1812: The Navy's War (81 page)

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Authors: George Daughan

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CHAPTER 13
 
163
As the summer wore on:
Dominic Lieven,
Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of War and Peace
(New York: Viking, 2010), 138–70.
164
As the Russian armies retreated:
Lieven,
Russia Against Napoleon
, 170–73.
165
“I will not sheath”: Times
(London), July 25, 1812.
166
On December 5, from Smorgoni:
Alan Schom,
Napoleon Bonaparte: A Life
(New York: HarperCollins, 1997), 629–44.
166
“From the very first”:
Armand Louis Augustin de Caulaincourt,
Memoirs du General de Caulaincourt
(New York: Enigma Books reprint, 2003), 399.
166
“We today celebrate”: Gazette de France
, Dec. 7, 1812.
167
“Every day brings some fresh”: Times
(London), Dec. 11, 1812.
167
“We have scotched”: Times
(London), Dec. 14, 1812.
168
“The arm of the giant”:
Quoted in
Times
(London), Jan. 20, 1813.
169
The American ambassador:
Irving Brant,
James Madison
, vol. 6:
Commander in Chief, 1812–1836
(Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1961), 154.
169
Andre Daschkoff:
Daschkoff confirmed this with a letter dated March 8, cited in Henry Adams,
History of the United States of America During the Administrations of James Madison
(New York: Library of America, 1986), 648.
169
Since Madison knew that Britain;
Brant,
James Madison
, vol. 6:
Commander in Chief
, 154.
169
“high respect for the Emperor”:
Madison to Count Nikolai Rumiantsev, July 10, 1813, in Russell Papers, Ms Russell Codex 7, 16, John Hay Library, Brown University.
169
“the pressure of the war”: Times
(London), May 8, 1813.
169
London’s attitude would undoubtedly:
Fernand Ouellet,
Lower Canada: 1791–1840: Social Change and Nationalism,
trans. and adapted by Patricia Claxton (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1980), 100–106.
170
“The American President was”: Times
(London), Dec. 25, 1812.
170
“sapping the foundation”:
Quoted in
Times
(London), Feb. 19, 1813.
170
“Who could believe”:
Quoted in
Times
(London), Feb. 19, 1813.
171
“We ought to consider”: Times
(London), March 20, 1813.
171
he and Castlereagh intended to propose: Times
(London), May 17, 1813.
171
“you must look for an explanation”:
James F. Hopkins, ed.,
The Papers of Henry Clay: Volume I, The Rising Statesman, 1797–1814
(Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1959), 609.
172
a ship purchased by the navy:
Secretary Jones to George Harrison (navy agent in Philadelphia), April 3, 1813, in
The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History
, ed. William S. Dudley (Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1992), 2:87–92; Brant,
James Madison
, vol. 6:
Commander in Chief
, 161.
172
On May 31 Madison submitted:
J. C. A. Stagg,
Mr. Madison’s War: Politics, Diplomacy, and Warfare in the Early American Republic, 1783–1830
(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983), 234.
CHAPTER 14
 
174
The timing of the operation:
Reginald Horsman,
The War of 1812
(New York: Knopf, 1969), 89.
174
Judging their troops:
Chauncey to Jones, March 18, 1812, in
The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History
, ed. William S. Dudley (Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1992), 2:430–32.
174
“the fate of the campaign”:
Jones to Chauncey, April 8, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:433–34.
175
“The first and paramount”:
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to Commodore Sir James Lucas Yeo, R.N., March 19, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:435–36.
175
“Their Lordships feel”:
John Wilson Croker to Yeo, March 19, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:436–37.
175
He and Dearborn set out:
Robert Malcomson,
Warships of the Great Lakes
,
1754–1834
(Edison, NJ: Knickerbocker Press, 2004), 74–75.
176
Before leaving, he destroyed:
Chauncey to Secretary Jones, April 28 and May 7, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 449–50, 452–53; Dearborn to Secretary of War Armstrong, April 28, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:450–51.
176
Chauncey was pleased that:
Robert Malcomson,
Capital in Flames: The American Attack on York, 1813
(Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2008), 178–238.
177
In the aftermath of the short battle:
W. B. Kerr, “The Occupation of York (Toronto) 1813,”
Canadian Historical Review
5 (1924), and Malcomson,
Capital in Flames,
242–61.
177
Having taken York:
Chauncey to Jones, May 28, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:463–64.
178
Oliver Hazard Perry helped:
Chauncey to Jones, May 28, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2: 63–64.
178
Thanks to the younger Chauncey’s:
David Ellison, “David Wingfield and Sackets Harbor,”
Dalhousie Review
52 (1972); Brigadier General Jacob Brown to Secretary of War Armstrong, June 1, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2: 73–77.
180
When the British troops withdrew:
Malcomson,
Warships of the Great Lakes
, 87–96, Alfred T. Mahan,
Sea Power in Its Relations to the War of 1812
(Boston: Little, Brown, 1905), 2:41.
180
He told Secretary Jones:
Chauncey to Jones, June 11, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:493–94.
181
Instead of going after Vincent’s:
James E. Elliot,
Strange Fatality: The Battle of Stoney Creek, 1813
(Montreal: Robin Brass Studio, 2009), 104–45; John R. Elting,
Amateurs to Arms: A Military History of the War of 1812
(Cambridge, MA: DaCapo Press, 1995), 131–32.
182
In the meantime, Smith:
Lieutenant Thomas Macdonough to Secretary Jones, July 11, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:514–15; Deposition of Abraham Walter before Court of Common Pleas, County of Clinton, NY, Nov. 23, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:601–2.
182
During the course of the war:
Ira Dye, “American Maritime Prisoners of War, 1812–1815,” in
Ships, Seafaring and Society: Essays in Maritime History
, ed. Timothy J. Runyan (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1987), 293.
182
When Chauncey discovered:
Pierre Berton,
Flames Across the Border: The Canadian-American Tragedy, 1813–1814
(Boston: Little, Brown, 1981), 98.
183
Chauncey did not have to wait:
Chauncey to Jones, Aug. 13, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:537–41; James Fenimore Cooper,
Ned Myers; or Life Before the Mast
(1843; reprint, Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1989), 77–100.
183
Macdonough knew they were:
David C. Skaggs,
Thomas Macdonough
:
Master of Command in the Early U.S. Navy
(Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2003), 68–74.
183
Macdonough wanted to go:
Macdonough to Jones, Aug. 3, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:518.
184
In spite of his troubles:
Macdonough to Jones, Aug. 14, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:520.
185
“The example set me by”:
Harrison to Secretary of War, Aug. 4, 1813, in John Brannan,
Official Letters of the Military and Naval Officers of the United States During the War with Great Britain, in the Years 1812–1815
(Washington City: Way and Gideon, 1823), 181–84.
185
Congress awarded Croghan:
Berton,
Flames Across the Border
, 142.
CHAPTER 15
 
187
The British public clamored:
Croker to Warren, March 20, 1813, in
The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History
, ed. William S. Dudley (Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1992), 2:75–78; First Lord of the Admiralty Lord Melville to Warren, March 26, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:78–79; First Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker to Warren, Jan. 9 and Feb. 10, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:14–19;
Times
(London), March 20, 24, 1813.
188
Bladen was anxious to prevent:
Commodore Rodgers to Secretary of the Navy Jones, Sept. 27, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:251.
188
the Admiralty, dismayed:
First Secretary of the Admiralty John W. Croker to Station Commanders in Chief, July 10, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:183–84.
188
he wrote a clever, insulting letter:
Broke to Lawrence, n.d., in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:126–29.
189
“ready for sea”:
Lawrence to Jones, May 20, 1813, in Albert Gleaves,
James Lawrence
,
Captain, United States Navy, Commander of the Chesapeake
(New York: Putnam, 1904), 167.
189
Lawrence wrote to Biddle:
Lawrence to Biddle, May 27, 1813, in Gleaves,
James Lawrence
, 171.
190
Lieutenant Ludlow wrote:
Augustus Ludlow to Charles Ludlow, May 28, 1813, in Gleaves,
James Lawrence
, 168.
190
her crew were all experienced:
Writing almost a century later, Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan claimed that the crew had so many new “untrained men” that it amounted to a “reconstitution of the ship’s company.” He also emphasized that Lieutenant Ludlow was “extremely young,” without explaining his long service in both the navy and the
Chesapeake
. And he claimed that the midshipmen promoted to acting lieutenants were “new to their duties and unknown to their men”; to the contrary, they were experienced officers and, in fact, knew their men well. So although Admiral Mahan was not satisfied with either officers or crew, Lawrence and Ludlow clearly were. Alfred T. Mahan,
Sea Power in Its Relations to the War of 1812
(Boston: Little, Brown, 1905), 2:132.
191
“My crew appear”:
Lawrence to Jones, June 1, 1813, in Gleaves,
James Lawrence
, 175.
191
“An English frigate is”: “Don’t Give Up the Ship”: A Catalogue of the Eugene H. Pool Collection of Captain James Lawrence
(Salem, ME: Peabody Museum, 1942), 29.
193
When Broke saw Ludlow’s men:
James Tertius de Kay,
A Rage for Glory: The Life of Commodore Stephen Decatur, USN
(New York: Free Press, 2004), 139–41.
194
The high casualties:
Lieutenant Budd to Secretary of the Navy William Jones (from Halifax) June 15, 1813, in John Brannan,
Official Letters of the Military and Naval Officers of the United States During the War with Great Britain, in the Years 1812–1815
(Washington City: Way and Gideon, 1823), 167–68; Captain Chapel’s account of the
Chesapeake-Shannon
duel, June 6, 1813, in Dudley, ed.,
Naval War of 1812
, 2:129–33; C. S. Forester,
The Age of Fighting Sail: The Story of the Naval War of 1812
(New York: Doubleday, 1956), 160–65; Mahan,
Sea Power
, 2:131–48; and Theodore Roosevelt,
The Naval War of 1812
(New York: Modern Library, 1999), 100–109.
194
In all the confusion:
Charles Morris,
The Autobiography of Commodore Charles Morris USN
, ed. Frederick C. Leiner (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2002), 70.
194
“the heroism of British”: Times
(London), July 9, 1813.
195
“American vanity”: Times
(London), Aug. 16, 1813.
195
“should any attempt be made”:
Jones’s orders to Stewart in June 1813, in Claude Berube and John Rodgaard,
A Call to the Sea: Captain Charles Stewart of the USS Constitution
(Washington, DC: Potomac Books, 2005), 74.

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