|
Article: The-coast-guard-at-war-part-II
War of 1812
With the War of 1812, augmenting the Navy with shallow-draft craft became a one of the services primary wartime missions. During the war’s opening phases Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin requested from Congress, "small, fast sailing vessels," because there were, "but six vessels belonging to the Navy, under the size of frigates; and that number is inadequate..." Since then, cutters have extensive service in littoral or "brown water" combat operations.
The cutters distinguished themselves during the War of 1812. It was a cutter that captured the first British vessel. One of the most hotly contested engagements in the war was between the cutter Surveyor and the British frigate Narcissus. Although Surveyor was eventually captured, the British commander considered his opponents to have shown so much bravery that he returned to Captain Travis his sword accompanied by a letter in which he said,
Your gallant and desperate attempt to defend your vessel against more than double your number excited such admiration on the part of your opponents as I have seldom witnessed, and induced me to return you the sword you had so ably used in testimony of mine...I am at loss which to admire most, the previous arrangement on board the Surveyor or the determined manner in which her deck was disputed inch-by-inch.
The defense of the cutter Eagle against the attack of the British brig Dispatch and an accompanying sloop, is one of the most dramatic incidents of the war. With the cutter run ashore on Long Island, its guns were dragged onto a high bluff. From there Eagle’s crew fought the British ships from 9 o’clock in the morning until late in the afternoon. When they had exhausted their large shot, they tore up the ship’s logbook to use as wads and fired back the enemy’s shot which had lodged against the hill. During the engagement the cutter’s flag was shot away three times and was replaced each time by volunteers from the crew.
Piracy, which prevailed during the first quarter of the nineteenth century in the Gulf of Mexico, owed its suppression chiefly to the revenue cutters. The officers of the Service waged a relentless war upon the pirates. They pursued the pirates to their rendezvous and hideouts and attacked and dispersed them wherever found. On 31 August 1819, the cutters Louisiana and Alabama were boldly attacked off the southern coast of Florida by the pirate ship Bravo commanded by Jean La Farge, a lieutenant of the notorious Jean La Fitte. The action was of short duration and was terminated by the cutters’ boats boarding the enemy and carrying his decks in a hand-to-hand struggle.
Soon it became too hazardous for the pirates to continue to base themselves along the coast or in the numerous bayous of Louisiana. They, therefore, established themselves on Bretons Island. The cutters Alabama and Louisiana discovered their new hideout, drove the pirates off, and destroyed everything on the island which could afford shelter or make it habitable. The destruction of this hideout practically ended pirate bases on U.S. territory. Nevertheless, piratical craft operating from bases in Mexico, Central and South America, and Cuba, still made frequent visits to American waters resulting in a number of engagements with revenue cutters.
Seminole Wars
During the Seminole Wars (1836-1842) eight revenue cutters supported Army and Navy operations. Duties performed by these vessels included attacks on war parties, breaking up rendezvous points, picking up survivors of Seminole raids, carrying dispatches, transporting troops, blocking rivers to the passage of Seminole forces, and the dispatch of landing parties and artillery for the defense of settlements. These duties were performed along the entire coast of Florida.
Mexican War
The two principal naval operations carried out during the War with Mexico (1846-48) were blockading the enemy’s coasts and amphibious landings. The U.S. Navy was critically short of the shallow-draft vessels needed for the landings. Five cutters were engaged in amphibious operations and performed important services during a number of landings, particularly those at Alvarado and Tabasco. Cutters also served on blockade duty.
Military operations were not limited to declared wars. In 1855, Second Lieutenant James E. Harrison of the cutter Jefferson Davis accompanied Company C, 4th U.S. Infantry during an expedition against hostile Indians in the Washington territory. On 3 December, while in camp, Indians assaulted the company, killing its commanding officer. Lieutenant Harrison took command, rallied the men, and beat off the attackers.
Ten years after the War with Mexico a naval force was sent to Paraguay in 1858 to settle a dispute with that nation. The cutter Harriet Lane (left) was ordered to join the squadron. Since the cutter was the only shallow-draft steamer among the 18 ship force, the Harriet Lane was the most active warship in the squadron. Commodore Shubrick, in his report to the Secretary of the Navy, made special mention of Harriet Lane’s value to the squadron and the skill and zeal shown by her commander, Captain John Faunce.
|
|
|
|
