Part 6 (1/2)
”An outrage like this, inflicted not by accident or the brutality of a separate commander, naturally excited the whole nation to the utmost.
”President Jefferson very soon interdicted American harbors and waters to all vessels of the English Navy, and forbade intercourse with them. He sent a vessel of war with a special minister to demand satisfaction. The English Admiral hanged the deserter, and dismissed the three black men with a reprimand, blaming them for _disturbing the peace of two nations_. That the outrage did not end in immediate war, was due partly to the fact that the Americans had no Navy to fight with.”
Nearly four years elapsed before the final settlement of the Chesapeake affair, and then the English government insisted upon its right to, and issued orders for the search for British sailors to be continued; thus a cause for quarrel remained.
The princ.i.p.al grounds of war, set forth in a message of the President to Congress, June 1st, 1812, and further explained by the Committee on Foreign Relations, in their report on the subject of the message, were summarily:
”The impressment of American seamen by the British; the blockade of her enemy's ports, supported by no adequate force, in consequence of which the American commerce had been plundered in every sea, and the great staples of the country cut off from their legitimate markets; and the British orders in council.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: A NAVAL BATTLE.]
On these grounds, the President urged the declaration of war. In unison with the recommendation of the President, the Committee on Foreign Relations concluded their reports as follows:
”Your committee, believing that the freeborn sons of America are worthy to enjoy the liberty which their fathers purchased at the price of much blood and treasure, and seeing by the measures adopted by Great Britain, a course commenced and persisted in, which might lead to a loss of national character and independence, feel no hesitation in advising resistance by force, in which the Americans of the present day will prove to the enemy and the world, that we have not only inherited that liberty which our fathers gave us, but also the will and power to maintain it. Relying on the patriotism of the nation, and confidently trusting that the Lord of Hosts will go with us to battle in a righteous cause, and crown our efforts with success, your committee recommend an immediate appeal to _arms_.”
War was declared by Congress on the 17th of June, and proclaimed by the President on the second day following.
The struggle was princ.i.p.ally carried on upon the water, between the armed vessels of the two nations, consequently no great armies were called into active service upon the field. This was indeed fortunate for America, whose military establishments at the time were very defective.
Congress called for twenty thousand men, but a very few enlisted. The President was authorized to raise fifty thousand volunteers and to call out one hundred thousand militia for the defence of the seacoast and frontiers; but officers could not be found to nominally command the few thousand that responded to the call; which state of affairs was no doubt largely due to the opposition to the war, which existed in the New England States.
Since the peace of 1783, a cla.s.s of marine merchants at the North had vied with each other in the African slave trade, in supplying the Southern planters. Consequently the increase in negro population was great; in 1800 it was 1,001,463, and in 1810, two years before war was declared, 1,377,810, an increase of 376,347. Of the 1,377,810, there were 1,181,362 slaves, and 186,448 free. Of course their increase was not due solely to the importation by the slave trade, but the aggregate increase was large, compared with the increase of the white population for the same period.
The free negroes were mainly residents of the Northern States, where they enjoyed a nominal freedom. They entered the service with alacrity; excluded from the army, they enlisted in the navy, swelling the number of those who, upon the rivers, lakes, bays and oceans, manned the guns of the war vessels, in defense of Free Trade, Sailor's Rights and Independence on the seas as well as on the land. It is quite impossible to ascertain the exact number of negroes who stood beside the guns that won for America just recognition from the maritime powers of the world.
Like the negro soldiers in the Revolutionary war who served with the whites, so the negro sailors in the war of 1812 served in the American Navy; in the mess, at the gun, on the yard-arm and in the gangway, together with others of various nationalities, they achieved many victories for the navy of our common country. The best evidence I can give in substantiation of what has been written, is the following letter from Surgeon Parsons to George Livermore, Esq., of the Ma.s.sachusetts Historical Society:
”PROVIDENCE, October 18, 1862.
”MY DEAR SIR:--In reply to your inquiries about the employing of blacks in our navy in the war of 1812, and particularly in the battle of Lake Erie, I refer you to doc.u.ments in Mackenzie's 'Life of Commodore Perry,' vol. i.
pp. 166 and 187.
”In 1814, our fleet sailed to the Upper Lakes to co-operate with Colonel Croghan at Mackinac. About one in ten or twelve of the crews were black.
”In 1816, I was surgeon of the 'Java,' under Commodore Perry. The white and colored seamen messed together. About one in six or eight were colored.
”In 1819, I was surgeon of the 'Guerriere,' under Commodore Macdonough; and the proportion of blacks was about the same in her crew. There seemed to be an entire absence of prejudice against the blacks as messmates among the crew.
What I have said applies to the crews of the other s.h.i.+ps that sailed in squadrons.
”Yours very respectfully,
”USHER PARSONS.”
Dr. Parsons had reference to the following correspondence between Captain Perry and Commodore Chauncey, which took place in 1813, before the former's victory on Lake Erie. As will be seen, Perry expressed dissatisfaction as to the recruits sent him to man the squadron then on Lake Erie, and with which he gained a decisive victory over the British fleet, under command of Capt Barley:
”SIR,--I have this moment received, by express, the enclosed letter from General Harrison. If I had officers and men,--and I have no doubt you will send them,--I could fight the enemy, and proceed up the lake; but, having no one to command the 'Niagara,' and only one commissioned lieutenant and two acting lieutenants, whatever my wishes may be, going out is out of the question. The men that came by Mr.
Champlin are a motley set,--blacks, soldiers, and boys. I cannot think you saw them after they were selected. I am, however, pleased to see any thing in the shape of a man.”--_Mackenzie's Life of Perry_, vol. i. pp. 165, 166.
Commodore Chauncey then rebuked him in his reply, and set forth the worth of the negro seaman:
”SIR,--I have been duly honored with your letters of the twenty-third and twenty-sixth ultimo, and notice your anxiety for men and officers. I am equally anxious to furnish you; and no time shall be lost in sending officers and men to you as soon as the public service will allow me to send them from this lake. I regret that you are not pleased with the men sent you by Messrs Champlin and Forest; for, to my knowledge, a part of them are not surpa.s.sed by any seamen we have in the fleet: and I have yet to learn that the color of the skin, or the cut and tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs of the coat, can effect a man's qualifications or usefulness. I have nearly fifty blacks on board of this s.h.i.+p, and many of them are among my best men; and those people you call soldiers have been to sea from two to seventeen years; and I presume that you will find them as good and useful as any men on board of your vessel; at least if you can judge by comparison; for those which we have on board of this s.h.i.+p are attentive and obedient, and, as far as I can judge, many of them excellent seamen: at any rate, the men sent to Lake Erie have been selected with a view of sending a fair proportion of petty officers and seamen; and I presume, upon examination, it will be found that they are equal to those upon this lake.”--_Mackenzie's Life of Perry_, vol. i. pp.