Marines in the Frigate Navy

Fourteen Full-Color Prints

by

Colonel Charles H. Waterhouse, USMCR

with text by

Charles R. Smith

and research assistant by

Richard A. Long

HISTORY DIVISION

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

WASHINGTON, D.C.

REPRINTED 2006
FoR MARINE CORPS ORGANIZATIONS RECEIVING

THIS SERIES OF PRINTS

It is suggested that this series of prints be framed and hung in such

areas as recruiting stations, unit offices, recreation rooms, mess halls,

and clubs. A Marine Corps directive has been issued recommending

this use and citing specifications of a standard frame available through

GSA.

To frame the texts contained in this pamphlet, the staples should be

removed and the pages separated by cutting carefully along the fold

line. Associated prints and texts should be hung together.
Marines in the Frigate Navy

1798-1835

The first half of the 19th century saw little dramatic change in military

technology or in military and naval tactics. Marines, formally organized by an act

of Congress in 1798, would perform the same functions they had assumed during

America's fight for independence.

In May 1798, in response to the depredations of French privateers, President

John Adams instructed American frigate captains to make reprisals upon the commerce of France. Initially, Marine units were based upon the size of the ship and

appointed directly, but on 11 July 1798, an act of Congress authorized

"establishing and organizing a Marine Corps." American ships with Marine

detachments soon set sail, landed, and captured a shore battery at Puerto Plata,

Santo Domingo, and participated in the capture of more than three-score French

vessels before the Treaty of Peace brought an end to the undeclared war.

The renewal of the Barbary Wars in 1801 resulted in orders to the Mediterranean Squadron for many Marines, where they fought alongside sailors at ships'

great guns. In 1805, near the war's end, Marine Lieutenant Presley N. O'Bannon, with six privates, and a motley force of Arabs and Greeks, marched 500

miles across the desert from Egypt. Reaching Derna, the Marines led a charge

through the town, captured its fort, and raised the flag for the first time over Old

World territory.

From 1806 to 1811, Marines served with small detachments scattered

throughout the world on board ship, guarded naval yards, harassed the Spanish in

East Florida, clashed with hostile Indians, and landed on distant shores to defend

American diplomatic missions and endangered citizens.

In the second war with England, first priority was given to providing Marine

detachments for ships of the blue-water Navy. There were not enough Marines

to do even this, let alone provide Marines for the equally critical Great Lakes

squadrons. Company-sized Marine units fought heroically at Bladensburg, on the

land approach to the nation's capital; at Craney Island, near Norfolk, Virginia;

and at New Orleans, but apparently no thought was given to forming an amphibious force or even a permanent battalion structure. Nor, indeed, did the

nature of the war offer any particularly inviting amphibious targets.

During the next 20 years, the Corps, under the able leadership of Lieutenant

Colonel Commandant Archibald Henderson, established its place within the

American military system by "showing the flag" in punitive actions against

pirates and hostile governments from the West Indies to Sumatra, in suppressing

the illicit slave trade, on the ships and shore stations of the Navy, and in handling

domestic disturbances. The small Corps repeatedly demonstrated its efficiency,

discipline, and usefulness.

About These Prints

The artist, Colonel Charles H. Waterhouse, United States Marine Corps

Reserve, is a World 'War II veteran and noted illustrator. As a combat artist, he

depicted scenes in Vietnam, Alaska, the \Xlestern Pacific, and the Atlantic which

resulted in two published works. Returning to active duty in 1973, Colonel

Waterhouse began work on a series of paintings of Marine Corps activities during the American Revolution, conquest of California, and the federal period,

1798 to 1835.

The paintings highlighting Marine activities from 1798 to 1835 form a part of

a larger project now underway which will result in the publication of a definitive

history covering the period. The history is to be written by Charles R. Smith,

author of Marines in the Revolution and a forthcoming volume dealing with

Marine activities in Vietnam, with the research assistance of Richard A. Long,

who also assisted in the preparation of Marines in the Revolution.

The Prints

1. Captain Carmick Joins the Constitution, Boston, 9 July 1799

2. Cutting Out of the Sandwich, Puerto Plata, Santo Domingo, 11 May 1800

3. Placing the Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., 31 March 1801

4. Marines at the Great Guns, Off Tripoli, 3 August 1804

5. The Assault on Derna, Tripoli, 27 April 1805

6. Swamp Ambush, St. Augustine, 11 September 1812

7. Parley at Nukuhiva, Marquesas Islands, 8 January 1814

8. Shipbuilding at Sackets Harbor, New York, 11 January 1814

9. The Final Stand at Bladensburg, Maryland, 24 August 1814

10. Repulse of the Highianders, New Orleans, 8 January 1815

11. Commandant's Wedding Reception, Washington Marine Barracks,

17 October 1823

12. Foray into Fajardo Bay, Puerto Rico, 14 November 1824

13. The Storming of Quallah Battoo, Sumatra, 6 February 1832

14. Changing Back to Green, Off Valparaiso, Chile, May 1835

Captain Carmick

Joins the

Constitution

Boston

9 July 1799

The 9th of July 1799 was a bright summery day in

Boston as Marine Captain Daniel Carmick alighted from

the coach which had carried him from Newport, Rhode

Island. Despite the year-old undeclared war with France,

the harbor was choked with ships and the waterfront

bustling with activity, a portion of which was absorbed in

illicit trade with the French 'West Indies. At the long

wharf in Edmund Hartt's shipyard stood the Constitution,

fitted out for a West Indian cruise. All that was wanting

was a full complement of seamen and Marines.

For months, the frigate's small Marine detachment,

composed of recruits, had suffered the abuse of the Constitution's captain, Samuel Nicholson. Despite the pleas of

Marine Captain Lemuel Clark, a personal friend and appointee of President John Adams, Nicholson had refused

to allow them to drill on board, thinking Marines of no

use except as guards ashore. In May, Nicholson was

replaced by Silas Talbot, who held a similar view of

Marines. Disgraced at not being able to command his

men, Captain Clark requested relief a short time later,

outwardly complaining of ill health and the severe financial burden of supporting a large family. Not wanting to

appoint Reuben Lilley, the "decripid" senior lieutenant,

to command the Marines, Major Commandant William

Ward Burrows instead ordered Captain Carmick, then at

New York, to Boston.

Stepping down from the coach shortly before noon,

Carmick was presented with a disturbing picture. Before

him stood a sergeant and three privates, their hats slightly

tipped in the customary salute; elsewhere, recruits out of

uniform were scattered about, watering the ship. His

sword slung by his side, the Marine sergeant wore the

prescribed 1797 short, Navy-buttoned, blue coat, edged,

turned-up, and belted with red; a red vest; blue, red-edged

pantaloons; a black wool hat, cocked on one side with

black cockade; and two yellow epaulets on his shoulders.

Except for the epaulets and hats without bindings or

cockades, which Captain Carmick noted were missing,

the three privates were similarly uniformed.

As the Corps was but a year old, the prescribed uniform

was difficult, if not impossible, to procure. As a result,

U.S. Army artillery and riflemen's coats and trousers were

re-worked to fit the Marine pattern. It is little wonder

that Carmick, in writing to the Commandant after inspecting the detachment, reported that he thought it "not

possible to produce such another shabby set of animals in

this world."

Five days later, Carmick and his 59-man detachment

put to sea. During the voyage that would first take them

to Norfolk, where they would receive a shipment of

uniforms, and then to the West Indies, the Marines were

continually drilled on deck, 15 men at a time, while the

remainder were trained on the great guns. By late August,

Carmick was able to report that his men were decently

dressed, despite the rigors of shipboard duty, and were

becoming adept in the use of firelocks.

The painting and plate description are based upon the following

source materials: "Uniforms for the Navy of the United States of

America," dtd 24Aug1797 (Area File, Area 11, RG 45, National Archives, Washington, D.C.); Captain Daniel Carmick ltrs to Major

Commandant William Ward Burrows, dtd 9Jul1799, 12Jul1799,

16Ju11799, 19Aug1799, and 24Aug1799 (Commandant's Letters

Received, RG 127, National Archives, Washington, D.C.); Captain

Lemuel Clark ltr to Major Commandant William Ward Burrows,

dtd 9Jul1799, (Commandant's Letters Received, RG 127, National

Archives, Washington, D.C.); Samuel Adams Drake, Old Landmarks

and Historic Personages of Boston (Boston: Little, Brown and Co.,

1900).

Cutting Out of

the Sandwich

Puerto Plata,

Santo Domingo

11 May 1800

The American frigate Constitution, under the command

of Commodore Silas Talbot, stood off Puerto Plata, Santo

Domingo, on the afternoon of 10 May 1800. She had been

cruising nearby for some time in order to protect

American merchantmen from privateers during the period

of open hostilities with France, and Talbot had been informed that a former British packet, now the notorious

French 14-gun privateer Sandwich, was anchored within

the harbor. Having detained, a few days before, the sloop

Sally, which was scheduled to re-enter the port before sailing for America, Talbot conceived of a plan to man the

sloop with a large contingent of sailors and Marines, to

enter the harbor, take the Frenchman by surprise, and put

an end to her raiding activities.

Shortly after sunset, the Sally was brought alongside

the Constitution and about 90 sailors and Marines climbed

on board. Talbot's first lieutenant, Isaac Hull, was put in

charge of the raiding party and command of the Marines

was given to Captain Daniel Carmick and Lieutenant

William Amory. Their mission, Talbot told Hull, was to

enter the harbor, board the Sandwich, and carry her off; if

that proved impossible, they were either to sink or burn

her. Like the Greeks in the wooden horse at Troy, the

men were to remain below during the entire voyage.

Only Hull, the Sally's captain, and six sailors, enough to

work the sloop, would stay on deck.

In the morning, the sioop was still a distance from

Puerto Plata, but a fresh sea breeze sprang up, and by 1000

she succeeded in entering the harbor. Not a man was on

the Sally's deck as she silently moved along the Sandwich's

starboard side. As the anchor was released, the signal was

given, and the Constitution's sailors and Marines sprang

from the hold and boarded the privateer "like devils

carrying all before them and taking possession of the Corvette without the loss of a man."

Standing on a deck littered with canvas, guns, roping,

and spars, Captain Carmick, dressed in a uniform that had

not changed since that prescribed in 1797, orders the last

Frenchmen out of the hold to which they had retreated.

Nearby, Lieutenant Hull, wearing the blue naval uniform

of the period and holding a pistol, endeavors to restrain

his men, eager to have their revenge for French actions

against American ships and seamen. Surrounded by the

Constitution's crew, the corvette's captain, hat in hand,

awaits his fate along with his surprised men.

After tying up their prisoners, Captain Carmick,

Lieutenant Amory, and the Marines took the Sandwich's

boat and headed for the Spanish fort. With muskets over

their heads and water up to their necks, they landed, took

possession of the fort, spiked the cannon, and returned to

the ship, all "before the commanding officer had time to

recollect and prepare himself for defense." During the rest

of the day, the Sandwich was rigged, her guns scaled and

reloaded, and her royal yards set aloft. By midnight, all

was ready and with a strong breeze off the land, the corvette got underway and stood out of the harbor.

The painting and plate description are based upon the following

source materials: "Capture of the French privateer Sandwich in the harbor of Puerto Plata, S.D., May 11, 1800, by a cutting.out expedition

under Lieutenant Isaac Hull, U.S. Navy, from the U.S. Frigate Constitution, Captain Silas Talbot, U.S. Navy," oil painting by R. A.

Salmon (Boston Athenaeum); on-site research of fortification and harbor by resident military attache Lieutenant Colonel Dominik G.

Nargele, USMC (Ret); Captain Daniel Carmick ltr to a friend, dtd

l2Mayl800, in Gazette of the United States (Philadelphia), 2Jun1800;

Captain Silas Talbot ltr to Secretary of the Navy, llMayl800, in Captain Dudley W. Knox, ed., Naval Documents Related to the Quasi-War

Between the United States and France: Naval Operations from January

1800 to May 1800 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1937),

pp. 503-504.

Placing the

Marine Barracks

Washington, D.C.

31 March 1801

On 16 March 1801, an unemployed Washington

bricklayer, Benjamin Bryan, wrote to President Thomas

Jefferson asking his assistance in obtaining work on the

"Barracks to be built for the Marine Corps of the United

States." While it is unknown whether Bryan received the

President's favor, work could not proceed on the barracks

for no site had been selected.

Since moving to the new capital with the government

almost a year before, the Marines had been shunted from

one encampment to another, finally ending up in rented

War Department buildings for the winter after spending

the summer months in tents on a hill overlooking the

Potomac River. Always persistent in his attempts to obtain permanent accommodations for his men, Lieutenant

Colonel Commandant William Ward Burrows was overjoyed in early March when he learned from the Secretary

of the Navy, Benjamin Stoddert, that Congress had appropriated $20,000 for the purchase of land and the construction of barracks. But, where to build? "Having no

predilection for any particular spot of ground," the

Secretary continued, "I leave that point to be determined

by yourself," but he hoped Burrows' decision would be

made quickly so as to relieve the public of future rental expenses.

An avid horseman and a personal friend but political opponent of the President, Burrows joined Jefferson, who

had always taken a keen interest in the development of the

capital city, on Sunday morning, the last day of March

1801, as the latter took his daily exercise. Together they

rode from the White House down treeless Pennsylvania

Avenue to Capitol Hill, and then toward the Eastern

Branch (Anacostia River) and the Navy Yard.

Riding among the emerging tulip poplars, magnolias,

hawthorn, and azaleas, down what is now New Jersey

Avenue, the two passed Christ's Church, an old tobacco

barn used by Washington Episcopalians for Sunday services. Mounted on "Wildair," his favorite bay, Jefferson is

dressed in his customary suit of black. His carriage equally

erect, the 43-year-old, South Carolina-born Commandant

wears the blue officers' breeches and coat, the latter with

long red lapels embroidered with nine common naval buttons, a standing collar of red, and two gold epaulets. The

gold epaulets on each shoulder signify an officer above the

rank of captain, there being no other distinguishing mark

of rank separating a major, lieutenant colonel, or colonel.

In full-dress uniform, according to the 1797 regulation

promulgated by Secretary of War James McHenry, Burrows carries a small naval sword and wears a black chapeau

adorned with black cockade.

Close to midday, Lieutenant Colonel Burrows took

leave of the President, who expressed a desire that the barracks be located near the Navy Yard within easy marching

distance of the Capitol. The only undeveloped tract of

land meeting the President's wishes lay between Eighth

and Ninth and "G" and "I" Streets in the southeast

quadrant of the city. Two months after their ride, President Jefferson authorized purchase of the square. Construction began that fall on the barracks and a home for

the Commandant. Burrows would not see their completion, however. In 1804, political intrigue and ill health

forced his resignation and within a year he was dead.

Among the sources used in the preparation of the painting and plate

description were: Lieutenant Colonel William Ward Burrows ltr to

Captain Franklin Wharton, dtd 3lMarl8Ol (Commandant's Letterbook, RG 127, National Archives, Washington, D.C.); Benjamin

Bryan ltr to Thomas Jefferson, dtd l6Marl8Ol (Jefferson Papers,

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.); Benjamin Stoddert ltr to

Lieutenant Colonel William Ward Burrows, dtd 6Marl8Ol

(Miscellaneous Letters Sent, RG 45, National Archives); Sarah N.

Randolph, The Domestic L[e of Thomas Jefferson (Cambridge: University Press, 1939); Gaillard Hunt, ed., The First Forty Years of

Washington Society in the Family Letters of Margaret Ba yard Smith (New

York: Frederick Unger Publishing Co., 1965).

Marines at the

Great Guns

Off Tripoli

3 August 1804

The Bashaw of Tripoli, regarding as trifling the proposed annual payment of $10,000 for his friendship, again

refused the American offer of a peace treaty to end his war

on Yankee merchantmen in the Mediterranean and to ransom captives. Not content with continuing to punish

Tripolitan intransigence with a passive blockade, Navy

Captain Edward Preble now thought it "absolutely

necessary to our National and Naval Character in the

Eastern World, that we humble that Regency and bring

the Bashaw to our own terms." To accomplish this,

Preble decided on "a bold stroke against Tripoli—One

successful dash at them Lwhichl will effect a peace, and

make them remember the war."

On the afternoon of 3 August 1804, a small American

squadron of brigs and schooners led by the frigate Constitution, under the command of Captain Preble, launched the

first of a series of five attacks against the port of Tripoli.

Mounting oniy thirty 24-pounders on her gun deck and

six borrowed long 24-pounders on her spar deck, the Constitution and her consorts faced a walled city protected by

forts and shore batteries that mounted 115 heavy guns.

These were supplemented by numerous gunboats, each

armed with a single 24-pounder. Under cover of the

frigate, the smaller American vessels advanced within

point-blank range of the shore batteries and engaged the

enemy's gunboat flotilla. In an action that lasted two

hours, the smaller craft engaged the Tripolitan flotilla in

heavy fighting, which at times involved hand-to-hand encounters with heavily armed enemy seamen.

On board the flagship, while seamen on the gun deck

fired broadside after broadside into the city, Marines under

Captain John Hall and Lieutenant Robert Greenleaf left

their normal battle stations in the fighting tops to man the

long 24-pounders on the spar deck. In the painting, stripped of coats and muskets, Marines ready the long guns for

another shot as the frigate tacks into position. Their accurate fire, which—Preble noted—helped drive the

"Tripolines out of the castle and brought down the steeple

of a mosque," merited the "highest encomiums."

With every cannon ball hurled against the crumbling

walls of Tripoli during the remainder of August, the

Bashaw's demands seemed to tumble. But Preble, who

was not disposed to make any payment whatever, was

soon replaced by newly arrived Captain Samuel Barron

who, with the aid of Tobias Lear, chief American

diplomatic representative in the area, negotiated a treaty

with the Bashaw that called for the payment of $60,000 in

exchange for friendship and the release of American

prisoners.

The sources for the painting and plate description were: detailed

research by the artist into ship construction to ensure the accurate portrayal of the Constitution's spar deck; Captain Edward Preble ltr to

Tobias Lear, dtd 3May1804 and Captain Edward Preble hr to

Secretary of the Navy, dtd 185ep1804 in Office of Naval Records and

Library, Naval Documents Related to the United States Wars with the Barbary Powers: Naval Operations From April to September 6, 1804

(Washington: Government Printing Office, 1942), pp. 82, 293-310.

The Assault

on Derna

Tripoli

27 April 1805

A mile from the Mediterranean Sea, the Tripolitan city

of Derna looked quiet in the morning light of 27 April

1805. From atop the hills which ringed the city, Navy

Agent William Eaton could look down on Governor

Mustifa's defenses: a shore battery of eight 9-pounders,

temporary breastworks to the northeast, and a 10-inch

howitzer mounted on the palace terrace. On the horizon

Eaton could see the 10-gun American sloop Hornet, the

12-gun sloop Nautilus, and the 16-gun brig Argus, under

the command of Captain Isaac Hull. Around him was his

motley 400-man army, which had marched more than 500

miles across the desert from Alexandria. The main element, apart from Eaton, consisted of seven Marines and

one midshipman from the Argus, under Marine Lieutenant Presley N. O'Bannon. Together with a number of

Greek mercenaries and a band of restive Arabs and

Bedouins led by the half-reluctant Bashaw Hamet, they

stood before the city, awaiting the governor's reply to

their demand of free passage through the town.

As the day progressed, a fieldpiece was landed from the

Argus and a letter arrived from the governor: His answer,

"My head or yours, Mustifa." After the flag of truce

returned, Eaton signaled the squadron to move closer and

open fire on the shore battery. Eaton's army, divided into

two columns, the first led by O'Bannon and his Marines

and the second by Hamet's Bedouin horsemen, then

moved against the town. By three in the afternoon, the

shore battery was silenced, then abandoned by its gun

crews, who joined the defenders facing Eaton. Already

outnumbered, and with the enemy's fire becoming increasingly effective, Eaton's line, except for the Marines,

was thrown into confusion. With failure staring him in

the face, the American Navy Agent daringly ordered a

charge.

It is assumed that the Marines at Derna had not yet

received the new uniforms authorized in 1804, therefore,

they are wearing the 1797 uniform: a blue cloth coat,

lapelled and faced in red, with two rows of Navy buttons;

a red vest; shirt; white summer linen overalls; and a "common hat" trimmed in yellow, and turned up on the left

side with a leather cockade.

Lieutenant O'Bannon, leading the charge, wears the

pre-1804 officer's undress uniform: plain blue cloth coat,

lapeled and faced with red, with eagle, shield, and foul anchor buttons; a white vest; shirt; white linen overalls; and

the common hat. As a first lieutenant, he wears one gold

epaulet on the right shoulder. Instead of a musket, Lieutenant O'Bannon wields a naval sword.

To the Marines' rear are Navy Agent Eaton, Midshipman George Washington Mann, and a collection of Arab

and Greek mercenaries. Eaton, who fancied himself a

general, is dressed accordingly, and carries an American

long rifle. Midshipman Mann waves a dirk. In the

background lay the Hornet, Nautilus, and Argus.

Taken by surprise, Mustifa's line broke, most men runfling while others kept up a sporadic fire. Passing through

a shower of musketry, the Marines, Greeks, and Arab

footmen pressed the attack toward the waterfront battery.

Within an hour and a half of beginning the attack, the

Tripolitan colors were hauled down, and Lieutenant

O'Bannon, with Midshipman Mann at his side, raised the

American flag over the city of Derna.

The source materials used in the preparation of the painting and plate

description were: contemporary portraits of William Eaton; details of

the painting "The Bombardment of Tripoli," dtd 1805, by Michaele

F. Come (Naval Academy Museum); "Uniform for the Navy of the

United States of America," Columbian Centinel (Boston) 13Sep1797;

Charles Prentiss, The L!fe of the Late Gen. William Eaton (Brookfield:

E. Merriam & Co., 1813); and Glenn Tucker, Dawn Like Thunder:

The Barbary Wars and the Birth of the U.S. Navy (Indianapolis: BobbsMerrill Co., 1963).