![Sample our Humanities journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5939/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Humanities.jpg"})
Abstract
The history of the War of 1812 has been dominated by scrutiny of the duelling frigates, squadron actions, and the British blockade of American ports. Yet, during the conflict from 1812 to 1815, sailors and marines were just as likely to be involved in maritime raiding operations and other irregular missions as they were to work the ‘great guns’ in ship versus ship combat. This paper re-examines operations on the Great Lakes, and particularly Lake Ontario, in order to illuminate the role of irregular operations and small unit and small craft actions. These types of operations were common throughout the age of sail, but receive little attention from scholars. In order to broaden the scope of operational naval history, and the understanding of the roles and missions of naval forces, a wider investigation of naval irregular warfare is warranted both in the War of 1812 and across naval history more generally.
Notes
1 Opinions expressed in this article are presented in the author’s personal and academic capacity and do not reflect the opinions or policies of the US Naval Academy, US Navy or any US government agency.
2 Sprout, Rise of American Naval Power; Knox, A History of the United States Navy. For a different view favouring a theme of guerre de course and occasional interest in brown water operations see Hagan, This People’s Navy. Mahan, The Influence of Seapower, 394–96. In the introduction to the 1966 edition of Rise of American Naval Power the authors explicitly state: ‘It sometimes appears in retrospect that we were initially swayed too much by some of Mahan’s interpretations . . .’
3 For examples which make an effort to connect with the larger narrative with British naval history see Lambert, ‘The Limits of Naval Power’ and Gordon, ‘Time after Time’, as well as a handful of studies of counter-slavery operations by the Royal and US Navies.
4 Cutting-out expeditions are operations where sailors and marines attempted to capture or sink enemy warships via a small boat attack and boarding.
5 Dunford et al., A Cooperative Strategy; Mattis et al., Irregular Warfare; Till, Asia’s Naval Expansion, 163.
6 Greenert, ‘Building on a 200 Year Legacy’, 32–3; McCranie, Utmost Gallantry; Daughan, 1812: The Navy’s War; Lambert, The Challenge.
7 Scott, Memoirs of Lieutenant General Scott, 113. Maloney, ‘The War of 1812’, 59.
8 Malcomson, Lords of the Lake.
9 Chapelle, History of the American Sailing Navy, 249.
10 ‘Gregory’ in Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
11 Goodrich, ‘Our Navy and the West Indian Pirates, 1466. John Shaw to Paul Hamilton, 3 Feb. 1812, in Dudley, (ed.), The Naval War of 1812, 379.
12 Smith, ‘A Man With a Country’, 156–7.
13 Roosevelt, The Naval War of 1812, 93–4.
14 Malcomson, Lords of the Lake, 298.
15 Isaac Chauncey to William Jones, 20 Jun. 1814, in Crawford, (ed.), The Naval War of 1812, 528.
16 Isaac Chauncey to William Jones, 21 Jul. 1813, Crawford, (ed.), The Naval War of 1812, vol. 2, 523–5.
17 Isaac Chauncey to William Jones, 20 Jun. 1814, Crawford, (ed.), The Naval War of 1812, vol. 3, 529.
18 ‘A List of His Majesty’s Gunboats,’ James Yeo to Admiralty, Apr. 1814, The National Archives, Kew, ADM 1, 2737:78.
19 John Hewson to Morrison, 19 Jun. 1814 and Gordon Drummond to George Prevost, 21 Jun. 1814, National Archives of Canada (hereafter NAC), Record Group 8, C Series, Microfilm Roll 3174, 683: 299 and 301.
20 Chauncey to William Jones, 20 Jun. 1814, Crawford, (ed.), The Naval War of 1812, vol. 3, 529.
21 Gordon Drummond to George Prevost, 23 Jun. 1814, NAC, RG 8, Roll 3174, 683: 303–4.
22 Ibid., 304–5.
23 Isaac Chauncey to William Jones, 20 Jun. 1814, Crawford, (ed.), The Naval War of 1812, vol. 3, 529.
24 Malcomson, Lords of the Lake, 120, 122.
25 Richard O’Conner to Noah Freer, 24 Nov. 1813, NAC, RG 8, Roll 3244, 731: 136–7. Documents do not explicitly identify the Pres’quile schooner as being RN contracted construction. They also do not provide evidence of another intended use. However the size of the vessel, and reports it was holed for 14 guns, suggest it would have been a significant addition to RN or Provincial forces. Chauncey repeatedly refers to the location as ‘Presque Isle’, easily allowing it to be confused with the American base on Lake Erie. From American reporting the location of the shipyard is properly identified in Niles Weekly Register, 16 Jul. 1814.
26 Wolcott Chauncey to Isaac Chauncey, 18 Jun. 1813, US National Archives (hereafter USNA), RG 45, Microfilm Roll M125, 29: 82.
27 Roosevelt, The Naval War of 1812, 94.
28 Isaac Chauncey to William Jones, 7 Jul. 1814, Crawford, (ed.), The Naval War of 1812, vol. 3, 531.
29 Arthur Sinclair to William Jones, 13 May 1814, Crawford, (ed.), The Naval War of 1812, vol. 3, 483–4.
30 Isaac Chauncey to William Jones, 7 Jul. 1814, Crawford, (ed.), The Naval War of 1812, vol. 3, 532–3.
31 Isaac Chauncey to William Jones, 7 Jul. 1814, Crawford, (ed.), The Naval War of 1812, vol. 3, 532.
32 Isaac Chauncey to William Jones, 29 Aug. 1814, Crawford, (ed.), The Naval War of 1812, vol. 3, 595.
33 D. Daverne to Powell, 28 Aug. 1814, Crawford, (ed.), The Naval War of 1812, vol. 3, 594. Francis Gregory to Isaac Chauncey, 27 Aug. 1814, Crawford, (ed.), The Naval War of 1812, vol. 3, 596. Daniel Pring to W. H. Robinson, 22 October 1814, NAC, RG 8, Roll 3233, 694: 1w.
34 Chauncey to Jones, 21 Jul. 1813, USNA, RG 45, M125, Roll 30. Buffalo Gazette, 10 Aug. 1813, Crawford, (ed.), The Naval War of 1812, vol. 2, 524.
35 Marion Hunter, 18 Aug. 1813, NAC, RG 8, C Series, Microfilm Roll 3173, 679: 441. Edward Baynes, General Order, 24 Jul. 1813, NAC RG 8, Roll 3502, 1170: 323.
36 Pearson to Baynes, 22 Aug. 1813, NAC RG 8, Roll 3173, 679: 473. Edward Baynes, General Order, 24 Jul. 1813. Niles Weekly Register, 7 Aug 1813.
37 Edward Baynes, General Order No. 3, 8 Jun. 1813, Cruikshank (ed.), Documentary History, part 2, 53. Edward Baynes, General Order, 24 July 1813, Cruikshank (ed.), Documentary History, part 2, 273–4.
38 James Yeo, Proposed Plan for Manning the Gunboats, Jul. 1813, NAC RG 8, Roll 3243, 730: 48–51. Yeo to Prevost, 21 Jul. 1813, NAC RG 8, Roll 3243, 730: 52–4. Edward Baynes, General Order, 24 Jul. 1813, Cruikshank (ed.), Documentary History, part 2, pp. 273–74.
39 Richardson, ‘The Memoirs of James Richardson’, 34–7. Chauncey to Jones, 3 Jul. 1813, USNA, RG 45, M125, R29, 147.
40 Woolsey to Chauncey, 1 Jun. 1814. Appling to Gaines, 30 May 1814. Popham to Yeo, 1 Jun. 1814, Crawford, (ed.), The Naval War of 1812, vol. 3, 508–9.
41 Yeo to Drummond, 3 Jun. 1814, Cruikshank (ed.), Documentary History, vol. 4, 18. Drummond to Yeo, 6 Jun. 1814, Cruikshank (ed.), Documentary History, vol. 4, 19–20. Graves, (ed.), Merry Hearts, 162. For ‘smooth’ relationship between Yeo and Drummond and aftermath of Sandy Creek see Turner, British Generals, 122, 142.
42 Alexander Dobbs to James Yeo, 13 Aug. 1814, and Edmund Kennedy to William Jones, 15 Aug. 1814, Crawford, (ed.), The Naval War of 1812, vol. 3, 588–9. Gordon Drummond, ‘Morning District General Order,’ 13 Aug. 1814, in Irving, (ed.), Officers of the British Forces, 255–56.
43 Leiner, The End of the Barbary Terror, 94–6.
44 Bradlee, Piracy in the West Indies; Canney, Africa Squadron; Buker, Swamp Sailors.
45 Smith Thompson to 17th Congress, 3 Dec. 1822, ‘Condition of the Navy, and its Operations,’ American State Papers: Naval Affairs, vol. 1, 804, 806. Comstock, History of the Greek Revolution, 397. Smith, ‘A Man with a Country’, 158–9.
46 J. H. Dent to Benjamin Crowinshield, 31 Jan. 1815, reprinted in Alden, Lawrence Kearny, 24-26. Hanks, ‘Commodore Lawrence Kearny, 70–3.
47 Long, ‘Mad Jack’; ‘John Percival’ in Fredriksen, American Military Leaders, vol. 2, 579–80.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Benjamin Armstrong
Benjamin ‘BJ’ Armstrong is a commander in the US Navy and a permanent military professor with the history department at the US Naval Academy. He recently successfully defended his PhD thesis ‘Small Boats and Daring Men: Naval irregular warfare and the U.S. Navy in the Age of Sail’ with the War Studies Department, King’s College, London. He is the editor of the 21st Century Foundations book series with the Naval Institute Press, which include his books 21st Century Mahan: Sound Military Conclusions for the Modern Era and 21st Century Sims: Innovation, Education, and Leadership for the Modern Era.