Action of 1 January 1800
Action of 1 January 1800 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Quasi-War, War of Knives | |||||||
A sketch of the action between Experiment and picaroons. William Bainbridge Hoff, 1875 | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
United States | France | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
William Maley David Porter | André Rigaud | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1 armed schooner 4 merchant ships |
14 armed barges 400–500 Haitian Picaroons[1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
2 merchant ships captured 1 killed 1 wounded |
3 barges sunk Many killed[1] | ||||||
Civilian casualties: 1 wounded |
The action of 1 January 1800 was a naval battle of the Quasi-War that took place off the coast of present-day Haiti, near the island of Gonâve in the Bight of Léogâne. The battle was fought between an American convoy of four merchant vessels escorted by the United States naval schooner USS Experiment, and a squadron of armed barges manned by Haitians known as picaroons.
A French-aligned Haitian general,
Background
With the dawn of the
Concurrently with the War of Knives, the United States and France were engaged in a bout of limited naval warfare in the Caribbean as part of the Quasi-War. In late December 1799 the American armed schooner Experiment was escorting under convoy the brig Daniel and Mary and the schooners Sea Flower, Mary, and Washington to prevent their capture by French privateers. On 1 January 1800, the convoy was caught in a dead calm off the north side of the present-day Haitian island of Gonâve, in the Bight of Leogane. Seeing the convoy becalmed, Rigaud sent eleven armed barges out to attack and seize the American vessels.[3]
The crews of the American merchant vessels possessed only small arms, but their escort, Experiment, was a much more powerful vessel.[3] Commanded by William Maley, the 135-ton Experiment was armed with 12 six-pounder guns and had a complement of 70 men. In comparison, Rigaud's initial attack force consisted of eleven barges crewed by 40 to 50 men each in the smaller ones, and 60 or 70 in the larger vessels.[3][4] These barges were primarily propelled by oars, with 26 per vessel.[5] The Haitian craft were each equipped with a mix of swivel guns and four-pounder cannon, with most vessels armed with two or three guns as well as small arms.[4] In addition to the vessels that set out to attack the convoy, there were more barges and men nearby that the Haitians could call upon if reinforcements were needed. In total some 37 barges and 1500 men were at Rigaud's immediate disposal, though the Americans did not know this during the attack. Individually the Haitian barges presented only a small threat to the convoy, but when attacking en masse they could easily overwhelm and capture the American ships if they managed to board them.[6]
Battle
Experiment kept her gunports closed and passed herself off as a merchantman, while the Haitians sailed closer to the convoy with the intent of boarding and capturing all five vessels.[1] Once the Haitians were in musket range of the American vessels they opened fire on them, and Experiment returned the fire.[7] Grapeshot from the Americans wreaked havoc among the Haitian barges and they were forced to withdraw. They stood off the American convoy for thirty minutes before beaching at the nearby island of Gonâve to land their wounded and gather reinforcements. With three more barges and fresh crews, the picaroons set off to assault the American convoy once more. They divided themselves into three squadrons of four barges each and set course to attack Experiment.[8] The lead and centermost divisions attacked the sides of the American warship while the rear division assaulted the stern. During the lull in fighting Experiment had readied herself for the picaroons' next assault by positioning musketeers in defensive positions, loading her main guns, and raising boarding nets. Thus, when the Haitians attacked the American warship again she was well prepared to repulse any attempt at boarding her.[9]
For three hours, Experiment battled the barges, sinking two and killing a great many of the picaroons. During this time two of the barges left the warship and attacked the merchant ships. These barges managed to protect themselves from Experiment by sailing behind the schooner Mary, which was between the two barges and the warship.
The entire flotilla of Haitians once more retired to Gonâve and replaced their wounded crewmembers with fresh ones.[10] Seeing that Daniel and Mary and Washington had drifted away from the convoy, the Haitians set out to attack them. The two civilian vessels, having drifted too far from the protection of Experiment's guns, were abandoned by their crews and passengers who fled to the American warship. The Haitians boarded and plundered these two vessels, carrying them further away from Experiment.[11] Experiment managed to get close enough to the barges to attack them with her cannon but could not pursue them, as two barges had broken away from the main flotilla and were positioned to take Mary and Sea Flower if Experiment left them.[6] Eventually the remnants of the convoy managed to make it to Léogâne, where they were looked after by the American consul.[12]
Aftermath
USS Experiment had succeeded in protecting two of the convoy, but the other two ships were taken by the picaroons. On the American side, only the captain of the schooner Mary had been killed. The Americans also suffered two wounded: one civilian, and Experiment's second in command David Porter, who had been shot in the arm during the action. In exchange the Haitians had lost two of their barges and a great many casualties.[13] Rigaud's picaroons attacked another American convoy later in the year and continued to harass American shipping until Rigaud was ousted from Saint-Domingue at the end of the War of Knives.[14] After fleeing to Guadeloupe, he left for France on the schooner Diane, but was captured and taken to Saint Kitts when Experiment intercepted her on 1 October 1800.[15]
The action would prove controversial in the United States as several officers' reports suggested that Lieutenant Maley, commander of Experiment, had shown cowardice during the engagement. Lieutenant Porter stated that Maley had tried to insist on surrendering to the picaroons immediately upon their arrival. It was alleged that Maley thought the situation was hopeless due to the sheer number of pro-French Haitians who were attacking the convoy, and he had attempted to strike the colors.[16]
The officers' reports also commended Porter, stating that he had saved Experiment and her convoy by acting on his own initiative to ignore Maley's defeatism, urging the crew to fight.
Notes
- ^ a b c Williams 2009, p. 111.
- ^ Allen 1909, p. 115.
- ^ a b c Palmer 1987, p. 165.
- ^ a b Allen 1909, p. 139.
- ^ a b Maclay 1906, p. 205.
- ^ a b Allen 1909, p. 144.
- ^ Allen 1909, p. 140.
- ^ a b Palmer 1987, p. 166.
- ^ a b Allen 1909, p. 141.
- ^ Abbot 1886, p. 265.
- ^ Cooper 1847, p. 183.
- ^ Williams 2009, p. 112.
- ^ McMaster 1885, p. 521.
- ^ Allen 1909, p. 178.
- ^ Palmer 1987, pp. 216–17.
- ISBN 978-1-58979-701-7. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
- ^ Soley 1903, p. 7.
- ^ a b Palmer 1987, p. 167.
- ^ Allen 1909, p. 148.
References
- ISBN 978-0-559-12498-3.
- Allen, Gardner Weld (1909). Our naval war with France. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC 1202325.
- OCLC 61687750.
- Fitz-Enz, David (2012). Hacks, Sycophants, Adventurers, and Heroes: Madison's Commanders in the War of 1812. Taylor Trade Publications. ISBN 978-1-58979-701-7. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
- Maclay, Edgar Stanton (1906). A History of the United States Navy from 1775 to 1902 Volume I. New York: D. Appleton and Company. OCLC 5090232.
- OCLC 4446387.
- Palmer, Michael A. (1987). Stoddert's War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-664-7.
- OCLC 497056.
- Williams, Greg H. (2009). The French Assault on American Shipping, 1793–1813. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-3837-2.