Ship's Crew

Place entered USS Constitution on August 14, 1813 at Boston, Massachusetts. His rank was ordinary seaman. Place was transferred to the Marine Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts on June 5, 1815 due to injuries he sustained in a fall on the ship. Place was formally discharged on July 19, 1815 at Boston, Massachusetts. According to testimony provided in Place’s pension application in 1838, Charles W. Cutter, a Justice of the Peace (from New Hampshire) wrote that Place had been injured during at sea during a “severe gale, which increased in the night.” Place’s hammock had been a few feet from the main hatch. He awoke from the ships alarm and fell head first on the deck and struck a cable, and finally fell across one of the water casks. He was carried into the sickbay where he remained in the surgeon’s care until the ship reached Boston.

Battles and Engagements

Place was on board for the battle with HMS Cyane and HMS Levant.

Place was eventually sent home from the hospital but “by means of the fall aforesaid, he ruptured his bowels, and sustained a very severe injury in his back…”, according to the letter from Cutter. Place partially recovered, but was no longer able to perform any sort of labor and support his family in comfort. He could no longer return to the cod-fishing industry that he had become accustomed to prior to his enlistment. Place was told that he was eligible to receive a pension but was unable to file the correct paperwork as he was illiterate. The letter was written in hopes that the country for which Place served would take care of him. Although no incidence of the injury had been recorded, according to the Pension Office, there were many individual accounts of the injury, including records of Place’s stay in the Marine Hospital. Many personal letters, including one by his brother, Jonathan, were written on his behalf. Place’s date and place of death are unknown.