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

Revenge in the Name of Honour - United States versus Macedonian, 25th October 1812.

The Macedonian in action with the United States - Derek Gardner

 

With the recent completion of the Camperdown project it's time to change over to a new work cycle for the forthcoming twelve to eighteen months, and I have decided to start building my small ship models alongside those for the next fleet-action project, with an idea to be gaming both as time progresses and to include a new theme into my small ships project, alongside the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic one, by starting work on the US Navy and the Royal Navy vessels that opposed them in the War of 1812.

JJ's Wargames - Revenge in the Name of Honour

I thought I would adopt the title 'Revenge in the Name of Honour' for my War of 1812 theme in fond recollection of reading Nicholas Kaizer's recent work on this subject published by Helion and reviewed here on JJ's in 2021, which has continued to provide great inspiration to commence work on these models as soon as they became available and indeed provided some ideas on the portrayal of the ships involved with the colour illustrations by Florian Richter.

With the models now available from the likes of Henry Turner the specific vessels in the American and British navies are much more easily represented on the table and to start things off in the manner we wish to proceed I present my interpretations of the USS United States and HMS Macedonian, that encountered one another on the 25th October 1812, 500 miles south of the Azores and south-west of Madeira, as illustrated. 

This the second of the three frigate actions of 1812 that would shake the Royal Navy from its apathy that had seemingly caused some British captain's to think that they had simply to run up the ensign and the battle was all but won; and, as Nicholas Kaiser points out, a sense of public outrage soon followed in the wake of this blow to British prestige, following the previous years of almost constant naval success;

'The public expressed a sense of shock, and many commentators in the Naval Chronicle, the most prominent naval publication, called for revenge - indeed they often called for annihilation through overwhelming force . . . 

With such losses, as the account of the analysis by the British admiralty following the loss of the Macedonian, not immediately but eventually forcing a rethink;

'Civilian and naval administrators alike reasoned that one-on-one fights with America's heavy frigates were too great a risk.' 

The two rival captains in this action, US Captain Stephen Decatur, who held the unofficial rank of commodore and British Captain John Surman Carden had met before the outbreak of war in 1812 in Norfolk, Virginia, the latter having just taken command of the crack, new, 38-gun Lively class frigate HMS Macedonian, only recently launched on the 2nd of June 1810.

HMS Nisus, another Lively Class frigate launched two years before Macedonian. The captain's reports on the performance of this class were remarkable for their absence of serious criticism, noting that they were fast, recording 13kts large and 10-11kts close-hauled, weatherly and manoeuvrable. They were also excellent heavy-weather ships, perfectly able to cope with a "head sea", and stowed their provisions well, with a capability of stowing provisions and fresh water for up to six months of cruising.

Carden's stay in Norfolk, saw him socialising and regularly dining with Decatur and his wife, and the two officers became friends over a joint shared interest in frigates, with the United States, nicknamed the 'Old Wagon', being by far the slowest of the three American heavy frigates, but a prestigious command being one of the most powerful frigates in the world, then carrying a heavier armament than her sisters; while Macedonian was considered exceptionally fast and one of the best trained frigates in gunnery.

Commodore Stephen Decatur by Charles Bird King.
Decatur supervised the construction of several U.S. naval vessels, one of which he later commanded. Promoted at age 25, he is the youngest man to reach the rank of captain in the history of the United States Navy. His service was characterized by acts of heroism and exceptional performance, and his naval victories in the Barbary Wars, Quasi Wars and War of 1812, helped to establish the United States Navy as a rising power.

A seeming temptation of fate records during one of Carden's and Decatur's discussions, they had joked on making a wager over a beaver hat on the outcome of a prospective contest between their two frigates, with Carden reportedly lecturing Decatur on the dangers of over-arming frigates and his considered opinion from British experience that an 18-pounder armament was more effective that one of 24-pounders given the increased ease of aiming and loading the lighter piece for gun-crews.

HMS Macedonian 

My interpretation of HMS Macedonian uses the 3D printed hull of the Lively class frigate from Turner Miniatures and Only Games combined with boats, masts, sails, anchors and figurehead from Warlord Games' Black Seas frigate.

HMS Macedonian, a 38-gun fifth-rate Lively-class frigate was built at Woolwich Dockyard, England in 1809, launched on the 2nd of June 1810, and commissioned the same month under the command of Captain Lord William FitzRoy.

Macedonian first delivered a company of soldiers to Lisbon, Portugal, then remained in the area, guarding against the possibility of French naval attack. 

On 20 February 1811, she collided with Ives – a British merchant ship bound from Demerara on the north coast of South America to Greenock, Scotland – in the Atlantic Ocean 50 nautical miles off Lisbon, and Ives was so severely damaged that she was set afire and Macedonian took her crew aboard.

While Macedonian operated off Portugal, FitzRoy made personal profit by falsification of records of ships' stores, for which he was court-martialled in March 1811 and dismissed from the service, although was quietly reinstated in August 1811, presumably due to his aristocratic connections. FitzRoy's replacement, William Waldegrave, was an interim appointment and within a few weeks was  replaced by John Surnam Carden. 

In January 1812, Macedonian was ordered to secretly deliver some bills of exchange to Norfolk, Virginia, and to bring back an equivalent quantity of gold and silver currency, as part of a scheme to keep the Bank of England solvent; however during the visit, Carden socialised with the notables of Norfolk, including Captain Stephen Decatur, and ended up bungling the mission by inadvertently revealing what was planned, returning to Lisbon empty handed.

In September 1812, Carden and Macedonian was ordered to accompany an East Indiaman as far as Madeira, and then to cruise in search of prizes as long as supplies permitted. Macedonian left Madeira on the 22nd of October 1812, but only a few days later, on the morning of the 25th encountered USS United States, commanded by Carden's former dinner host Decatur.

USS United States

Similarly my interpretation of USS United States uses the 3D printed hull from Turner Miniatures and Only Games combined with boats, masts, sails, anchors and figurehead from Warlord Games', Black Seas third rate. She is shown, as seen in many illustrations of this combat, with Decatur's commodore pennant (homemade) at the main and the fifteen star, stars and stripes at the fore. The long narrow hull, with a long line of 24-pounders on the gundeck of these frigates is nicely captured in these prints

Originally designated as "Frigate A" and subsequently named United States by President George Washington, her keel was laid down in 1795 at Humphreys' shipyard in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.

Joshua Humphreys' design was deep, long on keel and narrow of beam for mounting very heavy guns, incorporating a diagonal scantling (rib) scheme to limit hogging while giving the ships extremely heavy planking, that gave the hull greater strength than those of more lightly built frigates. 

1:48. Plan showing the body plan, starboard outline, sheer lines with scroll figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for President (captured 1815), a captured United States class Fifth Rate, as taken off at Portsmouth Dockyard. The President was recorded with a displacement of 1533 tons/bm and James suggests all three sister ships, United States, President and Constitution, were very similar. Whilst the United States armament is shown as 32 × long 24-pounders and 24 × 42-pounder carronades (War of 1812).

Humphreys developed his design after realizing that the fledgling United States could not match the navy sizes of the European states, and he therefore designed his frigates to be able to overpower other frigates, but with the speed to escape from a ship of the line.

On the 10th of May 1797 she was the first American warship to be launched under the Naval Act of 1794, and the first ship of the United States Navy, fitting out at Philadelphia during the spring of 1798 and, on the 3rd July was ordered to proceed to sea following deteriorated relations with the French government that had started the Quasi-War.

During the Quasi War the United States was commanded by Captain John Barry, narrowly avoiding opening fire on the British 38-gun frigate Thetis whilst sailing to Boston, the latter having flown French colours, changing to British colours as the United States manoeuvred closer in readiness to fire.

Departing for the West Indies on the 26th July 1798 she would capture two French privateers before returning with them to New Castle, Delaware in September. In the following month she was damaged springing her bowsprit in a severe gale off New England and following repairs back in New Castle she returned to the West Indies to take command of an American squadron alongside her sister ship Constitution.

On the 3rd February 1799, United States sighted a French ship and began a five-hour pursuit of the schooner L'Amour de la Patrie, eventually sinking the schooner with one 24-pounder shot and stopping to pick up survivors. 

On the 26th February, United States pursued the French privateer Democrat, which had recently taken prize of the English ship Cicero, managing to recapture Cicero and Maria, another one of Democrat's prizes, but ending the pursuit of the privateer when she escaped into shallow water. 

On the 26th March, United States took the French privateer La Tartueffe and its prize, the American ship Vermont southeast of Antigua, and also recorded the capture of Le Bonaparte sometime in 1799. 

In April, Barry turned over command of the squadron to Thomas Truxtun, and the United States sailed for home arriving at New Castle, Delaware, on the 9th of May. 

United States underwent refitting and repairs, and sailed again on the 1st of July with orders to patrol the southern Atlantic coast of the United States, during which she encountered a storm on the 6th which sprung her bowsprit again, however she continued on to deliver an artillery company to Fort Moultrie and then put into the Gosport Navy Yard for repairs on the 22nd, returning to patrols on the 13th August which proved to be an uneventful period.

United States returned to Newport, Rhode Island, in September and in October she was ordered to deliver Oliver Ellsworth and William Davie as envoys to France to negotiate a settlement of the Quasi War, seeing her depart on the 3rd of November

The treaty of peace with France was ratified on 3rd of February 1801 and United States returned home in April, following an act of Congress, passed on the 3rd March 1801 and signed by President John Adams, which saw the retention of thirteen frigates, with seven of them, including United States, to be placed in a reserve fleet, seeing her ordered to the Washington Navy Yard and decommissioned.

United States remained in the Washington Navy Yard throughout the First Barbary War of 1801–1805 and up until 1809, when orders were given to ready her for active service. On 10th June 1810, now under the command of Stephen Decatur, she sailed to Norfolk, Virginia, for refitting.

Battle of the 23 August 1812 between the US frigate President and the English frigate Belvidera - NMM

The United States declared war against Britain on the 18th June 1812, and three days later Decatur and United States sailed from New York City within a squadron under the command of Commodore John Rodgers in President, and included the Congress, Hornet, and Argus; on a seventy-day North Atlantic cruise that would result in the pursuit, on the 23rd of June, of HMS Belvidera, encountered whilst the squadron hunted a Jamaica bound British convoy.

Belvidera escaped but the Americans continued after the convoy until Rodgers called off the pursuit on the 13th July, and during their return trip to Boston, the squadron captured seven merchant ships and recaptured one American vessel.

After refitting, United States, still under Decatur's command, sailed again on the 8th October with Rodgers but on the 12th parted from the squadron for her own patrol, and at dawn, on the 25th, five hundred miles south of the Azores, lookouts on board reported seeing a sail 12 miles to windward, which soon revealed the familiar lines of HMS Macedonian.

United States vs Macedonian

The Action Between the Macedonian and the United States, 25th Oct, 1812 -Derek Gardner

William James recounts what happened next:

'On the 25th, soon after daylight, in latitude 29 north, longitude 29 30' west, this American 44, being close hauled on the larboard tack with the wind blowing fresh from the south-south-east)-, descried on her weather-bow, at the distance of about 12 miles, the British 38-gun frigate Macedonian, Captain John Surman Garden. The Macedonian immediately set her foretopmast and topgallant studding-sails, and bore away in chase, steering a course for the weather-bow of the stranger.

Map taken from Mahn.

While the tracks of the two ships are thus gradually approximating, we will give an account of the force of each. In addition to her 28 main-deck long 18-pounders, the Macedonian mounted on the quarter-deck and forecastle 16 carronades, 32-pounders, fitted with their chocks outside (a new, but as far as we can learn, not much approved principle), the two long 12-pounders, and two brass long French 8-pounders (the captain's private property), total 48 guns, exclusive of the usual 18-pounder launch carronade. 

The crew of the Macedonian at this time consisted of 262 men and 35 boys. To account for this extraordinary proportion of boys, we must state that, shortly before the Macedonian sailed on her last cruise, 12 supernumerary boys were put on board, by way, possibly, of "strengthening" her crew. With respect to the quality of the 35 boys, very few of them, it appears, were worth ship-room.

  

It has already been shown, that the established armament of the United-States was 56 guns, long 24-pounders, and 42-pounder carronades. * Subsequently the ship appears to have landed two of her 42s, and to have received on board, in lieu of them, a travelling 18-pounder carronade ; making her carriage-guns, in all, 55. She also mounted a brass howitzer in each top. With respect to crew, the United-States victualled 477 men and one lad or boy.

At about 7 h. 30 m. a.m. the two ships were not above three miles apart. Having by this time hoisted her ensign and broad pendant, the United-States was known to be one of the American 44s; but, having on board one of Commodore Rodgers's spy-glasses, Commodore Decatur mistook the Macedonian for a much larger ship, a sail of the line probably. The United-States accordingly wore round on the starboard tack, keeping a point or two off the wind. 

Having sailed from Portsmouth as long ago as the 29th of September, Captain Carden, although he knew of the war, had received no information of the Guerrière's capture. The Macedonian had since been at Madeira, where she had heard that the American frigate Essex was cruising; but, even had the force of the United-States in guns and men been at this time fully known, such was the confidence of victory on board the Macedonian, that every officer, man, and boy, except perhaps the eight foreigners*, who requested and were allowed to go below, was in the highest spirit. 

*(note: Kaiser states that these are likely the handful of Americans in the crew who requested not to be commanded to fight their own countrymen and were angrily dismissed by Carden and sent to their stations, contrary to James' account).

It has already been shown, that the established armament of the United States was 56 guns, long 24-pounders, and 42-pounder carronades. Subsequently the ship appears to have landed two of her 42s, and to have received on board, in lieu of them, a travelling 18-pounder carronade ; making her carriage-guns, in all, 55. She also mounted a brass howitzer in each top. With respect to crew, the United States victualled 477 men and one lad or boy.'

Both ships were immediately cleared for action and commenced manoeuvres at 0900, that saw Captain Carden decide not to risk crossing the bows of United States to rake her, but chose instead to haul closer to the wind on a parallel course with the American vessel, this in spite of his First Lieutenant David Hope, suggesting that they try and close the distance as quickly as possible, hoping to either rake the enemy or force a close action.

For his part, Decatur intended to engage Macedonian from fairly long range, where his 24-pounders would have the advantage over the 18-pounders of the British, and thus the United States wore and turned away from the wind, intentionally keeping back so that Decatur could make full use of his longer main battery.

The actual battle developed according to Decatur's plan. United States began the action at 0920 by firing an inaccurate broadside at Macedonian, that was answered immediately by the British vessel, bringing down a small spar of the United States. Decatur's next broadside destroyed Macedonian's mizzen top mast, letting her driver gaff fall and so giving the advantage in manoeuvre to the American frigate. 

United States next took up position off Macedonian's quarter and proceeded to riddle her with shot, and by noon, Macedonian was a dismasted hulk and was forced to surrender, having suffered 104 casualties against 12 in United States, which emerged from the battle relatively unscathed.

Kaiser's account described the effect of the close range fire Macedonian recieved from United States:

'The fire of the United States inflicted absolute carnage on and below Macedonians decks as scores of men were killed or wounded, covering the decks with blood. Sounds of gunnery were punctuated by the screams of the dying. The maintopmast, carrying the only sail currently set on the mainmast, was shot away by enemy fire and fell forwards, pushing the fore topmast with it. The mess of canvass wood and rope collapsed onto the forecastle, covering the gun platform with wreckage and slowing the ship nearly to a halt. Decatur took full advantage of the situation and tacked into the wind, coming up on Macedonians quarter and sending several devastating raking broadsides clean through her hull. 

Decatur took full advantage of the situation and tacked into the wind, coming up on Macedonians quarter and sending several devastating raking broadsides clean through her hull

Samuel Leech (a powder monkey on the Macedonian), one of her sailors described scenes of absolute horror below: men were ripped apart by the enemy's round shot and grape and the great splinters they threw into the air.

Above deck the situation was no less chaotic. Carden and his officers were struggling to clear the wreckage  and regain control of the ship, hoping to use the few sails remaining to approach the enemy and carry her by boarding. Only the mizzenmast and a third of the force-course remained standing; but, even as the men assembled along the gangways with small arms, swords and pikes, the weakened mizzenmast collapsed over the stern, strewing more wreckage onto the quarterdeck and its weight dragging in the water, rendering the ship completely unmanageable.'

Now carrying only a tattered fore-course and otherwise dismasted together with over 100 men either dead, dying or wounded, amid carnage strewn decks with piles of wrecked rigging and canvas and guns now silent, Carden summoned his officers, many of them wounded, aft for a council, at which Lieutenant Hope proposed to continue the fight, but as the United States approached on a course to resume a raking position, Carden opted against it and hauled down the colours.

The two ships lay alongside each other for over two weeks while Macedonian was repaired sufficiently to sail. United States and her prize entered New York Harbour on the 4th of December amid jubilation over the victory, and Captain Decatur and his crew were received with praise from both Congress and President James Madison, and the Macedonian was subsequently purchased by the United States Navy, repaired, and placed in service.

In May 1813 Carden and his crew were tried by court martial in Bermuda on board Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren's flagship HMS St Domingo, with Captain Henry Hotham presiding 

James recounts the courts findings in regards to Carden's conduct;

'In March, 1813, Captain Cardan, his officers, and surviving crew arrived from the United States at the island of Bermuda, and on the 27th of the succeeding May were tried for the loss of their ship. The following was the sentence pronounced

Having most strictly investigated every circumstance, and examined the different officers and ship's company; and having very deliberately and maturely weighed and considered the whole and every part thereof, the court is of opinion; that, previous to the commencement of the action, from an over anxiety to keep the weathergage, an opportunity was lost of closing with the enemy; and that, owing to this circumstance, the Macedonian was unable to bring the United-States to close action until she had received material damage. But, as it does not appear that this omission originated in the most distant wish to keep back from the engagement, the court is of opinion, that Captain John Surman Carden, his officers, and ship's company, in every instance throughout the action, behaved with the firmest and most determined courage, resolution, and coolness; and that the colours of the Macedonian were not struck, until she was unable to make further resistance. 

John Surman Carden
Criticised by peers and civilian alike, Carden's 
reputation remained linked to his defeat in 1812.
He was promoted to flag rank but only as a retiree,
and was never again offered an active command 
following his loss to the United States.

The court does therefore most honourably acquit Captain John Surman Carden, the officers, and company of his majesty's late ship Macedonian, and Captain Carden, his officers, and company, are hereby most honourably acquitted accordingly. The court cannot dismiss Captain Carden, without expressing their admiration of the uniform testimony which has been borne to his gallantry and good conduct throughout the action, nor Lieutenant David Hope, the senior lieutenant, the other officers and company, without expressing the highest approbation of the support given by him and them to the captain, and of their courage and steadiness during the contest with an enemy of very superior force; a circumstance that, whilst it reflects high honour on them, does no less credit and honour to the discipline of his majesty's late ship Macedonian. 

The court also feels it a gratifying duty to express its admiration of the fidelity to their allegiance, and attachment to their king and country, which the remaining crew appear to have manifested, in resisting the various insidious and repeated temptations which the enemy held out to them, to seduce them from their duty; and which cannot fail to be duly appreciated."

Kaiser comments;

' Macedonian did have a marked advantage in sailing ability and speed, and this was poorly utilised. Decatur by sailing close to the wind, robbed the advantage of the weather gauge from the British, meaning the approach would be long, and during the time the longer guns Carden had once derided as ineffective proved their worth by knocking away spars, guns and men. But bringing the ship to close action early on would not necessarily have put the ship in a better situation, as the United Stated carried very powerful 42-pounder carronades, making her short-range broadside even more deadly than her long-range one.

Hope believed that bringing a close action early with their rigging and broadside intact would have given them a chance to outmanoeuvre their opponent to compensate for the heavier broadside; but other officers questioned did not agree with this, but did think that bringing about a close action earlier would have made the American victory far more costly. The court agreed with the First Lieutenant in their verdict. 

previous to the commencement of the action, from an over anxiety to keep the weather gage, an opportunity was lost of closing with the enemy; and that, owing to this circumstance, the Macedonian was unable to bring the United-States to close action until she had received material damage.

The United States shows off her teeth - 32 × long 24-pounders and 24 × 42-pounder carronades
'But bringing the ship to close action early on would not necessarily have put the ship in a better situation, as the United Stated carried very powerful 42-pounder carronades, making her short-range broadside even more deadly than her long-range one.'

They believed that, under the right conditions and with the right tactics an 18-pounder frigate had the ability to tackle and defeat a 24-pounder adversary at close action. Even with two American victories suggesting otherwise, they remained confident in the abilities of British frigates. As such, Carden's defeat was not blamed on the enemy's superiority in guns and men, but on failing to bring about a close action.

These pronouncements by the authorities of their day make the playing of an action such as this an interesting intellectual challenge in that given some extraordinary circumstance the United States should be able to beat the Macedonian eight or nine times out of ten if presented with the situation that Decatur faced on the 25th of October 1812; but the 'what if's' presented by Lieutenant David Hope and the other officers at the court martial that suggest bringing on a close action more rapidly and making better use of the Macedonian's manoeuvrability and speed offered at least the possibility of so damaging the American ship in the wake of a defeat that the victory would have been more costly and somewhat pyric.

The models illustrated were fun to build although a certain degree of scratch work is required with the plastic additions and the need for skid beams in the waists for the boats, with some plastic rod added, and on reflection I could have put on royal yards to the tops, typically seen on the big American frigates, but I could argue taken down when trying to look more British from a distance, and I think the look will be fine when seen on the table.

In the next 'Revenge' post I'll showcase two more frigates from the War of 1812 with a look at the USS President and her action on the 15th January 1815 with HMS Endymion.

More anon

JJ