Sea Power in its Relations to the War of 1812. Volume 1

That is, verbally, before his formal letter of February 23.

333

Cobbett's Parliamentary Debates, vol. x. p. 669. A search through the correspondence of Canning and Erskine, as well as through the debates of Parliament upon the Orders in Council, January-April, 1808, reveals nothing confirmatory of the pari passu claim, put forth in Madison's letters quoted, and afterwards used by Monroe in his arguments with Foster. But in Canning's instructions to Jackson, July 1, 1809 (No. 3), appears a sentence which may throw some light on the apparent misunderstanding. "As to the willingness or ability of neutral nations to resist the Decrees of France, his Majesty has always professed … a disposition to relax or modify his measures of retaliation and self-defence in proportion as those of neutral, nations should come in aid of them and take their place." This would be action pari passu with a neutral; and if the same were expressed to Erskine, it is far from incredible, in view of his remarkable action of 1809, that he may have extended it verbally without authority to cover an act of France. My italics.

334

Wellesley to Pinkney, Aug. 31, 1810. American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iii. p. 366.

335

American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iii. p. 376.

336

The American flag was used in this way to cover British shipping. For instances see American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iii. p. 342.

337

American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iii. p. 408.

338

Author's italics.

339

Armstrong had sailed for the United States two months before.

340

American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iii. p. 391.

341

Russell on November 17 wrote that he had reason to believe that the revocation of the Decrees had not been notified to the ministers charged with the execution of them. On December 4 he said that, as the ordinary practice in seizing a vessel was to hold her sequestered till the papers were examined in Paris, this might explain why the local Custom-House was not notified of the repeal. Russell to the Secretary of State, U.S. State Department MSS.

342

Langdon Cheves of South Carolina. Annals of Congress, 1810-11, pp. 885-887.

343

American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iii. p. 393.

344

Annals of Congress, 1810-11, p. 990.

345

Pinkney to the Secretary of State, Jan. 17, 1811. American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iii. p. 408.

346

Foster had succeeded as chargé d'affaires in May, 1809, by the departure of Merry, formerly minister to the United States. He was afterwards appointed minister; but in June, 1810, under pressure from Bonaparte, Sweden requested him to leave the country.

347

Pearce, Life and Correspondence of the Marquis Wellesley, vol. iii. p. 193.

348

Author's italics.

349

American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iii. p. 514. Author's italics.

350

Ibid., p. 435.

351

Rodgers to Secretary of the Navy, Aug. 4, 1810. Captains' Letters.

352

Bainbridge to the Secretary of the Navy, May 3, 1810. Captains' Letters. The case was not singular.

353

Orders of Admiral Sawyer to the Captain of the "Little Belt." American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iii. p. 475.

354

American State Papers, vol. iii. p. 473. In the absence of the British admiral, the senior officer at Halifax assembled a board of captains which collected what his letter styles the depositions of the "Little Belt's" officers. Depositions would imply that the witnesses were sworn, but it is not so said in the report of the Board, where they simply "state." In the case of honorable gentlemen history may give equal credit in either case; but the indication would be that inquiry was less particular. The Board reports no question by itself; the "statements" are in the first person, apparently in reply to the request "tell all you know," and are uninterrupted by comment.

355

The proceedings of this court are printed in American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iii. pp. 477-497.

356

Annals of Congress, 1811-12, p. 890.

357

Dec. 17, 1811. American State Papers, Naval Affairs, vol. i. p. 247.

358

Niles' Register, vol. ii. pp. 101-104.

359

Russell to Monroe, May 30, 1812. U.S. State Department MSS.

360

Russell to Monroe, August 15 and 21, 1812. U.S. State Department MSS.

361

See Jefferson's Works, vol. v. pp. 335, 337, 338, 339, 419, 442-445.

362

Madison to Russell, Nov. 15, 1811. U.S. State Department MSS.

363

Russell to Robert Smith, March 15, 1811. U.S. State Department MSS.

364

Russell to the Secretary of State, July 15, 1811. Ibid.

365

Ante, p. 217.

366

Note dictée en conseil d'Administration du Commerce, April 29, 1811. Correspondance de Napoléon, vol. xxii. p. 144.

367

Russell to Monroe, July 13, 1811. U.S. State Department MSS.

368

Russell to J.S. Smith, July 14, 1811. American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iii. p. 447.

369

Russell to Bassano, Aug. 8, 1811. U.S. State Department MSS.

370

Russell to Robert Smith, April, 1811. Ibid.

371

Monroe to Russell, June 8, 1811. Ibid.

372

Reports of the Ministers of Foreign Relations and of War, March 10, 1812. Moniteur, March 16.

373

Russell to Monroe, April 19, 1812. U.S. State Department MSS.

374

The copy of this Order in Council which the author is here using is in the Naval Chronicle, vol. xxvii. p. 466.

375

This letter, which is given in a very mutilated form in the American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iii. p. 602, has been published in full by the Bureau of Historical Research, Carnegie Institution, Washington. Report on the Diplomatic Archives of the Department of State, 1904, p. 64.

376

American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iii. p. 603.

377

Barlow's interview with Bassano, and the letters exchanged, will be found in American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iii. p. 602-603. Russell's denial is on p. 614. Serrurier's is mentioned in a Report made to the House by Monroe, Secretary of State, ibid., p. 609.

378

Barlow to Russell, May 10, 1812. U.S. State Department MSS.

379

Russell to Monroe, May 9, 1812. Ibid.

380

The passages cited above are from Russell's correspondence with the State Department, under the dates of January 10, February 3 and 19, March 4 and 20, 1812. U.S. State Department MSS.

381

Russell to Monroe, May 9, 1812. U.S. State Department MSS.

382

Barlow to Monroe, March 15, 1812. Ibid. Published by Bureau of Historical Research, Carnegie Institution, 1904, p. 63.

383

American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iii. p. 433. Author's italics.

384

Russell to Monroe, June 30, 1812. U.S. State Department MSS.

385

Russell to Monroe, June 30, 1812. U.S. State Department MSS.

386

American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iii. p. 405.

387

Ante, p. 106.

388

To John Taylor, Sept. 10, 1810. Works of James Monroe, vol. vi. p. 128.

389

Monroe to Jefferson, Monroe's Works, vol. v. p. 268.

390

Annals of Congress, 1811-12, p. 2046.

391

Ante, p. 144.

392

Adams, History of the United States, vol. viii. chap. viii.

393

Sir J. Carmichael Smyth, Précis of Wars in Canada, p. 116.

394

To Monroe, May 4, 1806. Jefferson's Writings, Collected and Edited by P.L. Ford, vol. viii. p. 450.

395

Ibid., vol. vi. p. 75.

396

Kingsford's History of Canada, vol. viii. p. 183. The author is indebted to Major General Sir F. Maurice, and Major G. Le M. Gretton, of the British Army, for extracts from the official records, from which it appears that, excluding provincial corps, not to be accounted regulars, the British troops in Canada numbered in January, 1812, 3,952; in July, 5,004.

397

Giles, Annals of Congress, 1811-12, p. 51.

398

June 13, 1812. Works of James Monroe, vol. v. p. 207.

399

Prevost to Liverpool, July 15, 1812. Canadian Archives, Q. 118.

400

Niles' Register, vol. vii. p. 195.

401

Ante, p. 71.

402

American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iii. p. 584.

403

Niles' Register, vol. ii. p. 119. "Official Returns in the Department of State" are alleged as authority for the statement. Monroe to Foster, May 30, 1812, mentions "a list in this office of several thousand American seamen who have been impressed into the British service." American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. iii. p. 454.

404

Kingsford's History of Canada, vol. viii. p. 111.

405

Drummond to Prevost, Oct. 20, 1814. Report on Canadian Archives, 1896, Upper Canada, p. 9.

406

Ibid., Oct. 15.

407

Prevost to Bathurst, Aug. 14, 1814. Report on Canadian Archives, 1896, Lower Canada, p. 36.

408

Travels, J.M. Duncan, vol. ii. p. 27.

409

Life of Sir Isaac Brock, p. 127.

410

Report on Canadian Archives, 1893, Lower Canada, p. 1.

411

Ibid., p. 75.

412

Ibid.

413

Report on Canadian Archives, 1893, Lower Canada, p. 3.

414

Brackenridge, War of 1812, pp. 57, 63, 65, 66.

415

Life of Brock, p. 193.

416

Smyth, Précis of the Wars in Canada, p. 167.

417

Armstrong to Eustis, Jan. 2, 1812. Armstrong's Notices of the War of 1812, vol. i, p. 238.

418

Captains' Letters, June 3, 1812. Navy Department MSS.

419

Ibid., June 8, 1812.

420

Captains' Letters, Sept. 2, 1812. Navy Department MSS.

421

Navy Department MSS.

422

Captains' Letters, J. Rodgers, Sept. 1, 1812. Navy Department MSS.

423

Letter of Sept. 1, 1812. Navy Department MSS.

424

James, Naval History (edition 1824), vol. v. p. 283.

425

Captains' Letters, Sept. 14, 1812. Navy Department MSS.

426

Naval Chronicle (British), vol. xxviii. p. 426.

427

Nov. 4, 1812.

428

Naval Chronicle, vol. xxviii. p. 159; James, vol. v. p. 274.

429

Sir J.B. Warren to Admiralty, Aug 24, 1812. Canadian Archives MSS. M. 389. 1, p. 147.

430

Of the three masts of a "ship," the mizzen-mast is the one nearest the stern.

431

The middle, where the yard is hung.

432

Hull's report, Aug. 28, 1812. Captains' Letters, Navy Department MSS.

433

The spritsail was set on a yard which in ships of that day crossed the bowsprit at its outer end, much as other yards crossed the three upright lower masts. Under some circumstances ships would forge slowly ahead under its impulse. It was a survival from days which knew not jibs.

434

Dacres' Defence before the Court Martial. Naval Chronicle, vol. xxviii. p. 422.

435

"Guerrière" Court Martial. MS. British Records Office.

436

Memoirs of Gen. Winfield Scott, vol. i p. 31.

437

Ibid., p. 35.

438

Hull to the War Department, March 6, 1812. Report of Hull's Trial, taken by Lieut. Col. Forbes, 42d U.S. Infantry. Hull's Defence, p. 31.

439

Armstrong's Notices of the War of 1812, vol. i. p. 237.

440

The Writings of Madison (ed. 1865), vol. ii. p. 563. See also his letter to Dearborn, Oct. 7, 1812. Ibid., p. 547.

441

Hull's Trial, p. 127. Porter was a witness for the defence.

442

Hull's Trial, Appendix, p. 4.

443

Life of Brock, p. 192.

444

Writings of James Madison (Lippincott, 1865), vol. ii. p. 543.

445

Eustis to Hull, June 24, 1812. From MS. copy in the Records of the War Department. This letter was acknowledged by Hull, July 9.

446

Hull's Trial, Appendix, p. 9.

447

Hull to Eustis, July 22, 1812. Hull's Trial, Appendix, p. 10.

448

Hull's Trial, Defence, p. 45.

449

Canadian Archives MSS. C. 676, p. 177.

450

Ibid., p. 242.

451

Hull's Trial. Evidence of Lieutenant Gooding, p. 101, and of Sergeant Forbush, p. 147 (prisoners in Malden).

452

Life of Brock, p. 250.

453

Letter of Colonel Cass to U.S. Secretary of War, Sept. 10, 1812. Hull's Trial, Appendix, p. 27.

454

Life of Brock, p. 267.

455

Hull's Trial. Defence, p. 20.

456

Hull's Trial. Testimony of Captain Eastman, p. 100, and of Dalliby, Ordnance Officer, p. 84.

457

Ibid. Hull's Defence, pp. 59-60.

458

Madison to Dearborn, Oct. 7, 1812. Writings, vol. ii, p. 547.

459

Baynes to Prevost. Canadian Archives, C. 377, pp. 27-37.

460

Life of Brock, p. 258. Brock first heard of the suspension August 23, at Fort Erie, on his return toward Niagara. Life, p. 274. See also a letter from Brock to the American General Van Rensselaer, in the Defence of General Dearborn, by H.A.S. Dearborn, p. 8.

461

Chauncey to the Secretary of the Navy, Sept. 26, 1812. Captains' Letters, Navy Department MSS.

462

Elliott's report of this affair will be found in the Captains' Letters, Navy Department MSS., forwarded by Chauncey Oct. 16, 1812.

463

Life of Brock, p. 315.

464

Ibid., p. 316.

465

Porter's Address to the Public. Niles' Register, vol. iii. p. 284.

466

See Eustis's Letter to Dearborn, Aug. 15, 1812. Hall's Memoirs of the Northwestern Campaign, p. 87.

467

Life of Brock, pp. 106, 130, 181.

468

Chauncey to Secretary, Sept. 26, 1812. Captains' Letters, Navy Department MSS.

469

Chauncey to Secretary, Feb. 24, 1815. Ibid.

470

The details of Chauncey's actions are appended to his letter of Sept. 26, 1812.

471

Chauncey to Secretary of the Nary, Oct. 8, 12, 21, 1812. Captains' Letters.

472

Chauncey to Secretary, October 27, November 4, 6, 13. Captains' Letters. Those for November 6 and 13 can be found in Niles, vol. iii, pp. 205, 206.

473

Chauncey to Secretary, November 17. Captains' Letters.

474

Chauncey to Secretary, Nov. 26, 1812. Ibid.

475

Life of Brock, p. 293.

476

In the Canadian Archives frequent mention is made of expeditions by Procter's forces about the American lines, as of the British shipping on the Lake front during the autumn of 1812.

477

Elliott to Chauncey, Sept. 14, 1812. Captains' Letters, Navy Department.

478

Chauncey to the Secretary, Oct. 22, 1812. Captains' Letters, Navy Department.

479

Chauncey to the Secretary, Dec. 25, 1812; Jan. 1 and 8, and Feb. 16, 1813. Captains' Letters.

480

See Chauncey's letters of Dec. 1, 1812, and Jan. 20, 1813. Captains' Letters.

481

Chauncey to the Secretary, Jan. 21, Feb. 22, 1813. Captains' Letters.

482

Ridout, "Ten Years in Upper Canada," pp. 52, 58, 115.

483

Niles' Register, vol ii. p. 42.

484

Ibid., p. 119.

485

Ibid., p. 303.

486

Naval Chronicle, vol. xxviii. p. 248.

487

Quoted from Steele's List (British) by Niles' Register, vol. ii. p. 356.

488

Croker to Warren, Nov. 18, 1812, and March 20, 1813. British Admiralty MSS. Out-Letters.

489

Niles' Register, vol. iii. p. 111. Quoted from a publication of 1759.

490

The Prince Regent. George III. was incapacitated at this time.

491

Admiralty Out-Letters, British Records Office.

492

Rodgers to the Secretary, April 29, 1812. Decatur, June 16, 1812. Captains' Letters.

493

Naval Chronicle, vol. xxviii. p. 73.

494

Ibid.

495

Ibid., pp. 138, 139.

496

Naval Chronicle, vol. xxviii. p. 139.

497

Writings of Madison (ed. 1865), vol. ii. p. 545.

498

Niles' Register, vol. iii. p. 220.

499

Annals of Congress, 1812-13, p. 301.

500

Castlereagh to the Admiralty, Aug. 6 and 12, 1812. British Record Office MSS. Warren's Letter to the United States Government and Monroe's reply are in American State Papers, vol. iii. pp. 595, 596.

501

Captains' Letters. Navy Department MSS.

502

Niles' Register, vol. ii. p. 101.

503

Annals of Congress, 1811-12, p. 1593.

504

These data are summarized from Niles' Register, which throughout the war collected, and periodically published, lists of prizes.

505

A synopsis of the "Rossie's" log is given in Niles' Register, vol. iii p. 158.

506

Gallatin, Dec. 8, 1812. American State Papers, Finance, vol. ii. p. 594.

507

Jones, July 21, 1813. American State Papers, Finance, vol. ii. p. 645.

508

In the memoir of Commodore Barney (p. 252), published by his daughter, it is said that, successful though the "Rossie's" cruise was in its issue, he was dissatisfied with the course laid down for him by his owners, who did not understand the usual tracks of British commerce.

509

Account of the Private Armed Ship "America," by B.B. Crowninshield. Essex Institute Historical Collections, vol. xxxvii.

510

Naval Chronicle, vol. xxviii. p. 431.

511

Niles' Register, vol. iii. p. 320.

512

Naval Chronicle, vol. xxviii. p. 257.

513

American State Papers, Commerce and Navigation, vol. i. p. 992.

514

Warren to Croker, Dec. 28 and 29, 1812. Records Office MSS.

515

Croker to Warren, Jan. 9, Feb. 10, and March 20, 1813. Records Office MSS.

516

American State Papers. Commerce and Navigation, vol. i. p. 1021.

517

American State Papers. Commerce and Navigation, vol. i. p. 718.

518

Captains' Letters. Navy Department, Oct. 3, 1812.

519

Captains' Letters, Navy Department, Dee. 31, 1812, and Jan. 2, 1813.

520

From the file of Captains' Letters, Jan. 1, 1813. Found in the American licensed brig "Julia," captured by United States frigate "Chesapeake," Captain Samuel Evans. The vessel was condemned in the United States Courts.

521

Besides the obvious impropriety, the practice was expressly forbidden by law. It was reprobated in strong terms by Justice Joseph Story, of Massachusetts, of the Supreme Court of the United States, affirming the condemnation of the "Julia." His judgment is given in full in Niles' Register, vol. iv. pp. 393-397.

522

Captain Jones' Report of this action can be found in Niles' Register, vol. iii. p. 217; that of Captain Whinyates in Naval Chronicle, vol. xxix. p. 76.

523

Macedonian Court Martial. British Records Office MSS.

524

James states that this was in order to fill fresh cartridges, which is likely enough; but it is most improbable that the movement was deferred till the last cartridge ready was exhausted—that the battery could not have been fired when crossing the bows.

525

"Macedonian" Court Martial.

526

Decatur's Report. Niles' Register, vol. iii. p. 253.

527