^{FN1 Ch6} Joseph Allen, Battles of the British Navy, (London: Bohn, 1853), Vol. 2, pp. 362-3. The young American navy's first test was in the Mediterranean fighting the Barbary Pirates. In 1803, the Philadelphia "had gone upon a reef in the harbor of Tripoli, while pursuing a vessel there, and had been surrounded and captured, with all her crew, by the Tripolitan gunboats, when she was entirely helpless either to fight or sail." (http://www.historycarper.com/kids/htfah/philie.htm : 10/4/2005) A young American officer by the name of Stephen Decatur, in one of the American Navy's most daring episodes, managed to get into the harbour in a small vessel with 70 of his crew, overpowered the Tripolitan crew and set the Philadelphia on fire. It was an event that made Decatur's reputation.

^{FN2 Ch6} Battles of the British Navy, Vol. 2, p. 364.

^{FN3 Ch6} We do not count in the Philadelphia.

^{FN4 Ch6} Mahan's Sea Power in its Relations to The War of 1812 (London: Sampson, Low, Marston, 1905), Vol. 1, p. 300.

^{FN5 Ch6} In the first eight years of the war with France (1793-1801) the British navy had practically doubled the number of fighting ships, such that Britain had 479 ships ready for sea (202 ships of the line and 277 frigates). [Chatterton's A Life of William Pitt, (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1930) p. 321.

^{FN6 Ch6} For example, in 1802, a fleet of His Majesty's ships under the command of Commodore Baynton arrived at Halifax on 13th or 14th of September. They departed on October 11th. Having traveled from Jamaica, they had come in to be victualed. The fleet consisted of seven "74s": Cumberland, Bellerophon, Ganges, Vanguard, Goliath, Theseus, Elephant. These large multi-decked sailing ships had an armed brig among them, the Pelican, smaller and more maneuverable for getting messages and people from ship to ship, or ship to shore. That October Wentworth reported the arrival of the fleet which stayed nearly a month and they were all supplied without disrupting the local markets. "Good supply of produce at reasonable prices, despite increase in consumption by these, eight ships, and 1200 Scottish immigrants." In a later report, January 8th, 1803, Wentworth gives notice by way of a postscript that "the squadron that lately victualed at Halifax has arrived safely in Bermuda."

^{FN7 Ch6} See, John Ashton's The Dawn of the XIXth Century in England, p. 69.

^{FN8 Ch6} G. M. Trevelyan, Lord Grey of the Reform Bill (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1929, 2nd ed.) at p. 74.

^{FN9 Ch6} Calendar of Official Correspondence and Legislative Papers Nova Scotia, 1802-1815, PANS, 1936; see Governor Wentworth's report under entry of July 28th.

^{FN10 Ch6} Calendar of Official Correspondence and Legislative Papers Nova Scotia, 1802-1815, PANS, 1936; see Governor Wentworth's report under entry of June 11th, 1805.

^{FN11 Ch6} The Diary of Simeon Perkins, Volume 2 (1804-1812), (Toronto: The Champlain Society, 1978).

^{FN12 Ch6} Having heard of Nelson's victory, Halifax was illuminated. At Liverpool a Brig arrived on December 23rd, from Newfoundland and reported the "news at St. Johns of Admiral Nelson meeting with the French fleet & taking and destroying upwards of 20 sail." (Perkins.)

^{FN13 Ch6} Stewart's cases, Court of Vice-admiralty (LONDON: Butterworth, 1814) p. 116.

^{FN14 Ch6} http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/INTRO.HTM : 10/28/2005

^{FN15 Ch6} The Triumph was built at Woolwich in 1764; she saw service for many more years than most, when, in 1813, she was turned into a hulk.

^{FN16 Ch6} After Trafalgar and the loss of his dear friend, Nelson, Hardy carried on to have a very extended career in the British Navy. "In the Spring of 1806, he was appointed to HMS Triumph and served on the North American station for three years. While he was there, he married Anne Berkeley, daughter of the Commander in Chief, Sir George Berkeley, in December 1807 at Halifax, Nova Scotia. In the following years, they had three daughters. In 1809, he was transferred to HMS Barfleur that was stationed at Lisbon, following as Flag Captain to his father in law who had been appointed Commander in Chief there. For their services to Portugal, Berkeley as appointed a Portuguese Lord High Admiral and Hardy made a Commodore in the Portuguese navy in 1811." ( http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/info_sheets_thomas_hardy.htm )

^{FN17 Ch6} We have considerable detail of the movements of British war ships because of the observations of John Liddell. Liddell was merchant at Halifax, much interested in the ships that came into the harbour. Liddell's journal was set out in Fergusson's Glimpses of Nova Scotia (Halifax: PANS, No. #12, 1957).

^{FN18 Ch6} At pp. 106-7, in NSHS, Vol #13, "Dockyard Memoranda 1894," there is a list of the "commanders-in-chief of the North American and West Indian Stations." For the years 1789-1794, it was Sir Richard Hughes; 1794-1796, Vice-Admiral Sir Hon. George Murray; 1796-1800, Vice-Admiral George Vandeput; 1800-1802, Vice-Admiral Sir William Parker; 1802-1806, Vice-Admiral Sir Andrew Mitchell; 1806, Vice-Admiral Hon George Cranfield Berkeley; 1807-1810, Vice-Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren; 1810-1812, Rear-Admiral H. Sawyer; 1812, Vice-Admiral Sir I. B. Warren (2nd time); 1813, Vice-Admiral Hon Sir Alexander Cochrane; and 1814-1816, Rear-Admiral Edward Griffith.

^{FN19 Ch6} Murdoch, vol. 3, p. 265.

^{FN20 Ch6} Liddell's journal was set out in Fergusson's Glimpses of Nova Scotia (Halifax: PANS, No. #12, 1957).

^{FN21 Ch6} The Bellona was a third rate 74. The 74 was the most important ship-type of the later-18th century. The Bellona was one of the most successful designs. Over 40 ships were near sisters of hers. (I have taken the images of this model from http://www.nmm.ac.uk)

^{FN22 Ch6} An interesting little tidbit about the Northumberland: it was the Northumberland, in the company of a fleet of ships, which carried Buonaparte and his suite to St. Helena. Buonaparte was deposited there on 0ctober 16th, 1816; there to remain under the watchful eye of the Royal Navy until his death on 6 May 1821.

^{FN23 Ch6} The 36-gun Melampus was built at Bristol in 1785; she was sold in 1815. "At the beginning of 1809, the Melampus convoyed a fleet of transports from Halifax to Barbados. ... Melampus returned to the Halifax station until 1812 when she was put out of commission at Plymouth. Still serviceable, she was sold in June 1815 to the Dutch navy." (http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/M1.HTM : 3/11/2005) We note that on August 25th, 1811, sailed "the Frigate Melampus Captain Hawker for Quebec His Excellency Sir Geo. Prevost, his family & suite passengers." (John Liddell.) On October 14th, she came back in to Halifax, 14 days from Quebec. Within a month she was off "with mail on board for England, The Hon Andrew Belcher, his family, Mr Lawrence Hartshorne Junr. & passengers."

^{FN24 Ch6} The 36-gun Jason was built at Woolwich in 1804; she was broken up in 1815. Pierced for 22 guns, she mounted sixteen long 12-pounders and four brass 2-pound swivels; she had a crew of 170 men. In 1806, Thomas John Cochrane, at the Leeward Islands, was appointed as the captain of the Jason; he was the eldest son of Sir Alexander. "While Jason was in New York at the end of August a boat which went ashore with a lieutenant was surrounded by a mob which invited the crew to desert. The men left the boat and when the officer drew a pistol he was immediately surrounded and would have been tarred and feathered if it had not been for the intervention of an American naval captain. Back on the ship the crew mutinied and placed shot boxes on the gratings to prevent the officers coming up while they attempted to lower the boats. But the officers managed to break out and the first lieutenant with a boarding pike and the others with small arms forced the mutineers below where they surrendered. Forty five were put in irons and taken to Halifax for court martial." (http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/INTRO.HTM) Thus it was, that on September 16th, 1807, the Jason came into Halifax with her mutineers in irons. On October 12th, two of them were hung from the yard arms of the Jason.

^{FN25 Ch6} The Bellisle was a French war ship. She was taken in 1795 and served her time out in the British navy; she was broken up in 1814. She was in the Battle of Trafalgar where she was badly shot up with 50 to 60 men killed. Fixed up in Plymouth, the Bellisle was sent, in 1806, to serve on the North American stations. She was Sir Alexander Cochrane's flagship.

^{FN26 Ch6} One of which, the 101st, on Wednesday, the 11th of April, marched off to Annapolis.

^{FN27 Ch6} Murdoch, vol. 3, pp. 279-90; and see Calendar of Official Correspondence and Legislative Papers Nova Scotia, 1802-1815, PANS, 1936, pp. 161-2.

^{FN28 Ch6} Murdoch, vol. 3, p. 284.

^{FN29 Ch6} Calendar of Official Correspondence and Legislative Papers Nova Scotia, 1802-1815, PANS, 1936. On November the 24th, the governor recommended the payment of John Howe's bill for "extra printing for the government." (Calendar of Official Correspondence and Legislative Papers Nova Scotia, 1802-1815, PANS, 1936.)

^{FN30 Ch6} Murdoch, vol. 3, p. 295.

^{FN31 Ch6} See footnote in Perkins, vol 5, p. 180. It is there that we find out that Jorden was an Irishman who was in trouble during 1797-1798. He had been caught by the British authorities and condemned to death. He received a pardon and went off to America going from New York to Montreal and then to settle at Gaspé where he took up the life of a fisherman. He turned up in Halifax in 1808. See Murdoch, vol. 3, p. 299-300 for an account of the mutiny on the Three Sisters. Archibald MacMechan in his Sagas of the Sea gave a short accounting. See too Piers, The Evolution of the Halifax Fortress, p. 19. See various entries concerning the accounts of the expenses of the trial and execution in the Calendar of Official Correspondence and Legislative Papers Nova Scotia, 1802-1815, PANS, 1936, pp. 197-200.

^{FN32 Ch6} See Bigham, The Prime Ministers of Britain (Toronto: Goodchild Co., 1922). "Perceval remains one of those insubstantial, shadowy prime ministers of the first third of the nineteenth century: Addington, Perceval, Liverpool, Goderich -- unrealizable figures when placed beside Pitt, Peel, Wellington, Gladstone, or Disraeli." [Spater, William Cobbett: The Poor Man's Friend (Cambridge University Press, 1982) at vol.#1, p. 208.]

^{FN33 Ch6} Akins, "History of Halifax City," NSHS, #8, p. 146.

^{FN34 Ch6} James F. More in his History of Queens County (Halifax: N.S. Print, 1873). In it, at p. 194, Mr. More wrote of John Barss, the second son of Joseph Barss.

^{FN35 Ch6} Perkins.

^{FN36 Ch6} The Driver was built in Bermuda in 1797; she was broken up in 1834. "In October 1806 Driver and the schooner Mullet left Halifax with a convoy of 13 merchantmen bound for the West Indies. They were hit by a gale which knocked Driver on her beam ends and swept the deck clear of boats. ... She survived the storm but Mullet was lost with all hands." (http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/D2.HTM : 3/12/2005) Charles Claridge was appointed as Driver's captain on April 7th, at Halifax. Claridge, however, was removed from his command for misconduct in the face of the enemy, when he did not come to the assistance of another British vessel in trouble. As we can see from Liddell, the Driver was operating out of Halifax in the early part of 1810, under Captain Lawrence. Later in that year the Driver (she had yet another captain, Captain Dyer) came in from a cruise with a captured ship, La Mereed, out of Philadelphia. On November 9th, HMS Driver sailed for England. In 1811, she was at Spithead. As late as 1822, the Driver was working off the coast of Africa.

^{FN37 Ch6} We shall further on deal with the Little Belt. It was on May 16th, 1811, at a time when war had not been declared that the U.S Frigate, President shot up her smaller 32-gun adversary, HMS Little Belt.

^{FN38 Ch6} The Milan, formerly the French ship Ville de Milan, was captured in the Atlantic by Leander and Cambridge on February 23rd, 1805.

^{FN39 Ch6} The Swiftsure was built in 1804. During 1807, she was the flagship of Sir John Warren. The Indian was built a Bermuda in 1805; she was sold 1817.

^{FN40 Ch6} Ferret, described as a "Cruizer," I suspect a small vessel having a Lieutenant as her captain.

^{FN41 Ch6} On July 12th, 1810, the government wrote the magistrates at St. Margaret's Bay enclosing the description of two deserters from HMS Penelope, 36 guns, who went in the direction of St. Margaret's Bay. (Calendar of Official Correspondence and Legislative Papers Nova Scotia, 1802-1815, PANS, 1936.)

^{FN42 Ch6} We shall hear more about HMS Guerrière. She figures into our larger story, as she did battle with a warship of the young American navy during The War of 1812.

^{FN43 Ch6} The Halifax was built at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1806. She was broken up in 1814. In 1807, she was on duty in Chesapeake Bay when a few of her men deserted. This was the first of a sequence of events that collectively are called the "Chesapeake Incident." It was that June, 1807, that one of these deserters (together with others) were taken forcefully off an American war ship. The deserters were taken back to Halifax Harbour where they were tried by court martial aboard the 50-gun Bellisle, on August 26th, 1807. Five days later, one of them (Jenkin Rutkin), being of her crew, was executed from the fore yard-arm of Halifax.

^{FN44 Ch6} Spater, vol.2, pp. 312-3. "At this time, government and all other bills drawn on England could not be disposed of at less than 15 to 20 per cent." (Murdoch., vol. 3, p. 313.)

^{FN45 Ch6} Biographical Studies (1867); (London: Longmans, Green; 1889), p. 50.

^{FN46 Ch6} Murdoch, vol. 3, p. 314.

^{FN47 Ch6} The image of Rattler was taken from Snider's Under The Red Jack (Toronto: Musson, n.d.) p. 147.

^{FN48 Ch6} Murdoch, vol. 3, p. 313; Sherbrooke to Liverpool, October 19th, 1811, Calendar of Official Correspondence and Legislative Papers Nova Scotia, 1802-1815, compiled by Ells; Pub. #3 (Halifax: PANS, 1936) at p. 238.