Alcohol, Discipline and Punishment in the Early Naval Officer Corps
By John G. M. Sharp
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Introduction: The consumption of alcoholic beverages such as wine, whiskey and grog in the early nineteenth century was at an all-time high. Most Americans during this era regarded alcoholic beverages as a positive good. Every person in the Navy was entitled by law to receive a half pint of distilled spirits, usually rye whiskey, day in and day as part of their official ration. The United States Navy probably reached an all-time consumption record during the first three decades of the ninetieth century.1, 2 Alcohol pervaded all ranks, but enlisted men and petty officers were subject to corporal punishment for all offenses, while officers were subject to shame, reprimand or removal.3 Naval officers were expected to live as gentlemen. Those who imbibed too much or transgressed in public, either as drunkards or were actually caught intoxicated while on duty, were subject to court martial. Such naval courts had the power to recommend an official reprimand or removal of an errant officer from the service.
1 Rorabaugh, W. J., The Alcoholic Republic an American Tradition, (Oxford University Press, New York, 1979), pp 8-9. Rorabaugh notes that alcohol consumption peaked at over five gallons per person in the early 1800s as contrasted with approximately two gallons in 1970. A significant drop occurred in the 1840s and the rate stayed around two gallons going forward.
2 McKee, Christopher A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession: the Creation of the United States Naval Officer Corps 1794-1815 (U. S. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1991), p. 453.
3 Sharp, John G. M. Flogging at Sea, Discipline and Punishment in the Old Navy http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/portsmouth/shipyard/oldnavydiscipline.html accessed 26 March 2021
Among the dismissal causes for naval officers slightly over one-third involved alcohol abuse as the primary or in a few cases secondary factor.4 At military installations such as Norfolk Navy Yard, in keeping with the ideas of the time, drinks such as grog, wine and whiskey were routinely served to officers, sailors and workmen aboard ship and stationed in naval yards.5 While many surviving letters and documents reflect the problems that occurred or were related to seamen and petty officers abusing drink, the three letters that follow provide a rare glimpse of how the problems that arose from an officer’s official misconduct related to alcohol in the form of drunkenness or general alcohol abuse and how they were dealt with by the service. The following three cases from Norfolk Navy Yard provide some idea over a thirty year period, of how the early United States Navy disciplined its wayward officers.
4 McKee, Ibid, p. 447.
5 Langley, Harold D., Social Reform in the United States Navy 1798-1862 (University of Illinois Press, Chicago, 1967), p. 214.
John G. M. Sharp
26 March 2021* * * * * * * * * *
Episode 1: The transcribed letter below dated 20 December 1809 was from Commodore William Bainbridge to Secretary of the Navy Paul Hamilton. Commodore Bainbridge charged Midshipman George W. Hammersley with misconduct (drunkenness) which occurred on 18 December 1809.6 Bainbridge was well aware of the harm alcohol could do, his brother Joseph Bainbridge’s career was plagued by rumors and accusations because of suspected alcoholism.7 Subsequently Hammersley was court martialed aboard the frigate USS United States on 15/16 January 1810 at Norfolk Virginia with Captain Stephen Decatur presiding.8
6 William Bainbridge (May 7, 1774 to July 27, 1833) was a Commodore in the United States Navy. During his long career in the young American Navy he served under six presidents beginning with John Adams, and is notable for his many victories at sea. He commanded several famous naval ships, including USS Constitution, and saw service in the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812. Bainbridge was also in command of USS Philadelphia when she grounded off the shores of Tripoli in North Africa resulting in his capture and imprisonment for many months. In the latter part of his career he became the U.S. Naval Commissioner.
7 McKee, Ibid, p 447.
8 Decatur, Stephen, Midshipman, 30 April, 1798. Lieutenant, 21 May, 1799. Captain, 16 February, 1804. He was killed in a duel 22 March 1820.
A sailor’s life was always dangerous. A similar accident occurred in Pensacola Bay, Florida, on Monday 28 October 1844 with tragic results when a small cutter from the USS Falmouth (possibly overloaded) with sixteen men aboard, overturned in a freak wind. Due to the weight, configuration of the boat and the collapsed sail it proved impossible for the men to right the craft. Nine men drowned after clinging to the hull until overcome by the cold water and exhaustion. Most nineteenth century sailors could not swim. Today “everyone who enters the U.S. Navy today must pass a Navy Third Class Swim Test. ... The Navy does offer remedial swim training to those not accustomed to swimming, but this is often during any "free" time the recruit or student may have."9
9 The Balanced Careers,, https://www.thebalancecareers.com/navy-swim-test-qualifications-4056770
Sharp, John G. M., Early Pensacola Navy Yard in Letters and Documents to the Secretary of the Navy and Board of Navy Commissioners 1840-1850 (Part III)The following uncontested facts are from the official transcript of the court martial.10
10 Records of General Court Martial and Court of Inquiry of the Navy Department, 1799-1867 for 1805-1810, Volume 2, Date Range, 16 Aug 1805 to 16 Jan 1810, Midshipman George Hammersley, Case Number 74. pp 1-11., RG 125, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC
Midshipman Hammersley was placed in charge of a boat (a cutter) with a six man crew assigned to make a mail run from the frigate USS President to Norfolk. At Norfolk, Virginia, he was to deposit Midshipman Hamilton who was going on to Baltimore, and then to pick up the mail and some supplies. While the boat was tied up in Norfolk, Hammersley went to the local market with Seaman James Hunter, one of the boat crew, allegedly “to buy a leg of mutton.” While at the market Hunter asked permission to buy some spirits. Hammersley consented, but stated he had no change, Hunter replied he had and would purchase the spirits to which Hammersley agreed. Later when the boat shoved off to return to the President the wind being light Midshipman Hammersley gave orders to take in the sails and get up their oars. In taking in the sail the people got on one side and she upset. The men then all fell into the water but remained by the boat hanging on to the hull in the water about three quarters of an hour when three boats came to their rescue. They were taken aboard a sloop, cold and wet, and returned to the President. While on board the sloop all admitted “they drank a little brandy, but not much it being very cold the brandy had more effect than usual.”
The next 16 January 1810 the court considered the evidence and returned its verdict.
They are of the opinion that drunkenness is full proved - but the court after taking into consideration the particular circumstances - his being upset and remaining in the water a length of time and the weather being very cold, they considered his drinking spirits aboard the vessel which relieved him way more to counteract the cold, than from habit or inclination and further the general character of the prisoner does not appear to the court to be that of a drunkard but more particularly marked by diligence and sobriety. They therefore are of the opinion that said Midshipman George Hammersley be publicly reprimanded at such a time & place as Commodore Bainbridge may direct.11
11 Ibid, p. 9.
Commodore William Bainbridge
USS President
Commodore William Bainbridge on learning of the court martial verdict, reprimanded Midshipman George W. Hammersley, 18 January 1810. George Hammersley quickly learned his lesson and was later promoted to Lieutenant in 1815. Lieutenant George W. Hammersley died at Thompson Island, Florida, of yellow fever on September 12, 1823. On 21 September, the new Secretary of the Navy, Samuel Southard, reported to President James Monroe that 11 Sailors had died on Thompson’s Island and at least 21 others, including the station’s surgeons, were sick.12
12 Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1823, pp 178-179.
U.S. Frigate President, Craney Island
20th December 1809Sir,
The conduct of Midshipman Hammersley, I regret, has necessitated me to exhibit the following charge against him.13
13 Hammersley, George W., Midshipman, 18 May, 1809. Lieutenant, 3 May, 1815. He died 12 September 1823. Naval Officers 1799-1900, Naval History and Heritage Command https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/o/officers-continental-usnavy-mc-1775-1900/navy-officers-1798-1900-m.html accessed 25 March 2021
“Drunkenness”, on the 18th W. Hammersley being the officer of one of the boats returning from Norfolk between 8 and 9 o’clock in the morning, capsized the boat. I immediately sent a boat to his assistance and on his getting on board I found himself and the boat crew excessively drunk.
He offered as extenuating of his conduct that after the capsizing the boat and getting on board a schooner- being cold he unfortunately drank too much. I think it probable that he drank on board the schooner and that had an adverse effect yet, I am of the opinion that previously to his reporting the incident he was intoxicated and in a disgraceful manner in which he appeared on board the ship makes it an indisputable duty for me to report him, but as his conduct prior to that date has been correct and satisfactory, I have given him permission to wait upon Washington and revive your decision.
I am decidedly of the opinion that he ought not to remain in a ship where he has once so grossly exposed himself. In fact had his conduct not been so previously correct I should not hesitate for a moment in expressing an opinion that he ought to be punished with the severest discipline of the service. I have the honor to be very respectfully your obedient servant.
[Signed] William Bainbridge
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To the Honorable Paul Hamilton
Secretary of the Navy, Washington D.C.[Note by Secretary of the Navy, Paul Hamilton]
“The charge is admitted and G. W. Hammersely may be return to Norfolk where a court is to be convened for his trial. Any excuse for intoxication in an officer must be placed before a court before the Department can listen to it – I agree that Captain Bainbridge has ordered him to Washington - the place where he offended is to become the place of his acquittal or conviction and so it shall be of every assistance where a court is impractical – Drunkenness is the foremost [error] in an officer on board a ship – it cannot be too [illegible] punished when habituated, and it is difficult to tolerate when only casual.”
P. H.
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U. S. Frigate President
Craney Island 18 January 1810Sir,
I have the honor to enclose to you the proceeding of the Court Martial held on Midshipman George Hammersley in conformity with your orders. The sentence of which I have approved and carried into execution
The Court Martial of George Daily for Desertion, sentenced him to receive fifty lashes on his bare back – which sentence also approved and have had executed. I have the honor to be very respectfully your obedient servant.14, 15
[Signed] William Bainbridge
To the Honorable Paul Hamilton
Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D.C.14 Bainbridge to Hamilton 18 January 1810, Letters Received by the Secretary of the Navy (Captains Letters) 1805-61; 1866-85, letter number 16, volume 18, RG 260, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC
15 While serving as the Captain of the frigate USS President, Commodore William Bainbridge was not a particularly harsh disciplinarian. The log of the USS President for the period 28 May 1809 to 20 April 1810 reflect that he typically awarded 12 lashes in 8 cases. See: McKee, Christopher A Gentlemanly and Honorable Profession the Creation of the United States Naval Officer Corps 1794-1815 (U. S. Naval Institute Press: Annapolis MD 1991), pp. 245 and 480-481, table 10, which shows Bainbridge as awarding the second least number of flogging to petty officers and enlisted men. As McKee notes Bainbridge “resorted to flogging only as infrequent cautionary example.”
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Episode 2: Dr. John D. McReynolds, Surgeon, USN, entered the Navy as a Surgeon’s Mate, on 2 October 1811. He served in the War of 1812 on the Great Lakes, at Sackets Harbor, a location which quickly earned the reputation as a hardship post. Service at Sackets Harbor was “hazardous, expensive and unpopular.” Sanitation often lagged behind resulting in disease and high mortality rates. Writing on 7 March 1814 Commodore Isaac Chauncey to the Secretary of the Navy noted that a recent paid supplement to all those serving on the lakes was helpful but the men still “suffer much beyond what anyone can form an idea of unless they witness it - we seldom have less than 20% of our whole number sick and sometimes as high as 30%...” He later served as surgeon in charge of the U.S. Navy Mediterranean Hospital at Port Mahon, Minorca.16, 17 Dr. McReynolds served at Norfolk (Gosport) Naval Hospital in 1817 where he quickly came into conflict with the Commandant, Commodore John Cassin. He last served at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1821.18, 19 Two of the letters below are both from Commodore John Cassin to the Secretary of the Navy requesting the Secretary to reassign Surgeon McReynolds or seek his resignation as he was increasingly exhibiting erratic behavior which Cassin ascribed to “drunkenness”20 and Surgeon McReynolds dependence on alcohol was not unusual.
16 Langley, Harold D, A History of Medicine in the Early U.S. Navy (Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1995) p. 270.
17 McReynolds to Crowninshield, 6 October 1815 Officers Letters, 1 July 1815 – 31 December 1815, volume 32-33, RG 45, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC
18 McReynolds, J. D. Surgeon's Mate, 3 May, 1810. Surgeon, 2 October, 1811. His last appearance on Records of Navy Department was 1822. Philadelphia.
Naval Officers 1799-1900, Naval History and Heritage Command https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/o/officers-continental-usnavy-mc-1775-1900/navy-officers-1798-1900-m.html accessed 25 March 202119 The Naval War of 1812, A Documentary History Volume III, editors, Crawford, Michael, Hughes, Christine F. (Naval Historical Center, Government Printing Office, 2002), pp.399-401.
20 Cassin to Crowninshield, 8 September 1817, Letters Received by the Secretary of the Navy (Captains Letters) 1805-61; 1866-85, letter number 8, volume 55, RG 260, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC
Navy Yard Gosport, 2d September 1817
Dear Sir,
I wrote you sometime past [about ] Doct McReynolds I have now to request if you have any regard for him to order him from this station or persuade to resign he has become the greatest beast upon the face of the earth.
I arrested him on the 28th on charges of drunkenness with a hope recovering him from his vile practice and the next day he wrote me a note requesting an interview which was granted him and the arrest withdrawn. Since which I most solemnly declare he has not drawn one sober breath. I took a turn down to the Roads on Sunday for the benefit of a change in the air and on my return found him, so drunk as incapacitated of even conversation with.
Very Respectfully your Obedient Servant
[Signed] John Cassin[To] Benjamin Homans, Esq.
Turn Over, “Otherwise I shall be compelled to bring him to a court martial, for the people are incensed against him and the citizens talk much about him”.
J. C.
* * * * *
Navy Yard Gosport,
2d September 1817
Sir,
Since writing this morning I directed Doctor Schoolfield to attend the Hospital and my family and have suspended Doctor McReynolds for the time being it being the sickly season, among the Marines and in Gosport generally.21 Should it meet your approbation would wish Dr. Schoolfellow reinstated. Very Respectfully your Obedient Servant
[Signed] John Cassin[To] Benjamin Homans, Esq.
21 Schoolfield, J. J., Surgeon's Mate, 13 March, 1805. Surgeon, 28 June 1809.
He resigned 27 October 1817.* * * * * * * * * *
Episode 3: Note: Midshipman William S. Cocke, was appointed Midshipman USN on 25 April 1831 and resigned on 4 March 1836. From Commodore Lewis Warrington’s letters, Midshipman Cocke had a history of trying the patience of his superiors. In 1835 Cocke was attending a class for young officers at Norfolk and was temporarily stationed aboard the frigate USS Java. The Java at that time was used as a ‘receiving ship’, that is, an older naval vessel which housed new recruits and those in transit to new assignments. The Java was also used as school for young naval apprentices and officers.
On 16 October 1835 Warrington wrote the Secretary of the Navy about Cocke’s “drunkenness” and “un-officer like conduct.” Commodore Warrington concluded his letter, by strongly urging Midshipman Cocke’s resignation or dismissal from the service. Cocke’s letter of 22 September 1817 while admitting some charges pleaded ignorance of others and promised future reform. None of Cock’s resolve was enough to convince Warrington or the Secretary of the Navy, and rather than face dismissal on 4 March 1836 he resigned
Gosport Navy Yard
16 October1835Sir,
I regret to report Midshipman W. S. Cocke, for un-officer like conduct, intemperance, keeping improper conduct and going about the yard asking the young men and clerks for money to buy grog with.22
22 Cocke, William T., appointed Midshipman, 25 April, 1831, Resigned 4 March 1836.
His conduct since his arrival on station has been anything but correct, and it has become so bad, young gentlemen of his rank have this morning have reported him to me. I have suspended him from duty until your pleasure is known and he does not attend the school, although ostensibly reporting to it, he will be no longer by his detention on board. Very Respectfully your Obedient Servant
[Signed] L Warrington23
23 Warrington to Secretary of the Navy, 16th October 1835, Letters Received by the Secretary of the Navy (Captains Letters) 1805-61; 1866-85, letter number 31, volume 211, RG 260, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC
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U.S. Navy Ship Java
22d September 1835Honored Sir,
Yours of the 19th instant was sent to me by Commodore Warrington demanding an explanation of the charges therein mentioned. I am sorry Sir, to say that I did ask for the loan of some money whilst in the yard some 10 days since as I observed then for the purpose of getting some oysters & something to drink but I assure you it was done without one moments reflections otherwise you must know I never would have allowed myself to have been reported. I am also charged with being very intemperate which I assure you as well as the Commodore that I am entirely innocent & with the exception of one instance that occurred the night before the frigate Constellation went to sea. I was invited by my friend Geo. W. Taylor to join him in a glass of Champaign which I acceded to, I admit Sir, I felt the effects of it very sensibly but I feel confident that had the Commodore ordered me on any duty I could of performed it.
The third charge of keeping improper company, if ever I have made any but Gentlemen my associates, I assure you I am completely ignorant of it. And would even feel grateful to any person who would if they should see me in company with any but Gentlemen tell me of it that I might avoid them afterwards. If I have behaved un-officer like, I am not able to say in what particular I have in any instances deviated as well as many of my brother officers from the laws of the navy though but slightly, but I assure you Sir, I will in the future use my best endeavor to avoid similar occurrence & I further pledge myself that hereafter the Commodore will never have occasion to call into question my conduct or attention to duty again. I have the honor to be very respectfully your obedient servant.
[Signed] W. S. Cocke
USN[To] The Honorable Mahlon Dickerson Secretary of the Navy
Washington City, D.C.2424 Cocke to Dickerson, 22 September 1835 Officers Letters, 1 October 1835 to 31 December 1835, volume 206-208, RG 45, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC
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John "Jack" G. M. Sharp resides in Concord, California. He worked for the United States Navy for thirty years as a civilian personnel officer. Among his many assignments were positions in Berlin, Germany, where in 1989 he was in East Berlin, the day the infamous wall was opened. He later served as Human Resources Officer, South West Asia (Bahrain). He returned to the United States in 2001 and was on duty at the Naval District of Washington on 9/11. He has a lifelong interest in history and has written extensively on the Washington, Norfolk, and Pensacola Navy Yards, labor history and the history of African Americans. His previous books include African Americans in Slavery and Freedom on the Washington Navy Yard 1799-1865, Morgan Hannah Press 2011. History of the Washington Navy Yard Civilian Workforce 1799-1962, 2004.
https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/browse-by-topic/heritage/washington-navy-yard/pdfs/WNY_History.pdf
and the first complete transcription of the Diary of Michael Shiner Relating to the History of the Washington Navy Yard 1813-1869, 2007/2015 online:
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/d/diary-of-michael-shiner.html
His most recent work includes Register of Patients at Naval Hospital Washington DC 1814 With The Names of American Wounded From The Battle of Bladensburg 2018,
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/r/register-patients-naval-hospital-washington-dc-1814.html
The last three works were all published by the Naval History and Heritage Command. John served on active duty in the United States Navy, including Vietnam service. He received his BA and MA in History from San Francisco State University. He can be reached at sharpjg@yahoo.com
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