• Donate
  • Join Now
  • Sign Up for eNews
USS Constitution MuseumUSS Constitution MuseumUSS Constitution MuseumUSS Constitution Museum
  • Visit
    • Plan Your Visit
    • Directions & Parking
    • Groups & Field Trips
    • Calendar of Events
    • Museum Map
    • Host an Event
    • In Our Neighborhood
    • Library Pass Program
  • Exhibits
    • Past Exhibits
    • Ship Model Show
    • The Model Shipwright Guild
    • Hands-On Areas
  • Discover + Learn
  • Educators
  • Shop
    • Shop Now
    • Buy a Membership
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Membership
    • USS Constitution Museum Gala
    • Memorial Bricks
    • Support Our Collections
    • Legacy Giving
    • Foundation Support
    • Amazon Smile
    • Host an Event
      • Approved Caterers
      • Guide to Hosting Functions and Special Events at the Museum
    • Donor Privacy Policy
  • About
    • Mission & History
      • Founders
      • National Awards
    • Board of Trustees
    • Publications
    • Family Learning Project
    • National Outreach
    • For Press & Media
    • Jobs & Volunteering
    • Contact Us

“You know how to beat those fellows:” Constitution’s Crew March to Sackets Harbor and Lake Erie

    Home Blog Log Lines “You know how to beat those fellows:” Constitution’s Crew March to Sackets Harbor and Lake Erie
    NextPrevious

    “You know how to beat those fellows:” Constitution’s Crew March to Sackets Harbor and Lake Erie

    By USS Constitution Museum | Log Lines, News | Comments are Closed | 9 April, 2013 | 0

    Those of us who read this blog or the history books will know that Constitution’s crew, the ones who sailed with Captain Hull and Commodore Bainbridge, had more than a few high adventures on the high seas.  But
    few know that some of these same men made an epic overland trek that ultimately resulted in one of the US Navy’s greatest victories.

    By the spring of 1813 the American squadrons building on Lake Ontario and Lake Erie were in desperate need of men.  Writing to Secretary of the Navy William Jones on March 5, 1813, Commodore Isaac Chauncey asked for 300 sailors and 200 Marines for the Lake Ontario squadron. In turn, Secretary Jones requested Commodore William Bainbridge to open a rendezvous in Boston to recruit men for the lakes. After two weeks, only one man had enlisted (and he promptly deserted).[1]

    Knowing salt-water sailors were averse to serving on fresh, Bainbridge sent two drafts of men from Constitution to Lake Ontario.  On May 7, 1813, Secretary Jones praised Bainbridge’s initiative: “The transfer of part of the Crew of the Frigate Constitution to the Service on the Lakes gives me great satisfaction as the nature of the Service required the most prompt and decisive measures to render it effectual.”[2]  These men had recently returned victorious from the engagement with HMS Java, and many of them were veterans of the Guerriere fight as well.  Now that the frigate needed extensive repairs before her next cruise, Bainbridge could afford to dispatch them to the western theatre.
    The first detachment of 120 seamen and officers left the Charlestown Navy Yard on April 18, 1813.   A second detachment of 50 men departed on April 27.  Driven west in four-horse stagecoaches, the sailors made good time on the smooth stage roads.  As the Newburyport Herald opined, “the plan of transporting sailors into the interior is approved; for thus they will not be
    liable to make so much leeway as in marching.”[3]  The two groups changed horses (and probably coaches, too) at Framingham, Worcester, Belchertown, Northampton, and
    Pittsfield.  From Pittsfield they steered for Albany, NY, and then on to Amsterdam and Utica.  The second detachment lost two men on the road.  Sailing Master John Nichols died on May 10 at Lorraine, NY and Seaman John Harvey died on the 12th at Redfield, about fifteen miles south of Sackets Harbor.[4]
    Part one of the crew’s journey.  They travel by stagecoach across an 1802 map of Massachusetts by Osgood Carleton.

     

    Part two of the crew’s journey.  By coach and wagon to Sackets Harbor, then by boat and foot to Lake Erie.  The map is by Simeon DeWitt and dates to 1804.
    We don’t have anecdotes of the trek in the words of any of Constitution’s crew, but Seaman Ned Myers made a similar march from New York City to Lake Champlain.  He described the adventures of the party.
    Towards the end of the season, our boat, with several others, was lying abreast of the Yard, when orders came off to meet the Yard Commander, Captain Chauncey, on the wharf. Here this officer
    addressed us, and said he was about to proceed to Lake Ontario, to take command, and asking who would volunteer to go with him. This was agreeable news to us, for we hated the gun-boats, and would go anywhere to be quit of them. Every man and boy volunteered. We got twenty-four hours’ liberty, with a few dollars in money, and when this scrape was over every man returned, and we embarked in a sloop for Albany. Our draft contained near 140 men….On reaching Albany, we paid a visit to the governor, gave him three cheers, got some good cheer in return, and were all stowed in wagons, a mess in each, before his door. We now took to our land tacks, and a merry time we had of it. Our first day’s run was to a place called Schenectady, and here the officers found an empty house, and berthed us all together, fastening the doors. This did not suit our notions of a land cruise, and we began to grumble. There was a regular hard horse of a boatswain’s-mate with us, of the name of McNally. This man had been in the service a long time, and was a thorough man-of-war’s man. He had collected twenty-four of us, whom he called his “disciples,” and shamed am I to say, I was one. McNally called all hands on the upper deck, as he called it, that is to say, in the garret, and made us a speech. He said this was no way to treat volunteers, and proposed that we should “unship the awning.” We rigged pries, and, first
    singing out “Stand from under,” hove one half of the roof into the street, and the other into the garden. We then gave three cheers at our success. The officers now came down, and gave us a lecture; but made out so good a case, that they let us run till morning, when every soul was back, and mustered in the wagons. In this way we went through the country, cracking our jokes, laughing, and noting all oddities that crossed our course. I believe we were ten or twelve days working our way through the state to Oswego. At Onondago Lake we got into boats, and did better than in the wagons. At a village on the lake shore the people were very bitter against us, and we had some difficulty. The word went among us they were Scotch, from the Canadas, but of this I know nothing. We heard in the morning, however, that most of our officers were in limbo, and we crossed and marched up a hill, intending to burn, sink, and destroy, if they were not liberated. Mischief was prevented by the appearance of Mr. Mix [sailing master commanding the detachment], with the other gentlemen, and we pushed off without coming to blows.
    It came on to rain very hard, and we fetched up at a solitary house in the woods, and tried to get quarters. These were denied us, and we were told to shift for ourselves. This we; did in a large barn, where we made good stowage until morning. In the night we caught the owner coming about with a lantern to set fire to the barn, and we carried him down to a boat, and lashed him there until morning, letting the rain wash all the combustible matter out of him. That day we reached Oswego Falls, where a party of us were stationed some time, running boats over, and carrying stores across the portage.”[5]
    The first detachment reported for duty at Lake Ontario on April 29.  The second arrived around May 12.  More research will be necessary to determine the final disposition of all the officers and men.  Many were portioned out to the Lake Ontario squadron, and on July 10, 1813 Chauncey ordered Mid. Dulany Forrest to take 60 men from Sackets Harbor to join Oliver Hazard Perry’s squadron on Lake Erie.[6]
    The schooner Pert landed the men at the mouth of the Niagara River.  They marched to Black Rock with orders not to stop in Buffalo, but to “push on as fast as possible.”  From Black Rock they followed the lakeshore to Presqu’ile.  The men walked and wagons followed with their baggage.  The draft reached Erie on July 23 or 28. There is still a much to be learned about this adventure.  Because Constitution’s muster rolls for 1813 have gone missing, it is difficult to create a comprehensive list of the men who were drafted for the Lakes.  Comparing the muster rolls of the Sackets Harbor and Lake Erie stations to Constitution’s December 1812 roll should allow us to discover which seaman and officers made the long overland trek.
    There is no doubt, however, that the drafts from Constitution proved decisive in the pivotal Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813.  The Albany newspaper expected them to “entwinein the chaplets that adorn their brows, some sprigs of Canadian laurel”, while the Boston papers were sure they would “act over again the conquests of the Guerriere and the Java.”[7] According to Purser Samuel Hambleton, before the battle, “Capt. Perry went leisurely round, inspecting his batteries, & occasionally spoke to the men: seeing those drafted from the Constitution, he asked ‘Well, boys are you ready?’  ‘All ready, Sir.’  ‘I need not say anything to you- you know how to beat those fellows.’”[8]
    And beat them they did.  After a sharp and deadly action, Perry scrawled a hasty message to General William Henry Harrison: “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”
    [1] CDR Tyrone
    G. Martin (Ret.), “The Constitution
    Connection,” The Journal of Erie Studies,
    vol. 17, no. 2 (Fall 1988), 39-46.
    [2]William
    Jones to William Bainbridge, 7 May 1813, in Secretary of the Navy Letters to
    Commandants and Navy Agents, 1808-1865, M441,  NARA.
    [3] Newburyport Herald, 23 April 1813.
    [4] The
    sequence of the march is based on the settled receipts of Sailing Master John
    Nichols, Settled Accounts of Fourth Auditor of the Treasury, Numerical Series,
    RG 217, No. 208,  NARA.
    [5] James
    Fenimore Cooper, ed., Ned Myers; or, A
    Life Before the Mast
    (Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1843), 47-48.
    [6] Isaac
    Chauncey to Dulany Forrest, Accounts of Fourth Auditor of the Treasury,
    Numerical Series, RG 217, No. 3739,  NARA.
    [7] Albany Argus, 23 April 1813, and Baltimore Patriot, 26 April 1813.
    [8] Quoted
    in Richard J. Cox, “An Eyewitness Account of the Battle of Lake Erie,” Proceedings of the United States Naval
    Institute
    (Feb. 1978), 71.
    No tags.
    USS Constitution Museum

    USS Constitution Museum

    The USS Constitution Museum serves as the memory and educational voice of USS CONSTITUTION, by collecting, preserving, and interpreting the stories of "Old Ironsides" and the people associated with her. We seek to create a positive, memorable experience for both children and adults by inspiring within them a love for the freedom that CONSTITUTION symbolizes. We will share CONSTITUTION's contributions with a global audience, and we will strive to be the best museum possible based on scholarship and innovative ways of sharing CONSTITUTION's stories.

    More posts by USS Constitution Museum

    Related Post

    • World War I and the Legacy of the War of 1812

      By USS Constitution Museum | Comments are Closed

      John Quincy Adams was in Ghent, New Netherlands (present-day Belgium) on Christmas Eve, 1814. He was the leader of the United States delegation, negotiating an end to America’s second war with Great Britain. On thatRead more

    • USS Constitution Museum Honors Congresswoman Niki Tsongas and Trustee Gary P. Kearney, M.D

      By dwedemeyer | 1 comment

      On Thursday, October 25, over 400 guests honored Congresswoman Niki Tsongas and Dr. Gary P. Kearney for their exemplary leadership and outstanding public service at the USS Constitution Museum Gala – A Salute to ServiceRead more

    • Secretary of the Interior Announces $3M for Charlestown Navy Yard Project

      By USS Constitution Museum | Comments are Closed

      The Memorandum of Understanding signed by USS Constitution’s CDR Nathaniel Shick, Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, National Parks of Boston General Superintendent Michael Creasey, USS Constitution MuseumRead more

    • The Whole 13 Yards

      By USS Constitution Museum | 1 comment

      Happy Anniversary, “Old Ironsides”! July is a multiple-anniversary month for USS Constitution: The 44-gun frigate began her first cruise the evening of July 22, 1798, under ideal sailing conditions: Steady Breezes fine & Pleasant Weather.Read more

    • USS CONSTITUTION Commemorates Battle of Midway in Boston Harbor

      By USS Constitution Museum | Comments are Closed

      By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Casey Scoular, USS Constitution Public Affairs   USS Constitution and her crew headed underway from the ship’s berth in Charlestown, Massachusetts, on June 8, in commemoration of the 76thRead more

    • Face-to-Face: Collections Open House & Rum Party

      By USS Constitution Museum | 1 comment

      USS Constitution Museum public historian Carl Herzog shares artifacts with guests.   Over 160 guests joined us for the Collections Open House & Rum Party on May 16, 2018. This annual event is one ofRead more

    • Honoring Those Who Served

      By USS Constitution Museum | Comments are Closed

      USS Constitution Color Guard On May 18, 2018 the Charlestown Navy Yard Partners, alongside the Vietnam War Commemoration, honored the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. This event was part of a 13-year program thatRead more

    • Rebuilt, Preserved, Restored – USS Constitution Across the Centuries

      By USS Constitution Museum | 1 comment

      Preservation Philosophies SHIP OF THESEUS Readers may be familiar with the thought experiment known as the “Ship of Theseus.” It is a philosophical conundrum from antiquity and first appeared in Plutarch’s Life of Theseus: The ship whereinRead more

    NextPrevious

    sidebar-button-donate

    USS CONSTITUTION MUSEUM | Charlestown Navy Yard, Building 22, Charlestown, MA 02129 | 6174261812

    Mass Cultural Council
    Copyright © 2015 USS Constitution Museum. All Rights Reserved.
    • Visit
      • Plan Your Visit
      • Directions & Parking
      • Groups & Field Trips
      • Calendar of Events
      • Museum Map
      • Host an Event
      • In Our Neighborhood
      • Library Pass Program
    • Exhibits
      • Past Exhibits
      • Ship Model Show
      • The Model Shipwright Guild
      • Hands-On Areas
    • Discover + Learn
    • Educators
    • Shop
      • Shop Now
      • Buy a Membership
    • Support
      • Donate
      • Membership
      • USS Constitution Museum Gala
      • Memorial Bricks
      • Support Our Collections
      • Legacy Giving
      • Foundation Support
      • Amazon Smile
      • Host an Event
        • Approved Caterers
        • Guide to Hosting Functions and Special Events at the Museum
      • Donor Privacy Policy
    • About
      • Mission & History
        • Founders
        • National Awards
      • Board of Trustees
      • Publications
      • Family Learning Project
      • National Outreach
      • For Press & Media
      • Jobs & Volunteering
      • Contact Us
    USS Constitution Museum