“The Constitution and the Guerriere”

Description

Captain Dacres of the Guerriere expects to defeat the Americans as easily as Britain has defeated the French. Captain [Isaac] Hull's Constitution, however, easily defeats the British ship

Notes

Despite the alternate title "Yankee Doodle Dandy-O," this is obviously not to be confused with "Yankee Doodle." The tune is, in fact, related to "The Bonnie Lass of Fyvie-O (Pretty Peggy)"; some copies call it "The Landlady of France."

The United States declared war on Britain in 1812 due to British behavior at sea (impressing seamen off American ships -- for which see e.g. "The Chesapeake and the Shannon (I)" [Laws J20] -- and stopping American ships bound for the continent, among other things). Under ordinary circumstances, the Americans could not hope to beat Britain -- but, just as in the Revolutionary War, Britain had other things on its mind. In this case, Napoleon. Most of the British navy had to stay near France to combat the possibility of invasion. As a result, the Americans decided to send out their tiny navy -- only five frigates, though they were high-quality ships, and some smaller vessels -- to protect their merchant ships against such British ships as were operating out of Halifax and Newfoundland. In the end, most of the American fleet would end up bottled up in port.

Before that could happen, though, the _Constitution_ went out commerce-raiding (July 12, 1812). It very nearly ended up being a short trip. Despite their preoccupation with France, the British had one significant task force in the Americas, built about the ship of the line H.M.S. _Africa_ (see Walter R. Borneman, _1812: The War that Forged a Nation_, p. 81; also Donald R. Hickey, _The War of 1812_, pp. 93-94). That fleet came upon _Constitution_, but the wind died before they could engage, and the _Constitution_ managed to get away by kedging her anchor plus putting as many men as possible in longboats to row her away. _Constitution_ made it to Boston, then set out again (Borneman, p. 84). She then met the _Guerriere_, one of the ships from the _Africa_ fleet now operating on her own.

The _Guerriere_ freely went into battle with the _Constitution_, apparently in the belief that the Americans didn't know how to handle ships. This was a bad move. Although the _Constitution_ had only slightly more guns, it was a much better-built ship, and its weight of broadside was significantly larger; few frigates had long guns (that is, guns capable of firing a ball over long distances) heavier than an 18-pounder, but the _Constitution_ had many 24-pounders -- a weight typical of ships of the line (see Fletcher Pratt, _The Compact History of the United States Navy_, p. 36; p. 8. According to Lincoln P. Paine (_Ships of the World: An Historical Encylopedia_ Houghton Mifflin, 1997), the _Constitution_ initially had fully 30 of these ship-killers and 20 32-pounders carronades -- short-range guns designed to kill people more than ships No wonder some charged that the ship was really a ship of the line!). According to John K. Mahon, _The War of 1812_, p. 57, the _Constitution_ had a broadside of 684 pounds, the British of 556 -- and the American ship had 456 crew to 272 on the British frigate. The British sailors probably were more experienced -- but they simply weren't very numerous.

The American ship-handling was in fact imperfect (Borneman, p. 86), which meant that the two ships actually came in contact for a time, but the _Guerriere_ was quickly dismasted; eventually she surrendered and proved so badly damaged that she had to be burned.

The _Constitution_ would win additional battles in the War of 1812, but this was the only victory for skipper Isaac Hull (1773-1843), who afterward requested and was given a shore command (Mahon, p. 59).

The ""Captain Hull" of the Warde Ford version is of course the aforementioned Isaac Hull (1773-1843), who commanded the _Constitution_ during the battle. "Dacus" is James R. Dacres (1788-1853), the commander of the _Guerriere_. Lest he be thought incompetent, it should be noted that he obtained command at a very young age, and would later in the war capture the _Leo_. He was really more of a "test case" for the British belief that their seamanship (so demonstrated at Trafalgar) made them inherently better than the Americans. Though he would later blame his defeat on the fact that his vessel was an inferior ship captured from the French (Borneman, p. 88).

The "super frigates" did cause a significant reaction on the British side; in addition to the _Constitution_, the ship _United States_ had easily dealt with the _Macedonian_ (Hickey, pp. 94-96). The British questioned whether the American ships could really be called frigates rather than ships of the line (Hickey, p. 98), and caused the British to design heavy frigates of their own and to order their frigates to avoid American frigates if possible (Hickey, pp. 99). They also gave their light frigates orders to stay out of one-on-one engagements (Mahon, p. 59).

It's fortunate for the Americans that their ships were successful, because they weren't cheap. According to David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler, editors, _Encyclopedia of the War of 1812_, 1997 (I use the 2004 Naval Institute Press edition), the _Constitution's_ "final price of $302,718.84 represented a 260 percent cost overrun from original appropriations."

The victory was very important in American politics. To that point, the Americans had done very badly in the war, being utterly defeated on the Canadian front (see, e.g., "Brave General Brock" [Laws A22] and "The Battle of Queenston Heights"). The _Constitution's_ victory, while of no real significance, is credited with helping President James Madison to re-election in November 1812. It was a very close thing; had Pennsylvania gone for De Witt Clinton, Madison would have been turned out of office, and there was genuine concern that he *would* lose there (Hickey, p. 105)- RBW

Historical references

• Aug 19, 1812 - the 44-gun Constitution defeats and captures the 38-gun Guerriere

Cross references

• cf. "The Chesapeake and the Shannon (I)" [Laws J20]
• cf. "Iron Merrimac" (subject)
• cf. "Yankee Tars" (subject)

Recordings

• Warde Ford, "Proud Dacus and Captain Hull (Captain Hull and proud Dacus)" [fragment] (AFS 4202 A4, 1938; tr.; in AMMEM/Cowell)

References

1. Laws A6, "The Constitution and the Guerriere"
2. Colcord, pp. 130-132, "The Constitution and the Guerriere" (1 text, 1 tune)
3. Harlow, pp. 184-186, "The Constitution and the Guerriere" (1 text, 1 tune)
4. Friedman, p. 291, "The Constitution and the Guerriere" (1 text)
5. Scott-BoA, pp. 108-110, "The Constitution and the Guerriere" (1 text, 1 tune)
6. Lomax-ABFS, pp. 507-509, "Constitution and Guerriere" (1 text, 1 tune)
7. Lomax-FSNA 21, "Yankee Doodle Dandy-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
8. Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 544-546, "The Constitution and the Guerriere" (1 text, 1 tune)
9. Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 161-164, "The Constitution and the Guerriere" (1 text, 1 tune)
10. JHCox 60, "The Constitution and the Guerriere (Hull's Victory)" (1 text)
11. Darling-NAS, pp. 159-161, "The Constitution and the Guerriere" (1 text)
12. Silber-FSWB, p. 286, "The Constitution and Guerriere" (1 text)
13. DT 362, CONSTGUR*
14. ADDITIONAL: C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , 1907 (available on Google Books), p. 309. "The Constitution and Guerriere" (1 text)
15. Roud #626
16. BI, LA06