Silas Talbot
Silas Talbot | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 10th congressional district | |
In office March 4, 1793 – June 5, 1794 | |
Preceded by | none |
Succeeded by | William Cooper |
Personal details | |
Born | Dighton, Massachusetts | January 11, 1751
Died | June 30, 1813 New York City, New York | (aged 62)
Political party | Federalist Party |
Military service | |
Branch/service | Continental Army Continental Navy United States Navy |
Rank | Captain |
Battles/wars | American Revolutionary War |
Captain Silas Talbot (January 11, 1751 – June 30, 1813) was an American military officer and slave trader. He served in the Continental Army and Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War, and is most famous for commanding USS Constitution from 1799 to 1801. Talbot was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati's branch in New York.[1]
Early life
Talbot was born in Dighton, Massachusetts on January 11, 1751, and came from a large, farming family. He first took to seafaring at the age of twelve serving as cabin boy in a coasting vessel. Talbot's performance proved to be outstanding and by 1772 had saved up enough money to buy property on Weybosset Street in Providence, Rhode Island, and build a stone home, having learned the trade of stone masonry earlier in life.[2] He owned slaves.[3]
Military service
American Revolutionary War
On June 28, 1775, Talbot received the commission of a captain in the
After Talbot made his way back to New York where he was aiding in the transportation of troops, he obtained command of a fire ship and attempted to use it to set fire to the Royal Navy warship HMS Asia on September 14, 1776. The attempt failed, but the daring it displayed, and that Talbot was severely burned during the effort, won him a promotion to major on October 10, 1777, retroactive to September 1.[2]
After suffering a severe wound at
As commander of the galley
Because of his success fighting afloat for the Army, Congress commissioned Talbot as a captain in the
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/WSTM_nathanschneider_0028.jpg/220px-WSTM_nathanschneider_0028.jpg)
Slave trader
Talbot was not only a slaveholder, but from 1783 onwards was the partial owner of two slave ships, the sloop Peggy and ninety-ton brigantine Industry. Both vessels transported slaves from the Guinea region to Charleston. On one 1786 voyage of the Industry, Talbot was notified by his solicitors Murray, Mumford and Bower on 9 September 1786 of a large financial loss: "we hear about one hundred & eighty Slaves off the coast of Guinea, near half of which died before the brig arrived in Charleston where she is now."[5][6] As late 1801 Talbot was still trying collect some compensation from his business partners to offset his financial losses from the slave trade.[7]
Postwar
After the war, Talbot settled in
In
With the outbreak of the
Captain Talbot resigned from the Navy on September 21, 1801, and died in New York City on June 30, 1813. He was buried in Trinity Churchyard in lower Manhattan.
Legacy and honors
The first
Talbot was an original member of the Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati.
Battery Talbot (1899–1919), named for Silas Talbot in G.O. 30, March 19, 1902, was a reinforced concrete, Endicott Period 4.72 inch coastal gun battery on Fort Adams, Newport County, Rhode Island. Both of the original guns from this battery survive. One is on display at Equality Park in Newport and the other is at Fort Moultrie National Park near Charleston, South Carolina.
There is a cenotaph in honor of Captain Talbot in the Dighton Congregational Church cemetery in his hometown of Dighton, Massachusetts.
See also
- John Paul Jones
- Thomas Truxtun
- Bibliography of early American naval history
References
- S2CID 162248285.
- ^ ISBN 1-4179-0676-6.
- ^ "Congress slaveowners", The Washington Post, January 13, 2022, retrieved July 5, 2022
- ^ ISBN 9780913372739.
- ^ Verhoeven, Wil., Gilbert Imlay and the Triangular Trade , The William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 63, no. 4, 2006, pp. 827–42, JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4491581, Accessed 12 Jul. 2022, for the letter quoted see p. 837.
- ^ Slave Voyages, vessel,Industry, Captain Benjamin Hooks, 1786, mortality rate 53.0 %, https://www.slavevoyages.org/voyage/database
- ^ G.W. Blunt Library, Mystic Seaport, Silas Talbot Collection https://research.mysticseaport.org/coll/coll018/
- ISBN 0-7385-0174-3.
- ^ See The Democratic Republicans of New York: The Origins, 1763-1797 by Alfred Fabian Young (1967; page 506) [says that Talbot resigned], but Abridgment of Debates in Congress, 1789 to 1856 (Vol. I) has no entry of a formal resignation. Documented is Talbot listed as voting until the end of May 1794; and after the adjournment, as not taking his seat again in November.
- ^ "Voteview | Plot Vote: 3rd Congress > House > 9". voteview.com. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
Bibliography
- ISBN 1-55750-073-8.
- OCLC 197401914.
- Fowler, William M. (1995). Silas Talbot: Captain of Old Ironsides. Mystic, Connecticut: Mystic Seaport Museum. ISBN 0-913372-73-0.
- Heitman, Francis B. (1914). Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army. The Rare Bookshop Publishing Company Inc. p. 531.
- McKee, Christopher (1991). A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession:The Creation of the U.S. Naval Officer Corps, 1794-1815. Naval Institute Press. p. 600. ISBN 9780870212833.
- Jennings, John (1966). Tattered Ensign The Story of America's Most Famous Fighting Frigate, U.S.S. Constitution. Thomas Y. Crowell. OCLC 1291484.
- Statham, Edward Phillips (1910). Privateers and privateering. With eight illustrations. Hutchinson & co / James Pott & Co., New York. p. 382.
- Tuckerman, Henry (2009). The Life of Silas Talbot. Applewood Books, Bedford, Massachusetts. p. 148. ISBN 9781429021593.
- "Ships Histories Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Department of the Navy - Naval Historical Center. Retrieved November 1, 2011.