On This Day 12 October

**Coog** · 10-11-2012, 23:00

USS Boston was cruising about six hundred miles northeast of Guadeloupe when, on the morning of Sunday, 12 October 1800, she sighted a ship and a schooner. They separated, and she chased the ship. The pursuit continued, before the wind, nearly all day.

The log-book of the Boston, under the date 13 October 1800 states:

" At meridian the chase bore S. W., distance about three leagues. At 4 P. M. the ship was clear for action. At half-past 4 P. M. hoisted our colors and gave the chase a shot from the bow gun. She hoisted French colors and fired a gun to windward and began to shorten sail for action. At fifteen minutes before 5 P. M. came up with the ship, hailed her and ordered him to strike his colors to the United States flag. The captain replied that his colors were too well made fast to haul down. The action immediately commenced and lasted till 24 minutes past 5 P. M. The sails and rigging of both ships being much shattered, it was impossible to work either ship; in consequence of which we drifted too far apart for our shot to do execution. I then ordered all hands to be employed repairing the rigging to commence the action again. At 9 P. M. the action recommenced, which lasted till 20 minutes past 10 P. M., when her fore and main topmasts were shot away. She then struck her colors to the Boston, and not long after her fore and main topmasts went over the side, which I was sorry to see. . . . 14 Oct., 1800. Long. 53 21 , lat. 20 48 r . This ship proved to be the French national ship Le Berceau, mounting 24 guns on one deck, 22 long French nines and two twelve-pounders, and 230 men, commanded by Louis Andre Senes, a post-captain from Cayenne, on a cruise. Employed getting 117 prisoners on board the Boston. Found on mustering the ship's company that we had seven men killed and eight wounded. All hands employed repairing the rigging on board the Boston and clearing the wreck on board the Berceau. I find the Berceau lost, killed in the action, 34 men, and 18 wounded."

In his report to the Secretary of the Navy Captain Little says the Berceau was "captured on the 12 October in lat. 22 50 North, long. 51 West, after an action of two hours. . . . with regret I mention our loss on board the Boston: four killed in the action, [three] mortally wounded, since dead; among the latter was Mr. Samuel Young, the purser, who requested liberty to quit the cockpit and assist on the quarter-deck. He fell early in the action. Eight were wounded, but are all on the recovery. I have subjoined a particular list of the killed and wounded. It is a cause of satisfaction for me to add that the officers and crew of the Boston, without an exception, discovered courage and firmness during the action; and it would be injustice in me not to acknowledge that the Captain of Le Berceau fought his ship gallantly so long as she was in a situation capable of being defended. Soon after he had struck, his fore and main masts went over the side and his ship was otherwise in a very shattered condition. The Boston was much injured in her masts, spars, rigging, and sails, considering the force of the corvette, which compelled me to return from my cruise to refit .... The enemy s loss I have not been able to ascertain, as they had thrown overboard their watch and quarter bills and most of their papers, but from the best information I have been able to obtain, they had upwards of 230 men when the action commenced; 197 were found on board after the action, including the wounded, who were 18."

Lieutenant Clement of the Berceau made a report of the battle, which differs materially from that of Captain Little. He says:

"At half -past three o clock the frigate hoisted the American flag and pennant and fired twice. We at once hoisted French colors and pennant and answered by a single cannon shot. The frigate, at a quarter to four, being within speaking distance, asked us whence we came. A moment later she fired on us, and ranging along our port side within pistol shot, the battle began in a most spirited manner on both sides. The musketry was very sharp and well sustained, the only delays being to reload the pieces. The battery also was served with the greatest activity, and the cry of Vive la Republique! was often heard during the battle. At six o clock our topgallant masts were seriously wounded, the shrouds were cut through, and the yards, sails, and lower masts were riddled with shot. At five minutes after six o clock the frigate dropped astern, having her topsail ties cut and the yards on the caps. We boarded our fore and main tacks and came by the wind. The frigate from this moment ceased firing and we worked without ceasing at repairing damages.

"At half -past eight o clock the frigate again attacked us and we discharged a broadside. From that time the action was renewed with great ferocity at pistol shot. At half-past nine o clock the captain, seeing a favorable opportunity of boarding the frigate, gave the order, and the crew only awaited the chance, and our vessel manoeuvred to favor the attempt. The frigate, however, took care not to allow herself to be boarded, and the action continued at pistol range up to eleven o clock, when the frigate again hauled off to repair damages. We again set our courses, a short time after which our jib-boom was carried away and the topmasts followed. At this time our shrouds and backstays were nearly all cut through, and the two spare topmasts had also been cut upon the gallows frame. We therefore found ourselves without the possibility of repairing, but we nevertheless made as much sail as we could. The frigate also was much damaged in her sails and rigging and she remained out of gunshot, but always in sight.

" At five o clock the next morning nobody had yet left his post and we expected every moment a third attack, when the frigate passed us to the starboard at a great distance and placed herself to leeward of us at half a league distance. In the course of the morning we saw that she was working at repairs. At half-past eleven o clock our foremast, pierced with shot, fell to starboard, and a short time afterward the mainmast also fell. At two o clock in the afternoon the frigate, which had now finished repairs, came up to us on the starboard side."

The Berceau then surrendered. Her loss, according to Clement, was four killed and seventeen wounded.

The Berceau was towed most of the way to port by her captor, undergoing repairs on the way. On 24 October they fell in with an American brig bound to Barbadoes; Captain Senes was paroled and put aboard her. Four days later the cable with which the prize was being towed parted in a heavy sea, and she was lost sight of for two days, being again taken in tow 30 October. Two weeks after this Little brought his frigate and her prize into Boston harbor. His report, dated Nantasket Roads, 15 November 1800, begins: "I have the honor to inform you that I arrived last evening in company with the French national corvette Le Berceau"; the report is accompanied by a list of the Boston's casualties. The prisoners were landed on Castle Island, where they remained under guard, except the officers, who were paroled. The Berceau was condemned a few weeks later, and on 15 January was sold to the United States. Under the treaty with France, however, which had already been concluded, she was given up. On 26 September 1801, she sailed for France.

**Coog** · 10-11-2012, 23:03

The Battle of Tory Island (sometimes called the Battle of Donegal, Battle of Lough Swilly or Warren's Action) was a naval action of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought on 12 October 1798 between French and British squadrons off the northwest coast of County Donegal, then in the Kingdom of Ireland. The last action of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the Battle of Tory Island ended the final attempt by the French Navy to land substantial numbers of soldiers in Ireland during the war.

The Society of United Irishmen, led by Wolfe Tone, launched an uprising against British rule in Ireland in May 1798. At the request of the rebels, a small French force under General Humbert was landed at Killala, County Mayo, but by early September both this expedition and the rebellion had been defeated. Unaware of Humbert's surrender, the French despatched reinforcements on 16 September. Having missed one invasion force, the Royal Navy was on alert for another, and when the squadron carrying the reinforcements left Brest they were soon spotted. After a long chase, the French were brought to battle in a bay off the rugged County Donegal coast in the west of Ulster, very close to Tory Island. During the action the outnumbered French attempted to escape, but were run down and defeated piecemeal, with the British capturing four ships and scattering the survivors. Over the next fortnight, British frigate patrols scoured the passage back to Brest, capturing three more ships. Of the ten ships in the original French squadron, only two frigates and a schooner reached safety. British losses in the campaign were minimal.

The battle marked the last attempt by the French Navy to launch an invasion of any part of the British Isles. It also ended the last hopes the United Irishmen had of obtaining outside support in their struggle with the British. After the action, Tone was recognised aboard the captured French flagship and arrested. He was brought ashore by the British at Buncrana, on the Inishowen Peninsula. He was later tried for treason, convicted, and committed suicide while in prison in Dublin, hours before he was to be hanged.

For the detailed story:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tory_Island

**Coog** · 10-11-2012, 23:05

The Battle of Havana was an engagement that occurred on 12 October 1748 between the British Caribbean squadron and a Spanish squadron based near Havana. The action unfolded with each side at once anxious to cover its own trade and to intercept that of the other. After a number of aborted attacks, the British succeeded in driving the Spanish back to their harbour after capturing the Conquistador and running the vice-admiral's ship Africa on shore where she was blown up by her own crew after being totally dismasted and made helpless. Both commanders, Charles Knowles and Don Andres Reggio, were reprimanded by their respective commands for their conduct during the engagement, in Knowles' case for not bringing his full fleet to bear and achieving a total rout. Although the advantage clearly had been with Knowles, he failed to use this to deliver a decisive blow. It was the last major action in the War of Jenkin's Ear (1739–48), which had merged with the larger War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48).

**csadn** · 10-12-2012, 16:43

Originally Posted by Coog

The prisoners were landed on Castle Island, where they remained under guard, except the officers, who were paroled. The Berceau was condemned a few weeks later, and on 15 January was sold to the United States. Under the treaty with France, however, which had already been concluded, she was given up. On 26 September 1801, she sailed for France.

And to cap it all: Most of the officers of _Boston_ were kicked out of the Navy for allowing the crew to rob the French of their personals and servants.