The Battle of Borodino, 7th September 1812 - Let the Festive Season Begin!

Panorama of Borodino by Franz Roubaud.

As we all know wargaming and wargamers, is and are, very much about the social side of our hobby, yes you can do the thing solo and if you live in a very large country where your fellow wargamers are thin on the ground then that might be your only option to play, but here in the UK we are fairly thick on the ground compared to other parts of the world, with a strong club culture that encourages getting together with friends around a table to roll bones and talk rubbish, and so with the start of the Season of Goodwill to our Fellows, what better way to express that goodwill than getting together to recreate another dramatic moment in military history.

Previous Festive Games at Chez Clive.
https://jjwargames.blogspot.com/2021/12/battle-of-antietam-in-grand-manner-fire.html
https://jjwargames.blogspot.com/2023/12/big-xmas-game-sword-beachhead-and.html

Here in our part of the world, I and friends who have been playing these daft games with each other over many years have developed a calendar of events that just seem to have become a regular thing over time and I now associate different seasons in the calendar with such a gathering; and a journey up to North Devon to join friends at Chez Clive is one such event, which in previous get-togethers has seen us enjoy battling away in the Normandy bocage or the Sunken Road at Antietam.

Borodino or Bust ! Our table plan for the day, viewed from Russian lines with 'Yours Truly' taking  command out on the Russian left flank under Lieutenant General Nikolay Alexeyevich Tuchkov, in front of Utitsa (5) bottom left, The Fleches redoubts and elements of Lieutenant General Borozdin's 8th Infantry Corps in and around the village of Semyonovskaya (3).

This year it was Borodino or Bust! to put a title on the planned fun with a big 15mm Napoleonic recreation of the famous 1812 encounter on the road to Moscow between Napoleon Bonaparte Emperor of the French and Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov-Smolensky,  Field Marshal of the Russian Empire.

The positions of the two armies at dawn on the 7th September 1812.

The Battle of Borodino or "Battle of Moscow" took place near the village of Borodino on 7th September 1812 during Napoleon's invasion of Russia, at which the Grande Armée won the battle against the Imperial Russian Army, but failed to gain a decisive victory and suffered tremendous losses. 

After the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon remained on the battlefield with his army whilst the Imperial Russian forces retreated in an orderly fashion southwards, and because the Imperial Russian army had weakened the Grande Armée, they allowed the French occupation of Moscow, using scorched-earth tactics on their own population to trap Napoleon and his men with their own capital; a plan I should mention, they developed from their observation of the Duke of Wellington's scorched-earth retreat through Portugal in front of Marshal Massena's army to Lisbon and the Lines of Torres Vedras in 1810, that had a similar effect on a French army used to living off the land on extended supply lines.

Our table set up for play to commence looking north with the village of Utitsa (5) bottom right.

Approximately a quarter of a million soldiers were involved in the battle, and it was the bloodiest single day of the Napoleonic Wars, with the French estimated to have lost some 28,000–35,000 killed, wounded or captured, together with 50 generals, whilst the Russians suffered an estimated 40,000–53,000 killed, wounded or captured along with 27 generals. Napoleon himself summed up the battle and its ambiguous outcome, writing, "The French showed themselves worthy of victory and the Russians of being invincible."

The table from the north looking south with the village of Borodino (1) behind the River Kalatsha, centre right (number reference to our table plan above).

Napoleon fought against General Mikhail Kutuzov, whom the Emperor Alexander I of Russia had appointed to replace Barclay de Tolly on the 29th of August 1812 after the Battle of Smolensk, and the failure of the Grande Armée to completely destroy the Imperial Russian army, and in particular Napoleon's reluctance to deploy his Imperial Guard, for various reasons, has been widely criticised by historians as a large blunder, as it allowed the Imperial Russian army to continue its retreat into territory increasingly hostile to the French. That said, many historians have never run a police state where their hold on power relies on their ability crush any opposition within their capital city, thousands of miles away with a loyal corps of elite-veteran soldiers that haven't been thrown away in a useless frontal assault - just saying!

For our game, Clive had dug out his collection of vintage Minifigs 15mm French and Russian Napoleonics and was using the new rules from Jervis Johnson and the Perry's - Valour and Fortitude (V&F), which I had never played before, but had seen a few videos outlining how they worked, and I see are free online on the Perry's website, link below.

https://www.perry-miniatures.com/valour-fortitude/vf-rules/

I don't intend to take up too much space describing the rules as I know there is plenty of discussion about them elsewhere, other than to say that I had to smile at Mr Johnson's assertively provocative quote below from his introduction page which I think very much captures the ethos behind what you will find in V&F and the game it will generate.

'As well as keeping the rules short and precise, I have tried to make sure I avoided what a colleague at Games Workshop once memorably referred to as “game designer ****wittery”. What they were referring to with this pithy phrase was the tendency of games designers to come up with rather avant-garde or overly complicated rules, when using a more traditional or straightforward approach would have worked just as well.'

If you find yourself preferring more, “game designer ****wittery”, then V&F might not be for you, but as I always say, rules are like shoe sizes and just because I take a size 8 and you take a size 10, it doesn't make either of us wrong.

The view from behind the Russian right flank, with obligatory string on the table, together with various labels, to make it easier for the players to differentiate one command from another at the start of the game.

So with our table set up, everyone sufficiently refreshed with an appropriate morning brew we sorted out our commands with me taking the Russian brigades of Lieutenant General Nikolay Alexeyevich Tuchkov, together with elements of Lieutenant General Borozdin's 8th Infantry Corps looking to hold my ground around the village of Utitsa on the extreme Russian left flank up to and including the Fleche redoubts and the village of Semyonovskaya, with to my front the forbidding massed infantry columns, cavalry squadrons and gun batteries of Marshal's Davout's I Corps and Ney's III Corps, seemingly well set to crush the 'speed-bump' of a force I had ready to oppose their advance. 

  

The troops of Lieutenant General Borozdin's 8th Infantry Corps in and around Semyonovskaya.

However that 'wily old fox' Kutuzov had selected the position before Borodino precisely because of the terrain-force multipliers it offered, with the restricted avenues of advance towards the Russian main line sheltered behind ridges and woods with well placed dug in heavy guns sited to play on the French troops as they marched forward into the carefully prepared kill zones preparatory to a swift Russian counterattack.

The Russian centre, troops of Lt. General Raevsky's 7th Corps in and around the formidable Raevsky Redoubt.

Now all we had to do, as the Russian commanders, was to see if we could pull off General Kutuzov's plan by making best use of our position, coupled with a few smiles from 'Fortuna' as the dice tumbled to the bottom of the tower.

The lead elements of Prince Eugène's IV Corps advance from the village of Borodino.

With the Russian right flank effectively refused with the curve of the River Kalatsha  leaving acres of open ground in front of the Russian positions for Prince Eugène's IV Corps to cross, the heaviest fighting would, as it historically did, fall on the Russian centre and left flanks as Ney and Davout having a shorter approach march were able to close more quickly, with the bulk of their troops.

The balance of Prince Eugène's IV Corps, consisting of French line units and the Italian Guard bringing up the rear.

However the terrain played its part with the multiple river crossings and gaps between hills and woods causing bottlenecks with not enough deployment room to allow the French to achieve a decisive numerical advantage, and very often restricting the room for the different units of guns, infantry and cavalry to work together in that 'golden' all-arms formation which is Napoleonics at its best.

Marshal's Davout's I Corps (right) and Ney's III Corps (left) with elements of the Imperial Guard to their rear Ready to assault the Russian left and centre ahead.

Thus the early exchanges saw the Russian heavy guns secure in their redoubts take a heavy toll of French infantry columns coming forward as Russian infantry moved into woods to help break up and delay the French advance to allow the gunners to have more time to do their work.

Davout's lead elements begin the advance on Utitsa, skirting the woodland before the village.

Kutuzov's plan appeared to be working well as French infantry were mauled on the approach march with several units dispersed before the French and allied troops of Ney and Davout's corps were able to assemble an assault mass before the Fleches and Utitsa.

Cossacks under Major-General Karpov, move forward to cover the flank of the heavy foot guns manning the Fleche redoubt, as Ney advances with a mix of infantry and cavalry.

Pavlovski Grenadiers and the 1st Grenadier Division, along with Russian heavy cavalry wait in reserve behind the Raevsky redoubt.

However with the arrival of French troops in force ready to assault, they were forced to delay as the Russians brought up reserves, as yet untouched by the preceding shot and shell, which saw initial French attempts to attack with individual units beaten back with loss, compelling the French commanders to bring forward more artillery to batter the Russian positions preparatory to a full on attack by multiple units.

Polish lancers, Chaaseur a Cheval and Hussars of Sebastiani's Cavalry Corps await the order to advance.

This forced break in the seemingly irresistible French advance saw the first significant clashes as Karpov's Cossacks clashed with Poniatowski's hussars around Utitisa, Stroganov's grenadiers met Davout's line infantry in the woodlands close by, whilst the Russian gunners in the Fleche's and Reavsky redoubt continued to ply the French troops amassing before them with heavy 12lb roundshot.

The advance begins.

The fighting was battering both the attackers and defenders, with the Russians slightly on top in terms of standards captured, measured by the number of units dispersed, and indeed whole brigades dispersed as a result of the losses, and as we moved into the last phases of play, both forces braced themselves for the final battles to secure ascendancy in this struggle.

 

Prince Eugène's men prepare to cross the River Kalatsha above Borodino.

The view from the rear of Ney's corps as his forward elements press forward.

With the Russian defences somewhat softened up, the French assault began in earnest with Utitsa attacked from two sides by French guns and infantry before the latter moved into the streets to clear the Russian garrison.

The battle to take the Fleches reaches a climax as French cuirassier and infantry attack the Russian guns as Russian grenadiers move up in support.

Then this success was swiftly followed up by an assault on the rightmost redoubt of the Fleches that saw the French infantry attack with elan but the Russian gunners grimly holding on, battered but undefeated only to see the French expelled by a swift counterattack by Russian grenadiers.

Undaunted the second French assault went in against the second redoubt, this time initiated by French cuirassiers who clambered into the gun positions sabring the gunners desperately seeking shelter under their twelve pounders and unicorns as the Pavloski Grenadiers now badly shot up met the following French infantry.

French infantry clamber over the redoubts to attack the Russian gunners at the point of the bayonet.

The French attack managed to take the position but not without losses by which time Lieutenant General Borozdin had marched his Grenadiers across from behind Semyonovskaya to form another line of resistance for the survivors to fall back behind, creating a very historical feel to the end of our battle, with both forces severely battered but with the Russians likely forced to withdraw once again leaving Napoleon controlling the battlefield.

With the evening drawing in we concluded our game after a very enjoyable day doing what wargamers do best, having fun with the toys.

Thank you to Clive our host and to Mike, Mark, Everett, Nick and Steve M for our game.

Seasons Greetings to one and all and looking forward to the next adventure.

JJ

Revenge in the Name of Honour - President versus Endymion, 15th January 1815.

This is the second post in my 'Revenge' series of posts looking at the models I am using to build my War of 1812 collection of 1:700 ships, with a link below to the first if you missed it; focussing in this initial phase of the project on the frigate actions that grabbed the public imagination at the time in both the US and Great Britain as outlined in Nicholas Kaiser's book on the subject, 'Revenge in the Name of Honour' which inspired me to get started and which lends its title to the project.

JJ's Wargames - Revenge in the Name of Honour, United States versus Macedonian

I reviewed 'Revenge in the Name of Honour' back in 2021 and you can check that post out in the link below.

JJ's Wargames - Revenge in the Name of Honour

In the first post looking at the victory of the USS United States over the HMS Macedonian in October 1812, we were introduced to Commodore Stephen Decatur, a very talented and successful American naval officer who was in command of the United States in that action, but by 1815 was in command of her sister ship USS President blockaded in New York.

Commodore Stephen Decatur

Napoleon's failed attempt at invading Russia in 1812 had relieved many British ships from European waters allowing them to impose a strict blockade on the United States, and on the 1st June 1813, Decatur tried to break out of New York in USS United States and USS Macedonian (which had been taken into the United States Navy), but he encountered a powerful British squadron which drove him into New London, Connecticut. 

The two frigates were effectively hulked or demilitarized in order to tow them far enough upriver to be safe from British cutting-out expeditions, and it was coincidental, that this was the same day of the capture of USS Chesapeake which meant that in one day, nearly half of the United States frigates were incapacitated by the British Royal Navy.

By 1814, the US Navy was entirely contained with the exception of a few sloops, with the frigate Essex 36-guns taken in Valparaiso by the British frigate Phoebe 36-guns and the sloop-of-war Cherub 18-guns on the 28th March, the frigates Columbia, Boston, Adams and New York had been destroyed, and United States, Macedonian, Constitution, Congress, Constellation were blockaded.

The taking of the USS Essex in Valparaiso harbour on the 28th March 1814 by HM frigate Phoebe and sloop-of-war Cherub, the subject of a future post in this series.

There was no chance of sailing in good weather, and the only hope for escape was in the dangerous winter gales when the British forces would be blown offshore, leading to Decatur to attempt to break out of New London in United States in early 1814, but was forced to turn back when he feared that pro-British local civilians were burning blue lights to alert the blockaders.

USS President in 1802 rides out a storm at anchor and her yards lowered - Antoine Roux

In search of alternative options, he and his crew were transferred to the faster President, which had been refitted in New York.

The British squadron blockading New York consisted of the 74-gun, former ship of the line Majestic which had been razeed (cut down) to create a 58-gun, 32-pounder frigate, the 40-gun (Endymion class) 24-pounder frigate HMS Forth, and the 38-gun, 18-pounder frigates HMS Pomone and HMS Tenedos, with Commodore John Hayes in overall command as the captain of Majestic.

My interpretation of the razeed 74-gun third-rate Majestic, using the third-rate razee from Warlord Games.
JJ's Wargames - All at Sea, Razees

The 40-gun, 24-pounder frigate HMS Endymion had attempted to cut out the privateer Prince de Neufchatel and had lost many of her crew, that left her commander Captain Henry Hope expecting to be sent back to Britain as Endymion by that time was an old ship (built in 1797) and her crew had been weakened by the battle; however to his surprise, Admiral Henry Hotham ordered Endymion to remain on the North American Station she being the fastest ship in the Royal Navy, and he ordered some replacement crew to be drafted from the 56-gun razee HMS Saturn.

Captain Henry Hope by Henry Raeburn
Hope took command of HMS Endymion, a 40-gun fifth rate frigate,
that was being fitted out at Plymouth to counter the American 44-gun frigates,
on the 13th May 1813, sailing her to the Halifax station.

Hope went to unusual lengths to train his new crew in anticipation of imminent combat using the same methods as were used by Philip Broke on HMS Shannon, and the combination of Endymion's handling, speed, 24-pounder armament and the crew's training meant that she was better prepared for battle than most other frigates.

JJ's Wargames - Broke of the Shannon and the War of 1812

Philip Broke took the discipline and science of naval gunnery to new levels of proficiency in his command of HMS Shannon as exemplified by the shattering defeat of USS Chesapeake in just eleven minutes of action; with his use of flintlocks on his guns, together with tangent sights combined with an ingenious director fire arrangement using an arc of degrees marked on the gun deck behind each gun mount that could allow all guns to be traversed onto a single target at a given distance, and I covered these innovations in my review of Tim Voelcker's book 'Broke of the Shannon and the War of 1812' see link above.

USS Chesapeake in action with HMS Shannon, 1st June 1813 - Patrick O'Brien
In the only frigate action of the war in which there was no preponderance of force on either side, the Chesapeake was captured in a brief, just eleven minutes, but staggeringly intense action in which Chesapeake suffered 146 casualties (69 killed and 77 wounded), nearly as many men as HMS Victory (159 casualties, 57 killed 102 wounded) at Trafalgar after several hours of fighting . Also the subject of a future post in this series.

Endymion relieved her newer softwood sister ship Forth from the New York blockade, and Hayes' squadron now consisted of Majestic, Endymion, Pomone, and Tenedos.

Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plan, sheer lines, and longitudinal half-breadth for Liffey (1813), Forth (1813), Severn (1813), Liverpool (1814), and Glasgow (1814), all fir-built 40-gun Fifth Rate Frigates to be built at Blackwall by Wigram, Wells & Green. The plan records that the body was similar to that of Endymion (1797), a 40-gun Fourth Rate Frigate - NMM.

My interpretation of the 40-gun, 24-pounder frigate Endymion, using the 3D printed hull from Turner Miniatures and Only Games married with masts, sails, boats, anchors and figurehead from Warlord Games. She was built to the lines of the French prize Pomone captured in 1794, and due to her exceptional handling and sailing properties, the six Severn-class frigates were built to her lines. From the 17th May 1813 her armament consisted of: Upper deck: 26 × 24-pounder guns, Quarterdeck:16 × 32-pounder carronades, and Forecastle: 1 × 18-pounder brass long gun + 4 × 32-pounder carronades.

President was in New York Harbour with the sloops-of-war USS Peacock and USS Hornet, and the schooner-rigged tender USS Tom Bowline and by 1815 she was overdue for repairs on occasion that unlike the other five of the six frigates, President was not fastened with diagonal riders that left her hull prone to hogging and twisting.

On the 13th of January 1815 a blizzard blew up from the northwest, and the British ships were blown off their station to the southeast, that left Decatur determined to take advantage of the situation by breaking out with President alone, with a plan for the smaller warships to break out later and rendezvous with President off Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic.

Decatur immediately met with disaster, despite having ordered gunboats as harbour pilots to mark the safe passage across the shoal with anchored boats at the mouth of the harbour, they failed to do so properly and President grounded on the bar and remained stuck there for almost two hours, enduring a pounding from the wind and heavy sea. 

A 1764 map of New York harbour illustrating the shoal at Sandy Hook on the entrance to the harbour with the East Bank extending out from the Long Island shore and the ship channel marked. Difficult waters to navigate at the best of times but in poor visibility and heavy seas, quite treacherous.

The frigate was damaged by the time that it was worked free: some copper was stripped away from the hull, the masts were twisted and some of them had developed long cracks, and Decatur claimed the hull was twisted, with the bow and stern hogging on the sand bar, although it is likely that this was the case before President had even left port as she was already overdue for repairs.

Decatur decided that it was impossible for President to return to port, the wind was still strong, although the logs from the British squadron claimed that the gale had stopped, whilst strong winds persisted, and so Decatur headed east, keeping close to the Long Island shore before heading southeast.

My interpretation of the nominally rated 44-gun, 24-pounder frigate President using the 3D printed hull from Turner Miniatures and Only Games, similarly fitted out with fixtures from Warlord Games as for Endymion, but using parts from their third-rate. President was one of the original six frigates whose construction the Naval Act of 1794 had authorized, and she was the last to be completed. During the war, President made several extended cruises, patrolling as far away as the English Channel and Norway; she captured the armed schooner HMS Highflyer and numerous merchant ships. Her armament consisted of 32 × 24-pounder guns, 22 × 42-pounder carronades and 1 × 18-pounder long gun.

While President and her crew were struggling to float off the sand bar, the British blockading squadron was fighting to return to their blockading station, having been blown some fifty miles off station according to Hayes, and as the winds slowed, they regrouped, with Hayes realizing that the American ships might have taken the opportunity to leave port unobserved, and so he left Tenedos to watch the Sandy Hook passage whilst he headed north to watch the Long Island passage, rather than heading back to the harbour entrance.

The British squadron sighted President at dawn on the 14th January, with Hayes and his squadron coming up in a perfect position to cut her off from returning to port and Decatur immediately turned downwind towards the open sea and tried to gain speed by lightening his ship with the wind waning but still strong. In heavy seas and high winds, the largest ship will have the advantage in speed, and Hayes' Majestic gained on President, as they were similar in length but Majestic was considerably heavier. 

The pursuit of the USS President - Derek Gardner

The winds became more moderate at noon, and after Majestic had fired some ranging shots which fell short, Pomone overtook Majestic to lead the pursuit, but Tenedos appeared unexpectedly to the south and Hayes sent Pomone to investigate in case the sighting was another American ship, leaving HMS Endymion to overtake the rest of the British squadron. Endymion was regarded as the fastest ship in the Royal Navy, as she logged speeds of 14.4 knots sailing large, and nearly 11.0 knots close-hauled that were faster than clipper ships.

The President was damaged but she to was fast, however Decatur soon found that Endymion was gaining on him, but seeing the two ships soon outdistance the rest of the British squadron, quickly leaving them far behind.

Endymion's sailing qualities and Hope's skill proved decisive and by early afternoon, she and President began exchanging fire using their bow and stern-chaser cannon, and at 2 pm, Hope took Endymion into position on President's starboard quarter so that none of President's stern chasers could bear, and from this position, he engaged her with his single brass 18-pounder bow chaser.

Endymion and President - Derek Gardner
'Hope took Endymion into position on President's starboard quarter so that none of President's stern chasers could bear, and from this position, he engaged President with Endymion's single brass 18-pounder bow chaser'.

Decatur made several attempts to close on Endymion, but he discovered that President's damage limited her manoeuvrability and exaggerated the advantage in manoeuvrability of the smaller Endymion, and faced with this new dilemma, Decatur ordered bar and chain-shot to be fired to disable Endymion's sails and rigging; however President was trapped, with Decatur unable to escape to the north, as he would have reached the Long Island shore and been forced to the east once more; nor could he escape to the south, as Endymion would most likely slow President enough that the rest of the British squadron would catch up.

Hope then yawed Endymion to rake President's hull, then quickly returned to position on President's quarter where her guns would not bear, seeing his first broadside sending splinters flying in the President's spar deck where Decatur was standing, and himself hit in the chest by a large splinter that knocked him over, while another cut his forehead. 

Chase of the American President off New York, Night of 15th January 1815 - Joseph Reindler
'Hope then yawed Endymion to rake President's hull, then quickly returned to position on President's quarter where President's guns would not bear'.
https://josephreindler.com/uss-president

His First Lieutenant was standing next to him and had his leg cut off by a splinter, knocking him down and through the wardroom hatch, whilst another splinter fatally fractured the skull of a lieutenant next to him too. The 24-pounder cannon from Endymion were more effective than the traditional 18-pounder shot, fired by the British 38-gun frigates, that could not pierce the thick southern live oak sides of the United States' frigates, and three shots pierced President all the way through to the after powder room which was located beneath her mizzen step, and Hope repeated the yawing manoeuvre three times and did considerable damage. 

Decatur then came up with a new plan, and calling his men aft, told them he was determined to come about and board the enemy. His crew was larger and would have the advantage, and even more boldly he explained that once the enemy was secured they would scuttle the President and make off in the faster ship, with Endymion more likely to be able to outrun the other British ships, whilst adding another conquest to the record of the United States Navy.

At 5.30 pm  President bore up closer to the wind. To Hope it appeared that she was trying to cross Endymion's bow and rake her, and he immediately ordered his ship to turn in response, and again the superior sailing qualities of Endymion were decisive; seeing her answer the helm more quickly and managing to prevent Decatur from closing , and instead seeing both frigates running parallel, just a quarter of a mile apart, with the 24-pounders and carronades of each broadside opening fire that would begin a fierce two hour cannonade, with Decatur's men firing at Endymion's rigging whilst Hope's men concentrated on the enemy's hull.

'A Thomas Butterworth painting depicting HMS Endymion and USS President at about 7.00 pm on the night of January 15th, 1815 when the ships turn to the south and brailed up their spankers in order to exchange broadsides.

At 7 pm, President brailed up her spanker and wore downwind with Endymion imitating the manoeuvre, as Decatur hoped to put Endymion out of the chase and escape, but with the latter aiming into President's hull, specifically targeting the gun ports, that caused many members of her gun crews to be cut down, significantly reducing her ability to fire back at the British frigate, whilst in contrast, President primarily directed her fire at Endymion's rigging, a tactic Decatur had used to cripple the Macedonian and so control the engagement.

President ceased fire at 7:58 pm and hoisted a light in her remaining rigging, indicating that she had surrendered, with her crippled state slowing her to the point that she could not escape from the rest of the British squadron which would soon be in sight. The damage to her hull, however, was far more severe and she had taken on 6 feet of water in the hold. Her magazine had also been hit; and ten of her fifteen starboard gun ports had been hit by shot, leaving six of the guns dismounted or damaged.

Following the standard practice, Endymion ceased fire and hove to for repairs once President had surrendered, with Endymion not immediately able to take possession of her prize, as she had no usable boats; Decatur took advantage of the situation, despite having struck, and made off to escape at 8:30 pm, that compelled Endymion to hastily complete her repairs and resume the chase at 8:52 pm.

At 9:05, Pomone and Tenedos came up with the heavily damaged President, and unaware that she had already struck. Pomone fired two ineffective broadsides (there was minimal damage to President's starboard side) into her, following which Decatur hailed to say that he had surrendered. 

Shortly afterwards, Captain Lumley of Pomone took possession of President, and Decatur ordered his sword to be sent to the captain of the "black ship" a reference to Captain Hope of Endymion which was unusually painted all black which can be seen in all three of the Thomas Butterworth's paintings of the action. 

According to British accounts, President had lost 35 men killed and 70 wounded, including Decatur; American sources give the losses at 24 killed and 55 wounded. British accounts reported that Endymion had 11 killed and 14 wounded.

To Captain H Hope... of His Majesty's Frigate Endymion... the Morning after the Action with the American United States Frigate President, January 16th 1814 - Thomas Butterworth

President had a crew of 480 and a broadside of 816 pounds; Endymion had a crew of 346 and a broadside of 641 pounds.

To quote Kaiser;

'It was an impressive achievement, one that was rightly celebrated by the Royal Navy, but it should be remembered that the action was not a real single-ship action. From the beginning the action was influenced by a distant squadron. This significantly limited Decatur's options in the fight. He had to keep moving, and his primary goal was to get away and to avoid capture. 

He did not have the freedom of manoeuvre he had enjoyed in his action with Macedonian, and felt compelled to focus his fire on Endymion's rigging. While some of President's shot did hit Endymion's hull, as demonstrated by the two dozen casualties and the smashed boats, overall this meant that President was subjected to two hours of brutal pounding from Endymion without being able to respond in the most destructive way'.

'Decatur ordered his sword to be sent to the captain of the "black ship" a reference to Captain Hope of Endymion which was unusually painted all black which can be seen in all three of the Thomas Butterworth's paintings of the action.' 

'Decatur's men were well-trained and had fought and captured Macedonian, but Endymion was no Macedonian and Hope was no Carden. The experienced crew of President was matched by the well-trained crew of Endymion, and so, even with the odds against her, Endymion triumphed in the long cannonade.

Upon the prisoners' return to the United States, a U.S. Navy court martial board acquitted Decatur, his officers, and his men of any wrongdoing in the surrender of President.

President was commissioned into the Royal Navy under the name HMS President, and her initial rating was set at 50 guns, although she was at this stage armed with 60 cannons; thirty 24-pounders on the upper deck, twenty-eight 42-pounder carronades on the spar deck, plus two more 24-pounder guns on the forecastle.

HMS 'President' in South West India Dock, London, circa 1880 - National Maritime Museum.

In March 1818 she was considered for refitting, during which a drydock inspection revealed that the majority of her timber was defective or rotten and she was broken up at Portsmouth in June.

President's design was copied and used to build HMS President in 1829, although this was reportedly more of a political manoeuvre than a testament to the design: the Royal Navy wished to retain the name and likeness of the American ship on their register as a reminder to the United States and other nations of the capture.

More posts to follow in this series, together with a look at some work to progress my ideas for a future fleet action project among other ideas.

As always, more anon.

JJ