Sea Power and
Maritime Affairs
Lesson 5: The U.S. Navy in the Napoleonic Era,
1783-1815
Learning Objectives:
• The student will comprehend the influence of European events
upon American trade and naval policy during this period.
• The student will understand and be able to explain the term
“Battle of Annihilation.”
• The student will know the background of Jefferson’s defensive
naval strategy including the use of gunboats and forts. Know
the causes and naval operations of the Napoleonic Wars.
• The student will know (recall) operations against the Barbary
corsairs during this period.
• The student will comprehend the main factors of the European
war and their effect on causing the War of 1812.
• The student will understand and be able to explain the term
“Guerre de Course.”
• The student will know the U.S. and British Naval Strategy
during the war.
Learning Objectives:
• The student will comprehend the Great Lakes campaign and its
importance to the U.S. war effort.
• The student will comprehend (compare and contrast) the naval
strategies of Rodgers and Decatur.
• The student will comprehend the significance of the
Washington and New Orleans campaigns.
• The student will know the contributions of the U.S. Navy
during the war of 1812, and assess the state of the Navy after
the treaty of Ghent
Remember our Themes!
• The Navy as an Instrument of Foreign
Policy
• Interaction between Congress and the
Navy
• Interservice Relations
• Technology
• Leadership
• Strategy and Tactics
• Evolution of Naval Doctrine
Remember our Themes!
• The Navy as an Instrument of Foreign
Policy
• Interaction between Congress and the
Navy
• Interservice Relations
• Technology
• Leadership
• Strategy and Tactics
• Evolution of Naval Doctrine (or lack
thereof)
A New Nation:
• Articles of Confederation
• Weak central government
• No power of taxation.
• Congress unable to fund a Navy after Rev War.
• 1785 - All Continental Navy warships decommissioned.
• New maritime trade markets• Large American merchant fleet.
• China and Mediterranean Sea.
• American merchant ships no longer protected by the Royal
Navy.
A word on Neutrality…
• US wanted to trade with anyone, anywhere
• “Free ships make free goods”
• Belligerents didn’t want US taking their trade during
war
• This policy was adapted due to the United States’s
desire and need to increase revenue
• Policy remained in effect until WWI, when the Monroe
Doctrine was abandoned
• This policy demonstrates America’s lack of identity at
the time and how its interests still did not mirror those
of the European nations
• Image: “colony or nation”
POP QUIZ:
What was the “Monroe Doctrine”?
The Monroe Doctrine, expressed in 1823, proclaimed the United States' opinion
that European powers should no longer colonize the Americas or interfere
with the affairs of sovereign nations located in the Americas, such as the
United States, Mexico, and others. In return, the United States planned to
stay neutral in wars between European powers and in wars between a
European power and its colonies. However, if these latter type of wars were
to occur in the Americas, the U.S. would view such action as hostile toward
itself.
The doctrine was issued by President James Monroe during his seventh annual
State of the Union address to Congress. It was met first with doubt, then
with enthusiasm. This was a defining moment in the foreign policy of the
United States.
The doctrine was conceived by its authors, especially John Quincy Adams, as a
proclamation by the United States of moral opposition to colonialism, but
has subsequently been re-interpreted in a wide variety of ways, including by
President Theodore Roosevelt as a license for the U.S. to practice its own
form of colonialism.
Initial Challenges To a New Nation:
• Barbary States -- North Africa (Morocco,
Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers)
• Demands for tribute to guarantee safe
passage in Mediterranean.
• War of the French Revolution -- U.S.
neutral rights violated.
• Great Britain - Orders in Council
• French Privateers seize American merchants
• The foundation for a naval requirement is
laid and debate begins
Initial Influences on the U.S.:
• The Treaty of Paris (1783)
- State of Navy after 1785 was poor
- Federalists (Hamilton, Jay): strong Navy, balance of power, must
protect trade
- Republicans (Jefferson, Henry): too expensive, do not want to provoke
European powers, imperialistic
• Barbary Pirate attacks (1783-1787)
- Demonstrated the need for naval power
- Federalist: fight / Republicans: pay tribute
• The French Revolution (1792)
• 1794: The Navy Act
- construction of six superior frigates begins (including USS Constitution)
Naval Policy Debate Begins:
• U.S. Constitution - 1788.
• Stronger federal government with ability to tax.
• “The Congress shall have Power To provide and maintain a
Navy.”
• “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and
Navy of the United States.”
• Federalists: New England -- Alexander Hamilton, John Jay,
John Adams
• Proponents of a strong Navy.
• Ensure neutral rights on the seas and protect vital trade
interests.
• Republicans: Middle and Southern States -- Thomas Jefferson,
Patrick Henry
• Strong U.S. Navy would provoke European powers.
• Navies are expensive and imperialistic - a “luxury”.
Beginnings of the U.S. Navy:
• Navy Act of 1794
• Navy becomes part of the Department of War.
• Secretary of War Henry Knox.
• Large 44-gun frigates planned.
• More heavily armed than normal frigates.
• Faster than Ships of the Line.
• 1797: United States, 44 and Constitution, 44 completed -called Humphrey’s frigates.
• Marines deployed on Navy ships.
• Continue tradition of British Royal Marines.
• Protect Captain and officers from the crew.
• Provide musket fire from quarterdeck and “fighting tops”.
Too Little Too Late:
• Pinckney Treaty
• 1794 Breakdown Portuguese-Algerian
Relations
• 1796 Treaty with Algiers
• Treaties with Morocco, Tripoli, and Tunis
• The Med is reopened to American trading
without a Naval response – frigates lay
uncompleted in their shipyards
Diplomacy and Naval Policy:
Jay’s Treaty – 1794:
• Spring 1794: Congress finds out about British Orders in
Council against US shipping (over 250 U.S. merchant
ships seized by this point)
• 30-day embargo on all American exports to Britain
(capitalizing on Britain’s poor grain harvest that year)
• Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton engineer
John Jay’s appointment as emissary to London
• Hamilton’s Instructions:
1) Do not contravene Franco-American alliance of 1778
2) British West Indies opened to American trade
3) Most favored nation status
Treaty fails: American public reacts with hostility – Jay denounced
as a scoudrel
The Results:
• Britain promises to relinquish northwest
forts
• Opened British East Indies to American
trade
• MFN status to Americans trading in the
British home Isles
• British do not rescind their policy of
impressment
• Americans cannot trade in Caribbean
HOWEVER...
• No headway on neutral rights
• Seizure of goods bound for France
• Abandons “Free ships make free goods”
• Restrictions on shipping in British West
Indies
• President Washington delays
proclamation of the treaty until 2
February 1796
France now the Villain:
• Franco-American Alliance severed by Jay’s Treaty
• 1796 French seizure of commerce in West Indies
• Eject American minister Charles C. Pinckney enrages
President Adams
• John Adams calls special session of Congress
• Non-partisan council to go to France
• Money for Navy
• A provisional Army
• Congress answers 1 July 1797
• United States, Constitution, and Constellation back in
the game
The XYZ Affair:
• French Foreign Minister Talleyrand attempts to extort
money from United States
• XYZ Affair
• American delegation to Paris insulted - Congress and
American public outraged.
• 1200 copies distributed
• “Millions for Defense, not one cent for tribute”
Department of Navy:
• Department of the Navy established -- 1798.
• Benjamin Stoddert - First Secretary of the Navy.
• Increase in naval expenditures for:
• Shipyards
• Ships - completed frigates begun by Navy Act of 1794.
• Stoddert’s Navy
• 50 ships by end of 1799
• Wanted fleet navy (ships of the line)
• Not guerre de course
• Major step towards America becoming a major
power – America not ready for this level of
warfare, thus Stoddert’s effectiveness reduced
Republican Naval Policy:
• Thomas Jefferson elected in 1800.
• Large reductions in Naval funding.
• Republicans reduce federal taxation and spending.
• All Navy ships sold except 13 frigates.
• 7 of the 13 frigates in mothballs.
• Jefferson’s “Gunboat” Navy -- a strictly
defensive strategy.
• Static and weak defense of American coast.
• Floating gun platforms - reduced maneuverability.
President
Thomas
Jefferson
1801-1809
Louisiana
Purchase
Lewis and Clark
Expedition
The Barbary Wars 1801-1805
Barbary Wars 1801-1805
• Increasing tribute demands of North African
states.
• William Bainbridge forced to sail George Washington
under Algerian flag with tribute to Ottoman sultan.
• Undeclared war against the Barbary States
begins - 1801.
• Secretary of Navy Smith deploys Commodore Richard
Dale to Mediterranean
Samuel Smith’s Instructions:
• Protection of American merchantmen vessels
from non-European powers
• Wars against such powers blockade would be
strategy of choice
• Seizure or destruction of ships- whether armed
or not
• Solitary American frigate would suffice
Barbary Wars 1801-1805
• Early commodores unsuccessful:
• Robert Dale fails to be aggressive - resigns in 1802.
• Thomas Truxton turns down command due to lack of
a captain for his flagship and is dismissed from
service.
• Richard Morris - dismissed for “dilatory conduct”.
• Commodore Edward Preble takes command Sept 1803.
• Aggressive tactics are highly successful.
• “Preble’s Boys” will command U.S. ships in the War
of 1812.
Commodore
Edward
Preble
“Preble’s Boys”
Barbary Wars Operations:
• “Hard Luck” Captain William Bainbridge -- Philadelphia
captured in Tripoli harbor and crew imprisoned.
• Philadelphia held under Tripoli’s guns.
• Lieutenant Stephen Decatur -- special warfare mission.
• Uses captured Intrepid to board and burn Philadelphia.
• Promoted to Captain at age 25.
• Eaton’s march on Tripoli.
• Includes First Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon and six Marines.
•
•
•
•
Capture of Derna in April 1805.
Awarded Mameluke sword by Prince Hamet - still used today.
“The shores of Tripoli.”
Boost in support for Marine Corps.
To the shores of Tripoli…
Burning of the Philadelphia
“The most heroic
and bold act of the age.”
- Admiral Horatio Nelson
Barbary Wars
Barbary Wars
Napoleonic Wars:
• French Revolution - 1789
• French aristocracy overthrown.
• War with Great Britain resumes in 1793.
• French Navy leadership adversely affected.
• French Army leadership relatively unaffected - artillery officers.
• Change in strategy and tactics from more formal and professional
armies.
• War between France and continental European powers.
• Britain forms a series of five “Coalitions” with continental powers to
counter the French - continues Pitt’s Plan.
• Early failures by British and allies while French counter-revolution
threatened republicans.
• French Empire established under Emperor Napoleon.
Napoleonic Wars Naval Confrontation :
• Fleet engagements between Royal Navy and
French Navy and French allies’ navies:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Battle of the “Glorious” First of June -- 1794
Battle of Cape St. Vincent -- February 1797
Battle of Camperdown -- October 1797
Battle of the Nile -- 1 August 1798
Battle of Copenhagen -- 2 April 1801
Battle of Trafalgar -- 21 October 1805
• Admiral Horatio Nelson
• Highly successful through the use of melee
tactics.
• “Concept of Operations” to ship captains prior to
battle.
Admiral
Horatio
Nelson
Nelson and his
captains on the eve of
Trafalgar.
Nelson - Mortally wounded at Trafalgar.
British Victory at Trafalgar
• Great Britain secures command of the seas.
• French threat to invade England ended.
• Great Britain’s overseas commerce flourishes.
• Royal Navy gains ability to threaten U.S. commerce with
France and other countries.
• French Navy declines in strength.
• Napoleon’s army still supreme on European continent.
• Continental System established in Europe to isolate Great
Britain.
• Napoleonic Wars continue until Napoleon is defeated by
Britain’s Duke of Wellington at Waterloo - 1815.
The War of 1812
Causes of the War of 1812
•
•
•
•
British at war with France
British begin to seize U.S. Ships
Neutral rights categorized
Visit and search of merchant men by
naval vessels
• Ports closed in peacetime
• Impressment
Neutral Rights of U.S. Shipping
• Great Britain at war with the French Empire
• British seize U.S. merchant ships.
• Dispute over neutral rights:
• Blockade
• United States: Must be effective to be legal.
• Great Britain: “Paper blockades” are binding.
• Visit and search of merchants by naval vessels.
• United States: Only in restricted areas.
• Great Britain: Virtually anywhere on high seas.
• Ports
• United States: Can be open to neutral trade during war.
• Great Britain: Must remain closed.
• Impressment
• United States: Search of neutral vessels for British subjects is illegal.
• Great Britain: Search of neutral vessels for British subjects is okay.
Chesapeake - Leopard Affair (1807)
• Impressment
• USS Chesapeake attacked by HMS Leopard.
• Issues
•
Sanctity of a warship as part of national territory.
•
American commander's unreadiness to fight.
• Result
•
American public opinion increases against Great Britain.
•
Jefferson imposes embargo on American merchants.
Chesapeake-Leopard Affair – (1807):
Jefferson’s
Gunboat Navy
1807-1809
The Road to War:
• President Madison - 1809
• Begins to move naval policy away from building
gunboats.
• Responds to Congress’ wish to build up frigate Navy
• Jeffersonian
• 1 May 1811: HMS Guerrière impresses
American seaman within sight of New York
• 10 May 1811: USS President vs. HMS Little Belt
• John Rodgers
• Destroys British sloop-of-war
The Road to War:
• 12th Congress: the “War Hawks”
• Henry Clay of Kentucky
• John C. Calhoun of South Carolina
• Madison was on-board
•
•
•
•
coastal fortifications
limited activation of gunboats
offshore operation of frigates
recommendations for military
augmentation
Congress Answered:
• Navy receives funds to refortify
• dockyard for frigate repair
• refused proposal for 10 new frigates and
twelve 74s
• Opponents of new Construction
• Same arguments as before- but they’re valid
The Road to War:
• War in Europe turns in France’s favor -1812.
• U.S. Declaration of war against Great
Britain - June 1812.
• Neutral rights, impressment, and Indian
relations.
• Minimal U.S. Army and Navy strength.
• US is unprepared
Napoleonic Wars -- 1812-1815
• Continental Europe
• Napoleon’s France (Land Power) versus Coalitions.
• Maritime Europe
• Great Britain (Sea Power) versus France (Severely
weakened at sea by defeat at Trafalgar in 1805).
• Naval Strategies
•
•
•
Britain blockades French ports.
French use “Continental System” as a blockade of
British trade.
“Guerre de Course” -- Commerce Raiding
•
•
•
Practiced by both sides.
Includes privateering.
Global war:
•
Atlantic, West Indies, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, Pacific
U.S. Naval Policies:
• Strategy
•
•
•
Rodgers: Proponent of squadron operations.
Decatur: Proponent of single-ship operations.
Commerce Raiders
•
Atlantic Ocean
•
•
USS Essex in the Pacific Ocean -- Captain David Porter
•
•
English Channel
Raids on British whaling fleet.
Letters of marque issued to privateers.
• Naval Administration
•
•
•
Small organization.
Inadequate coastal defenses.
Limited resources available.
•
Funding increases significantly during the course of the
war.
Course of the War – 1812:
• Cruise of Commodore Rodgers' squadron unsuccessful.
• Single-ship engagements won by Americans:
• USS Constitution versus HMS Guerriere
• Captain Isaac Hull
• USS United States versus HMS Macedonian
• Captain Stephen Decatur
• USS Constitution versus HMS Java
• Captain William Bainbridge
• Superiority of U.S. ships, training, and commanders is
evident.
• Naval victories increase morale and support.
• Congress authorizes expanded naval building program.
• Unsuccessful American invasion of Canada.
• Detroit occupied by British and Indians - threat to NW
Territory.
Commodore Rodgers’ Cruise – 1812:
USS Constitution versus
HMS Guerriere
USS Constitution versus HMS Guerriere
USS Constitution versus HMS Guerriere 19 August 1812
USS Constitution
“Old Ironsides”
USS United States versus HMS
Macedonian
Course of the War -- 1813
• British Strategy
•
Victories in Europe allow movement of ships and
troops from Europe to America.
•
Increase blockade on American ports.
•
Raid American coasts.
• USS Chesapeake versus HMS Shannon
• Great Lakes Campaign
Captain
James
Lawrence
USS
Chesapeake
“Don’t give up
the ship!”
USS Chesapeake versus
HMS Shannon
USS Chesapeake versus HMS Shannon
1 June 1813
Great Lakes Campaign -- 1813
• British supply forces via St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes.
• Control of communications routes on the lakes is necessary.
• Lake Ontario
• Commodore Isaac Chauncey and Commodore Sir James Yeo.
• Shipbuilding race and lack of initiative lead to stalemate.
• Lake Erie
• Oliver Hazard Perry
• Flagship: Named USS Lawrence in honor of fallen friend.
• Defeats British fleet in the Battle of Lake Erie.
• “We have met the enemy and they are ours .”
• British forces cut off from supplies.
• General William Henry Harrison receives Perry’s message, recaptures
Detroit, and defeats British and Indians at the Battle of the Thames.
• Indian leader Tecumseh is killed and NW Territory secured for U.S.
Great Lakes Campaign:
Oliver
Hazard
Perry
Commander
American
Lake Erie
Squadron
1813
Captain
Robert
Barclay
Commander
British
Lake Erie
Squadron
1813
Perry’s Battle Flag - USS Lawrence
Battle of Lake Erie
Oliver Hazard
Perry
Battle of Lake Erie
Perry transfers flag
from Lawrence to
Niagara.
Battle of Lake Erie: 10 September 1813
“We have met the enemy and they are ours.”
Oliver Hazard Perry
Course of the War – 1814:
• British blockade of American ports - highly effective.
•
•
American Navy unable to sortie.
U.S. economy in decline due to reduced maritime commerce.
• Washington Campaign
British forces raid Chesapeake.
• Washington burned.
• Baltimore -- Fort McHenry - Star Spangled Banner.
• Militia and gunboats very ineffective for coastal defense.
•
• Battle of Lake Champlain near Plattsburg.
•
Commodore Thomas MacDonough
•
•
•
•
Remembers Nelson’s tactics at the Battle of the Nile.
British invasion of New York from Canada.
British defeated and retreat to Canada.
Star Spangled Banner
“…that the flag was still there…”
• Major George Armistead, the commanding officer at Fort
McHenry requested a flag "... so large that the British will have
no difficulty in seeing it from a distance..." to be flown over the
Fort.
• On Sept. 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key visited the British fleet in
Chesapeake Bay to secure the release of Dr. William Beanes,
who had been captured after the burning of Washington, D.C.
The release was secured, but Key was detained on ship
overnight during the shelling of Fort McHenry, one of the forts
defending Baltimore. In the morning, he was so delighted to
see the American flag still flying over the fort that he began a
poem to commemorate the occasion.
Battle of Lake Champlain
11 September
1814
USS Lake Champlain
(CG 57)
Peace and Aftermath:
• Great Britain agrees to peace.
• American victories at Lakes Erie and Champlain.
• American privateers capture British merchants.
• Treaty of Ghent -- 24 December 1814
•
•
“Status Quo Ante Bellum”
British end impressment of American seamen.
• Battle of New Orleans -- 1815
Occurred after peace treaty signed.
• Gunboats delay British at Lake Borgne.
• British defeated by General Andrew Jackson’s
makeshift army.
•
•
Victories in Creek War and at New Orleans - emerges as
national hero.
Battle of New Orleans:
General
Andrew Jackson
Battle of New Orleans
Naval Contributions:
• Victory on the lakes:
• Lake Erie: Restores American control of Northwest Territory.
• Lake Champlain: Prevented invasion of New York.
• Created stalemate.
• Commerce Raiding
• Ultimately ineffective.
• BUT - Plays a factor in British agreement to peace.
• Single ship engagements:
• Superiority of American shipbuilding and command.
• Boost to national morale.
• BUT - Ineffective against British blockade.
• British sea power’s effectiveness increased throughout the war
as French were defeated on continental Europe.
Summary -- War of 1812:
• British view as a “Limited War”.
• Americans view as:
•
•
•
A struggle to end British-supported Indian attacks.
An attempt to acquire Canada.
An assertion of the nation’s neutral rights against
British interference.
• Main Theatres
• Atlantic
• Effective British blockade of US ports.
• Gunboat policy fails to prevent British raids.
• Great Lakes
• U.S. wins control of sea lines of communication.
• British forced to retreat.
Learning Objectives:
• The student will comprehend the influence of
European events upon American trade and
naval policy during this period.
• The student will understand and be able to
explain the term “Battle of Annihilation.”
• The student will know the background of
Jefferson’s defensive naval strategy including
the use of gunboats and forts. Know the causes
and naval operations of the Napoleonic Wars.
Learning Objectives:
• The student will know (recall) operations against
the Barbary corsairs during this period.
• The student will comprehend the main factors of
the European war and their effect on causing the
War of 1812.
• The student will understand and be able to explain
the term “Guerre de Course.”
• The student will know the U.S. and British Naval
Strategy during the war.
Learning Objectives:
• The student will comprehend the Great Lakes
campaign and its importance to the U.S. war effort.
• The student will comprehend (compare and
contrast) the naval strategies of Rodgers and
Decatur.
• The student will comprehend the significance of
the Washington and New Orleans campaigns.
• The student will know the contributions of the U.S.
Navy during the war of 1812, and assess the state
of the Navy after the Treaty of Ghent
Next time: The United States Navy, 1815-1860:
The Search for Professionalism