The Black Phalanx / African American soldiers in the War of Independence, the War of 1812, and the Civil War

by Joseph T. Wilson

CHAPTER II.

THE WAR OF 1812.

While there is no intention of entering into an examination of the causes of the war between the United States and Great Britain in 1812, yet in order to carry out the design of the author to show that in this war,—like all others in which the government of the United States has been engaged,—the negro, as a soldier, took part, it is deemed necessary to cite at least one of the incidents, perhaps the incident, which most fired the national heart of America, and hastened the beginning of hostilities.

The war between England and France gave to the American merchant marine interest an impetus that increased the number of vessels three-fold in a few years; it also gave command of the carrying trade of the West Indies, from which Napoleon's frigates debarred the English merchantmen. In consequence England sought and used every opportunity to cripple American commerce and shipping. One plan was to deprive American ships of the service of English seamen. Her war vessels claimed and exercised the right of searching for English seamen on board American vessels. During the year 1807, the English Admiral Berkeley, in command of the North American Station, issued instructions to commanders of vessels in his fleet to look out for the American frigate Chesapeake, and if they fell in with her at sea, to board her and search for deserters, as all English seamen in the American service were regarded by England. With the instructions, were the descriptions of four sailors, three negroes and one white man, who were missing.

The persons who deserted from the Melampus, then lying in Hampton Roads, were William Ware, Daniel Martin, John Strachan, John Little and Ambrose Watts. Within a month from their escape from the Melampus, the first three of these deserters offered themselves for enlistment, and were received on board the Chesapeake, then at Norfolk, Va., preparing for sea. The British consul at Norfolk, being apprized of the circumstance, wrote a letter to the American naval officer, requesting the men to be returned. With this request, the officer refused to comply, and the British lost no time in endeavoring to procure an order from the American government for their surrender. On receipt of the application, the Secretary of the Navy ordered an examination into the characters and claims of the men in question. The examination resulted in proof that the three negroes, Ware, Martin and Strachan were natives of America. The two former had "protections," or notarial certificates of their citizenship;[8] Strachan had no "protection," but asserted that he lost it previous to his escape. Such being the circumstances, the government refused to give the men up, insisting that they were American citizens, and though, they had served in the British navy, they were pressed into the service and had a right to desert it.

The Chesapeake was one of the finest of the frigates in the American Navy, and after receiving an outfit requiring six months to complete at the Gosport Navy Yard, at Norfolk, Va., started for the Mediterranean. The English frigate Leopard, which lay in the harbor at Norfolk when the Chesapeake sailed, followed her out to sea, hailed her and sent a letter to her commander, Commodore James Barron, demanding the surrender of the deserters. Barron sent a note refusing to comply with the demand, whereupon the Leopard fired several broadsides into the Chesapeake. Barron struck his colors without firing a shot, and permitted the officers of the Leopard to board his vessel and search her. The British captain refused to accept the surrender of the Chesapeake, but took from her crew the three men who had been demanded as deserters; also a fourth, John Wilson, a white man, claimed as a runaway from a merchant ship.

The white sailor, it was admitted by the American government, was a British subject, and his release was not demanded; he was executed for deserting the British Navy. Of the negroes, two only were returned by the British government, the other one having died in England. Says an American historian:

"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.