page_title: Isaac Hull
section_title: Command of USS Constitution
hierarchical_section_title: Isaac Hull / Naval service / Command of USS Constitution
caption_attribution_description: English: Battle between USS Constitution and the HMS Guerriere 19 August 1812
context_page_description: Isaac Hull was a Commodore in the United States Navy. He commanded several famous U.S. naval warships including USS Constitution and saw service in the undeclared naval Quasi War with the revolutionary French Republic 1796–1800; the Barbary Wars, with the Barbary states in North Africa; and the War of 1812, for the second time with Great Britain. In the latter part of his career he was Commandant of the Washington Navy Yard in the national capital of Washington, D.C., and later the Commodore of the Mediterranean Squadron. For the infant U.S. Navy, the battle of USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere on August 19, 1812, at the beginning of the war, was the most important single ship action of the War of 1812 and one that made Isaac Hull a national hero.
context_section_description: Isaac Hull assumed command of the frigate USS Constitution in June 1810; his time on the ship was eventful. As commanding officer Hull "modeled himself on Silas Talbot", his mentor and a former commander of Constitution. Hull "among the enlisted men, he now commanded, on her maiden voyage was perhaps, the most popular captain in the service. He was also, perhaps the greatest all-round seaman in the navy with a genius for ship-handling and navigation that would serve him well in the weeks to come." On Constitution he was very much at home; it was his "favorite frigate". Writing to his sister in-law Mary Wheeler, he exclaimed, "I now have one of the best ships in our Navy ..." Like Silas Talbot, Hull took great care in the training of his young officers by seeing to their comforts and their education. Like Talbot too, Hull trained his enlisted men, many of whom had never served on a ship of war before, especially in gunnery. He "exercised the men at the great guns up to two hours daily over several weeks to infuse them with confidence and competence to face the enemy in battle." Hull discouraged flogging and found the practice abhorrent for trivial offenses. He prohibited his officers from punishing seamen or marines in his absence. Hull gave direction that the punishment for missing muster or any trifling offense "shall not exceed three lashes with a small rope over the shirt."  The typical penalty of the era was eight to ten on the bare back. Hull did authorize flogging for more serious offenses; for example on "12 August 1812 John W. Smith and John Smith were each given a dozen lashes for drunkenness and the latter for insolence." He took the vessel on a European cruise in 1811–1812, returning home before the War of 1812 broke out between the United States and Great Britain. Constitution left Chesapeake Bay in July 1812.
  In a letter dated July 2, 1812, Hull wrote from on board the Constitution to Secretary of the Navy Paul Hamilton:
  By Sunday next, the Ship will be in tolerable order for Sea but the crew you will readily conceive must yet be unacquainted with a Ship of War, as many of them have lately joined us and never were in an armed Ship before. We are doing all that we can to make them acquainted with their duties, and in a few days, we shall have nothing to fear from any single deck Ship; indeed;  unacquainted as we now are, we should I hope give a good account of any Frigate the enemy have. 
  Shortly thereafter they were followed by five ships of the British Halifax Squadron commanded by Commodore Philip Broke. The squadron was composed of one ship of the line and four frigates HMS Africa, Shannon, Belvidera, Aeolus and Guerriere, who were in close pursuit for two days. In a remarkable feat of navigation and audaciousness, Hull evaded the British squadron by warping his ship ahead and using his long boats to tow Constitution. The chase by the Halifax Squadron was long and arduous and established Hull's reputation for courage, daring and seamanship. "For sixty four hours the frigate had been insight of an overwhelming enemy and most of the time actively pursued by them," yet Hull prevailed.
  On August 19, 1812, USS Constitution encountered the British frigate HMS Guerriere at sea. As Constitution's crew went to quarters, Hull cautioned his gunners: "No firing at random. Let every man look well to his aim." Captain James Richard Dacres of Guerriere at first tried to cripple Constitution at long range, but quickly found this tactic of no avail. He then approached Constitution at close range. All the while Captain Hull kept his crew calm telling them "I'll tell you when to fire, so stand steady and see that not a shot is thrown away."  At 6:05 the two ships were alongside and Constitution's starboard guns, at Hull's orders, poured in a broadside of "double-shotted" (two round shots loaded in one gun and fired at the same time). Writing on August 28, 1812 to Secretary of the Navy Paul Hamilton, Hull recalled,  'when we were within less than a pistol shot, we commenced a very heavy fire from all our guns, loaded with ro
caption: Battle between USS Constitution and HMS Guerriere 19 August 1812
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