An Enterprising Brig

A poem from the History of Boothbay, Southport...:

Also see The Enterprise And The Boxer.

Charles Hare And British Man-O-War Bream With

Source - Not The Wasp And Bream

Text taken from A History of American Privateers:

The Wasp Captain E. Ewing (or Ervin) also was a Salem privateer that was captured by an English cruiser, but not until she inflicted some injury on the enemy's commerce.  She was a sloop mounting only two guns. After sending a schooner into Mathias, she was chased July 31 (by another account June 9, 1813) by the British man-of-war Bream, mounting ten guns. Realizing the helplessness of giving battle to the cruiser, Captain Ewing made every effort to escape. The Bream gave chase, and for nine hours kept the Wasp in sight and gained on her. When in easy gunshot, the English opened a heavy fire which the Americans returned as well as they could for forty minutes, when they surrendered. The British lieutenant* commanding the Bream treated his prisoners with exceptional courtesy.   *Charles Hare

British Officers On The Penobscot

British Military Uniforms [YouTube]

The Maine Historical Magazine, Volume 3

Virtually Under Siege

BLM GLO Records Map

That the Hyder Ally's prize was recaptured off Cape Elizabeth is not really much of a surprise. Throughout 1813 and 1814 the coast of Maine was virtually under siege. Maine began to fortify its coast. In Portland the militia built Fort Burrows, named for the captain of the Enterprise, on Jordan's Point and shore batteries at Fish Point, the most easterly point on the neck. A little further out, the mouth of the harbor was protected by Fort Preble at Spring Point and Fort Scammel on House Island, both built in 1809. [Source] [Links Added]

Rattler and Bream Off Pemaquid Point

Source

A story from the History of Boothbay, Southport and Boothbay Harbor, Maine. 1623-1905:

Early in the spring of 1813 two British cruisers, the Rattler with sixteen guns and the Bream with eight, hovered along the coast from the mouth of the Kennebec to St. George, paying special attention to Bristol and Boothbay.  On March 31st, just off Pemaquid Point, they captured five schooners on their way to Boston loaded with lumber. Prize crews were put aboard, but on April 2d, while becalmed just outside Boothbay Harbor, three boats with twenty men put off and recaptured one of the schooners. The record of the act exists, but who the actors were is now unknown.


Also see the Engagement Near Boothbay, Maine blog post.

British Lieutenant Charles Hare

From Testimonials and memorials of the services of Lieut. Charles Hare, of the ...:

This is to Certify that Lieutenant Charles Hare, served under my orders in the command of H.M. Schooner Bream, when I was senior Officer commanding the Squadron in the Bay of Fundy, in Eighteen Hundred and Thirteen and Eighteen Hundred and Fourteen, stationed for protecting the frontier of New Brunswick, in the war with the United States of America. That the activity and enterprize displayed by Lieutenant Hare, in destroying the American coasting trade, and capturing their small Privateers between Boston and Saint John, was the admiration of Admiral Griffith, of Sir Philip Broke, of myself, and of every officer who knew him.
H. Le Fleming Senhouse, Commodore Bay Of Fundy

Capt. Peter Merrill's Company

From the Old Times In North Yarmouth book:

It is valuable to the historian in showing who were the able bodied men liable for military duty. I found this roll in a book in Washington where it had been forwarded as evidence in the claims for pensions in the War of 1812. It was kept in good business style, by Robert Anderson, and contained the record for a number of years after the date of the roll.

Partial roll of Capt. Peter Merrill's Company of Foot, Aug. 28, 1804:

Seat Of War Map

From John Hopkins University (Sheridan Libraries):

Source

The Library of Congress calls this "A correct map of the seat of war."

Fort George, Castine, Maine

 Fort George (at Fort Wiki) and at North American Forts.

Soldier Sewall Prince

Source

Sewell Prince was found on the Pay Roll of Capt. A. W. Atherton's Company, Lieut. Col. Nichols' Regiment. From Sept. 16 to Nov. 24, 1813. Service at Portland.

Embarked In Smuggling

The war of 1812 was not wholly popular with the inhabitants of the coast towns of Maine. The embargo Act of April 4, and the declaration of war against Great Britain by Congress June 18, 1812, brought matters to a head. The maritime interest could only see ruin and disaster ahead.

Many of our people went into privateering, others embarked in smuggling, or the importation of contraband goods. I am inclined to think that many United State soldiers would fight a British soldier, who would be very tender towards British goods. The State was full of British goods from St. Croix to Kittery. All kinds of schemes were invented to get them into Maine. It has been stated that both governments winked at the violation of the laws relating to goods contraband of war. [Source]


From the Press-Herald:

"A letter in Canada's national archives shows that Porter [who was engaged in "questionable" trade] openly tried to negotiate an illegal trade agreement with military officials in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He offered $50,000 as security if they would allow one of his privateers to bring flour, beef and pork to Canada and fake the "capture" of British goods to be brought to the United States."

'"I don't believe they ever answered him," Smith said.'

Privateers in a book review at this blog.

The Hyder-Ally Privateers

From Maine Stories:

"The Hyder Ally was built in Portland by shipwright Samuel Fickett at a dock near the foot of Park Street."

"The Hyder Ally's keel was laid before the war was declared. There just was no market for ships in these times, but "Fickett concluded to finish her and trust to luck for a purchaser." Times were tough; Maine was devastated by the Embargo and Non-Intercourse acts. Few, if any shipbuilders, were laying keels. Any investment that Fickett had in the hull which became the Hyder Ally was rescued just as times began to change, and there was some resurgence in a market looking for privateers."

Source

From Portland In The Past:

The ship Hyder Ally...was not especially built for a privateer but was constructed to carry a battery, as no vessel was then safe on the high seas without one. Her register at the Custom House says she was of three hundred and sixty-seven tons. She was built for speed as most vessels of her time were; drogers were sure to be picked up by the armed vessels of some nation, and during Napoleon Bonaparte's time, it was hard to comply with the restrictions of all the belligerents.
The captain of the ship was Israel Thorndike of Beverly; first lieutenant, Henry Oxnard of Portland; second and third officers, Perry of Salem, and Noah Edgecomb, a rigger of Portland. The ship carried a crew of fifty men, among them Alexander Paine, Aaron Jordan, John Raynor, and others of Portland. 

The Hyder Ally eventually became the prize of the Owen Glendower.

The Enterprise And The Boxer

On September 5, 1813....

Source

...it was believed in Halifax that thereafter his Majesty's ships were to have as easy a time with ours as they had had with the French previous years. So the Boxer, a brig about the size of the Enterprise, fitted out to go in search of the Yankee coast-guard.

As the Enterprise was then really running from the Boxer, the Yankee crew thought Burrows intended to avoid fighting. This so greatly disgusted them that they asked Midshipman John H. Aulick to tell the captain they wanted to fight. The midshipman, as in duty bound, reported this to the first lieutenant, Edward R. McCall, who promptly assured them that they should have the fight they wanted at the proper time. And they had it.

The time came at 3:20 when with both crews cheering the Boxer ranged up within a few yards of the Enterprise--no farther away than from sidewalk to sidewalk of a narrow city street--and the firing began. 

Few fiercer fights with such forces have been described in history; but bad as the Enterprise now was as a sailer the Boxer was worse... . [Source]

Battle Of Hampden

The Battle of Hampden took place in present-day Maine on September 3, 1814.  Gen. John Blake (a Cleveland descendant as am I) participated in the battle.

The Canadian perspective of the battle from The Canadian war of 1812, by Sir Charles Prestwood Lucas:

At daybreak on the 3rd the artillery was landed... .  It was a foggy morning, and the American position could not be reconnoitred until the skirmishers were actually engaged.

It was then found that the Americans were drawn up in line in front of and covering Hampden, their left resting on a high hill the guns which commanded both the road and the river; their right also on high ground outflanking the British line with guns posted so as to command a bridge over which the attack force would be obliged to advance.

Notwithstanding the strength of the position there was little fighting. The American right furthest removed from the river was first carried and soon the Americans fell back at all points before the regulars charging on land and the gunboats firing on the river.

The British forces followed on land and water, and at Bangor there was an unconditional surrender, the militia becoming civilians again and the officer in command taking his parole.

Note:  The battle did not go well for General Blake.  Can you say "court martial?"  He was acquitted, though.

A Maine Soldier: Ammi R. Lane

Source

Source

United States Census, 1850

Name: Ammi Lane

Oxford, Oxford, Maine, United States

Birthplace: Maine

Household Gender Age Birthplace

Ammi Lane M 55 Maine

Eliza Lane F 41 Maine

Tenas Lane M 24 Maine

America Lane M 18 Maine

Philena Lane F 14 Maine

Franklin Lane M 7 Maine

Francis A Lane M 5 Maine

Source

Maine, Veterans Cemetery Records, 1676-1918

Name: Ammi R Lane

Death Date: 16 Jun 1863

Birth Date: 07 Mar 1794

Captain Ichabod Reynolds' Co.; Lt. Col. Ryerson's Reg't

Ammi R. Lane wa the son of Francis Lane.

Captain Lemuel Harvey....

....Of North Yarmouth, Maine:

Source: Remains Of Fort Castine, Castine, Maine

During the War of 1812-14 his [Captain Lemuel Harvey's] vessel was taken by the British near Castine and sent into Halifax. Capt. Harvey, at an opportune moment when the officers were below, fastened the hatchways and regaining control of his vessel with a fair wind carried her safely into Castine. He had lost his hat during the melee and as he entered the port with his hair streaming on the breeze he was greeted with tremendous cheers. The next day, however, Castine was captured, and he, falling again into the hands of the enemy, was taken to Halifax and kept there until an exchange of prisoners at the close of the war brought his release.  Source

See related Enoch Harvey deed.

Enos Soule, A Dartmoor Prisoner

Source

Capt. [Enos] Soule served in the war of 1812, in which he was taken prisoner, and suffered the horrors of Dartmoor Prison for two years.  In all the relations of life he was a model citizen, public-spirited and patriotic, and of unbending integrity.  He died 8 Nov. 1869.

ArchiveGrid lists the Soule family account books, 1853-1917 bulk 1869-1896.  Family of Enos Soule; prominent ship captains and ship builders of South Freeport and Freeport, Me.
Account books kept chiefly by his sons after Enos's death in 1869.

There's a terrific blog post at Focusing On Yesterday entitled Many local sailors were held in Dartmoor prison during the War of 1812.  The last line:  "As we move into the bicentennial of the War of 1812, I hope that the stories of local heroes like Enos Soule and Perez Drinkwater will bring the war home and make it worth remembering."

Engagement Near Boothbay, Maine

"An event took place in 1814 which is the only known instance resulting in loss of life within the town limits during the war."  A story from the History of Boothbay, Southport and Boothbay Harbor, Maine. 1623-1905:

A British war vessel came into the harbor and exchanged several shots with the defenses on McFarland's Point.

Source

"The soldiers ashore had but one field piece."

They were ordered around the head of the harbor at double quick... .  As the vessel came in toward the shore in the bay, a son of Grover who was standing front of the house, discharged his musket at it; they replied, the shot striking him in the head. The harbor troops had almost reached the spot when the shot was fired, and, arriving a moment after, found the boy lying dead... ."

General Blake And The Battle of Hampden

Source:  Genealogy of the Cleveland Family

Gen. John Blake was present at the battle of Hampden, Sep. 3, 1814, where the very British battalions who conquered Napoleon turned the scale against us.  A Court of Inquiry approved of Brig.-Gen. Blake's conduct and he was promoted by Gov. Caleb Strong, 1816, to Maj.-Gen., 10th Div. Mass.

Chesley Blake And Maine's Bloody Ninth

From Historical collections, Volume 22, a vignette about Captain Chesley Blake:

When the war of 1812 broke out he entered a Maine regular regiment, the bloody Ninth, so called, was made sergeant and, at the fearful battle of Lundy's Lane, in 1813, where Scott charged up the hill time and again, and then retreated down before the British fire, and where, finally placing himself at the head of that Maine regiment and mounting his white horse with a long white plume, he said: "Boys, follow me. I have faith that this bloody Ninth will carry and hold those heights. Wherever you see this white horse and this long white plume you will know where I am."

And they did follow him until they saw white horse and plume and Scott all tumbled to the earth; whence he was carried off with Worth and Wool and Brady.  But on kept the bloody Ninth and old Blake, one of its ordinary sized men, until the heights were taken and held, and until that regiment, going into battle nearly 500 strong, had a mere handful left and were marched off the field by Blake as their sergeant, all its commissioned officers having been killed or wounded, and for which Chesley Blake was made then and there first lieutenant for gallantry on the field.

Chesley Blake died in Milwaukee on 3 October 1849, of cholera.  From History of the Great Lakes:

Cholera Breaks Out. - The cholera was alarmingly prevalent in 1849 at nearly all the lake ports, and many deaths occurred on ship board. Among those carried off was Captain Chesley Blake, long in the employ of Oliver Newberry, Detroit. This veteran sailor, who had been on the lakes since 1818 and was well known as an able commander, died at the American House, Milwaukee, October 3. He was taken with cholera on board of the steamer St. Louis, on her trip up to Chicago, while on Lake Michigan.