hundred and fifty-one men ; 
but Captain Preble says she was ^'too top-heavy to 
be safe in carrying sail." ' There were many spir- 
ited actions between American and French private 
armed vessels* The French, often true privateers, 
were generally much the more powerful, and some- \ 
times succeeded in capturing the Americans; but 
in most cases the vessels separated after disabling 
each other more or less seriously. 

Perhaps the earliest conflict between vessels of 
this class was that of the ship Eliza of Charleston 
with a French privateer of greatly superior force, 

^ See aboye, pp. 58, 59. ^ Essexy pp. 75, 78. 



226 OUR NAVAL WAE WITH FRANCE 

in the Bay of Biscay, July 5, 1798. After fighting 
an hour and a quarter the Eliza was compelled to 
strike.^ December 31, 1798, the ship Perseverance 
of Salem was chased in the Old Bahama Channel 
by a schooner under Spanish colors, which later 
were hauled down and the English flag hoisted in 
their place. The schooner came up on the starboard 
quarter of the Perseverance and gave her a broad- 
side, which she answered with her stem guns and 
then, coming into the wind as the schooner passed, 
returned the broadside. The privateer then tacked 
and fired another broadside. Soon after this she 
struck the English flag, hoisted French colors, and 
made off.' 

The schooner Charming Betsey of Baltimore, with 
twenty men and eight four pounders, off the harbor 
of CuraQao, March 8, 1799, fell in with the French 
privateer Revenge, with eighty men and nine six 
pounders. " At 3 p. M. discovered a French priva- 
teer bearing down on us. She hauled her wind in 
our weather quarter and hoisted a red flag ; hailed 
us where from and where bound? We answered 
from Curracoa to Laguira. She then ordered us 
to haul down our colors, which Captain Conway 
refused. She then fired a volley of musquetry into 
the Charming Betsey, which was immediately re- 
turned. A close and warm action now commenced, 
which continued about three quarters of an hour, 

1 Mass. Mercury^ December 4, 1798. 

2 Salem Gazette, March 5, 1799. 



PEIVATE ARMED VESSELS 227 

daring which time the privateer made two attempts 
to board us. The Charming Betsey received con- 
siderable damage in her rigging, spars and sails 
and both topmasts shot away and the captain and 
Hitee men wounded ; bore away for the harbor of 
Curraeoa, where she arrived and the privateer 
immediately after her. The privateer received con- 
siderable damage and had ten men killed and 
wounded, five of whom were thrown overboard pre- 
vions to her arrival in port. The Charming Betsey 
would certainly have taken the privateer had her v 
matches not given out, which prevented her from 
raking her twice, as her guns could not be got off/' ' 
On the same day that the Betsey fought the 
Bevenge the ship Molly of Philadelphia, bound to 
Liverpool, << saw a cutter standing athwart us to 
the northward, we then steering an east course for 
Cape Clear. ... At half-past eight she tacked 
and stood for us ; at nine she was within gunshot, 
and on hoisting my ensign she immediately ran up 
a French national flag at her topmast head and 
fired a shot between our main and fore mast. She 
then tacked and reconnoitred us, giving us her 
stem chases in going about. We retained our fire 
and continued our course under our topsails. . . . 
At a quarter past meridian she recommenced fir- 
ing, and running under our starboard quarter at- 
tempted to board us, which was happily prevented 
and we immediately exchanged broadsides. She 
* Conn, Courata, April 15, 1799. 



228 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

then approached us on the larboard quarter within 
pistol shot and gave us her other broadside, which 
we instantly returned. She then hauled off a little, 
removed her ensign to her main peak, and running 
up a pendant to the masthead, immediately at- 
tempted again to board on our starboard quarter, 
which was as before prevented. We then ex- 
changed broadsides twice, when she sheered off, 
hauled down her colors and lay to. She was a fine 
new brig of sixteen sixes and full of men, was 
coppered and sailed very fast. We have received 
considerable damage in our sails, rigging, and hull, 
but thank God, have not lost one of our men." * 
Although the privateer struck her colors, it does 
not appear that the Molly took possession. The 
French ship Columbus of four guns, bound from 
Guadeloupe to St. Thomas, was captured in June, 
1799, by the brig Genius of New York, of four- 
teen guns, and was sent into Tortola and con- 
demned for the benefit of the captors by a British 
court of admiralty. 2 

The ship Planter sailed from Hampton Roads 
June 18, 1799, and on July 10, in latitude 49° 
North, longitude 17° 30' West, a sail was sighted. 
The Planter cleared for action and at 5.30 p. m. 
lay to for her. " She then bore down under our 
starboard quarter, fired one gun into us and showed 
National Colors ; we found her to be a Privateer of 

1 Mass. Spy, May 15, 1799. 

3 Salem Gazette^ August 9, 1799. 



FBIVATE ARMED VESSELS 229 

twenty-two guns, twelves, nines, and sixes, with 
small arms in the tops and full of men. We im- 
mediately rounded to and gave her a broadside, 
which commenced the action on both sides. The 
first broadside we received cut away all our hal- 
yards, top sheets and braces, and killed three men 
on the quarter-deck. We kept up a constant fire 
for two glasses and a half, when he sheered off to 
repair damage and in about one glass returned to 
board us with his bloody flag hoisted. We were all 
in readiness to receive him, got our broadsides to 
bear upon him and poured in our langrage and 
grape-shot with great success. A heavy fire was 
kept up on both sides for three glasses, the second 
time — in all the engagement continued firing for 
five glasses. At last he found we would not give 
out and, night coming on, sheered off and stood to 
the southwest." The Planter had twelve nine 
pounders and six six pounders, and forty-three 
men, four of whom were killed and eight wounded. 
The French were seen to throw several dead over- 
board.* 

The Mount Yemon of Salem, Captain E. H. 
Derby, a ship of four hundred tons, twenty guns — 
nine and six pounders — and fifty-three men, sailed 
for the Mediterranean in the summer of 1799. 
July 28, to the eastward of the Azores, she fell in 
with " a fleet of upwards of fifty sail, steering nearly 
N. E." Captain Derby, writing to his father, the 

1 Boston Com, Gazette, September 12, 1799. 



230 OUR^AVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

owner of the vessel, says: "We run directly for 
their centre ; at 4 o'clock found ourselves in their 
half -moon ; concluding it impossible that it oould 
be any other than the English fleet, continued our 
course for their centre to avoid any apprehension 
of a want of confidence in them. They socm dis- 
patched an 18 gun ship from their centre and two 
frigates, one from their van and another fnxn the 
rear, to beat towards us, we being to windward. 
On approaching under easy sail the centre ship, I 
fortunately bethought myself that it would be but 
common prudence to steer so far to windward of 
him as to be a grapeshot's distance from him, to 
observe his force and manoeuvring. When we were 
abreast of him he fired a gun to leeward and hoisted 
English colors. We immediately bore away and 
meant to pass under his quarter, between him and 
the fleet, showing our American colors. This move- 
ment disconcerted him, and it appeared to me he 
conceived we were either an American sloop of war 
or an English one in disguise, attempting to cut 
him off from the fleet ; for while we were in the 
act of wearing on his beam, he hoisted French 
colors and gave us his broadside. We immediately 
brought our ship to the wind and stood on about 
a mile, wore towards the centre of the fleet, hove 
about and crossed him on the other tack about 
half grapeshot distance and received his broadside ; 
several of his shot fell on board of us and cut our 
sails, two round shot striking us without much 



PRIVATE ARMED VESSELS 231 

damage. All hands were active in clearing ship for 
action, for our surprise had been complete. In about 
ten minutes we commenced firing our stem chasers 
and in a quarter of an hour gave him our broadside 
in such a style as evidently sickened him, for he 
immediately luffed in the vnnd, gave us his broad- 
side, went in stays in great confusion, wore ship 
afterwards in a large circle, and renewed the chase 
at a mile and a half distance; a manoeuvre calcu- 
lated to keep up appearances with the fleet and to 
escape our shot. We received seven or eight broad- 
sides from him, and I was mortified at not having 
it VI my power to return him an equal number 
without exposing myself to the rest of the fleet ; 
for I am persuaded I should have had the pleasure 
of sending him home had he been separated from 
them." * 

The fleet was lost sight of during the night. The 
next day the Mount Vernon was chased by two frig- 
ates, and the day after by a French lateen rigged 
vessel. That night she was off Cadiz, and the next 
day, July 31, proceeded to Gibraltar, ^< where we 
arrived at 12 o'clock, popping at Frenchmen all 
the forenoon. At 10 a. m., off Algesiras Point, were 
seriously attacked by a large lateener who had on 
board more than a hundred men. He came so near 
our broadside as to allow our six pound grape to do 
execution handsomely. We then bore away and gave 
him our stem guns in a cool and deliberate manner, 

1 Hunt's Merchants* Magazine, February, 1857, pp. 181, 182. 



(- : k 



232 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

doing apparently great execution. Our bars having 
cut his sails considerably, he was thrown into con- 
fusion, struck both his ensign and his pennant. I 
was then puzzled to know what to do with so many 
men ; our ship was running large with all her steer- 
ing sails out, so that we could not immediately bring 
her to the wind, and we were directly oflp Algesiras 
Point, from whence I had reason to fear she might 
receive assistance and my port, Gibraltar, in full 
view. These were circumstances that induced me 
to give up the gratification of bringing him in. It 
was, however, a satisfaction to flog the rascal in full 
view of the English fleet, who were to leeward." * 

The supercargo of the ship London Packet of 
Baltimore writes that on September 10, 1799, "we 
had a very severe engagement with a French priva- 
teer of sixteen guns and 150 men. She engaged us 
an hour and three quarters, half of which time she 
was close alongside. A little before she attempted 
to board us they hoisted the bloody flag, which 
proved a bloody one to them, as every man who 
attempted to board suffered instant death. Consid- 
ering the desperate attempts they made, we got off 
well. I am sorry to inform you we had three men 
killed, one of whom was our second mate, Mr. Lind- 
say, a spirited and active officer, and two wounded, 
one of whom was Captain Anderson, who received 
a ball in his right breast. It was 8 o'clock at night 
when the privateer sheered off from us, unable to 
1 Hunt's Merchants' Mag. February, 1857, p. 182. 



PRIVATE ARMED VESSELS 233 

effect her point. Some of her sails were on fire from 
the wads from our guns; and some of our own sails 
being likewise on fire from a similar cause prevented 
our capturing her. Had it not been for that circum- 
stance we should have lashed her to the ship and 
made a prize of her." The fire got into the cabin of 
the London Packet and nearly reached the maga- 
zine. Her force in guns and men is not given.^ 

On a voyage from New York to New Orleans 
the private armed vessel Chesapeake, of twenty 
guns, was thirty-seven miles north of Havana Oc- 
tober 2, 1799, and the captain's narrative says that 
*^ at 10 o'clock A. M. the man at the mast head de- 
scried a sail coming out from the land and bearing 
down upon us. At meridian we found she gained 
upon us very fast and then prepared for action. At 
3 P. M. I consulted with my officers and cabin pas- 
sengers, who all agreed that it would not be pru- 
dent to hazard an action in the night should the 
vessel then in shore of us prove to be an enemy, 
and therefore concluded to shorten sail and see who 
she was before dark. At half-past four she fired 
upon us and hoist ed English colors, which we re- 
turned with a stem chaser and hoisted our ensign, 
on which she immediately hoisted the bloody fiag 
at her foretopmast head. At a quarter past five 
she came up under our stem. I then hailed them 
and . inquired who they were and where from, but 
could not understand the answer ; they then hailed 
1 Gazette of U. 8, October 3, 1799. 



234 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

me in English and ordered me to lay my topsails 
to the mast or to abide by the conaequenoes. I re- 
plied that I was an American and would protect 
the trade. The word American was scarcely uttered 
before they gave three cheers and poured a broad- 
side and volley of small arms into us, which we re- 
turned, and a desperate engagement ensued wluch 
lasted three quarters of an hour, when her quartep- 
deck blew up and she went down stem foremost. 
I immediately hove my ship to and hoisted my boajb 
out, but unfortunately could not save one man. 
She was a schooner mounting twelve or fourteen 
guns and manned, as near as we could judge, with 
about eighty men. We had two men wounded, one 
of whom died the next morning ; the other is in a 
fair way to recovery. My ship received material 
injury in her masts, spars, and rigging, the enemy 
having fired all kinds of combustibles and mate- 
rials into us, such as iron spikes (22 inches long), 
slugs, etc." * Some of the vessels with which the 
Americans contended displayed an indifference as 
^to what flag they fought under, which suggests a 
good deal of doubt of their being legitimate priva- 
teers of France. 

A letter from William Smith, United States 
minister to Portugal, to the Secretary of State, 
dated Lisbon, November 2, 1799, says: "Two 
days ago arrived here in distress the [ship] Wash- 
ington, Capt. Williamson, bound from London to 
1 Gazette of U. S. Noyember 21, 1799. 



PRIVATE ABMED VESSELS 235 

Philadelphia, with thirty-four passengers. She 
mounts 22 guns, has seventy men, and off Scilly 
fought two hours a large French privateer of 28 
guns and beat her off. She had one killed and two 
wounded." Later letters say that the French ves- 
sel was ^^ the Balance, a Privateer from Bordeaux 
of 80 guns, which was obliged to put into Corunna 
to refit," and that she had a crew of two hundred 
men, thirty of whom were killed and many wounded.^ 
Captain James Williamson of the twenty-two 
gun ship Perseverance of Philadelphia, wrote from 
Lisbon, November 2, 1799 : " Scilly bearing N. E. 
forty leagues at daylight in the morning (Oct. 24) 
I perceived a large ship standing after us under 
easy saiL Finding he could come up with us when 
he pleased, I shortened sail and hove to for him 
and got all dear for action. At 10 a. m. he came 
up on our larboard quarter, hoisted French colors 
and gave me a gun. I immediately hoisted Ameri- 
can colors and returned it, which commenced a very 
hot and close action, being within half pistol shot 
the most of the time. She was frigate built, mounted 
24 guns on her deck and four on the quarter-deck, 
and was crowded with men ; a great number on the 
upper deck at the small arms. He kept a very hot 
fire from his gun deck, chiefly directed to disable 
us in the rigging in which he completely succeeded, 
as early in the action my rigging and sails were 
cut to pieces, so that I had not the least conmiand 
1 Pickering, vol. xxv, 267, 280, 281. 



236 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

of the ship, nor could brace a yard about. At the 
second and third broadsides the most of the carron- 
ades overset and had but seven guns on that side to 
engage with, but the well-directed and hot fire kept 
up from them obliged him, after an hour and ten 
minutes* severe action, to haul off. He left me so 
complete a wreck that I could not set one sail to 
follow him. I had one man killed and two severely 
wounded. He hove to about two miles to vdndward 
and was busy employed repairing damages and 
plugging shot holes. We were likewise all employed 
about the rigging, but it was so bad that it was 
with the greatest exertions I could get the fore 
and main topsails half set. At noon he bore down 
upon us again and at once we commenced another 
very severe action for an hour and a quarter, when 
he made all sail possible and stood off to the 
S. E." The spars, rigging, and sails of the Per- 
severance were so much injured that it was with 
great difficulty that she succeeded in getting into 
Lisbon.^ 

The private armed vessel Atlantic, in company 
with an English vessel, was attacked December 11, 
1799, and again the next day by a French priva- 
teer of twenty-four twelve pounders and two hun- 
dred and fifty men, in the Bay of Bengal. On each 
occasion the privateer was beaten off after a severe 

^ Boston Com. GazettCt February 6, 1800; the similarity of 
names, dates, and circumstances suggests the possible identity of 
the Washington and Perseyerance. 



PBIVATE ARMED VESSELS 237 

engagement. The English vessel carried eleven 
four pounders and twenty-seven men ; the Atlantic 
carried carronades, but neither the number nor 
weight nor the number of men is given in the 
account.^ 

Captain Joy of the ship Nancy of Boston, with 
ten six pounders and twenty-seven men, wrote from 
Havana, March 16, 1800: ^^ After leaving Boston 
we took the wind from the S. W. with strong gales, 
which lasted fifteen days and drove us so far to the 
eastward that we fell in with a French privateer 
schooner of 16 guns and 100 men or upwards. He 
engaged us under the bloody flag at the distance 
of pistol shot for an hour. Many shot passed 
through our sails and rigging. Night came on, and 
he hauled his wind and lay at the distance of two 
miles until ten the next morning; he then came 
down with his grapplings at the yard arm and 
grappled us upon our starboard quarter with his 
jib stay on our boarding spar. As he crossed our 
stern he began with his musketry and cannon, 
thinking to drive us from our quarters, which he 
had nearly accomplished and began jumping on 
board; but we rallied and stuck so close to them 
with our muskets and boarding pikes that they 
were obliged to return on board, after being in 
our main and mizzen chains three or four times. 
After three glasses, by cutting our rigging that his 
grapplings were fast to, he cleared his jib stay and 
1 Gazette of U. 8. May 2, 1800. 




238 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

we parted. We bad one man killed and seven 
wounded, but none of us mortally. One nine pound 
shot went tbrougb tbe foremast and one through 
the mainmast ; likewise a number of smaller shot. 
Our main top shot much to pieces and twenty shot 
through our mizzenmast. In fact, when they left 
us there was at least 8000 shot of different kinds 
through our hull, sails, and rigging. Our topsail, 
topgallant haulyards, jib stay, topping lift and 
braces were all shot away; yards down on the 
caps, sails overboard, and the ship on fire in three 
or four different places. He lay with his head one 
way and we the other for two hours. After I had 
got my braces rove and topsail set and stood on my 
course he came after me again ; about four o'clock 
he overtook and gave us another broadside, and we 
returned it. He then hauled his wind and left us, 
which was 36 hours from the time he fell in with 

The Straits of Gibraltar and the neighboring 
,ters were infested at this period with French 
and Spanish privateers, many of them small gun- 
boats, which came out from Algeciras and other 
ports, often in considerable numbers, and attacked 
vessels entering the straits, especially in calm 
weather. In January, 1800, the ship Favorite of 
Boston was attacked by two of these privateers 
off Tarifa, and a little later fought an hour and a 
half with four others. There was no wind, and 
1 Independent Chronicle, April 17, 1800. 



PRIVATE ARMED VESSELS 239 

she finally got into Gibraltar with the help of 
sweeps.^ 

A letter from the ship Industry of Boston, Cap- 
tain Gbunaliel Bradford, dated Lisbon, July 28, 
1800, and apparently written by the supercargo, 
says : ^^ I have the misfortune of having the pain- 
ful task allotted to me to communicate the very 
unfortunate accident that Captain Bradford met 
with on the 8th July. We sailed from Naples on 
the 15th June, and arrived safely off Gibraltar on 
the 8th July. Conceiving it not safe to enter this 
port by reason of the annoyance given by the 
Spanish gunboats, we proceeded for Lisbon. Soon 
after entering the Gut about one league, there 
came from shore a large French privateer, which 
came in sight of our guns, but did not like our 
appearance; she hauled her wind and went astern. 
She then fired a gun and hoisted French colors 
with a bloody fiag and began firing at us, but was 
at such a distance that we could not reach her 
with our stem guns, although she from her bows 
was throwing her grape shot into and beyond us. 
Captain Bradford said all we could do was to wait 
until she came nearer, when he hoped we should be 
able to give the rascals what they deserved. After 
firing above an hour at that distance she came 
nearer, but finding there was danger in the at- 
tempt, she again returned to her former distance, 
where she continued firing her bow chases. Soon 

1 Columbian Centindj April Id, 1800. 



240 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

after, three other privateers, one nearly as large as 
the first, came out, and all of them commenced 
firing at our stem. Conceiving themselves much 
superior in force, they became bolder and ap- 
proached nearer, so that we were enabled to keep 
a steady firing upon them, but they had much 
heavier guns than we, particularly the two large 
privateers. The wind blowing fresher, the two 
smallest were not able to do much harm. A strong 
current against us and having many of our sails 
and spars shot away, we could not carry sail except 
before the wind, and in this course moved slowly 
through the water. After engaging these pirates 
three hours, Captain Bradford was unfortunately 
wounded by a grape shot in the thigh, which en- 
tered the back part a little above the knee and 
went nearly through." The captain was taken be- 
low. The fight continued two and a half hours 
longer, and the privateers then sheered off. The 
Industry mounted twelve six pounders and had 
twenty-five men. One of the privateers mounted 
ten guns, the bow guns being eighteen pounders ; 
another carried eight guns, and the other two had 
guns in their bows only. The Industry continued 
her voyage, going to Cadiz, and finally reaching 
Lisbon in ten days, delayed by head winds. Here 
Captain Bradford had his thigh amputated; he 
was kindly treated by the captain and surgeon of 
a British man-of-war.* 

* Boston Com. Gazette, September 11, 1800. 



PRIVATE ARMED VESSELS 241 

Captain Haggard of the ship Louisa of Phila- 
delphia, carrying twelve six pounders and thirty 
men, wrote from Gibraltar, August 27, 1800, 
that at daylight on the 20th, off Tarifa, '^ we dis- 
covered several French and Spanish privateers and 
gunboats making the best use of their sails and 
sweeps to get out There were then four American 
brigs in sight, one near the Spanish shore and 
three astern of us. Two of the latter we had spoke 
some days before; they were the Greyhound from 
Boston and the Huntress from New York. The 
others were unknown to us. Several of the priva- 
teers fired at the brig inshore, who appeared to be 
without guns, and at length a gunboat approaching 
very close, she was obliged to strike." Two priva- 
teers then attacked the Greyhound, and later a 
privateer and a gunboat fell upon the Louisa. ^^ As 
they both sailed fast and made use of their sweeps 
they were soon near us, and at six a. m. began 
their fire, which we returned. After a continual 
firing for six glasses, finding they had cut our rig- 
ging in such a manner as to make our ship per- 
fectly tmmanageable, the privateer made an attempt 
to board on our stem, while the gunboat lay upon 
our larboard quarter and kept up a constant fire 
at about pistol shot. They first attempted to enter 
the cabin windows and burst them in with their 
muskets, but were repulsed. They next tried upon 
our starboard quarter, but those who got on the 
sides were forced back. They then lashed their 



242 OUB NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

bowsprit to oar mizzen chain, but the ship taking 
a broad sheer, it broke and swinging round they 
were brought directly under our quarter guns, 
which were constantly fired into them loaded with 
grape and accompanied with three cheers, wbec 
they made the best of their way to the Spanish 
shore attended by their friend the gunboat. They 
had scarcely left us when a vessel with Spanish 
colors came out and fired several shot at us, but 
on being answered and finding us in a better dis- 
position for another action than our shattered ap- 
pearance evinced, thought proper to return. During 
the engs^ment we had the pleasure to see three 
brigs escape." The privateer that had attempted 
to board the Louisa ^' had three masts with lateen 
sails ; she mounted two brass long 24 pounders in 
the bow and eight in her waist with swivels, and 
was full of men." It was afterwards learned that 
she had eleven killed and thirteen wounded; the 
gunboat had one killed. On the Louisa the captain, 
who was wounded in the shoulder, was the only one 
hurt.i 

Sometimes a vessel captured by the French would 
i^ X. ^ recaptured from the prize crew by members of 
l^i \^tia^ former crew left on board. The ship Hiram 
\was captured by a French sloop of war, September 
29, 1800. The captain and his seventeen-year-old 

1 Boston Com. Gazette, November 17, 1800. For other enoonn- 
ters of American private armed vessels, see Maclay's American 
PrivateerSj p. 220 ; Hoxse, eh. v ; Mass. Spy, January 2, 1799 ; Scdem 
Gazette, June 14, 1799 ; Boston Com. Gazette, May 29, July 7, 1800. 



PBIVATE ABM£D VESSELS 2^ 

brother, who was second mate, one seaman and a 
twelve-yoar-old boy were left on board with a prize 
crew of ten. The captain had concealed his pistols, 
and they determined to attempt the recapture of 
the ship. The captain knocked down the man at 
the wheel and threw the prize master overboard, 
bat he caught hold of the main chains and got back 
again. Two other men were knocked down and one 
was shot, but not much hurt. Then the captain's 
brother and the other man came to his assistance 
with handspikes. They chased the prize crew about 
the deck until at last they surrendered and were 
confined below. Later the Hiram was captured by 
another French vessel, but was recaptured by a 
British frigate and sent in^ Martinique.^ The brig 
Washington of Portsmouth was taken November 
26, 1800, by a French privateer oflF St. Lucia. A 
prize master and five men were put on board the 
Washington, and all her crew taken out except the 
captain and a negro. Early one morning two of the 
Frenchmen were on the fore topsail yard, one was 
halfway up* the shrouds and one at the helm, while 
the prize master and another man were on the fore- 
castle. The captain proposed to the negro that they 
attempt to recapture the vessel, and armed himself 
with a pump handle while the negro took the cook's 
axe. The captain knocked down the helmsman and 
threw him into the cabin. The negro struck the 
prize master a fatal blow and he fell overboard. 

1 Mass, Mercury, January 16, 1801. 



244 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

The other man on the forecastle was also stmck 
down with the axe, but recovered ; he drew a knife 
and ran at the captain ; but was again struck down, 
with the pump handle. The man on the shrouds 
jumped into the sea and the others remained aloft. 
The captain lowered a boat, put into it the wounded 
men and some stores, allowed those aloft to get in, 
gave them two oars and the course to Guadeloupe 
and let them go. The boat and the man who had 
jumped overboard were afterwards picked up by a 
passing vessel. The Washington was safely navi- 
gated to Dominica, thence to St. Christopher, and 
finally home, having joined a convoy.^ 

^ Mcus, Mercury f January 10, 1801. For anothar inatance, aee 
26u/. July 9, 1799. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE CONVENTION OF 1800 

In the summer of 1798 William Vans Murray, 
the United States minister to Holland, having con- 
versed on the relations between his cotmtry and 
France with M. Pichon, the secretary of the French 
legation at the Hague, the latter reported the fact 
to his government. Talleyrand became interested 
at once, and began again the tentative negotiations 
in which he had unsuccessfully attempted to en- 
gage Elbridge Gerry only a few weeks earlier. He 
assured Pichon that any envoy the United States 
might send to France "would be undoubtedly re- y 
ceived with the respect due to the representative 
of a free, independent, and powerful nation," re- 
peating the words used by President Adams in 
his message of June 21.^ Of course, all this was 
promptly reported to the Secretary of State by 
Murray, who was thereupon appointed by the 
President, February 18, 1799, minister plenipo- 
tentiary to treat with the French government. 
This appointment aroused opposition, chiefly on 
the ground that it was inexpedient to renew nego- 
tiations with France at that time. The President 
then appointed two other envoys, to be associated 
^ See aboTe, p. 38. 



\ 



246 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

with Murray, — Oliver Ellsworth, chief justice of 
the United States, and Patrick Henry, late gov- 
ernor of Virginia; the two latter to set out for 
France only after the most positive assurances had 
been obtained that they would be received with re- 
spect. The nominations were thereupon confirmed 
by the Senate. Murray was instructed to hold ^^ no 
more indirect and inofficial communications '' witii 
any agent of France. Talleyrand gave the required 
assurance that the envoys would be properly re- 
ceived and respected. Patrick Henry, on account 
of old age and infirmity, declined to serve, and 
Governor William B. Davie of North Carolina was 
appointed in his place.^ | 

Meanwhile, in the siunmer of 1798, Geoige Lo- 
gan, a Qual^er, had undertaken a private mission 
to France on his own responsibility. From inter- 
views with members of the Directory he became 
convinced that France was truly well disposed 
towards America. His sole object in making this 
journey seems to have been a sincere desire to pro- 
mote reconciliation, but his motives were miscon- 
strued by many, and a suspicion was aroused that 
his purpose was treasonable.^ 

The envoys of the United States government 
were instructed, October 22, 1799, to demand in- 

1 8t Pap. vol. iv, pp. 291-302 ; Doc. 102, pp. 648-660 ; Richard- 
son^ vol. i, pp. 282-284; Nav, Chron. pp. 141-148; Adanu, voL 
viii, pp. 677-691, vol. ix, pp. 245-266. 

2 Washington, vol. xiv, pp. 129-132 ; Jefferson, vol. 
825 ; St. Pop. voL iv, p. 272. 



vii, pp. 273, 



THE CONVENTION OF 1800 Wl 

demnitj for spoliations of American c(«imerce, 
basing their claims upon the old treaties in cases 
which had occurred before July 7, 1798, the date 
of the abrogation of the treaties by Congress, while 
daima for injuries after that date were to rest 
upon the law of nations. They were then to nego- 
tiate a treaty, to last not more than twdve years. ^ 
The new treaty was to establish a commission to^^ 
adjust the claims of the two countries. It must 
not contain the provisions of the seventeenth and 
twenty-second articles of the treaty of commerce 
of 1778, relating to privateers and prizes ; at least, 
there must be nothing to conflict with any other 
treaty, meaning the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth 
artides of Jay's treaty with England. Nothing was 
to be admitted into the treaty stipulating alliance, / 
guarantee of French possessions, consular judicial 
authority, or any promises of aid or of loans.^ 

Ellsworth and Davie sailed on the frigate United 
States, and in February, 1800, arrived in Paris, 
where Murray joined them March 1. This was after 
the coup cTitat of 18 Brumaire, when the Directory 
was overthrown and the Consulate established. They 
had, therefore, to deal with Bonaparte, first consul, 
and were presented to him March 8. The negotia- 
tionsy which had been delayed by the illness of 
Joseph Bonaparte, chief of the French commission- 
ers appointed to treat with the Americans, began 
April 7 and continued nearly six months. 
^ For. Ed. vol. ii, p. 301 ; Doc, 102, p. 661. 



248 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

It was not possible to oome to an agreement on 
all points. The American envoys wished first to set- 
tle claims for injuries inflicted upon commerce be- 
fore the abrogation of the old treaties by Congress ; 
but the French contended that there had been no 
abrogation, as this would have required the oonsent 
of both parties to these compacts. They would not 
even admit that the treaties would have lost their 
force in case of war, and they denied that the pre- 
sent hostilities constituted war in the full sense.^ 
However, admitting the war and the annulment of 
the treaties by it, the claims likewise had been liq- 
uidated by war and no indemnity could be expected. 
They were willing to accept this view of the case, 
and on August 11, after prolonged discussion, the 
French commissioners insisted on the alternative: 
" Either the ancient treaties, with the privileges re- 
sulting from priority [as regards Jay's treaty], and 
a stipulation of reciprocal indemnities; or a new 
treaty assuring equality without indemnity." ^ At 
last the American ministers were forced to aban- 
don their instructions and admit the validity of the 
old treaties, or at least recognize the embarrassing 
provisions of those treaties as live issues. Agree- 
ment was still impossible, and after several more 
weeks of discussion the temporary expedient was 
adopted of leaving open for future negotiation the 

^ Doc, 102, p. 616. On the question of the abrogation of treaties 
by war, see Wharton, vol. ii, p. 43. 
2 Doc. 102, p. 618. 



THE CONVENTION OF 1800 249 

questions as to indemnity and as to the old trea- 



This arrangement formed the substance of the 
second article of the new treaty. The third and 
fourth articles required the mutual restoration of 
national vessels captured during the hostilities and 
of all captured property not already condemned. 
The fifth provided for the settlement of debts due / 

from France to American citizens, chiefly for sup- 
plies and provisions furnished the French govern- 
ment.^ No loans were provided for and no guaran- 
tee of French possessions, nor were any obligations 
incurred inconsistent with other treaties. Although ^ . 
the envoys found it impracticable fully to carry out / . . 
their instructions, they were able to abolish some ^ \V» 
of the abuses practiced by the French, such as the \ ..^"^ 
demand for a role d^ equipage^ and to maintain the i^ 
doctrine of " free ships, free goods." 

The treaty, called a Convention of Peace, Com- 
merce, and Navigation, is very long, consisting of 
twenty-seven articles ; it was concluded September 
80, 1800. When it was laid before the Senate, 
that body advised its ratification provided the sec- 
ond article, relating to indemnities and the old 
treaties, were stricken out and the duration of the 
treaty limited to eight years. The Senate took this 
method of precluding any attempt to revive the 

1 For. i2«;. Tol. ii, pp. 807-344 ; Doc. 102, pp. 577-044; Wharton^ 
Tol. ii, pp. 128-142. 
' For these articles see Appendix IL 



260 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

treaties with tiieir embarrassing provisions, at the 
same time hoping to revive the chums at some 
&vorable opportunity in the future. Upon the 
exchange of ratifications at Paris, July 81, 1801, 
Bonaparte, on behalf of the French government, 
agreed to these amendments on condition ^thal 
by this retrenchment the two States renounce the 
respective pretensions which were the object of 
said article." ^^ iSfi^"^*"^ tLgraoA f/i ¥\t\a^ Hing 
willing, for the sake of getting rid of the treaties, 
to sacrifice prospective indemnities idrjJiuBrdepre- 
dations committed upon American commerce. The 
^c^vention was proclaimed December 21, 1801.^ 
''So died the treaties of 1778, with all the obligan 
tions which they imposed, and with them passed 
from the field of international contention the claims 
of American citizens for French spoliation." ^ This 
refers only to claims for depredations committed 
at sea. 

The third article of the treaty called for no 
sacrifice on the part of France, but compelled the 
United States to surrender the Berceau and the 
schooner Vengeance. The Insurgente, which must 
also have been given up under this stipulation, had 
been lost at sea before the treaty was signed. The 
Berceau was refitted, being put in better condition 
than before she was captured, and then turned over 
to her old crew, who took her back to France. 



1 Doc. 102, pp. 661-686. 

3 Ct. Claims Bqt. toL zzi, p. 887. 



THE CONVENTION OF 1800 261 

The amount of American properly described in the 
fourth article, in the hands of the French, was esti- 
mated at about forty ships and cargoes, while the 
Americans held but few French prizes not already 
condemned.^ 

The obligations incurred by France under the 
fourth and fifth articles were not promptly dis- 
charged, owing partly no doubt to the embarrassed 
condition of French finances. This state of things 
called forth a prolonged correspondence between 
the United States minister, Bobert B. Livingston, 
and the French government, and gave rise to an- 
other class of claims, estimated at twenty million 
francs in amount. In a cpnyentioo. ooaoluded' April 
SO^J^OS^Jhe^Umtod assii^^ these claims 

f^B^art^ %§ J2]^QQ paid fo^ tiba territory of Lpiayui 
lana^ytrbloh.waacededby tiealy on the same day.' 

The convention of 1800 did not furnish a satis- "^ 
f acto^ solulbi^ of tilie questions at issue between / 
Ae-twv~C<nmtriei9, but Jt^ut an end to hostilities I ^\ 
which, if they had continued, would doubtless have ? >^ 
made impossible the acquisition of Louisiana. It \ 
was^lhinrefore most fortunate for the United States '^'^ 
to be able to reestablish amicable relations with 
France at this time. 

1 8t. Pap. ToL It, pp. 888-421 ; Nav, Chron, p. 185 ; Doe. 102, 
p. 644 ; Jeffersonj toL Tiii, p. 73. 

3 Doc. 102, pp. 700-762; Treaties and Conventions, pp. 1283, 
1307,1808. 




CHAPTER X 

KEDUCTION OF THE NAVY 

When it became known, late in 1800, that a treaty 
with France had been concluded, discussion natu- 
rally arose as to the reduction of war expenses and 
the placing of the navy on a peaqe footing. Janu- 
ary 12, 1801, Secretary Stoddert made a report to 
the naval committee of the House of Bepresenta- 
tives, in which he said that ''it would be good 
economy to sell all the public vessels, except the 
following frigates : The United States, President, 
Constitution, Chesapeake, Philadelphia, New York, 
Constellation, Congress, Essex, Boston, John Ad- 
ams, Adams, and General Greene. The rest were 
either built of materials which do not promise long 
duration, or are too small to form a part of the 
national defense. In future wars . . . the enter- 
prising spirit of our citizens wiU quickly furnish, 
for private emolument, nearly all the small vessels 
necessary to be employed ; and will thus add to the 
national means of annoyance, without adding to the 
national expense. In this view, it may be sufficient 
for the United States to attend principally to a 
provision for ships of the line and frigates." ^ He 
1 Nav, Aff, voL i, p. 74. 



REDUCTION OF THE NAVY 263 

furiiher reoommended that only six of the frigates 
should be kept in active service, and with only two 
thirds of their crews employed; the other seven 
ships to be laid np in ordinary, but ready to be 
put into commission at short notice. He advised 
the accumulation of ship timber, to be stored in 
docks for future use, and expressed the opinion 
that ships should not be built until a sufficient 
quantity of well-seasoned timber was on hand. 
With regard to the disposal of the vessels below 
the frigate class, it seems probable that half a 
dozen or more of the best of the smaller vessels 
might advantageously have been retained, at least 
a few years. Trouble with the Barbary pirates was 
just approaching an acute stage at this time, and 
such vessels would have been very useful for the 
Mediterranean service. 

Stoddert's views on naval policy are further in- 
dicated in the extracts from his report that fol- 
low : ^^ When the United States own twelve ships 
of seventy-four guns and double the number of 
strong frigates, and it is known that they possess 
the means of increasing with facility their naval 
strength, confidence may be indulged that we may 
then avoid those wars in which we have no inter- 
est, and without submitting to be plundered." " 
great maritime nations retain in peace the commis- 
sioned officers necessary to be employed in war, by 
allowing them a portion of their monthly pay on 
the condition of their holding themselves in readi- 




251 OUE NAVAL WAE WITH FRANCE 

ness at all times to be called into active service. 
The same provision is not so generally extended to 
the midshipmen ; but the discrimination is nowhere 
just, and in the United States in the present in- 
stance it would be extremely impolitic, for the mid^ 
shipmen are among the most promising young men 
of our country, possess all the materials to make 
officers equal to any in the world, and well merit 
the fostering care of their Government. But it 
would be injurious to themselves and to their 
country to pay them for remaining in idleness at 
home. No midshipman ought to receive half pay 
without exhibiting satisfactory proof that at least 
four months of the year for which he demanded it 
had been employed by him in acquiring a better 
knowledge of his profession, if not in foreign ser- 
vice, at least in the merchant ships of his own 
country." " Timber may be preserved for ages in 
docks and at little expense, and the knowledge that 
we possess it in that state will inspire nearly as 
much respect for our flag as if the ships were built 
and on the ocean." " In a pecuniary point of view 
there can be no comparison between the expense 
dfsQreating a sufficient navy and the loss a com- 
merceSo great as ours will too certainly sustain for 
the want of such protection. But the loss of pro- 
perty is but a paltry consideration compared with 
all the humiliating and destructive consequences 
which must flow from that debasement of mind 
which a system of eternal submission to injury and 



REDUCTION OF THE NAVY 256 

injustiee cannot foil to produce." ^ It would have 
been well if the secretary's words had carried the 
weight they deserved, but they fell on deaf ears. 
To the great disadvantage of the countiy nothing 
was done towards the building of ships of the line 
or frigates, beyond the accumulation of ship tim- 
ber and other material, until after war with Great 
Britain had demonstrated the foUy of being unpre- 
pared. 

On March 8, 1801, Congress passed and Presi- . /^ 
dttit AdmttS approved an act providing for a naval V ^x 
peace establishm^it. It authorized the Presidra^ to ^ 
i^-^Ur'dir'^eisels of the navy except the thirteen 
frigates recommended by the Secretary of the Navy 
to be retained. It directed that sev^ti of these frig- 
ates should be laid up and that the six in commis- 
sion should be manned by two thirds of their full 
complement. It authorized the President to dis- 
charge from the service all the officers except nine 
captains, thirty-six lieutenants, and a hundred and 
fifty midshipmen. There were in the navy at the 
time twenty-eight captains, seven masters command- 
ant, one hundred and ten lieutenants, and three 
hundred and fifty-four midshipmen. The act there- 
fore contemplated abolishing the grade of master 
commandant altogether, as well as reducing Uie num- 
bers in the other grades specified by about three 
fifths. Fortunately the law was not mandatory, as 
otherwise it would also have abolished all the sur- 

1 l^av, Aff, vol. i, p, 75. 



266 OUR NAVAL WAR WTTH FRANCE 

geons, pursers, and many others indispensable to the 
service.* 

A study of the list in the light of subsequent his- 
tory suggests that President Jefferson, upon whom 
devolved the difficult and delicate task of selecting 
the officers to be retained, might perhaps have made 
a better choice in some cases, but on the whole 
he probably exercised as good judgment as was pos- 
sible with the data at his command. Commodore 
Charles Morris, who was a midshipman in 1801, 
writing on this subject about 1840, says : ^^ So great 
\l a reduction undoubtedly deprived the service of 
vV 11 some valuable officers, but relieved it of many who 
I were never worthy of belonging to it. Political 
prefer^ces probably had some influence in the se- 
lection of the captains, but the selection generally 
was adtnitted to be quite as judiciously made as 
could have been expected. The necessity which ex- 
at the commencement of the Navy of draw- 
; the commanders and lieutenants entirely from 
pierchant service, introduced many who had 
few or none of the higher qualifications proper for 
their new situations. For the commanding officers, 
some of those who had been employed in the Naval 
service during the War of the Revolution were still 
available and were secured, and these were generally 
of higher character than the other commanders or 
the lieutenants. Of these latter a very large pro- 

1 Statutes at Large, vol. ii, p. 110 ; Nav. Chron, pp. 180-182,331, 
376-388. 




REDUCTION OF THE NAVY 267 

portion were not only men of no refinement, but 
vulgarly profane and grossly intemperate. Veiy 
many of the midshipmen had attained an age at 
which their habits of thought and action had be- 
come too firmly established to be easily changed, 
and gave little promise of any future usefulness." ^ 

The reduction of the nayy at this time has often 
been attributed to the excessive zeal of the Bepubli- 
cans for economy and their unfriendliness towards 
this branch of the public service. But it should be 
remembered that it was a Federalist measure. Presi- 
dent Jefferson merely carried out the behest of the' 
preceding administration, and he did so in a man- 
ner that cannot be called hostile to the navy. In- 
stead of discharging all but nine of the captains, he 
retained twelve ; and one of those discharged, Cap- 
tain Tingey, was restored to the service three years 
later. Nine midshipmen likewise, in addition to 
the number allowed by the reduction act, were 
kept on the list.^ 

The thirteen frigates named in the act were 
retained, and the President also determined to 
keep in the service the schooner Enterprise, whose 
gallant career appealed to the sentiment and affec- 
tion of the people. All the vessels not retained 
were sold in 1801, except five of the revenue cut- 
ters, which were returned to the Treasury Depart- 
ment, and the George Washington, which was 

» Mvrrisy pp. 16, 17. 

a Nav. Chron. pp. 389-392; see Phillips^ pp. 96-104. 



258 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

employed in the Mediterranean for a while and 
was finally disposed of in 1803.^ 

A squadron consisting of the President, Phila- 
delphia, Essex, and Enterprise was soon sent to 
the Mediterranean, under the command of Commo- 
dore Dale. Tripoli had just declared war against 
^ the United States, and in chastising this piratical 
state there were employed within the next five 
years all the vessels retained in the service except 
the United States and the General Greene. 

Meanwhile the vessels not needed for service in 
the spring of 1801 were laid up in different ports. 
The United States, Congress, and New York were 
ordered to Washington. The Congress sailed from 
Boston and '^ was delayed by head winds, so that 
we did not reach Washington till late in May. We 
passed the frigate United States in the lower part 
of the Potomac. About 10 o'clock in the morning 
of a beautifully serene day we passed Mount Ver- 
non. Every one was on deck to look upon the 
dwelling where Washington had made his home. 
Mrs. Washington and others of the family could 
be distinguished in the p6rtico which fronts the 
river. When opposite to the house, by order of 
Captain Sever, the sails were lowered, the colors 
displayed haK-masted, and a mourning salute of 
thirteen gims was fired as a mark of respect to the 
memory of Washington, whose life had so recently 
been closed and whose tomb was in our view. The 

^ EmmonSj pp. 6-8. 



REDUCTION OF THE NAVY 269 

general silence on board the ship and around us, 
except when broken by the cannon's sound, the 
echo and reecho of that sound from the near and 
distant hills, as it died away in the distance, the 
whole ship's company uncovered and motionless, 
and the associations connected with the ceremony, 
seemed to make a deep impression upon all, as 
they certainly did upon me. When the salute was 
finished, the sails were again set, the colors hoisted, 
and we proceeded up the river." ^ 

^ Morriiy pp. 15, 10. 




CHAPTER XI 

SPOLIATIONS AFTER 1801 

After the short respite afforded by the peace of 
Amiens in 1802, the European war again broke 
out with a fury which increased in proportion to 
the growing power of Napoleon ; and in spite of 
treaties the belligerents renewed their aggressive 
measures towards neutrals. Through a series of 
English orders in council and French decrees, 
American commerce again suffered spoliation. 

In 1802 Toussaint L'Ouverture was overthrown 
by an expedition sent out to Haiti by Napoleon, 
and was taken a prisoner to France ; but the blacks 
again revolted under Dessalines. The following 
year the French were driven out and withdrew to 
the eastern part of the island, where they occupied 
the city of San Domingo and one or two other 
ports. The supremacy of the blacks was complete 
and permanent.^ The island soon attracted neutral 
trade, which was resented by the French, who did 
not acknowledge the independence of the Haitians. 
American armed merchantmen were employed in 
this traffic, whereupon President Jefferson declared 
that their action in forcing commerce into ports 
where it was forbidden " cannot be permitted in 
1 Narr, and Crit Hist vol. viii, pp. 285-287. 



SPOLIATIONS AFTER 1801 261 

a well-ordered sociefy." Several of them were cap- 
tured by French cruisers, and in 1805 General 
Ferrand, the French commander at San Domingo, 
issued decrees declaring the Haitians to be pirates, 
and that all persons taken on hoaird any vessel 
whatever trading with them should suffer death. ^ / 

Besides the difficulties and dangers of traffic with / 

the Haitian insurgents, American commerce in the 
West Indies suffered severely at the hands of pri- 
vateers during the early years of the nineteenth 
century. At this time the Spanish islands were avail-- 
able to French vessels as bases of operations, the 
two nations being allies. The privateers of both 
France and Spain, cruising so far from their home 
governments, were under very little restraint, and 
there was a tendency to excesses not authorized by 
their commissions. They extended their ravages 
as far as the southern Atlantic coast of the United 
States, which led the President, in 1805, to fit out a 
naval force for protection. The numberless secluded 
harbors in the West Indies encouraged this sort of 
warfare, and in many cases privateering degenerated 
into piracy. The West India pirates whose exploits 
became famous and whose nests were finally broken 
np some years later, chiefly by the American navy, 
doubtless counted among their number some of 
these old French and Spanish privateers.' 

1 8t. Pop. ToL V, pp. 26, 34-42, 153-159, 321-330, toL vii, p. 
168. For the case of a suspected filibuster, see Claims, pp. 450, 
475, 601. 

« at. Fap. vol. V, pp. 56, 71-94, 203-210, 243-250, 282-286, 



262 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

Privateers and freebooters, sailing under the flags 
of France, Spain, and England, infested the mouth 
of the Mississippi and the neighboring waters. 
The difficulties connected with establishing a gOY- 
emment and maintaining order in the recently ac- 
quired Louisiana territory were complicated by the 
lawlessness and excesses of these buccaneers when 
on shore and their depredations on commerce and 
general piratical behavior when afloat. They seised 
and plundered not only their enemies' vessels, but 
American shipping as well. A naval station with a 
force of about twenty gunboats and four hundred 
men was established at New Orleans, and in 1808 
Master-commandant David Porter was put in com- 
mand. Porter soon undertook the suppression of 
the system of virtual piracy which he found on 
his arrival. Descending the river with a force of 
gunboats, he captured three of the most trouble- 
some French privateers. His proceedings were legal 
under acts of Congress which authorized the em- 
ployment of national forces in such cases and the 
confiscation of foreign vessels interfering with com- 
merce within the waters of the United States. Under 
great difficulties Porter succeeded in procuring the 
condemnation of his prizes. These firm measures 
brought about a cessation of the obnoxious con- 
ditions which had prevailed in Louisiana waters.* 

293-296 ; For, Bd. vol. ii, pp. 670, 770-772 ; Jefferson^YoL i, p. 807 ; 
Mohan, vol. ii, pp. 211-214. 
1 Porter, pp. 74-81 ; Nav. Chron, p. 335. 



/ 

/ 



SPOLIATIONS AFTER 1801 263 

The most &moas French decrees under the em- 
pire were those issued by Napoleon at Berlin, No- 
vember 21, 1806, and at Milan, December 17, 
1807. These decrees, under which many neutral ^y 
vessels were seized, were justified by the emperor ^^ 
on the ground of the alleged iniquity of British / 

maritime law, and were ^* resorted to only in just 
retaliation of the barbarous system adopted by 
England) which assimilates its legislation to that / 

of Algiers/' ThgJtArIm d ecree prohi bitedLajloom- \w 
meroe with the Bntjffhjfilftgu which wftrpi dgglarfMl / 
tol^ih a stated blockade. By the Milan decree 
anyr^ssel submitting to search by an English ship 
was declared denationalized, to have forfeited the / 

protection of its government, and to be good prize 
if &lling into the hands of the French ; and the 
British Isles were again declared to be blockaded. 
These decrees were answered on the part of England 
by additional orders in council, and thus the two \ S 
powers fought each other with paper blockades and 



11 



other restrictions on commerce of which the neutral 

was the victim.^ 

Smarting undCT the injuries inflicted by these ^ 

measures, the United SSt^estbbk part in the game ( y. 

of retaUaidon by the^ passage of the embargo act, \W 

Decemb er 22, 1807, and several supplementary | 

acts, which prohibited all foreign commerce.' These 

acts were bitterly attacked by the Federalists under 

1 Bt. Tap. voL T, pp. 475-479, toI. vi, pp. 58, 62, 73-75, 466-471, 
ToL yii, pp. 7-24, 163. See Appendix IIL 
' > SUAyAt* at Large, yol. ii, pp. 451, 453, 473, 499, 506. 







264 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

tjbe lead of Josiah Quincy and, as they seriously 
|ured the shipping interests of the country, they 
were superseded, March 1, 1809, by the non-in- 
tercourse act, by which commercial relations with 
France and England alone were interdicted.^ It 
was thought that these measures would not only 
keep American shipping out of harm's way, but 
would cause sufiGicient embarrassment to the belli- 
gerents by cutting off their supplies and crippling 
their trade to induce them to revoke their obnox- 
ious regulations. In reply to these acts of the United 
States, Napoleon announced, in 1808 and 1810, 
the Bayonne and Bambouillet decrees. Under the 
former American vessels were seized because they 
\^ \^uld not lawfully sail the seas, being forbidden by 
the embargo acts of their own country ; the latter 
ordered the condemnation of all American vessels 
\ entering French ports after May 20, 1809. These 
decrees so enlarged the scope of the French system 
that practically all American property at sea or in 
the ports of continental Europe was exposed to 
capture and loss. The injury inflicted was all the 
worse because seizures made before July 31, 1809, 
were express violations of the convention of 1800, 
which expired on that date; and moreover many 
prizes were condemned by so-called imperial de- 
cisions, contrary to the law of nations which guar- 
antees a fair trial of every prize.^ 

1 Statutes at Large, vol. ii, pp. 528, 547, 550. 

2 St. Pap. vol. vi, pp. 57, 478-485, 491-499, vol. vii, pp. 5, 25, 



SPOLIATIONS AFTER 1801 266 

France and England each declared itself ready 
to revoke its edicts if the other would do the same, 
bat neither would take the first step. May 1, 1810, 
the non-intercourse act was suspended, some of its 
restrictions being retained in a new act which pro- 
vided that if either Grreat Britain or France should 
revoke its edicts before the following March these 
restrictions should cease to operate against that 
power ; furthermore, if the other belligerent did not 
also revoke its edicts within three months, non-in- 
tercourse as provided in the act of March 1, 1809, 
should be revived as to that nation.^ Then followed 
the announcement by Napoleon of the revocation 
of his decrees. On the very same day, August 5, 
1810, he issued the Trianon decree, which con- 
demned all American ^^ vessels and cargoes seized 
in France or in the dominions of her allies subse- 
quent to May, 1809." This decree was secret and 
was not known in America imtil it accidentally 
came into the hands of Albert Gallatin several years 
later. Although this, as well as subsequent an- 
nouncements of revocation by Napoleon, proved dis- 
ingenuous and deceptive, the non-intercourse act 
never again became operative against France. There 
was, however, a decided sentiment of hostility to- 
wards that nation, and in June, 1812, when war was 
declared against England, ^^ propositions were made 

75-86, 164, 800, 851-S53, 862-367, 390-404, 456-468, toL Tiii, p. 
830 ; Mohan, toL ii, pp. 272-202, 851-357. 
1 8taMe$ at Larg§t toL ii, pp. 605, 651. 



266 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

in both houses of Congress to comprise Eranoe in 
the same declaration, and in the Senate the vote 
was fifteen for, to seventeen against it ; in the other 
House the majority against it was proportionably 
greater." ^ It is likely that this vote would have 
J)e6n reversed had it not been for an intimation that 
France was disposed to pay indemnities.' 

The total number of seizures of American ves- 
sels by the French after 1801, under the imperial 
deisrees, was reported to be five hundred and fifty- 
eight. During the same time the English took nine 
hundred and seventeen American vessels.' 

Besides the French and English spoliations, 

American commerce suffered severely during these 
years at the hands of other powers, generally allies 
of France and acting under the direction or in- 
fluence of Napoleon. These powers were Spain, 

'enmark, Naples, and Holland. The depredations 
imputed to Spain included vessels seized by the 
Spanish alone, by Spanish and French acting to- 
gether, and by the French in Spanish waters and 
sent into French ports or into Spanish ports, to be 
condemned by French consuls. There were many 
cases of earlier date than the period under consider- 
ation. October 1, 1799, Consul Young at Madrid 
reported two hundred and ten seizures of American 

1 St Pap. vol. ix, p. 254. 

2 Ibid. vol. vii, pp 368, 405, 441-447, 468-478, vol. viii, pp. 
11-44, 135-150, 160, 186-205, 324-328, 400-429, vol. ix, pp. 81-85, 
214-217, 233-265; Gallatin's Writings, vol. ii, pp. 197-199, 279. 

» St, Pap. voL vu, pp. 331-342; vol. ix, pp. 36-40. 



\fll] 
1)( 




SPOLIATIONS AFTER 1801 . 267 

Tessels or cargoes within three years. In 1800 the] 
king of Spain declared the blockade of Gibraltar. 
Spoliations continued, and in 1805 the Spaniard 
became especially aggressive. The French decrees 
of Berlin and Milan were followed by Spanish de^ 
crees of the same import, and imder these many 
American vessels were seized.^ During 1809 and 
1810 one hundred and sixty American vessels were 
captured by Danish cruisers, or by Norwegian pri- \ 
vateers commissioned by the king of Denmark, 
and taken into the ports of Denmark and Norway ; 
and in 1810 several vessels captured by French 
privateers were tried and condemned in Danish 
ports.' At Naples in 1809 forty-seven American 
vessels with their cargoes were seized and con- 
verted to public use." About the same time several 
American vessels in Dutch ports were sequestered 
and their cargoes delivered by King Louis to his 
brother, the Emperor Napoleon.^ _ -^ 

The downfall of the French Empire and th^ 
restoration of general peace in Europe at last put 
an end to depredations upon American commerce. 

1 8t Pap, voL iii, p. 170, vol. iv, pp. 426-448, yoL v, pp. 6^ 
70, 208, 487, voL vi, p. 76, vol. vii, pp. 89, 169, vol. ix, pp. 196, 
197; For, Bd. vol. u, pp. 669-678; Doc. 102, pp. 793-795. 

« 8t, Pap. voL vii, pp. 314-330, 342-348, 369, voL viii, pp. 205- 
233, 304-323, vol. ix, pp. 90-119. 

* Ibid. vol. ix, p. 39, vol. xi, p. 492. 

* For. Bd. voL v, pp. 600, 601. 





CHAPTER XII 

THE SPOLIATION CLAIMS 

The depredations committed upon American com- 
merce during the wars of the French Bevolution and 
Empire gave rise to claims for indemnity against 
several European powers. The satisfaction of these 
demands inyolved long delay and many difficulti^. 
^ Early claims against England were paid under 
a provision of Jay's treaty, and the final account 
swith her was settled by the War of 1812. The 
\ chimis against Spain were-ultimatdy adjusted by 
j\ the weaty of 1819, in connection with the purchase 
Ny^ ^ of Florida. A treaty with Denmark in 1830 pro- 
"^ ^ vided for the payment of indemnity by that nation ; 

( » the claims against Denmark were partially offset 

by counter-claims of that power against the United 
V States.^ Demands upon Naples and Holland were 
->persistently urged for many years, and in each case 
payment was refused. Finally the appearance of a 
strong United States squadron in the Bay of Na- 
ples in 1832 induced the king to make compensa- 
tion.* The claims against Holland " were dropped 
and most of them were subsequently, in conformity 

1 Tr. and Conv. p. 1286 ; St. Pap. vol. iv, p. 490, vol. v, pp. 42- 
48, vol. ix, p. 106 ; Boston Monthly Magazine^ January, 1826. 

2 St. Pap. vol. xi, pp. 487-519 ; Richardson, vol. lii, p. 149 ; 
No. Amer, Rev. October, 1826 j Griflas's Life ofM. C. Perry, oh. xi 



THE SPOLIATION CLAIMS 269 

with the suggestions of the Dutch goyermnent, 
presented for payment by France under the treaty 
of 1832, and were allowed and paid." ^ 

The demands upon France fall into two classes, 
according as the spoliations took |>lace before or 
after the ratification of the conveiilion of Septem- 
ber 80, 1800. Depredations committed imdmthe 
decrees of the French Eepublic were disp^ed of, 
as &r as international negotiations^were conc^ed, 
by the conventions of 1800 and 1803. i&NzusMim- 
der the imperial decrees of Napoleon later became 
the subject of negotiation. The claims founded on 
this latter class will be considered first. 

Demands of indemnity for spoliations under the 
empire were urged upon Napoleon at an early period. 
In the taHl of 1812 Joel Barlow, the American min- 
ister to France, nuule a fruitless journey to Wilna 
in West Russia in order to confer with the French 
minister of foreign relations, haying been encour- 
aged to belieye that satisfactory terms could be 
made at that time ; but Napoleon's disastrous Rus- 
sian campaign had just come to an end, and he was 
in full retreat from Moscow. Obyiously nothing 
could be done then, and Barlow died on the return 
journey to Paris.' Albert Grallatin went to France 

1 For. Bd, voL v, pp. 598-629 ; Tr. and Conv, p. 1311 ; Whar- 
ton, YoL ii, pp. 60-54; House Ex. Doc. 117, 24th Congress, 1st 
Session, p. 87 ; No. Amer. Ber. October, 1825. For the terms of 
the French treaty of 1832 (concluded July 4, 1831), see next 

« 8t, Pap. vol. viii, pp. 323-361, voL ix, pp. 213-219; Todd's 
Life of Barlow y ch. ix. 



27Q OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

in 1816 and began a long and tedious negotiation, 
which lasted with intermissions nearly fifteen years, 
being brought to a conclusion in 1831 by William 
C Rives. The Bourbon government of the Besto- 
ration was hostile to the American claims, and its 
ministers evaded, delayed, and postponed; but with 
the accession of Louis Philippe in 1830 the atti- 
ade of the French became more conciliatory. Com- 
promise was necessary, but finally, July 4, 1831, a 
treaty was concluded, and ratified the next year, by 
which France agreed to pay twenty-five million 
francs, which was only about one fifth the amount 
of loss from the depr<sdations. The United States 
agreed to pay France one anda half million francs 
to satisfy certain claims of the French. Even after 
this the conduct of the French government was 
marked by indifference and neglect, and the Cham- 
ber of Deputies for several years refused to appro- 
priate money to put the treaty into effect. Amity 
between the two nations became strained to the 
\l)oint of breaking off diplomatic relations. At last, 
m 1831?, "Great Britain li^ijig^ offeredVmed^t^ 
the matter was arranged and the French govern- 
ment took steps to discharge the obligation. The 
commission appointed under an act of Congress to 
execute this treaty allowed claims against Holland 
and also some against Spain and Naples.^ 

1 Tr. and Conv. pp. 1309-1312 ; Richardson^ vol. ii, pp. 265-276, 
vol. iii, pp. 100-107, 129-132, 135-145, 152-160, 178-185, 188-214, 
215-222, 227; Rep. Sen, Com. voL vi, pp. 47-71; Ho, Ex, Doc, 
117, 24th Congress, Ist Session, pp. 86, 87 ; Wharton, vol. ii, p. 54 ; 



THE SPOLIATION CLAIMS 271 

The depredations committed by the French be- y 
fore 1801 gave rise to claims which may be farther / 
divided into two classes. First are those which were 
the subject of the second article of the convention 
of 1800, and which were surrendered by the United 
States when the convention was ratified with the 
condition imposed by Bonaparte, that ^^the two 
states renounce the respective pretensions which 
were the object of said article." The second class 
of claims comprises those which were the subject 
of the fourth and fifth articles^ of the conven- 
tion of 1800, and were settied by the convention of 
1808, when the United States assumed them to the 
extent of twenty million livres as part of the price 
paid for Louisiana. They were chiefly founded y 
on debts due for supplies furnished, for losses 
on account of the embargo of 1793 at Bordeaux, 
and for property captured but not condemned. 
There was great delay in carrying out the pro- 
visions of the convention of 1803, which called 
forth an acrimonious correspondence between the 
United States minister, Robert B. Livingston, and 
the American commissioners appointed to adjust the 
claims and distribute the indemnity. A so-called 
conjectural note appended to the treaty gave a list 
of losses which was intended to aid the adjustment 

J^o, Amer, Beo, October, 1826 ; American Quarterly Review^ Jxme, 
1885 ; Parton'B Life of Jackson^ vol. iii, ch. xl. For lists of claims 
mgahmt France, Naples, Holland, and Denmark, see For, Rd, yol. 
Ti, pp. 384r-553. 
^ See Appendix 11. 



272 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

of claims, but it was merely an inaccurate memo- 
randum, and, being the subject of much discussion 
and difference of opinion, it proved more of a hin- 
drance than a help.^ 

There now remains to be considered only the 
single class of claims, the subject of the second 
article of the convention of 1800, which have given 
rise to a vast amount of discussion, in and out of 
Congress, from the time of the French Revolution 
to the present day. These are what people commonly 
mean when they speak of the French spoliation 
claims or the old French claims.' 

For the sake of getting rid of the obligations 
imposed by the treaties of 1778 and 1788, which 
had caused embarrassment in the past and were 
likely to in the future, the United States willingly 
relieved France of all obligation to the claimants ; 
but the American merchants and mariners who had 
been despoiled derived no benefit from this arrange- 
ment. They were debarred from the opportunity of 
prosecuting their claims against France, and their 
only hope of relief lay in the sense of justice of 
their own government, which had bartered the claims 
for a substantial equivalent. 

The claimants made their first application to 
Congress for relief in 1802, shortly after the con- 
vention was ratified. The committee to which the 

1 Doc. 102, pp. 779-832, Tr. and Conv, pp. 1307, 1308. 
^ For a review of the subject, see Wharton, yol. iif pp. 714- 
728. 



THE SPOLIATION CLAIMS 273 

matter was referred made a report reciting the 
history of the spoliations, but no action was taken. 
In 1807 another committee made a report very 
favorable to the claimants, also without result. In 
1818 a Senate committee, and in 1822 and 1824 
House committees, made the only unfavorable re- 
ports, except a very few minority reports, that have 
ever been submitted. Both houses then called for 
all the papers relating to the case, and this resulted 
in the publication, in 1826, of much material never 
before printed.^ The effect of the greatly increased 
understanding of all the circumstances, due to this 
exposition of the case, was shown in a rapid suc- 
cession of committee reports during the next few 
years. By 1885 the total number of reports in 
both houses of Congress had reached forty-eight, 
all &vorable except the three early ones already 
mentioned. In 1835 a bill appropriating five 
million dollars passed the Senate, but failed in the 
House for lack of time ; subsequently four other 
bills passed the Senate. In 1846 a bill providing 
the same amount passed both houses, only to *be 
vetoed by President Polk. In 1855 a similar bill 
was vetoed by President Pierce. In 1885 an act 
was passed referring the matter to the Court of 
Claims for its opinion. The court then began an 
examination of the claims, many of which were 
thrown out by reason of insufiGicient or defective 
evidence. Those which could be proved were 

1 Doc. 102. 



274 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

&YorabIy reported upon.^ It was then neeessaij 
for Congress to appropriate money, if it saw fit, 
to pay the claims, and bills for this purpose have 
been passed frcmi time to time, although they have 
sometimes met with strong opposition. In 1896 a 
bill appropriating a million dollars was vetoed by 
President Cleveland. The end has not yet (1908) 
been reached, and some of the old claims are still 
pending.' 

This has never been, strictly speaking, a party 
question, although most of the opposition to recog- 
nizing the claims has been on the part of Democrats. 
Some of the most notable names among the advo- 
cates of the claimants are Marshall, Madison, John 
Quincy Adams, Webster, Clay, Edward Everett, 
Bufus Choate, and Charles Sumner. On the other 
side, besides the three presidents who declared their 
opinions in vetoes, are to be f oimd Calhoun, Benton, 
John A. Dix, and John Sherman. 

Those who have urged the justice of paying 
these claims have done so on th$ ground that the 
old treaties imposed obligations on the United 
States which the government was anxious to get 
rid of; that it used the claims, which were the 

^ The opinions of the court were deliyered by Judge John 
Davis ; see Ct Claims Rep, vol. xxi, pp. 343-407, 436-443, voL xxii, 
pp. 28-57, 411-464. 

2 No, Amer. Rev. January, 1826, July, 1827 ; Amer. Quart. Rev. 
September, 1831 ; Richardson^ voL iv, p. 466, vol. v, p. 307, vol. ix, 
p. 683 ; Rq), Sen. Com, vol. i, pp. 274-378 ; TV. and Com, pp. 1308, 
1309. 



/ 



THE SPOLIATION CLAIMS 276 

property of its citizens, to purchase the renuncia- 
tion by France of these treaties; and that these 
citizens are entitled to reimbursement under the 
Constitution of the United States, which provides 
that no ^ private property be taken for public use 
without just compensation." 

The arguments against the claims are based 
chiefly cm the supposition that they were of no 
yalue, and thattherefore the government was under 
no obligation to the claimants. It is said that they 
were worthless, because France would never have 
paid th^n ; but, it is replied, France paid other old 
daims, and there is no reason to doubt that she 
would have settied these. The French admitted their 
liability for injuries inflicted by their privateers 
upon American commerce. In 1794 they declared 
their disposition to ^^make good the losses which 
eiroumstances inseparable from a great revolution 
may have caused some American navigators," and / 

during the negotiations of 1800 they never denied ^y 
their liability. These facts, in the opinion of Judge 
Davis, dispose of the contention of the defendants 
in the Court of Claims that ^^ it was the right of 
France to retaliate upon the United States" for 
failure to carry out the guarantee and other pro- 
visions of the old treaties.^ Madison when Secretary 
of State wrote to Charles Pinckney, February 6, 
1804 : ^^ The claims, again, from which France was 

1 Diic, 102, pp. 77, 263; Ci, Claims Rep. toI. zzii, pp. 455, 456; 
for oaso of defendapts, see Ibid, 11-18, 20-27. 



276 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH PRANCE 

released, were admitted by France, and the release 
was for a valuable consideration in a correspondent 
release of the United States from certain claims 
on them." * 

It is said that the claims were worthless because 
no equivalent was received for them, the treaties 
having already been abrogated by Congress in 1798. 
Yet although abrogated, the American ministers 
were forced to recognize the treaties as subjects of 
negotiation in 1800 ; and many have accepted the 
French opinion that Congress had no right to ab- 
rogate them, as this could be done only with the 
consent of both nations, except in case of war.' 
This leads to an argument much relied upon, which 
was that the hostilities between the United States 
and France constituted a true war which wiped out 
both the claims and the treaties. But neither party 
declared war, and the weight of authority seems to 
favor the view that technically there was no war, or 
at least only partial or imperfect war. Moreover, it 
may be said, it is not necessary to prove that there 
was no war. It made no difference whether there 
was or not, except perhaps as to claims on accoimt 
of captures made during the war.' Regardless of the 
hostilities, the claims and the treaties were subjects 

1 Doc, 102, p. 795. 

^ In the opinion of the court of claims the treaties were actually 
abrogated in 1798 ; Ct. Claims Rep. vol. xxii, pp. 416-418, 425. " 

' As to whether or not war existed, see Wharton^ vol. ii, pp. 
718-721, vol. iii, pp. 234-238 ; CL Claims Bq). vol. xxi, pp. 367- 
875, voL xxii, pp. 11-17, 32-35, 427-429. 



THE SFOUAnON CLAIMS 277 

of iiegotiatioii,aiididieii Bonaparte, after the oessa- 
tion of hostilities, proposed las amendment to the 
conditional ratification of the United States Senate 
and that amendment was accepted, it proved that 
both parties regarded the chums, and the treaties 
too, as Uyb issues which had not been settled by war. 
What seems to be the strongest argument against 
the claimants is furnished by the Louisiana treaty 
of April 30, 1803, and the conTention of the 
same date relating to claims. The preamble to the 
treaty expresses the desire ** to remove all source of 
misunderstanding relative to objects of discussion 
mentioned in the second and fifth articles of the 
convention of the 8th Yend^miaire, an 9 (30th Sep- 
tember, 1800)." ^ The preamble to the convention 
represents the two nations as ^^ being desirous, in 
compliance with the second and fifth articles of the 
convention of the eighth Vendemiaire,^ ... to secure 
the payment of the sums due by France to the citi- 
zens of the United States." Livingston, who with 
Monroe negotiated for the United States in 1803 
and signed the treaties, in a letter to Talleyrand, 
February 24, 1804, says : ^^ The preamble of the 
Convention expressly asserts that its object was to 
secure the payment of the sums due to the citizens 
of the United States, in compliance with the 2d and 

\** , . , preyenir tout sujet de m^ntelligfenoe r^latiyement auz 
objets de diBoassion mentionn^ dans les articles 2 et 5 de la oon- 
yentdon," etc. 

* " . • . Yonlant en ez^ontion des articles 2 et 6 de la oonyen- 
tion,'* eta 



378 OUK NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

6th articles of the Convention of 8th YendSmiaire, 
an 9 " ; and he appears to indicate in this and otiher 
letters his opinion that the claims supposed to have 
been surrendered by the United States in 1800 
were to be settled under the provisions of the later 
convention.^ This apparent revival and settlement 
of claims once renounced is the strongest pdmt made 
by President Pierce in his veto message.' 

In regard to this matter, however, it may be said 
that the fifth article of the convention of 1803 in- 
cludes among debts to be settled those specified in 
the fourth and fifth articles of the convention of 
I8OO9 while it expressly excludes ^^ prizes whose 
condemnation has been or shall be confirmed.'' It 
was just this class of cases that formed the subject 
of the second article of the earlier convention. 
Livingston himself, writing to Talleyrand, March 
25, 1802, regarding the second article, speaks of 
*^ proof that the indemnities there spoken of were 
intended to be confined to indemnities for captures 
and condemnations only where the cases had been 
finally decided upon." ^ The second and fifth articles 
were mentioned in the preambles of the treaty and 
convention of 1803 doubtless because there had 
been discussion as to the precise sort of indemni- 
ties to which each article applied, and it was neces- 
sary to define the shades of difference more accu- 

1 Doc. 102, pp. 789, 796, 829, B31. 

2 Richardson, vol. v, pp. 315, 319-322 j Wharton, voL ii, pp. 716- 
718. 

.8 Doc. 102, pp. 712, 717. 



THE SPOLIATION CLAIMS 279 

lately. An attempt to do this was made in the 
fourth and fifth articles of the convention of 1803, 
but apparently with indifferent success. On this 
point Judge Davis says : ^< The association of the 
second and fifth articles of the treaty in the pre- 
amble of the treaty of 1803 has been deemed sig- 
nificant as showing an intention to revive and settle 
the second article claims, • • • whereas the allo- 
non was intended to reaffirm the exclusion of these 
islaims. • • • What more natural, then, that, in re- 
hearsing the objects of the treaty of 1803, the two 
articles should be brought together in the preamble, 
the fifth article as embracing the debts due and the 
second article as covering the express exception 
made in the fifth article, which, includes ^ debts con- 
tracted,' and excludes ^ indemnities claimed on ac- 
count of captures and confiscations'? The language 
of the preamble is, therefore, in compliance with 
the second as well as with the fifth articles of the 
treaty of 1800." ^ It is not quite easy to determine 
Livingston's purpose in expressing himself as he 
did in his letter to Talleyrand concerning the pre- 
amble of the convention, imless it was to set forth 
the opinion more clearly expressed by Judge Davis. 
However, very little notice seems to have been taken 
of this point, and it is evident that nearly all per- 
sons, on whichever side of the question, have taken 
it for granted that from an international point of 
view the claims had been renounced in 1801, and 
1 Ct. Claim Rtp. toI. zzi, pp. 807, 808. 



280 OUR NAVAL WAR WITH FRANCE 

the arguments against the claimants have generally 
been based on other grounds. 

Assuming it to be granted that these claims 
were valid against France, before they were sur- 
rendered, the question arises as to how far, legally 
as well as morally, the United States must be 
held under obligation to reimburse the individual 
claimants. On this point we may quote the opinion 
of the Court of Claims, handed down by Judge 
Davis, December 6, 1886 : " So far as we have yet 
seen, not one of the spoliation claims could have 
the slightest pretense of a successful result were 
^^e investigation to be measured by the standard 
set for us in other causes. . • • While the claims 
of individuals now before us are not, from a 
judicial point of view, legal rights, — that is, they 
do not constitute causes of action, — they may be 
none the less rights ; that is, they may be founded 
on law but not enforceable in a court of law." 
And the court concludes ^^ that these claims (as a 
class) were valid obligations from France to the 
United States, that the latter surrendered them 
to France for a valuable consideration benefiting 
the nation, and that this use of the claims raised 
an obligation founded upon right, and upon the 
Constitution (which forbids the taking of private 
property for public use without compensation), to 
compensate the individual sufferers for the losses 
sustained by them." ^ 

1 Ct, Claim Rq). yoL xxii, pp. 29, 30, 31. 



THE SPOLIATION CLAIMS 881 

The French Bevolation and the wars following it 
materially affected the coorse of American history, 
producing complicationB which threatened our well- 
being. Nevertheless, the national character was 
strengthened and developed by difficulties which 
called forth statesmanship and stimulated patriot- 
ism. This was partial compensation for the humilia- 
tion which the weak young republic had to endure 
at the hands of European powers. ^ 

The establishment of a naval force was so essen- 
tial to the wel&ure of the country, and at the same 
time met with so much opposition, that it is not to 
be regretted that circumstances so shaped them- 
selves at this early period as to make it necessary 
to provide such a force. Some of the officers who 
later became famous then got their first training, 
and helped win consideration for the country 
abroad, while at home national self-respect was 
preserved and increased. Notable contributions 
were made to our history by the achievements of 
the Navy. 



APPENDIX 



SOUBGES OF INFORMATION 



This list indndes modi of the aathorilies considted. The 
sbbreviatiocui used in the footnote! are here indicated. 
Other works, cited only once or twice, are also referred 
lo in footnotes. 

State Papers and Publick Docoments of the United States. 
[Edited bj T. B. Wait] Third Editicm. Boston, 
1819. [St Pap.] 

A large amount of space in the first nine yolames is 
devoted to relations with France nnder the Republic 
and Empire. Vol. x comprises confidential documents. 
American State Papers. Edited by Lowrie and Clarke. 
Class I. Foreign Relations. Class vi. Naval Affairs. 
Class iz. Claims. Washington, 1832. 

[For. Rel., Nay. Aff., Claims.] 
Class X contuns OTerything in Wait's series, with 
additional materiaL 
Compilation of Reports of Committee on Foreign Re- 
lations, U. S. Senate, 1789-1901. Washington, 1901. 

[Rep. Sen. Com.] 
Treaties and Conyenlions concluded between the United 
States and Other Powers. Washington, 1889. 

[Tr. and Conv.] 
Contains notes of J. C. B. Davis on the various ne- 
gotiations, which are also treated in Lyman's Diplo- 
macy of the United States (Boston, 1828), Trescot's 



284 APPENDIX 

Diplomatic History, 1789-1801 (Boston, 1857), and 
Moore's American Diplomacy (New York, 1905). 

Public Statues at Large. Edited by Richard Peters. Bos- 
ton, 1845. [Statutes at Large.] 
^ A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presi- 
dents, 1789-1897. By James D. Richardson. Pub- 
lished by Authority of Congress, 1900. [Richardson.] 

XIX Congress, I Session [102]. Message from tho 
President, etc. In compliance with a resolution of the 
Senate, May 20, 1826. Washington, 1826. [Doc. 102.] 
Contains a large amount of material, including doc- 
uments, reports, letters, etc., on the French spoliations 
before 1801. 

A Digest of the International Law of the United States. 
Edited by Francis Wharton. Washington, 1886. 

[Wharton.] 

Cases Decided in the Court of Claims. Vols, xxi and xxii. 
Washington, 1886, 1887. [Ct. Claims Rep.] 

Reports of Cases Argued and Adjudged in the Supreme 
Court of the United States. By William Cranch. New 
York, 1812. [Cranch.] 

Annual Report of the American Historical Association, 
for the Year 1903. Vol. ii. Correspondence of the 
French Ministers to the United States, 1791-1797. 
Edited by F. J. Turner. Washington, 1904. 

[Amer. Hist. Assoc] 

Writings of Greorge Washington. Collected and Edited 
by Worthington Chauncey Ford. New York, 1889. 

[Washington.] 

The Works of John Adams. By Charles Francis Adams. 
Boston, 1853. [Adams.] 

Writings of Thomas Jefferson. Collected and Edited by 
Paul Leicester Ford. New York, 1892. [Jefferson.] 



APPENDIX 286 

^Narratiye and Critical History of America. Edited by 
Justin Winsor. Vol. viii, chap. vi. Wars of the United 
States. By James B. Soley ; chap. vii. Diplomacy of 
the United States. By James B. AngelL Boston, 1888. 

[Narr. and Crit. Hist] 
Contfdns an extensive bibliography, with critical dis- 
cussion of authorities. For a bibliography of the French 
spoliations, see Boston Public Library Bulletin, May, 
1885. 

The American Nation. Edited by Albert Bushnell Hart 
Vol. xi. By John S. Bassett Vol. xii. By Edward 
Ghanning. VoL xiii. By Kendrick G. Babcock. Vol. 
XV. By William McDonald. New York, 1906. 

Contains many valuable chapters written from the 
most recent point of view and with exhaustive biblio- 
graphy. Other general works are Henry Adams's His- 
tory of the United States, McMaster's History of the 
People of the United States, and Schouler's History 
of the United States. 

The Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution 
and Empire, 1793-1812. By Gaptain A. T. Mahan, 
U. S. N. Boston, 1«94. [Mahan.] 

A Contribution to the Bibliography of the History of 
the United States Navy. Compiled by Charles T. 
Harbeck. Riverside Press, 1906. 

This list is indispensable to the student of naval 
history. 

United States Naval Chronicle. By Charles W. Golds- 
borough. Washington, 1824. [Nav. Chron.] 
The author, who was forty-four years in the Navy 
Department, had easy access to original material, and 
has presented much valuable and reliable information. 

Statistical History of the Navy of the United States. By 



286 APPENDIX 

lieutenant Greorge F. EmmonSy U. S. N. Waahing- 

ton, 1853. [Emmons.] 

Gives statistics and a list of captures. 

Marine Roles and Regalations. Boston, 1799. By John 

Adams, President of the United States. [Nay. Beg.] 

These regalations were complied while the navy was 

nnder tiie jorisdiction of the War Department, as is 

shown by frequent references to the authority of the 

Secretary of War ; they occupy 44 pages of a pamphlet 

which contains also the act of March 2, 1799, for the 

government of the navy. 

History of the Navy of the United States of America. 

By J. Fenimore Cooper* London, 1839. [Cooper.] 

History of the United States Navy. By Edgar Stanton 

Maclay. New York, 1894. [Maday.] 

The author has rendered an important service to 

f the student of naval history by bringing to light, from 

the naval archives at Paris, the ofi&cial reports of the 

French commanders. 

The Naval Temple, Boston, 1816. 

Contains some of Truxtun's official reports. 
Batailles Navales de la France. Par 0. Troude. Paris, 

1867. 
Histoire de la Marine Fran^aise sous la Premiere B^ 

publique. Par Edouard Chevalier. Paris, 1886. 
Histoire de la Marine Fran9aise sous le Consulat et 
TEmpire. Par Edouard Chevalier. Paris, 1886. 

The accounts in French naval histories of the en- 
gagements in this war are brief and inaccurate. 
The Frigate Constitution. By Ira N. Hollis. Boston, 1900. 

[HoUis.] 

First Cruise of the United States Frigate Essex, etc. 

By Capt. George Henry Preble, U. S. N. Salem, 1870. 

[Essex.] , 



APPENDIX 287 

lives of DUtingoished American Naval Officers. By J. 
Fenimore Cooper. Aabum, N. Y., 1846. 

[Amer. Nav. Off.] 
The lives indade Dale, Preble, Bainbridge, and 
Shaw. 

Commodore John Barry. By Martin I. J. Griffin. Phil- 
adelphia, 1903. [Barry.] 
Contains many official letters (not elsewhere pub- 
lislied) from the collection of Captain John S. Banies, 
ol New York, and other sources. 

Life of Silas Talbot By Henry T. Tockerman. New 
York, 1850. [Talbot] 

Moses Brown, Captain U. S. N. By Edgar Stanton 
Maclay. New York, 1904. [Brown.] 

Life and Services of Commodore William Bainbridge, 
U. S. N. By Thomas Harris, M. D., Sorgeon U. S. N. 
Philadelphia, 1837. [Bunbridge.] 

lafe of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. By Alexan- 
der Slidell Mackenzie, U. S. N. New York, 1843. 

[Perry.] 

Life of Stephen Decator. By Alexander Slidell Macken- 
zie, U. S. N. Boston, 1846. [Decatur.] 

Memoir of Commodore David Porter. By Admiral 
. David D. Porter. Albany, 1876. [Porter.] 

Biographical Sketch and Services of Commodore Charles 
Stewart Plukdelphia, 1838. [Stewart.] 

Autobiography of Commodore Charles Morris. Boston, 
1880. [Morris.] 

An Impartial Examination of the Case of Captain Isaac 
PhiUips. Baltimore, 1825. [PhiUips.] 

The Yankee Tar. An Authentic Narrative of the Voy- 
ages and Hardships of John Hoxse, etc. Northamp- 
ton, 1840. [Hoxse.] 



283 APPENDIX 

A sailor's aoeoimt of the enuses and baldes of Ibi 
OonsteDatkm. 

Periodicab : — 
$^ Nortih Amorican Be^iewi Oetoberi 1826, Jannaxyt Octo- 
ber, 1826, Jolj, 1827 : Articles by Edward Erarett 
on French (and other) filiation claims. 

American Qaarterlj Review, September, 1831, Jan% 
18S6: French spoliations* See also DemocratioBeTiew, 
February, 1844 ; Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, Febru- 
ary, 1845, October, 1846; Atlantic Mcmthly, Aogos^ 
1870, Febraary, 1891 ; Magaahie of Amerieaa £Bs- 
toxy, Jnly, 1884 ; and Boston Monthly Magaaine, 

) January, 18^: Caleb Cashing on daims against 
Denmark. 
i\^ American Historical Beyiew, April, 1897, April, Jtoly, 

• 1898, January, April, 1906: western schemes of 
France and other nations. 

Proceedings of the U. S. Naval Institate, September, 
1906 (No. 119) : << Early Naval Administration nnder 
the Constitation," by Charles Oscar Paollin. 

The Port Folio, January and March, 1809: Sketch of 
Commodore Truxtun, with letters not elsewhere pub- 
lished. 

Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 
June, 1883: Extracts from the log of the frigate 
Boston (with one or two errors of transcription). 

Putnam's Monthly, May and June, 1853 : Articles by J. 
F. Cooper on the frigate Constitution. 

The United Service, July, 1883: "The Quasi-War 
with France," by Lieut. Nathan Sargent, U. S. N. ; 
November, 1889, to April, 1890 : " The United States 
Bevenue Cutter Service," by Ist Lieut Horatio D. 
Smith, U. S. B. C. S. 



APPENDIX 289 

Newspaper! :— 

Bassell's Gazette, Commercial and Political (Boston 
Commercial Grazette) ; Colombian Centinel and Mas- 
sachusetts Federalist (Boston); Massachusetts Mer- 
cury (Boston. Name changed in 1801 to The Mercury 
and N. £• Palladium); Independent Chronicle and 
UniTersal Advertiser (Boston) ; Thomas's Massachu- 
setts Spy, or Worcester Grazette ; Salem Gazette ; Con- 
necticut Courant (EEartf ord) ; Connecticut Journal 
(New Haven); Gazette of the United States and 
Philadelphia Daily Advertiser ; Federal Grazette and 
Baltimore Daily Advertiser. 

The newspapers printed many letters and reports 
not to be found elsewhere ; also shipping news and gen- 
eral news items, the latter to be accepted with caution. 

MANUSCBIFT SOURCES. 

Massachusetts Historical Society. Pickering Papers. 

[Pickering.] 
Timothy Pickering was Secretary of State from 
1796 to 1800, and the papers contain a good deal of 
naval as well as political material. 

The original log-book of the frigate Boston is in 
the Library of the Society. 

Adams Papers. Correspondence of President John Ad- 
ams. Charles Francis Adams, Esq., kindly caused an 
examination to be made of this collection, which how- 
ever contains littie naval material relating to the pe- 
riod concerned. 

Wadsworth Papers, containing Truztun's address : ^< To 
the Midshipmen of the Navy, and particularly those 
who serve with me." Extracts made with the permis- 
sion of B. K. Longfellow, Esq. 



290 APPENDIX 

IfaTy Department The ooRespondence of diie pmodis 
contaiiied in a number of misceUaneooB Tolnmee and 
18 somewhat scanty, as the regular series of letters 
from captains and other officers do not begin mitil 
later. The earlier material is arranged as fdlows: 
1. Correspondence on naval affairs onder the War 
Department, 1790-1798, in one volume; 2. Letters 

t from the Navy Department to the President, one vot 
mne; 3. Letters from the Navy Department to the 
Secretary of War, one volume; 4. Letters from the 
Navy Department to Congress, one volume ; 6* Gen- 
eral letters from the Navy Department, first four 
volumes ; 6. Letter Book, 15 May, 1799, to 18 July, 
1807, letters from the Navy Department, one volmne ; 
7. Miscellaneous Letters to the Navy Departmffli^ 
first volume ; 8. Letter Book of Captain Alexander 
Murray : letters to the Navy Department, one volume ; 
9. A few log-books. 

n 

TREATIES 

Only the most important articles and those giving 
rise to controversy are given. The full text may be 
found in Treaties and Conventions and in volume viii of 
Statutes at Large. Treaties with France : — 

1. Treaty of Amity and Commerce, February 6, 1778. 
Ratified by Congress May 4, 1778. 

Art. xvn. It shall be lawful for the ships of war of 
either party, and privateers, freely to carry whitherso- 
ever they please the ships and goods taken from their 
enemies, without being obliged to pay any duty to the 
officers of the admiralty or any other judges ; nor shall 



. APPENDIX 291 

such prizes be arrested or seized when they come to and 
enter the ports of either party ; nor shall the searchers 
or other officers of those places search the same, or make 
examination concerning the lawfulness of such prizes, 
but they may hoist sail at any time, and depart and 
carry their prizes to the places expressed in their com- 
missions, which the commanders of such ships of war 
shall be obliged to show ; on the contrary, no shelter or 
refuge shall be given in their ports to such as shall have 
made prize of the subjects, people or property of either 
of the parties ; but if such shall come in, being forced by 
stress of weather, or the danger of the sea, all proper 
means shall be vigorously used that they go out and re- 
tire from thence as soon as possible. 

Art zxn. It shall not be lawful for any foreign pri- 
vateers, not belonging to subjects of the Most Christian 
King nor citizens of the said United States, who have 
commissions from any other Prince or State in enmity 
with either nation, to fit their ships in the ports of either 
the one or the other of the aforesaid parties, to sell what 
they have taken, or in any other manner whatsoever to 
exchange their ships, merchandises or any other lading ; 
neither shall they be allowed even to purchase victuals, 
except such as shall be necessary for their going to the 
next port of that Prince or State from which they have 
commissions. 

Axt zxni. . . • And it is hereby stipulated that free 
ships shall also give a freedom to goods, and that every- 
thing shall be deemed to be free and exempt which shall 
be found on board the ships belonging to the subjects of 
either of the confederates, although the whole lading 
or any part thereof should appertain to the enemies of 
either, contraband goods being always excepted. It is also 



292 APPENDIX 

agreed in like maimer that the same liberty be extended 
to persons who are on board a free ship, with this effect, 
that although they be enemies to both or either party, 
they are not to be taken out of that free ship, unless they 
are soldiers and in actual service of the enemies. 

Art. XXY. To the end that all manner of dissensions 
and quarrels may be avoided and prevented, on one side 
and the other, it is agreed that in case either of the par- 
ties hereto should be engaged in war, the ships and 
vessels belonging to the subjects or people of the other 
ally must be furnished with sea-letters or passports, ex- 
pressing the name, property and bulk of the ship, as also 
the name and place of habitation of the master or com- 
mander of the said ship, that it may appear thereby that 
the ship really and truly belongs to the subjects of one 
of the parties, which passport shall be made oat and 
granted according to the form annexed to this treaty; 
they shall likewise be recalled every year, that is, if 
the ship happens to return home within the space of a 
year* • • • 

Art. XXVII. If the ships of the said subjects, people or 
inhabitants of either of the parties shall be met with, 
either sailing along the coasts or on the high seas, by 
any ship of war of the other, or by any privateers, the 
said ships of war or privateers, for the avoiding of any 
disorder, shall remain out of cannon-shot, and may send 
their boats aboard the merchant ship which they shall 
so meet with, and may enter her to number of two or 
three men only, to whom the master or commander of 
such ship or vessel shall exhibit his passport concerning 
the property of the ship, made out according to the form 
inserted in this present treaty, and the ship, when she 
shall have showed such passport, shall be free and at 



APPENDIX 293 

liberty to pnnae her voyage, so as it shall not be lawful 
to molest or search her in any manner, or to give her 
ehase or force her to quit her intended coarse. 

Extract from the form of passport, annexed to the 
treaty : He [the commander] will keep and cause to be 
kept by his crew on board, the marine ordinances and 
regulations, and enter in the proper office [remettra] a 
list signed and witnessed containing the names and sur- 
names, the places of birth and abode of the crew of his 
ship and of all who shall embark on board her. 

2. Treaty of Alliance, February 6, 1778. Ratified by 
Congress May 4, 1778. 

Art XI. The two parties guarantee mutually from the 
present time and forever against all other powers, to wit : 
The United States to His Most Christian Majesty, the 
present possessions of the Crown of France in America 
as well as those which it may acquire by the future 
treaty of peace : And His Most Christian Majesty guar- 
antees on his part to the United States their liberty, 
soyereignty and independence, absolute and unlimited 
as well in matters of government as commerce, and also 
their possessions, and the additions or conquests that their 
confederation may obtain during the war, from any of the 
dominions now, or heretofore possessed by Great Britain 
in North America. . . . 

3. Convention defining and establishing the Functions 
and Privileges of Consuls and Vice-Consuls. No- 
vember 14, 1788. Ratifications exchanged January 
6, 1790. 

Art. IX. The Consuls and Yice-Consuls may cause to 
be arrested the captains, officers, mariners, sailors and 
all other persons being part of the crews of the vessels 
of their respective nations, who shall have deserted from 



894 APPENDIX 

the said Tanels, in order to send them baek end 
port themontof theeomitrj; for which purpoee the eaifl 
Consnb and Viee^ilonsahi shall address Uiemsdyes to 
the courts, judges and officers competenti and shatt. de- 
mand the said deserters in writings proving bj an eihi- 
bition of the r^;isters of the yessel or ship's roll tiiat 
those men were part of the said crews. • • • 

Art xiL All differences and salts between thesabjeds 
of the Most Christian King in the United States, or be- 
tween the citizens of the United States within the domin- 
ions of the Most Christian King, and particolarij all dis- 
pates relative to the wages and terms of engagemeot of 
the crews of the respective vessels, and all diff eremses^ of 
whatever nature they be, which may arise between tiie 
Iffivates of the said crews, or between any of lliem and 
their ciq[ytains, or between the captains of differei^ vee^ 
sels of their nation, shall be determined by the reqpee* 
tive Consols and Vice-Consnls, either by a reference to 
arbitrators, or by a summary judgment, and without 
costs. No officer of the country, civil or military, shall 
interfere therein, or take any part whatever in the mat- 
ter ; and the appeab from the said consular sentences shall 
be carried before thetribunals of France or of the United 
States, to whom it may appertain to take cognizance 
thereof. 

4. Convention of Peace, Commerce, and Navigation, 
September 30, 1800. Ratifications exchanged July 
31, 1801. 

Art. n. The Ministers Plenipotentiary of the two 
parties not being able to agree at present respecting the 
treaty of alliauce of 6th February, 1778, the treaty of 
amity and commerce of the same date, and the conven- 
tion of 14th of November, 1788, nor upon the indenmities 



APPENDIX 2d5 

mntually dne or daimed, the parties will n^;otiate farther 
on these snhjeets at a conTenient time, and until they 
may have agreed upcm these points the said treaties and 
convention shall have no operation, and the relations of 
the two ooontries shall be regulated as foUows: 

Art m. The public ships which have been taken on 
one part and the other, or which may be taken before 
the exchange of ratifications shall be restored. 

Art IV. Property captured, and not yet definitively 
condenmed, or which may be captured before the ex- 
change of ratifications, (contraband goods destined to an 
enemy's port excepted,) shall be mutually restored. . . . 

Art y. The debts contracted by one of the two nations 
with individuals of the other, or by the individuals of 
of one with the individuals of the other, shall be paid, or 
the payment may be prosecuted, in the same manner as 
if there had been no misunderstanding between the two 
States. But this clause shall not extend to indemnities 
claimed on account of captures or confiscations. 

5. Convention for Payment of Sums due by France 
to Citizens of the United States, April 30, 1803. 
Ratifications exchanged October 21, 1803. 

Art iv. It is expressly agreed that the preceding arti- 
cles shall comprehend no debts but such as are due to 
citizens of the United States, who have been and are yet 
creditors of France, for supplies, for embargoes, and 
prizes made at sea, in which the appeal has been pro- 
perly lodged within the time mentioned in the said con- 
vention 8th Vend^miaire, ninth year (30th September, 
1800). 

Art y. The preceding articles shall apply only, 1st, 
to captures of which the council of prizes shall have or- 
dered restitution, it being well understood that the claim- 



296 APPENDIX 

mat cannot have reetmne to the United States, otherwifle 
than he might have had to the Qovernment of the French 
Republic, and only in case of insufficiency of the captors ; 
2d, the debts noentioned in the fifth article of the eonyen- 
tion contracted before the 8th Vend^miaire, an 9, (dOth 
September, 1800,) the payment of which has been here- 
tofore claimed of the actual Goyemment of France, and 
for which the creditors have a right to the protection of 
the United States : the said fifth article does not compre- 
hend prizes whose condemnation has been or shall be 
confirmed* • • • 

Treaty with Great Britain : 

6. Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation, No- 
vember 19, 1794. Ratification exchanged October 
28, 1795. 

Art XXIV. It shall not be lawful for any foreign pri- 
vateers (not being subjects or citizens of either of the 
said parties) who have commissions from any other 
Prince or State in enmity with either nation to arm 
their ships in the ports of either of the said parties, nor 
to sell what they have taken, nor in any other manner 
to exchange the same ; nor shall they be allowed to pur- 
chase more provisions than shall be necessary for their 
going to the nearest port of that Prince or state from 
whom they obtained their commissions. 

Art. XXV. It shall be lawful for the ships of war and 
privateers belonging to the said parties respectively to 
carry whithersoever they please the ships and goods 
taken from their enemies, without being obliged to pay 
any fee to the officers of the admiralty, or to any judges 
whatever ; nor shall the said prizes, when they arrive at 
and enter the ports of the said parties, be detained or 



APPENDIX 297 

seized, neither shall the searchers or other officers of 
those places visit such prizes (except for the purpose of 
porerentiiig the carrying of any part of the cargo thereof 
on shore in any manner contrary to the established laws 
of revenney navigation, or commerce,) nor shall such 
officers take cognizance of the validity of such prizes ; 
bat they shall be at liberty to hoist sail and depart as 
gpeedily as may be, and carry their sud prizes to the 
place mentioned in their commissions or patents, which 
tiie commanders of the said ships of war or privateers 
shall be obliged to show. No shelter or ref age shall be 
given in their ports to sach as have made a prize upon 
the subjects or citizens of either of the said parties ; but 
if forced by stress of weather, or the dangers of the sea, 
to enter therein, particular care shall be taken to hasten 
their departure, and to cause them to retire as soon as 
possible* Nothing in this treaty contained shall, how- 
ever, be construed or operate contrary to former and ex- 
isting public treaties with other sovereigns or States. 
But the two parties agree that while they continue in 
amity neither of them will in future make any treaty 
that shall be inconsistent with this or the preceding 
article. • • • 

m 

DECREES 

The following extracts include the essential provisions 
of the more important decrees issued (A) by or under 
the authority of the National Convention and the Exec- 
utive Directory of the French Republic and (B) by Na- 
poleon. The full text may be seen in Wait's State 
Papers, volume vii, pp. 147-169. 



296 APPENDIX 

A. Decrees of the Republic. 

1. May 9, 1793: 

Art I. Ships of war and privateers may seize and 
carry into the ports of the Bepablick, neutral vessels 
which are wholly or in part loaded with provisions, being 
neutral property bound to an enemy's port, or with 
merchandise belonging to an enemy. 

Art n. Merchandise belonging to an enemy b de- 
clared a lawful prize, seizable for the profit of the cap- 
tor. Provisions being neutral property, shall be paid for 
at the price they would have sold for at the port where 
they were bound. 

Art m. In all cases neutral vessels shall be released 
as soon as the unlading of the provisions or the seizure 
of the merchandise shall be efiFected. The freight shall 
be settled at the rate paid by the charterers. A proper 
compensation shall be granted for the detention of the 
vessels by the tribunals, who are ready to adjudge the 
prizes. 

2. July 2, 1796 (14 Messidor, an 4) : 

All neutral or allied powers shall without delay be 
notified that the flag of the French Bepublick will treat 
neutral vessels, as to confiscation, search or detention 
[visite ou prehension], in the same manner as they shall 
suffer the English to treat them. 

3. March 2, 1797 (12 Ventose, an 5) : 

Art. y. Agreeably to the 21st article of the treaty of 
London of the 19th of November, 1794, every individual 
known to be American, who holds a commission given 
by the enemies of France, as also every mariner of that 
nation making a part of the crew of private or publick 
ships [navires ou vaisseaux] of the enemy, shall be from 
that act alone declared a pirate and treated as such, with- 



APPENDIX 299 

oat allowing him in any case to show that he had been 
forced by violence, menaces or otherwise. 

Art YL In conformity to the law of the 14th Febm- 
ary, 1793, the regulations of the 21st October, 1744, and 
of the 26th July, 1778, as to the manner of proving the 
right of property in neutral ships and merchandise, shall 
be executed according to their form and tenor. In conse- 
quence every American vessel shall be a good prize 
which has not on board a list of the crew [r6le d'^ui- 
page] in proper form, such as is prescribed by the model 
annexed to the treaty of the 6th February, 1778, a com- 
pliance with which is ordered by the 25th and 27th 
articles of the same treaty. 

4. January 18, 1798 (29 Nivose, an 6): 

Art I. The character of vessels in what concerns their 
quality as neutral or enemy shall be decided by their 
cargo ; in consequence every vessel found at sea, laden 
in whole or in part with merchandise coming [prove- 
nants] from England or her possessions, shall be declared 
good prize, whoever may be the proprietor of these 
productions or merchandise. 

B. Imperial Decrees. 
6. November 21, 1806 (Berlin decree) : 

Art I. The British Islands are declared in a state of 
blockade. 

Art n. All commerce and correspondence with the 
British Islands are prohibited. In consequence, letters 
or packets addressed either to England, to an English- 
man, or in the English language, shall not pass through 
the post office and shall be seized. 

Art m. Every subject of England, of whatever rank 
and condition soever, who shall be found in the coun- 



300 APPENDIX 

tries oceapied by onr troops or by those of ottr alfies, 
shall be made a prisoner of war. 

Art ly. All magazines, merchandisd, or property 
whatsoever, belonging to a subject of England, shall be 
declared lawful prize. 

Art. y. The trade in English merchandise is forbid- 
den ; all merchandise belonging to England or coming 
from its manufactories and colonies is declared lawful 
prize. 

Art. Yi. One half of the proceeds of the confiscation 
of the merchandise and property, declared good prize by 
the precedmg articles, shall be applied to indemnify 
the merchants for the losses which they have suffered 
by the capture of merchant vessels by English cruisers. 

Art vn. No vessel coming directly from England or 
from the English colonies, or having been there since the 
publication of the present decree, shall be received into 
any port 

Art. Yin. Every vessel contravening the above clause 
by means of a false declaration, shall be seized and the 
vessel and cargo confiscated as if they were English 
property. 

6. December 17, 1807 (Milan decree) : 

Art. I. Every ship, to whatever nation it may belong, 
that shall have submitted to be searched by an English 
ship or to a voyage to England or shall have paid any 
tax whatsoever to the English government, is thereby and 
for that alone declared to be denationalized, to have f or^ 
feited the protection of its king and to have become 
English property. 

Art. II. Whether the ships thus denationalized by the 
arbitrary measures of the English government enter 
into our ports or those of our allies, or whether they fall 



APPENDIX 301 

into the hands of oar ships of war or of our privateers, 
they are declared to be good and lawful prize. 

Art m. The British islands are declared to be in a 
state of blockade both by land and sea. Every ship, of 
whatever nation or whatsoever the nature of its cargo 
may be, that sails from the ports of England or those of 
the English colonies and of the countries occapied by 
English troops and proceeding to England or to the 
English colonies or to countries occapied by English 
troops, is good and lawful prize, as contrary to the 
present decree, and may be captured by our ships of 
war or our privateers and adjudged to the captor. 

IV 

VESSELS IN SERVICE, 179S-1801 

This is believed to be a complete list of vessels of the 
regular navy down to 1801, arranged in groups accord- 
ing to the year in which their active service began ; and 
also includes eight revenue cutters transferred from the 
Treasury Department, nine galleys built for harbor de- 
fense under the act of May 4, 1798, and three vessels 
temporarily impressed into the service in the West Indies. 
The names of the various commanding officers are also 
given. Vessels retained in the navy after the war are in- 
dicated by italics. 

Regular Navy : 

1798. United StateSy 44, Barry. 

Constitution, 44, Nicholson, Talbot 

Constellation, 36, Truxtun, Murray. 

Ganges, 24, Dale, Tingey, Mnllowny. 

Portsmouth, 24, McNeill. 

George Washington, 24, Fletcher, Bainbridge. 



B02 APFENBIX 

Merrimack, 24, Brown. 

Delaware, 20, Decatur, Baker, SpotswoocL 

Montezuma, 20, Mnrraj, Mnllownj. 

Baltimore, 20, Phillips, S. Barron, Cowper, 

Herald, 18, Sever, Bassell. 

Norfolk, 18, Williame, Bainbridge, CalTort 

Richmond, 18, S. Barron, Speake, C. Talbo^ Lan 

Pinckney, 18, Heyward. 

Retaliation, 14, Bainbridge. 

1799. Insorgente, 36, Murray, Fletcher. 
Oeneral OreenSy 28, Perry. 
Adams, 28, Morris, Robinson. 
John AdamSf 28, Cross. 
Boston, 28, Little. 
Connecticat, 24, Tryon, Derby* 
Maryland, 20, Rodgers. 
Patapsco, 20, Greddes. 
Warren, 20, Newman, J. Barron. 
Augosta, 14, McElroy. 
Enterprise, 12, Shaw, Sterrett. 
Experiment, 12, Maley, Stewart. 

1800. President, 44, Truxtun. 

Congress, 36, Sever. 
Chesapeake, 36, S. Barron. 
Philadelphia, 36, Decatori 
New York, 36, Morris. 
Essex, 32, Preble. 
Trumbull, 24, Jewett. 
Revenue Cutters : 

Pickering, 14, Chapman, Preble, Hillar. 
Eagle, 14, Campbell, Bunbury. 
Scammel, 14, Adams, Femald, Jones. 
Governor Jay, 14, Leonard. 



ASVESDUL 



,14. 

Dil%6oee, 12, J. Brown. 

Sontfi OmliM, 12, FkyiM. 

GcMnl Occae, 10, Pkiea. 
FortMiiponiysemee: 

Conqoert of Half, 12, Watoon. 

Ani|Jiit*^ij^ 5, Ijurtei* 

Sdlf,HiiIL 
Ganeys: 

ChaiksliMi. 

South Cttolma. 

Beaafort 

Stlfaiys. 

SaTannah. 

Frofceetor. 

GoTemor Williams. 

GoTemor Dayie. 

Mars. 



COMlCANDma OFEICEBS, 179S-1801 

This list comprises all the captains appointed in the 
navy before 1801 ; also the masters and lieutenants com- 
mandant. Some of the revenue officers in command 
of the cutters were not transferred to the regular navy. 
A few officers appointed to command the galleys are 
not included. Officers retained in the navy after the 
war are indicated by italics. 

Captains : 
John Barry, June 4, 1794-Sept 13, 1803. 
Samuel NichoUon, June 4, 1794-Deo. 29, 1811. 
Silas Talbot, June 4, 1794-Sept 23, 1801. 



Bkhardl>(deyJxme4^1794r4i^.Wft90!k 
Thamaa TruaBhm, 3vm 4 1794-1802. 
James Sever, July 18, 1794rJmie 18» 1801, 
Stephen Decatur, Kdj U, 1798-Oet ^18(Kk 
Christopher Raymond Vmj^imml^ 1798**i^S^ 

180L 
Biohwrd V. Moms, Jonn i;^ l79a>lCi9 ISi IfiOi. 
Alexander Murray, July 1, 1798-OQt 6, 18^ 
Isaac FhiUips, July 3, 1798-Jan. 10, 1799. 
Daniel McNeill, July 17, 1798-Odk %^,J»«ft. 
Thomas Williams, July 17, 1798^Mii9'; 9^M9». 
Tlumas Tingey, Sept 3, 1798-1801. ^m^^ViMr^ 

Feb. 23, 1829- 
Patrick Fletcher, Sept. 9, 1798-180Q« 
Jonathan Chapman, Sept. 10, 1798-Jai^ S8» jr99. 
George Cross, Sept. 10, 1798-^18^ 
Samud Barren, Sept 13, 1798-Qot 29^ 181ft 
Moses Brown, Sept 15, 1798-Appil 3, 1801. 
Moses Tryon, Sept 16, 1798-1801. 
Richard Derby, Feb. 22, 1799-May 12, 1801. 
George Little, March 4, 1799-Oct 22, 1801. 
John Eodgers, March 5, 1799-Aug. 1, 1838. 
Edward Preble, May 15, 1799-Aug. 25, 1807. 
John Mullowny, May 21, 1799-Sept 26, 1801. 
James Barron, May 22, 1799-April 21, 1851. 
Thomas Baker, June 15, 1799-April 13, 1801. 
Henry Geddes, Sept 24, 1799-April 11, 1801. 
Thomas Robinson, Sept 24, 1799-Sept 26, 1801. 
WiUiam Bainbridge, May 20, 1800-July 27, 1833. 
Hugh Q. Campbell, Oct 16, 1800-Nov. 11, 1820. 
Masters Commandant: 

Cyrus Talbot, May 21, 1799-Oct. 23, 1801. 
David Jewett, June 1, 1799-June 3, 1801. 



APPENDIX 806 

Timothy Newman, July 1, 1799-Aug. 15, 1800. 

William Cowper, July 13, 1799-April 3, 1801. 

Richard Law, Dec. 16, ITQQ-April 2, 1801. 

Charles C. Russell, Jan. 15, 1800-Oct 23, 1801. 

Benjamin HiUar, Feb. 8, 1800-1800. 

John A. Spotswood, Feb. 15, 1800-June 4, 1801. 
lieutenants Commandant : 

Charles Stewart^ March 9, 1798. 

Isaac ffuU, March 9, 1798. 

Archibald McElroy, March 11, 1798. 

Andrew Sterrett, March 25, 1798. 

Josias M. Speake, July 3, 1798. 

John Shaw, Aug. 3, 1798. 

M. S. Bunbury, Aug. 4, 1798. 

Thomas Calvert, Sept 4, 1798. 

Samuel Heyward, Oct 31, 1798. 

Mark Femald, June 10, 1799. 

John H. Jones, June 12, 1799. 

James P. Watson, June 29, 1799. 

George Price, July 19, 1799. 

William Maley, Aug. 1, 1799. 

David Porter, Oct 8, 1799. 
Revenue Officers (not transferred to the navy) : 

Francis Bright 

John Brown. 

John W. Leonard. 

John Adams. 

James Payne* 



a06 APPENBIX 

VI 

9HB VAxmOAIi DAT 

The eonfanon of the eiyil and the naaiiisal day,^ leiiili- 
ing in the insertion of twenly-f onr imaginary hoan^ seems 
first to occor in the '< Naval Histoiy " of Thonias Glaxk 
(1813) ; he was followed by Coopor and others. :The 
error does not appear in earlier and contemporary ae- 
eonnts (see letter in the tezt^ p. 166 ; also <' Port Folio/' 
Janoary, 1809, p. 35). Investigation having eaUed atten- 
tion to the method of reckoning time osed in the:#ady 
days of the navy, a request for more precise infonpation 
produced the following letter from Bobert W. WiQsoni 
Professor of Astronomy in Harvard Univendtgr ; — * 

Dbab Db. Allen, — I send yoa what I have been 
able, in a limited time, to gather in regard to the *' Naa- 
tical Day." 

The reliance of the English and American seaman of 
the last quarter of the eighteenth century was Moore's 
'< Practical Navigator " of which the 13th edition was 
published at London in 1799. In this there is no trace 
of the usage in question. 

An American edition of Moore edited by Dr. Bow- 
ditch was published in 1799. In this I find on p. 223 the 
following: ^'Although the time used in the Nautical 
Almanac and sea account differ one day from each 
other. • • • '' 

A second edition (1800) has the same phrase, p. 201. 

Dr. Bowditch published his "Practical Navigator" 
as an improvement on Moore's, and in the first edition, 

^ See above, p. 166. 



APPENDIX 307 

Newbniyport, 1802, ocean thiB sentence : ^< • . . a civil 
day IB reckoned from midnight to midnight, and ib di- 
vided into 24 hoora ; the first 12 hours are marked A. m., 
the latter 12 hours p. m., being reckoned from midnight 
in numerical succession from 1 to 12, then beginning 
again at 1 and ending at 12. Astronomers begin their 
computation at the noon of the civil day, and count the 
hours in numerical succession, from 1 to 24, so that the 
morning hours are reckoned from 12 to 24. Nayigators 
begin their computation at noon, 12 hours before the 
commencement of the civil day (and 24 hours before the 
commencement of the astronomical day) ; marking their 
hours from 1 to 12 A. M. and p. m. as in the civil com- 
putation." 

The same passage occurs in the subsequent editions 
till 1880. The copyright having become the property of 
the government in 1866, a complete revision was made 
under the direction of the Bureau of Navigation in 1881, 
in which the nautical day is ignored. The doctrine was 
taught at Comer's Commercial College in Boston cer- 
tainly as late as 1858, though Coffin's text-book of about 
that date says " now rarely used." 

Bowditch's Navigator had an immediate success and 
came into competition with Moore's book on both sides 
of the Atiantic I have in my library a copy of " The 
improved Practical Navigator ... in a complete Epi- 
tome of Navigation . • . originally written and calcu- 
lated by Nathaniel Bowditch, revised, re-calculated, and 
newly arranged, by Thomas Eirby • . . second edition, 
London, 1806." 

This contains on p. 193 the following : " In addition 
to these modes some have thought it proper to notice a 
third which they have termed the nautical or sea day ; 



980 msvmx 

ppjMJngtinitfi ii itron^ «i jqnp&irtbii oi tt» #MI cfay 
lD> naot i — I oifl oiwimtt ; bni t • diip^t jwiitii>l> ot daily 
MWNOHi b iB«d^ op <Mt' 6Mh eiffl dqr at mcih it hm 
bam MHdtluifttiieiiHitied^ ends al^iioMu 11ij[%lieww 
avai^ ia not aa$ tmtf Umiaffii 1k» imfm oMoMueaa on 
board »alii9> or ifca Joormi^ Ana aaada np' of ooadadiid 
•vaij dqF at iioob» I'et tlia liato of tkaaa ooniimaiaaa «io 
an eiq ?> i«e d in flwaha tiaaa^^aa happwiq; aMuy at 1 
iu ic or 2 p.. ic» Ae. of Aa dfil dagr*'' 

Brw aU Ai% and aqwdally froaa tha |fa«aa <«aMNr> 
bttta tlMa«^ k iirapar '' in dia Bai^iriL^aditf^ 
dital^ I amdada Aat tlia wa of tlae nanlieal Aqt was 
a pnraly Amarieaii praefcio^ whoae history it woidd ba 
iatasostfa^ to traaa. Tour aiwoda hatoAAM m strfUng 
iastasaa of tfia aonfasioii lild^ to arisa be^iMan tba two 
niodos of reekoning laiii^ and parhapv halps to axphia 
why the custom was allowed to lapse. 
Very truly yours, 

BOBEBT W. WiLLSOK. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Adams, John, president, ai>pointB 
envoys to France, 23; his speech 
ofifends the Directory, 23; his 
election disliked in fWice, 25, 
26, 32; messages of, 38, 55, 245; 
revokes exequaturs of French 
consuls, 39; nominates Wash- 
ington to command the army, 
39; appoints officers, 50, 51 ; and 
secretary of the navy, 54; au- 
thorized to increase the navy, 
65, 56; and to commission priva- 
teers, 58, 59; author of navy reg- 
ulations, 60; appoints generals, 
60; instructions of, 63, 64, 66, 

79, 106. 117, 132, 137, 156; his 
correspondence, 67, 104, 107, 
108, 122, 130; dismisses Phillips, 

80, 81 ; addresses of Congress to, 
88; relations with Guadeloupe, 
87, 88; called upon to retaliate, 
88; his policy as to prisoners, 89, 
129; relations with San Domin- 
go, 113, 114; opens trade with 
8an Domingo, 114, 115; retains 
Truxtun, 121; promotes Talbot, 
122; announces the death of 
Washington, 137; his opinion of 
Maley, 147; his speech to Con- 
gress, 223; appoints envoys to 
negotiate with France, 245, 246; 
approves a peace establishment, 
255. 

Adams, John Quincy, 274. 

Adams, U. S. frigate, 56; on the 
Gaudeloupe station, 127, 133, 
177, 193, 218; takes prizes, 128. 
177; returns to New York, 178; 
on the San Domingo station, 
216; retained in the service, 252, 
255. 257. 

Adet, Pierre Augusts, French min- 
ister to the United States. 16, 18. 

Africa, British frigate, 21. 

Aigle. French privateer, 201. 

Algiers, 41, 42, 56, 221. 

Alliance. U. S. frigate, 41, 49. 

Alliance with France, 1, 2, 247. 



Amory, William, lieutenant of 
marines, 183. 

Amour de laPatrie, French priva- 
teer, 90. 

Amour de la Patrie, French priva- 
teer, 204. 

Amphitrite, imze sdiooner, 216. 

Antigua, 76, 128, 129, 149. 

Archer, John, lieutenant, 101. 

Armament of American ships, 57, 
58, 99, 171. 214. 

Army, 39, 60. 

Atlantic, American armed vessel, 
236, 237. 

Augusta, U. S. brig, 133, 179, 187, 
188. 199, 216. 

Aux Cayes, 179, 188. 

Bainbridge, William, lieutenant, in 
command of the Retaliation, 72; 
surrenders to the Frendi, 73, 74; 
saves American ships, 74; at 
Gaudeloupe, 75, 91; returns 
home, 75, 87; master command- 
ant, in conmiand of the Norfolk, 
117; reports being chased by a 
French frigate, 118, 119; on the 
San Domingo and Havana sta- 
tions, 120; returns to New York 
with the Norfolk, 190; captain, 
in command of the GeOTge Wash- 
ington, 221. 

Baker, Thomas, captain, 149, 173. 

Balance, French privateer. 235. 

Baltimore, U. S. ship, cruise of, 65, 
68; on convoy duty. 71, 77, 79; 
off Havana, 76; held up by a 
British squadron. 77-80; in 
Truxtun's squadron, 83; on the 
Gaudeloupe station. 111, 128, 
133, 193; Barron in conmiand of, 
121; takes prizes, 130, 193. 

Barbadoes, 82. 127. 215. 

Barlow, Joel, 37, 269. 

Barney, Joshua, 49. 

Barras, Paul Jean Francois Nico- 
las, president of the French 
Directory, 22, 23. 



812 



INDSX 



Earreaut, captain. Id eommaad of I 
the I&flurg0Dt«i 74, 94; surraa^ 
ders to TruxtuD., &4. USi bis re- 
port, 95-gS; bla orders, 00, 100, 

BaiTOD, Jamea, Hcutenp-at, €9.^ 

Bemoti, Saniud, capt-ain, in oom- 
maDd of the Baltimore, S3, 121; 
I3l the CoQiteUatioDt ^i: traua^ 
fBirsd to the Qbeaapeakftt 121; 
criming, 217^ 

fiairy, John, qaptain, 4S: a^ior 
officer of the cavy^ 40, 39; ia 
eonun&nd of thct United States, 
63, 06; cruisiDg, 06. 67. 69; aaiJs 
for the WeKt IndJea, 07; return a, 
63, 00; commodore, in comcuaDd 
of a equndron^ 69, 72, 81, 86; hia 
■quadron, 81 ; hia station and Or- 
deLTB. S2; atieu!ipta to exchange 
priaoDerB, 90 , 9 1 ; aendfl a convoy 
home, 6i2; mentioned , 107, ill, 
124; returns to Fhiladdphia, 
108; fecfuiting, lOS, 100; re- 
ceives CTULAiDg orders. 109. 110, 
113; sails for Franoe with an- 
Toya, 110; in coounand of the 
Oaudeloupe Atntiott^S^O; returns 
home, 221. 

fiasfie Ttrre, 38, 75, 91 , 163, 200. 

Buyonne decree, 264. 

BelJamy, 27. 

Ben ton, Thomae Hart, 274. 

Berc«au, Freaeh corvette, 177; her 
gLCtion with the Boatou, 210- 
214; BUrrenders, 211, 212, 214; 
her force, 211, 212; her Iobe^, 
211. 212, 214; talcen to Boston, 
215; iB given up, 216, 250. 

Berlin decree. 263, 267. 

Blake, Joshua, midshipauia, 147. 

Bonaparte, Joseph, 247. 

Bonapmrte, Napoleon,, firat eonetil 
of Frapce, reoeivea American 
envojm, 247; ratifies the treaty, 
250, 271, 277. See Napoleon. 

Bonaparte, FVeoch privateer, 112. 

Bordeaux. embargDat, 31, 30, 271. 

Boston, U. 8. frigate, built, 50, 116; 
launehed, 116; on the San Do- 
mingo Btatton, liO, 133, 178, 
ITS, 187; captnnei the Flying 
Fish, 110; attacked by pica- 
Toona, 178; retuma to Boston, 
179; eruiiiing, 210; her afition 
with the Bereeau, 210-214; her 
losses, 211» 212; her hmx^ $U, 



315; rettjma to BoetOQ, 215; 

retained in the aervke, 252, 255, 

257. 
Bosworth, Hath&mel, lieutenant, 

153, 
Bradford. Gamaliel, 239, 240. 
Brown, MoBes. eaptain, in com- 
mand of the Merrimack, 81, 02; 

on eoQvoy duty^ 92, 207; tftlfiP 

prkes, 113* 

Cabot, George, 54^ 
Geibotin, John Caldw^, 27C 
Calliope, Ameriotipn brig, 37. 
Calvert, Thomae, lieuteDant, I9Q. 
Cape Frangoia, French commis- 

tioners at, 35; privateer from, 

05; opened to American trade^ 

114; ertiieing off, 116, 120, 190; 

naval rendezvous nt, 120, 124, 

148, 1 SO, 183, 101 . 190. 208, 210; 

news of peace hrougbt to, 220, 
Oarmlok, Dianiel^ captain of ma- 

rinea. 183, 134. 
CarronadeSf 57, 
Cartbageoa, 190, 102. 
Cassius, French privateer, IS. 
Cayenne. 75, 82, 123, 1^4, 127« 194« 

105, 196,211. 
Ohapman, Jonathan, captain. 66, 
Charming Betsey, Ameritsaa 

armed schooner, 226, 227. 
Chesapeake, Ametican ajmed ves- 
sel, 233. 
Chesapeake, U, 8. fri^te, built, 

56; affair of the, 77; go&B into 

oommiBMOii, 121; cruiaing, 217; 

retained in the service, 252, 255, 

257, 
Chba^ AMerican armed ahip, I59l 

225. 
Choate, RufuB. 274. 
CincinoAtua, AiQcrii^n ship, 38. 
Citoycnne, French privateer, 201. 
Claghorae, George, naval eon- 

Htructor. 48. 
Claima. j^ SpoUatioii elttiiEieu 
Clay, Henry. 274. 
Clement, Louis Marie, Ueutenanti 

on the Beroeau, 212; Feport of^ 

213,214. 
Cleveland, Grover. presideDt, 274v 
Clinton, George, 16, 
Colnmbui, French armed abJp« 

22S. 
Coviuii«ee» Anued^m ehm* 37. 



INDEX 



818 



■OomiiMnSf pBoiMtion oft 83—85, 
133,222.223,224.254.204. 5m 

Cioncreai. approrw neotnlity. 4; 
G«iet deobw nf eranoe of di»- 
pates to. 10; forbids aenriee on 
foreign privBtoers, ete., 10, 11, 
87; provklw for defense, 38, 30, 
41. 42, 55. 56; sbro^itee Fteneh 
treaties, 30, 247. 248, 276; au- 
thoriies eonstraetion of frigates, 
42, 45; and the appointment of 
oflloers, etc. 50, 51; establishes 
the marine eorps, 53; and the 
Navy Department, 54; author- 
ises more ships, 55-57; and pn- 
vateering. 58, 50, 225; prescribes 
regulations. 50. 60; provides 
other deiensiTe measures, 60, 
61; anthoriaes e^ytiues, 61, 63, 
66; paaees retaliation act, 61, 88; 
authorises seventy-fours, etc., 
85; well disposed to the navy, 
88; calls for report on prisoners, 
88, 80; restricts intercourse with 
France, 105, 106, 113, 115; votes 
Truxtun a gold medal, 177; rati- 
6es treaty, 221, 249. 250, 277; 
receives President's speech, 223; 
and report on navy, 252; pro- 
vides for peace establidiment, 
255; authorises suppression of 
piracy, 262; passes embargo and 
non-intercourse acts, 263, 264; 
discusses possible war with 
France, 266; passes bills for 
relief of claimants, 270, 273. 
274; claimants make applica- 
tion to. 272, 273; makes appro- 
priations, 274. 

Congress, U. & frigate, built, 56, 
131; on convoy duty, 132, 151; 
sails for the East Indies, 151; 
dismasted. 152, 153, 159; men- 
tioned, 154, 155. 156; on the San 
Domingo station, 191, 208, 209, 
216; her narrow escapes, 209; 
returns home, 217; retained in 
the service, 252, 255, 257; or- 
dered to Washington, 258; off 
Mt. Vernon, 258. 259. 

Connecticut. U. S. Ship, 56; on the 
Guadeloupe station, 128, 133, 
193, 199; off Porto Rico. 129; 
takes prizes, 129. 130, 149. 193; 
oruisiog, 221. 



Cooqpest of Italy, priw brig. 120. 

140. 150, 163. 
Oonstdlation, U. a frigate, 47; 
laundied, 48; fitted out. 55; 

{ armed with earronades, 57, 120; 
cruise of. 64; her second cruise, 
65, 68; on convoy duty, 71; 
Tmztun's flagship, 83, 03; her 
action with the Insurgente, 03- 
08; her force, 00; her losses, 100; 
reeeives prisoners, 101. 102; at 
St. Qiristopher. 103. 104; xe- 
toms home, 104; luck of, 105; 
sails again for the West Indies. 
121 ; mentioned. 130, 217; meets 
the Insurgente. 150. 163. 176; 
on the Guadeloupe station. 162. 
180; chases the Vengeance, 163, 
164; and fi^ts her. 164-in. 
199; her force. 171; her crew, 
172; her losses, 172; her fire, 
174; after the batUe,175. 176; 
at Jamaica, 176; returns home, 
177; on the San Domingo sta- 
tion, 188, 190, 101; at Havana, 
102, 220; in a gale, 218, 210; 
retained hi the service. 252. 255, 
257. 

Constitution, U. S. frigate. 47; 
built and launched, 48; fitted 
out, 55; sails from Boston, 69, 
70; on convoy duty, 71, 77; in 
the West Indies. 72. 105; in Baxw 
ry's squadron, 81; chases the 
Insurgente, 105; sails home with 
a convoy, 107; at Boston, 112. 
122. 188; Talbot's flagship. 115. 
124. 133. 182; cruise proposed 
for. 123; cruising, 124; wins a 
race, 125; on the San Domingo 
station, 182-187. 199. 216; mans 
a cutting-out expedition. 182; 
returns home. 217; retained in 
the service. 252. 255. 257. 

Consuls. French. 6. 7, 9, 11, 13, 19, 
20, 39; American, 36. 

Convoys, to and from Havana, 65, 
66, 71, 77. 113. 181. 182. 220; 
to and from St. Thomas. 76. 111. 
118. 119, 195. 207, 221; to and 
from St. Christopher, 91, 92, 93, 
149, 207, 244; difficulties of, 92, 
93. 160, 161; to and from the 
West Indies, 107, 110. 133, 194; 
chased by a French frigate. 118. 
119; Stoddert's opinion of, 123; 



314 



INDEX 



from Surinam, 125, 195; to and 
from the East Indies. 182, 151, 
157-161; during 1700. 133; at- 
tacked by pirates, 130-145; on 
the Gaudeloupe station, 104. 

Cooper, James Fenimore, 58, 306. 

Court of Claims, 273, 275, 280. 

Cowper, William, lieutenant, 101 ; 
master conmiandant, 105; in 
command of the Baltimore, 130. 

Cross, George, captain, 133, 103. 

Croyable, French priyateer, cap- 
tured, 65, 112; name changed to 
Retaliation, 65. 

Cuba, 81, 83. 113, 102, 221. 

Curacao, 38; cruising about, 82, 
140, 207; the Vengeance at, 1 68- 
174, 177, 100, 106; mduded in 
the Guadeloupe station, 104; 
American interests in, 106; out- 
rage by a privateer from, 106; a 
French expedition attempts the 
capture of, 106-100; Americans 
in the defense of, 108; the 
French driven off, 100; action of 
privateers off, 226, 227. 

Cygne, French privateer, 200. 

Dale, Richard, captain, appointed 
in the navy, 40; dispute as to 
rank, 50, 64; in command of the 
Ganges, 63, 64; in command of 
the Mediterranean squadron, 
258. 

Dana, Francis, 23. 

Davie, William Richardson, envoy 
to negotiate with France. 246; 
arrives in Paris, 247; negotiating, 
248, 240. 

Davis, John, judge, 274, 275, 270, 
280. 

Deane, Silas, 1. 

Decatur, Stephen, captain, in com- 
mand of the Delaware, 64, 66; 
captures the Croyable, 65; senior 
ofiBcer off Cuba, 83, 113; in com- 
mand of the Philadelphia, 178, 
217. 

Decatur, Stephen, midshipman, 
64, 66, 90; lieutenant, 109; men- 
tioned, 178. 

Decrees of France, under the re- 
public, 22, 28, 29, 30, 31-34, 35, 
37. 269, 297, 298, 299; in the 
West Indies, 32, 35, 261; im- 
perial decrees. 260, 263, 264, 265, 



260, 207. 200-301 ; pretended le- 
vocation of, 265; seizures undor, 
266; Spanish decrees, 267. 

Delaware, U. S. ship, cruise of, 64; 
captures the Croyable. 65. 112; 
ordered to the West Indies. 66; 
sails. 67; returns. 60; off coast of 
Cuba. 83, 113; on the Guade- 
loupe station. 111, 133, 103; at 
Curasao, 140. 173. 

Democrat, French privateer. 01. 

Denmark, spoliations by. 266, 267; 



Derby, Elias Hasket. Jr.. 220. 

Desfoumeaux. Etienne. French 
general, governor of Guadeloupe. 
75; releases prisoners. 75. 87. 88. 
01; his correspondence. 87. 88. 
80; declares Guaddoupe open to 
trade. 88, 02; capture of the In- 
surgente reported to. 95; his 
orders, 100; declares war, 103; 
exchanges prisoners, 104; xe> 
caUed. 12& 

Dessalines. Jean Jacques, 260. 

Deux Amis. French privateer, 
204. 

Deux. Anges, French privateer 
178. 

Diana, French schooner, 205, 206. 

Diligence, U. S. schooner, 82. 

Directory, Executive, of France, 
22; refuses to recognize U. 8. 
envoys, 23; solicits a bribe from 
them, 24; treats them with dis- 
courtesy, 25, 26; decrees of, 33; 
prize cases to be referred to, 103, 
104; agent of, 114; interviews 
of Logan with, 246; overthrown. 
247. 

Discipline in the navy. 132. 134- 
136. 

Dix, John Adams, 274. 

Dominica, 82, 202, 244. 

Eagle, U. S. brig, 82, 111, 133, 103, 
195,221. 

East Indies. 132, 151. 156-150. 
221. 

Eliza, American armed ship. 225. 
226. 

Ellsworth, Oliver, envoy to ne- 
gotiate with France, 246; ar- 
rives in Paris, 247; negotiating, 
248, 240. 

Embargo, at Bordeaux. 31. 36. 



INDEX 



815 



271; in American ports, 263, 
265. 

Embuseade, French frigate, 4, 5, 
9. 

England, at war. 3, 14; complaints 
of, 5; ministers of, 5, 9; navy of, 
8. 134; privateers of, 9. 29, 71, 

. 262; relations with, 16, 17, 29, 
264; spoliations committed by, 
17, 29, 260, 263. 266; reparation 
demanded of, 21, 22; impress- 
ments by, 32, 78, 79; naval su- 
premacy of, 35; arrogance of 
her naval officers, 76-79, 111, 
181; orders in council of, 260, 
263, 265; war declared against, 
265; claims against, 268; treaty 
with. Bee Treaties. 

Enterprise, U. 8. schooner, built, 
133; her first cruise, 148. 149; 
returns home with dispatches, 
176, 199; on the Guaideloupe 
station, 194, 199. 221; returns 
to the West Indies, 199; en- 
counters a Spanish brig, 200 i 
captures privateers, 200-204; 
and the Flambeau. 201, 202 
her record, 203; retained in the 
service, 257; sent to the Mediter^ 
ranean. 258. 

Esperance, French brig, 130. 

Essex, U. S. frigate, built. 56. 131 ; 
laundied, 132; on convoy duty, 
132, 151, 157-161; sails for the 
East Indies, 151; in a gale, 153, 
154; in Table Bay, 155. 156; 
cruising in the Straits of Sunda, 
157-159; chases a French cor- 
vette, 158; sails home with a 
convoy, 159; in the Indian ocean, 
160; arrives in New York, 161 ; 
retained in the service, 252, 255, 
257; sent to the Mediterranean, 
258. 

BIstaing, Charles Hector d\ ad- 
miral, 215. 

Everett, Edward, 274. 

Experiment, U. S. schooner, built, 
133; on the San Domingo sta- 
tion, 133, 139. 179. 187. 199.216; 
attacked by picaroons. 139-144. 
145, 146; her officers. 146, 147; 
takes a Danish vessel, 148; 
cruising, 204-208; takes prizes, 
204, 205. 207; rescues ship- 
wrecked people, 207, 20a 



Fauehet, Jean Antoine Joseph, 
French minister to the United 
States, 12, 13, 16, 21. 22. 

Favorite, American armed ship, 
238. 

Fenwick, Joseph, 36. 

Ferrand, Louis, general, 261. 

Flambeau, French brig, captured 
by the Enterprise. 201, 202. 

Flambeau, French schooner, 207. 

Fletcher, Patrick, captain, 81, 114, 
209. 

Florida, 12, 13, 268. 

Flying Fish, Danish brig, 116, 117. 

Fiance, negotiations with, 1, 13, 
23-27. 245. 247-249, 269, 270, 
277; complaints of, 2, 16, 17-22, 
25; republic of. 3. 8. 110; does 
not insist upon guarantee, 7; 
national convention of, 7, 29-31, 
35; government of, 10, 12, 13, 
14. 16, 22. 23. 36. 247. 250. 270; 
relations with, 17, 18. 22, 41, 61, 
245. 251; feeling against. 38, 
265; intercourse with, suspend- 
ed. 39, 61, 105. 106. 115; peace 
with, 219. 220. 221; navy of, 
223; empire of, 267; consuls of, 
decrees of, Directory of, priva- 
teers of, spoliations committed 
by. treaties with, war with, sm 
the various words. 

Franklin, Benjamin. 1. 

Frigates of 1794. authorized, 42; 
plans for, 43-46; armament of, 
43, 46, 57; dimensions ff, 46; 
construction of, 46-48, 56, 131; 
launching of, 48, 121, 217. 

Gallatin, Albert, 265, 269. 

Ganges, U. S. ship, 56; cruise of, 
63, 64. 68; Tingey's flagship. 83, 
111; takes prizes, 111,192; her 
orders. 221. 

Geddes. Henry, captain, 196. 

Gembeau, French privateer, 177. 

General Greene. U. S. frigate, 
built. 56. 112; at Havana. 113: 
on the San Domingo station, 
113. 115. 116, 120. 133, 180; as- 
sists in the capture of Jacmel, 
180, 181 . 186; off the Mississippi, 
181; returns home, 182; re- 
tained in the service, 252, 255, 
257,258. 

G^eral Greene, U. S. doop, 88. 



3t6 



.mXBK 



-Oeoeral HaswDftf Frezudi [iiiiT&- 
tewr, 178. 

Genet, Edmoad Charlei, FTench 
mwiatar to tba Unit^sd Stfttee, 
amTflfi at OiarlB^OD , 4; fits oat 
I^Hvsiteen!, i^, 5, 6, 11; hu aqu- 
duct, 5, fl, 8. Q. 10, 11, 16; does 
tiot press the g^uarantee, 7; re- 
buked hy the FVeBcb govern- 
meat, 8; lus nscaUl noquetted^ 
10; ptAim oOD quest of Louiai&uA* 
12; recaUed, 12, 13„ 17; renkams 
m the United 8t&te8, 13, 15; hla 
cbanacter, 14, 

fQeniuA^ Acaericau armed brie» 

CkojTie Wsflliiiigtoi]. U. 8. frigate, 
fiS; la Barry's aquadroQ^ SI; t«- 
turtia faotne> 107; orobing, 110; 
oa the Guadeloupe statjou. Ill; 
on the San Domingo atation, 
114; In the Mediterrarieau, 22 1» 
257, 
. -Qerry, Elbridae, enToy to negoti' 
ate with FtEnce , 23, 38 ; hh i nter- 
Tiewa with X, Y. aad Z, 23-26; 
luii MtervbwH with Talleyrand. 
23, 25; hribe deiaaaded of, 24; 
oaireapoodfl with TaUeyrand, 25, 
27. 245. 

GoJdAboroQgh, GharlM Wt, 102^ 
2SS 

Gonalve, 116, 131*. 140» 142, 145, 
17a, 17§. 

Governor Jfty, D. 8. achoo&eir, 83. 

Guadeloupe, posltioEi of, 34, 35; 
taken by the Britifih and recap- 
tured hy the Freoch, 35; reu* 
dezvouH of Free eh oruiflers, S&, 
38; squadroD ordered to, 72; 
ehadge of govemora at, 75, 128: 
prifloneng at, 75, 76. 87, 8S, 80, 
91, 103, 104. 128, 139, 194, 202, 
203; privateeara of, 76, 88. SO, 
104. 128, 120, 1S&, 193. 200, 204, 
205. 219, 228; declared open to 
trade, 8S, ^t at war with tbe 
United Statea, 103; naval sta- 
tion of . Ill, 121, 124, 133.162, 
163, 1 78, 193, 104. 199, 210, 217, 
218, 220; fri^atefl &tv 127, 128; 
French fofce from. 196-1 99. 

Guarantee oE French posaefieious, 
2, 3, 7, 247, 249, 275. 

Gunnery of Americans, IOOp 

Gmu, 57. 



Haiti, revolutUHa In^ 34, 260, £61 

French commtBBLoQera in, 34, 35 
navaJ opemtiona about, 83 [ 
porta of, 114» Sec S&a Donungo. 

Hamilton, Alexander, rnftj ^yp-gpp-t 
eta], eo, 181. 

Hautval, L., 27, 

Havana, convoys to and from, 65, 
66, 71, 77, 113, 181, 182, 320; 
the Baltimore at, 76, 77; the 
American consul at, 79; cruising 
0?. 83, 133, 192; naval atatiop 
of, 120, 133. 190, 192 ; Morray at, 
150, 192. 220; mentioned, 179. 
200, 237; aetion of privateers 
near. 233, 

Henry, FatrlolE, 240, 

Hefald. U, B. ebip, in Barry's 
aquadTon, 66, 6S, 81; at Boston, 
67; DD the coast, 68; on the 3bxi 
Domingo station. 133, 187, 188« 
199; off Porto Jftico, 162; beiw* 
news of peace, 22 1« 

BeuireuBe R&noontre, French pri- 
vateer, 177. 

Htggineon. Stephen* 107, 13U 

Hillar, Benjamla, mavbe^ com* 
mandant, 210, 

Hiianx, nAmca^iQaa ship. 243, 243. 

HiFondale. French prtvatecT, 37. 

Holland, at war with France, 3: 
United B^tea envoys in, 22, 23, 
245; apoliations committed by. 
29, 2fl6, 207; ally of Francs, 35. 
206, 267: com plaint to mioifiter 
of, 196; clauna a«aioet, 268,269, 

Hottinguer, 27, 

Howe. James, 172. 

HugUea, Vj^jtor, governor of 
Guadeloupe. 35, 75, 

Hull, la&ae. lieutenant, od tlie 
Constitution. TO, 122; leads a 
cutting-out expeditbn, 182- 
186; letter of . 216. 

Humpbreya, David, 108. 

Humpbrey», Joshu&. ahipbutlden 
42; views of, 43-45; builde frig- 
ate United States, 47, 

Huaaar, Fnrach armed ship, 126^ 
123. 

Impressment of Amerii^ji ae&men, 

17,32,77-80,88, 171. 
Industry, American armed ship* 

239, 240, 
Insurgente, Freit^oli f^sate, m tb« 



INDEX 



317 



West Indiee, 74; ohases Ameri- 
ean venels, 74; her action with 
the CkMurteUation, 93-^, 171; 
tuirendere, 94, 98; loses her top- 
mast, 94, 96, 99; her force, 99; 
hear losses, 100; with a prize crew, 
101, 102, 204; at St. Christopher, 
103, 104; chased by the Consti- 
tutioii, 105; taken into the ser- 
vice, 126; makes a European 
emise, 126. 127; at Lisbon, 126; 
at Gibraltar, 127; off Cayenne, 
127; in the West Indies, 127- 
129, 133, 149, 150, 163; at Ja- 
maica, 150, 176; at Havana, 
150. 192, 220; lost at sea, 209, 
210, 250. 



il, 148. 179; siege of, 180. 181. 
188, 187. 

Jaloux. French privateer, 69. 

Jamaica, 37, 150, 166, 171, 175, 
176, 177, 189, 190. 217. 

Jarvis, James, midshipman, 166, 
167, 177. 

Jason, French privateer, 193. 

Jay, John, concludes treaty with 
England, 17, 20, 21. 

Jay's treaty. 5m Treaties. 

Jefferson, Thomas, secretary of 
state, 5, 7, 9, 10; his opinion of 
OMiet, 6; requests his recall, 
10; issues a circular, 11; fears 
war with Spain, 12; resigns, 16; 
minister to France, 41; presi- 
dent, reduces the navy, 256, 
257; his view of trade with 
Haiti, 260; fits out a naval 
force, 261. 

Jeiemie, 116, 179, 188, 191. 

Jewett, David, master-command- 
ant, 191. 

John Adams, U. S. frigate, buOt, 
56; off Surinam, 125; off Porto 
Rico, 193; captures privateers, 
193; at St. Christopher, 197; 
retained in the service, 252, 255, 
257. 

Knox, Henry, secretary of war, 42, 
45; appointed major-general, 
60. 

Lee, Arthur, 1. 

Leogane. Bight of, 115, 139, 145, 
178, 187. 



Letombe; French oonstil-general 
to the United States, 16, 39. 

Little, George, captain, in com- 
mand of the Boston, 116; takes 
the Flying Fish, 116; held liable 
for damages, 117; on the San 
Domingo station, 179; his re- 
port of his action with the Ber- 
ceau, 210-213, 215; brings her 
into Boston, 215. 

Little Sarah, French privateer, 9. 

Livingston, Robert R., U. S. min- 
ister io France, 251, 271, 277, 
278, 279. 

Logan, George, 246. 

London Packet, American armed 
ship, 232, 233. 

Louis XVI, king of France, 1. 2, 3. 

Louis, king of Holland, 267. 

Louis Philippe, long of the French; 
270. 

Louisa. American armed ship, 241} 
242. 

Louisa Bridger, British schooner; 
206. 

Louisiana, 12, 13, 251, 262, 271. 

McElroy, Archibald, lieutenant; 
179. 

McHenry, James, secretary of war, 
63. 

McNeill, Daniel, captain, 81, 125, 
126, 133, 194. 

Madison, James, 6, 7; secretary of 
state, 274, 275. 

Magicienne, French schooner, cap- 
tured by the Merrimack, 112, 
118. iSee Croyable and Retalia- 
tion. 

Maitland, Thomas, general, 114. 

Maley, William, lieutenant, in 
command of the Experiment, 
139; attacked by picaroons, 139; 
his arrangements, 140, 141, 143; 
his conduct. 143, 145, 146, 147; 
wishes to surrender, 146; com- 
plaints against him, 147; re- 
signs, 148. 

Marine corps, 39, 41, 54. 

Marshall, John, envoy to negotiate 
with France, 23; his interviews 
with X. Y, and Z. 23-26; his 
interviews and correspondence 
with Talleyrand, 23, 25, 26; 
returns to the United States, 
26, 38; his opinion of Talley. 



318 



INDEX 



rand, 27; favon paying daims, 
274. 

Martinique, 34, 88, 00, 91, 128, 
149, 163, 193, 195, 207, 243. 

Marsdand, U. S. ship, 66; off Suri- 
nam. 125, 127, 133, 194, 195; on 
the Guaddoupe station, 193; 
sent to Fnsice, 221. 

Meroator, Danish schooner, 148. 

Meroer, John Fenton, midwhipman, 
130. 

Merlin de Douai, Philippe An- 
toine, 24. 

Merrimack, U. S. ship, 56; in 
Barry's squadron, 81, 92; on 
convoy duty, 92, 93, 107, 207, 
221 ; on the Guadeloupe station, 
111, 193; recaptures the Retali- 
ation (Magicienne), 112, 118; 
takes prices, 112, 199; off Cura- 
sao, 197-199; returns home, 221. 

Milan decree, 263, 267. 

Molly, American armed ship, 227, 
228. 

Monroe, James, U. S. minister to 
France, 16, 22, 23, 277. 

Montezuma, U. S. ship, in the 
West Indies, 68, 72, 73; chased 
by a French frigate, 74; cruising, 
75, 76, 83, 110; on convoy duty, 
91, 92; at St. Christopher, 104, 
111. 

Morris, Charles, midshipman, 131 ; 
209. 256. 

Morris, Gouvemeur, U. S. minister 
to France, 10, 16, 29, 30. 

Morris, Richard Valentine, cap- 
tain, in command of the Adams, 
128, 133; takes prizes, 128, 177; 
in command of the Guadeloupe 
station, 129, 178; transferred to 
the New York, 218. 

Morris, Robert, 43. 

Mount Vernon, American armed 
ship, 229-232. 

Mullowny, John, captain, 110, 111, 
192. 

Murray, Alexander, captain, in 
command of the Montezuma, 
72, 83; his reports, 73, 76, 91, 
110, 126, 127, 128, 150, 190, 191, 
218, 220; at St. Thomas, 76; 
returns home sick, 110; in com- 
mand of the Insurgente, 126; 
cruising, 126-129, 149, 150. 163, 
176; at Lisbon, 126; at St. Chris- 



topher, 128, 189; at Jamakai 
160, 176; at Havana. 160, 192, 
220; in command of the Constel- 
lation, 188; and of the San Do- 
mingo station, 188-192, 209; 
cruising, 218-220; conveys news 
of peace. 220. 

Murray. William Vans, U. S. min- 
ister to Holland, 245; envoy to 
negotiate with France, 245, 246; 
arrives in Paris, 247; negotiat- 
ing, 248. 249. 

Mutine, French privateer, 162. 

Nancy, American armed ship, 237. 

Naples, spoliations by, 266, 267; 
claims against. 268. 

Napoleon I, emperor, power of, 
260; sends an expedition to 
Haiti, 260; issues decrees, 263, 
264, 266; declares them revoked, 
265; influence of, 266; leoeives 
American prises, 267; daixns 
against, 269. See Bonaparte. 

Navy Department, establiahment 
of, 39, 45. 64; general orders of, 
63. 66. 79. 80, 106. 117, 132, 137. 

Navy, U. S., reSstabliahment of, 
necessary, 41, 281; first vessels 
of, authorized, 42; building of, 
47, 48; officers for, 49-51; ex- 
pansion of, 50, 51, 53, 55-57; on 
a war footing, 51, 61, 62; enlist- 
ment in, 61, 108, 109, 161; pay 
of, 51, 52; ration of, 52, 53; reg- 
ulations for, 52, 53, 54, 58, 59. 
60, 286; humiliation of. 76, 77; 
at the end of 1798, 81-83; re- 
port on, 84; increase of, au- 
thorized, 85; public opinion in 
favor of, 86; in 1799, 87; gun- 
nery of, 100; at the end of 1799, 
132, 133; discipline in, 132, 134- 
136; at the end of the war, 221; 
prizes taken by, 222; cost of, 
222 ; protection afforded by, 222, 
224, 254; compared with the 
French navy, 223; reduction of, 
252, 256-257; increase of, re- 
commended, 253-255; on a peace 
footing, 257; breaks up piracy, 
261, 262; ships of, 301; officers 
of, 303. 

Nereid, British frigate. 197, 199. 

Neutrality, proclamation of, 3. 14; 
armed. 20. 



INDEX 



319 



Newman, Timothy, master-oom- 
mandant, 103. 

New York, U. S. frigate. 56, 218, 
221, 262, 258. 

Nieholflon, Samuel, oaptam, 48; 
appointed in the navy, 40; in 
eommand of the Constitution, 
80, 105; receives orders, 70, 71, 
72; on convoy duty, 71 ; gives up 
an English prize, 105, 106; re- 
turns home, 107; on shore duty, 
107. 

Niger, British privateer, 71, 105. 

Norfolk, U. S. brig, in the West 
Indies, 72, 73; chased by a 
French frigate, 74; otiising, 75; 
hi Tnixtun's squadron, 83, 104, 
105; at St. Christopher, 104, 
117; on the Guadeloupe station, 
111, 117; escapes from a IVenoh 
frigate, 118, 119, 121; on the 
San Domingo station, 120; on 
the Havana station, 120, 133, 
102; at Carthagena, 100; re- 
turns to New York, 102. 

Officers, naval, 49-54; pay and 
rations of, 51-53; hardships of, 
134-136; in the American and 
French navies, 223; reduction 
of, 255, 256; selection of, 256; 
character of, 256, 257; list of, 
803-305. 

Paris, general, 128. 

Patapsco, U. S. ship, 56; on the San 
Domingo station, 133; at New 
Orleans. 181 ; on the Guadeloupe 
station, 194, 197; at Cura(;ao, 
196. 197, 198, 199; returns 
home, 203. 

Pory, Christopher Raymond, cap- 
tain, in command of the General 
Greene, on the Havana and San 
Domingo stations, 113; at Jao- 
mel, 180, 181; thanked by Tous- 
saint. 186. 

Perry, Oliver Hazard, midshipman, 
113. 

Perseverance, American armed 
ship, 226. 

Perseverance, American aimed 
ship. 235, 236. 

Philadelphia, U. S. frigate, built, 
56, 178; on the Guadeloupe sta- 
tion, 178, 193, 221; cruising. 



217, 218; takes mrizos, 218; re- 
tained in the service, 252. 255, 
257; sent to the Mediterranean, 
258. 

Phillips, B. H., U. S. consul, 197. 

Phillips, Isaac, captain, in com- 
mand of the Baltimore, 65; off 
Havana, 76; on convoy duty, 
77; his experience with a Brit- 
ish squadron, 77-81; dismissed 
from the navy, 80, 81, 121. 

Pichon, Louis Am4d6et French 
secretary of legation at the 
Hague, 245. 

Pickering. Timothy, secretary of 
state, 16, 31,89, 114, 234. 

Pickering, U. S. brig, in Barry's 
squadron, 66, 67, 81; on the 
coast, 68; on the Guadeloupe sta- 
tion, 111, 128, 193; lost at sea, 
210. 

Pierce, Franklin, president, 273 ^ 
278. 

Pinckney, Charles, 275. 

Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth, U. 
S. minister to France, 16; not 
received. 22; appointed envoy 
to negotiate, 23, 38; his inter- 
views with X, Y, and Z, 23-26; 
and with Talleyrand, 23, 25, 26; 
leaves Paris, 26; appointed 
major-general, 60. 

Pinckney, U. S. brig. 83, 120, 133. 

Piracy, in the Mediterranean, 41, 
42, 253, 258; West Indian, 82, 
261; on the coast of Cuba, 113; 
in the Bis^t of Leogane, 115, 
120, 139-144. 145. 146. 188; at 
Carthagena, 191 ; at the mouth 
of the Mississippi, 262. 

Pitot, A. M.. captain of the French 
frigate Vengeance, 168, 169, 
174, 175. 

Planter, American armed ship, 
228. 229. 

Polk. James Knox, president, 273. 

Porter, David, midshipman, on 
the Constellation, 98, 99; with 
prize crew of the Insurgente, 
101; hardships of. 134-136; 
lieutenant, on the Experiment, 
139; wotmded, 143; in com- 
mand, 146; his conduct, 146, 
147; prize master of the Deux 
Amis, 204; brings her into port, 
205; in command of the Am- 



INDEX 



phitrite, 216; masteiHSommand- 
ant, seizes privateers, 262. 

Porter, David Dixon, admiral, 90, 
102, 134, 146. 

Porto Plata, 182-186. 

Porto Rico, 37, 110, 208; Ameri- 
can prisoners at, 66, 103; cruis- 
ing about, 72, 81, 83, 129, 161, 
162, 103, 196, 209, 220; included 
in the San Domingo station, 
133; depredations of privateers 
about, 161, 162. 

Port Republioun, 114, 115, 144, 
179, 188. 

Portsmouth, U. S. ship, 56; in 
Barry's squadron, 81; off Suri- 
nam, 125, 133; sails for France, 
220. 

Preble, Edward, lieutenant, in 
command of the Pickering, 82; 
captain, in command of the 
Essex, 132, 151 ; his journal and 
reports, 154-159; at Cape Town, 
155, 156; in the East Indies, 
156-159; his voyage home, 159- 
161. 

President, U. S. frigate, built, 56; 
Truxtun's flagship, 217; crui&- 
ing, 221 ; retained in the service, 
252, 255, 257; sent to the Med- 
iterranean, 258. 

Prince Rupert's Bay, 82, 92, 93. 

Prisoners, French, at Ft. Mifflin, 
65; American, at Porto Rico, 67, 
193; at Guadeloupe, 75, 87, 88, 
91, 128, 194, 202; treatment of, 
75. 88, 89, 202; released, 75, 87, 
103, 203; French, at St. Thomas, 
76; exchange of, 82, 89, 91, 104, 
128, 129, 194. 202, 203; French, 
in the United States, 88, 89; on 
the Insurgente, 101, 102, 104; 
at St. Christopher, 104, 194, 
206; President's views on, 129; 
American, on the Vengeance, 
171, 175; French, taken by the 
Trumbull, 191; American, at 
Cayenne, 195, 196; French, on 
the Deux Amis, 204, 205; on the 
Berceau, 211; at Boston, 215. 

Privateers, of France, in American 
ports, 4, 6, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 18, 
19, 247; corrupt owners of, 24, 
30; their bases in the West In- 
dies, 35, 82, 88, 89, 91. 115, 261 ; 
Americans interested in, 36; ' 



from Guadeloupe, 76, 88, 80, 91; 
104, 128, 129, 178, 189, 193. 200, 
205, 219; in the East Indies, 
157-159; actions of, etc., wfth 
Americans, aee names of various 
vessels; spoliations committed 
by, see Spoliations; privateers 
of Great Britain, «ee England; of 
Spain, see Spain; of the United 
States, 58, 59. 225-242. 
Prizes, taken by Americans during 
1799, 133; during the war, 222; 
given up under the treaty, 250, 
251; taken by the French. 5, 6, 
8, 9, 11, 12, 18, 19. See Decrees. 
France, Si>oliations, Treaties, 
and names of vessels making cap- 
tures. 

Quincy, Josiah, 264. 

Rambouillet decree. 264. 

Randolph, Edmund, secretary of 
state, 16, 22, 29. 

Rating of ships of war, 57. 

Ration, of navy, 52, 53; of prison- 
ers, 89. 

Retaliation, U. S. sdiooner, 65; 
cruising, 72-74; captured, 73, 
74, 117, 222; taken to Guade- 
loupe, 75; sent to the United 
States with prisoners, 87, 88; 
sent back with French prisoners, 
89; recaptured by the Merri- 
mack, 112, 222. See Croyable 
and Magicienne. 

Revenge, French privateer, 226, 
227. 

Revenue cutters, the only armed 
vessels before 1798, 41, 87; ser- 
vice established, 55; strength of, 
increased, 55; taken into the 
navy, 57, 61; cruising, 66, 68, 
71; on naval stations, 81, 82, 83; 
returned to the Treasury Depart- 
ment, 257; list of, 302, 303. 

Revolution, American, 1 , 2, 20, 41, 
49,60,116,134,215,256. 

Revolution, French, 2, 14, 28, 30, 
223, 272, 275, 281. 

Richmond, U. S. brig, 56, 83, 111, 
216. 

Rigaud, Benoit Joseph Andr^, dis- 
putes the authority of Tous- 
saint, 115, 116; his ports and 
piratical barges, 115; loses Jac- 



INDEX 



321 



mel, 180, 181, 186; evacuatea 
ports, 187; leaves Qua Domingo, 
188; his officers, 101 ; captured, 
205; at St. Christopher, 206. 

Rives. William Cabell. 270. 

Robeq)ierre. Maxim ilien Marie 
Isidore, 14. 

Robinson, William D.. 107. 

Rodgers, John, lieutenant, on the 
Constellation, 04; letter by, 04, 
05, 101 ; prize master of the In- 
surgente, 101, 102. 103; captain, 
105; in command of the Mary- 
land, 133; discipline of, 134- 
136; cruising off Surinam, 104, 
105; takes treaty to France, 221. 

R6Ie d'^quipage, 32, 33, 240. 

Russell, Charles C, master com- 
mandant, 81. 162, 187, 221. 

St. Bartholomew, 203, 205. 

St. Christopher, 82; naval rendez- 
vous, 83, 111, 117, 128, 120, 140. 
162, 180, 106, 107. 100, 221; 
convoys from, 02, 207, 244; the 
Constellation and Insurgente at, 
102-104; prisoners at, 104, 104; 
prizes brought to, 140, 105, 200, 
204, 205; Murray ordered to, 
150, 163; Rigaud at. 206; at the 
end of the war, 221. 

St. Laurent, commodore, in com- 
mand of a French squadron, 
74. 

St. Thomas, convoys from, 76, 
111, 118, 110, 105. 207, 221; 
mentioned, 116, 177, 228; the 
E2nterprise at. 100; the Constel- 
lation at, 220. 

Sally, American sloop, 183, 184. 

San Domingo, 34; naval station at, 
113, 133, 130, 145, 161, 180. 182, 
180, 216, 221; American trade 
with, 113, 114, 115, 180; its 
ports opened, 114, 116, 120; 
piracy of, 115, 130, 145; cruising 
off, 115, 116, 120, 178, 180, 100; 
Talbot in conmiand of, 124, 125, 
133; civil war in. 186-188, 205; 
change of conmianders at, 188, 
180, 200, 216; city of, 207, 208, 
260; French commander at, 261. 
See Haiti. 

Sandwich, French privateer, 183- 
186. 

Sans Pareil, French privateer, 60. 



Scammd, U. S. sehoonor, 82, 125, 
133, 104. 

Senes, Louis Andr^, captain, in 
command of the Berceau, 210, 
211, 212, 213, 215. 

Sever, James, captain, appointed 
in the navy, 40; in command of 
the Herald, 66; and of the Con- 
gress, 131, 151; his character, 
131; his report, 151-153; on the 
San Domingo station, 208; his 
seamanship, 200; salutes Mount 
Vernon, 258. 

Shaw, John, lieutenant, conunand- 
ing the Enterprise, 148, 100, 
202; bearer of Truxtun's dis- 
patches, 176, 177; his reports, 
100, 200, 201 ; is relieved, 203. 

Sherman, .fohn, 274. 

Shirley, Ambrose, sailing-master, 
101. 

Shot, weight of, 58. 

Skipwith, Fulwar, U. S. consul- 
general at Paris, 27, 35, 36. 

Smith, David, 171. 

Smith, William, U. S. minister to 
Portufi^l, 234. 

Somers, Richard, midshipman, 66; 
lieutenant, 100. 

Sophia, U. S. brig, 27, 87. 

Spain, 3; danger of war with. 12, 
13; privateers of, and spoliations 
committed by. 20, 261, 262, 266. 
267; ally of France, 35, 261; 
neutrality of, violated, 186; de- 
crees of, 267; claims against, 
268, 270. 

Spencer, EngliBh ship, 105, 106. 

Spoliation claims, against France, 
22, 28, 36, 247, 248, 240, 250; 
classes of, 260, 271; for spolia- 
tions after 1801, 260, 270; set- 
tled, 270; for spoliations before 
1801, 271; part of them settled, 
271; unsettled claims, 272; at- 
tempts to settle, 272-274; re- 
ferred to the Court of Claims, 
273; not yet settled, 274; argu- 
ments for the claimants, 274, 
275; against, 275-278; justice of 
claims acknowledged by France, 
275; classes of claims defined, 
278, 270; opinion of the court, 
280; claims against Denmark, 
England, Holland, Naides, and 
Spain, 268. 




DiDEX 



SpoliationB of Ameriean commerce, 
by France, 16. 22, 28, 20, 30, 31, 
32; in the West Indies, 20, 32, 
34, 37, 38, 66, 222, 261; in 
French ports, 36; cases of, 37, 
38; in the East Indies, 151, 157, 
150; under the empure, 260, 261, 
262, 263, 264, 266; by other 
J belligeients, see Denmark, Eng- 

land, Holland, Naples, and 
> Spain. 

^, .-'' Stenett, Andrew, lieutenant, on 

[ the Ck>nstellation, 100, 101; 

takes command of the Enter- 
prise, 203. 

Stevens, Edward, U. S. consul- 
general in San Domingo, nego- 
tiates with Toussaint, 114; re- 
ports fight with pirates, 130- 
144; praises Maley, 140, 141, 
143, 147; borrows ammunition, 
144; assists Toussaint, 186, 187; 
^ ^ writes to Talbot, 188. 

^ 3 ' '^ Stewart, Charles, lieutenant, on 

y^ ^, the United States, 66; on re- 

^ •' \ oruiting duty, 100; takes com- 

! ^ ) ^ mand of the Experiment, 148; 

') ^ pursuing privateers, 204, 205, 

206; his letters, 205, 207; rescues 
] -^ shipwrecked people, 207, 208. 

Stoddert, Benjamin, secretary of 
the navy, appointment of, 54; 
views and recommendations of, 
54, 84, 85, 252-255; his letters 
to the President, 67, 68, 104, 
107, 122, ,123, 147; dismisses 
Phillipa, 80; his letters to Barry, 
82, 86, 108, 113; bis reports to 
Congress, 84, 88, 252; secures 
sites for navy yards, 86; his 
opinion of officers, 107; of the 
Magicienne, 112; his letters from 
the President, 122, 129, 147; 
suggests a European cruise, 122; 
his letter on Porto Rico, 161 ; to 
Talbot, 189; his orders, see 
Navy Department; reports and 
letters sent to, see names of 
various officers. 

Sumner, Charles, 274. 

Surinam, Talbot ordered to, 124; 
Portsmouth cruising off, 125, 
133; English take possession of, 
125, 126; Maryland cruising off, 
127, 133, 194, 195; in the Guade- 
loupe station, 193. 



Talbot. Silas, captain, appointed 
in the navy, 40; dispute as to 
his rank, 40, 50, 120, 122; in 
conmiand of the Constitution, 

115, 122, 124; and of the San 
Domingo station, 115, 125, 133, 
148, 180, 100, 200, 216; his re- 
port on piracy, 145; plans a cut- 
tine-out expedition, 182, 184; his 
report, 182-184; receives a let- 
ter from Toussaint, 186; returns 
home, 188; is ooBunended, 180. 

Talleyrand-P6ri«ord, Charles Mau- 
rice de, French minister of for- 
eign affairs, 23; his interviews 
and oorrespondence with U, S. 
envoys, 25; attempts to ne- 
gotiate with Gerry, 26; affects 
ignorance of X, Y, and Z, 27; 
again attempts negotiations, 
245; promisea to req[>eet envoys, 
246; receives letters from liv- 
mgston. 277, 278, 270. 

Tartuffe, French privateer, 00. 

Tingey, Thomas, ci4>tiaii, 83, 111, 
257. 

Tobago, 35, 37, 82. 

Toussaint L'Ouverture, Domi- 
nique Francois, general, Haitian 
revolutionist, 34; negotiates 
with the United States, 113, 114; 
opens ports to American trade, 
114; at war with Rigaud, 115, 

116, 180, 186-188; his relations 
with American officers, 120, 180, 
186, 187, 192; provides ammu- 
nition, 144; besieges Jacmel, 
180, 186; defeats Rigaud, 18S, 
191; demands surrender of San 
Domingo city, 208; overthrown 
and sent to France, 260. 

Treaties, with France, obligations 
under, 1, 2, 247. 248, 250, 290- 
294; disputed interpretation of, 
2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 18, 10, 20, 32, 
33; new treaty desired, 13, 23; 
violation of old treaties, 28, 30. 
31 ; abrogation of, 30, 247, 248. 
276; convention of 1800, 220, 
221, 249-251, 264, 269, 271, 272, 

277, 278, 279, 294; negotiation 
of, 247-249, 275, 276; conven- 
tion of 1803, 251, 269, 271, 277, 

278, 279, 295; treaty of 1831, 
269, 270; treaty with England, 
17-21, 29, 32, 247, 248, 268, 296; 




treaties with Denmark and 
Spain, 208. 

Trianon decree, 265. 

Tnimbdll, U. S. ship, 56; on the 
San Domingo station, 170, 188, 
216; captures « the schooner 
Vengeance, 101. 102. 

Truxtun, Thomas, captain, ap- 
pointed in the navy, 40; dispute 
as to his rank, 40, 50, 120, 121; 
in command of the Constella- 
tion, 64, 71, 70; commodore, in 
command of a squadron, 83, 03, 
111; reports his action with the 
Insurgente, 03, 04. 00, 100, 101; 
and his arrival at St. Christopher, 
102, 103; exchanges prisoners 
and returns home, 104; men- 
tioned, 105, 170; on the Guade- 
loupe station, 111, 117, 121, 133, 
162, 178; his discipline, 134-136; 
his advice to midshipmen, 136, 
137; his dispatches, 140, 176; 
his orders to Murray, 150, 163; 
reports his action with the Ven- 
geance. 163-166, 173, 175. 177; 
his address to his crew, 176; at 
Jamaica, 176; receives a gold 
medal, 177; at St. Christopher, 
206, 207; transferred to the 
President, 217; cruising, 217, 
221. 

Tryon, Moses, captain, 120, 133. 

United States, ^17. S. frigate, 47; 
built and launched, 48; fitted 
out, 55; at Philadelphia, 63; 
first cruise of, 66, 67, 68, 60; 
captures privateers, 60, 00, 01 ; 
Barry's flagship, 60, 81, 80, 02; 
at Guadeloupe, 01; gets a new 
crew, 108, 100; European cruise 
proposed for, 110, 123; sails for 
France, 110, 124, 247; again in 
the West Indies, 220; returns 
home, 221; retained in the ser- 
vice, 252, 255, 257; ordered to 
Washington, 258. 

Vengeance, French frigate, at 
Guadeloupe, 128; her action 
with the Constellation, 163. 171, 
100; at Curasao, 160-174, 100, 
106; her injuries, 160, 170, 171, 
173, 174; her armament, 172; 



323 



her crew, 172; her casualties, 

172, 174. 
Vengeance. French privateer, 10. 
Vengeance, French schooner, 191, 

250. * 
Virginia, U. S. schooner, 83. 
Volontaire, French frigate, 74, 75. 

War in Europe, 2, 3, 17, 28, 34, 36, 
44, 85, 260, 268, 281. 

War with France, preparation for, 
30, 50, 53, 54^7, 58, 50, 60-62; 
no declaration of, 61; effect of 
the first year of, 83, 84; second 
year of, 132, 133; end of, 220. 
221; review of, 222-224; effect 
of, on treaties and claims, 248, 
276. 

War of 1812, 17, 70, 100, 125, 265, 
268. 

Warren, U. S. ship, 120, 133, 192, 
103, 221. 

Washington, George, president, 2; 
issues proclamation of neutral- 
ity. 3; his views on privateers in 
American ports, 5; wishes them 
held in port, 0; requests Genet's 
recall, 10; revokes exequatur of 
a French consul, 11; also of a 
British consul, 21; messages of, 
28, 55; appointed lieutenant- 
general, 39; signs navy bill, 42; 
his views as to rank of generals, 
60; his death, 137, 258. 

Washington, American armed 
ship, 234. 

Washington, American brig, 243, 
244. 

Watson, James P., lieutenant, 150. 

Webster, Daniel, 274. 

West Indies, defense of, guaran- 
teed, 2, 3, 7; conditions in, 35, 
36, 260, 261. 

Wilkinson, James, brigadier-gen- 
eral, 181. 

Williams, Thomas, captain, 72. 

Williamson, James, 235. 

X Y Z mission, 23-27, 38. 

YeUow fever, 110, 113, 103. 

Young, Moses, 266. 

Young, Samuel, purser, 212. 

Zilpha, American schooner, 37. 






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